Oathbreaker, Book 1: The Knight's Tale - Colin McComb

histories, we set off a feud between the two that lasted for a week and took the hottest of their
heads to the grave. By the time it and half a dozen other feuds like it had ended, we had made our
move for the throne.
These feuds were not without cost to us. My father, that ambitious and naïve soul, tried to
play peacemaker in the middle of one of them. His involvement was not our doing. I don’t think
he knew he was being played by one of our enemies. I am sure they told him the truth before they
slit his throat and left his body in the street for the dogs. Though he and I had had our differences,
I burned to take revenge. The prince had different ideas.
“Our plans are too close to fruition,” he said, “and I need your attention here.”
“But my father—”
“Your father was a pawn, in life and in death! They’re using him to distract you when I
need you most, and if you pursue your revenge now, then everything we have done here will be
for nothing. I ask you to reconsider.”
“The blood of my family has been spilled. I will have my revenge.”
“Then you will choose between the command of my armies and your revenge. I will not
order your obedience in this.”
Thirty-five years have passed since then, and I still have not had revenge. By the time we
had taken the throne and gained the obedience of the knights, our energies were expended on
keeping the Empire together and building a coalition of the Houses against the rioting populace,
who had seen the chaos and feared for the safety of the Empire. I could not set aside my duty, and
still cannot. Even now, when I believe that my silence serves no purpose, I will not take the risk
of tearing our fragile alliances apart and turning to mob rule.
city.
It is now nine in the evening. The sun has left the sky, and the storm has opened over the
Swiftly, then, swiftly! I have little more time to dote on the past.
In the many years I have had the honor and the privilege of serving under His Majesty
Fannon IV, I have watched the fortunes of the Empire increase. Yet even as the surface of the
Imperial painting grew in luster, so did the canvas underneath it rot, falling apart under the
pressing weight of time and the teeth of countless vermin, teeming with corruption and spite. The
Empire is strong from without, but from within it awaits the slightest push to start it crumbling.
The signs were there. What began as a proud land so many hundreds of years ago, rising
from the chaos of the Great Uprising on the back of King Martyn the Strong, has lost its way,
become adrift in the endless plots of the minor lords and nobles who scheme in Terona. Each
High House maneuvers against the others. Each pursues its own vendettas at the cost of the
Colin McComb Oathbreaker, Book 1: The Knight's Tale
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