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

I gave him my full attention. A small smile danced behind his lips. I replied evenly, “I
would give my life for it.” He bowed and excused himself. As he left, I replayed the conversation
quickly through my mind. Was he a spy from some cabal? Had my enemies on the council
convinced Fannon that I required a loyalty check? Had I said or done anything that might throw
my love of and duty to the land into doubt, even after all these years? What about my service to
the king? I have been in the Imperial court for decades now, and this callow youth had just
warned me I was being watched. But under whose direction? I could go to no one if I wanted to
see how this played out. If I wished to expose potential corruption, I could not speak to the king’s
advisors, for that would reveal my loyalties immediately. I resolved to be more careful with my
words in the future, that I might discover the truth. I said nothing to my men, which I bitterly
regret now.
I did not have long to wait. Within a few days, at another gathering in the court in which
the courtiers discussed the wildfire uprisings and the small peasant revolts, the Baroness of Imlay,
a vassal of House Deng, caught me alone as I filled my drink. I thought she might wish to talk
about this “self-rule” that some of the western teachers and ecclesiasts were preaching, but
instead she engaged me in a meaningless conversation on military history, focusing mainly on our
victories and the glories our armies and diplomats had won. As she spoke, I began to get the
uncomfortable sense that while these might be her words, the sentiment in her speech had been
planted in order to draw me out. When she began to contrast the Empire of old with the Empire of
the modern day and spoke of decay and rebirth, I knew for certain.
“Baroness, do you suggest that our Empire has stagnated, that we are past the ability to
reach for glory?”
“No, General, but I do suggest that, just as a man weakens if he does not constantly
exercise himself, so too could the body politic lose strength if it remains inert. As this body loses
strength, its enemies must see its enervation as opportunity.”
“So instead of saying we are past the point of no return,” I replied, “you suggest that we
waste away through lack of ambition.”
“I do,” she said, “and in the end, apathy leads to death. We must surely do something.
Would you not agree that weakness left untreated leads to death?”
“I cannot disagree.”
“And therefore, as with the body, the Empire must again exercise itself if it is not to fall
prey to debilitating illness?”
“I concede the point.”
Colin McComb Oathbreaker, Book 1: The Knight's Tale
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