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

a gesture toward my leg: I had bandaged it earlier in the night to provide myself with an excuse to
keep from dancing, and I was careful to favor it visibly.
This caution, however, was not enough to protect me from the worst injury I have
received in all my time in the Imperial armies. Worse still, this injury came from one of my most
trusted friends.
As I chatted amiably with Captain Hargrave, one of the king’s pages found me and bade
me follow her. She led me to the king’s pavilion, and I entered. He sat alone, stretched out on a
comfortable couch, his once-muscled frame now given way to fat. A glass of wine sat near to
hand, and the remains of his dinner lay strewn on the small table in front of him. I bowed deeply;
though we had been friends for decades, he was still my king.
pieces.
“Your Majesty.”
“Forgive me if I don’t get up,” he said. “Please, have a seat, have a seat.”
I took a small chair, facing him. He swallowed some wine and began to tear my heart to
“We have had many years together, have we not, Glasyin? I remember best the times
before the coronation. Fewer cares then, eh? Still all the interminable business of learning to be
king and leading the country and so forth, but—bah. I dwell too much in the past these days, and
it worries me. And that’s what I wanted to speak to you about.”
“I’m afraid I don’t follow you.”
“My faculties are slipping, General. My mind is not what it once was. Nor, I should add,
is my body. I’ve lost much of my grace with my lack of activity.” He belched. “Pardon me. I have
worked long for the Empire, and I think I have done a passable job of keeping it together. We
have built it well toward the future, you and I, and I think it time we began passing the work of
maintaining it to a younger generation.”
“Your Majesty, I—”
He interrupted me with a curt wave of his hand. “You are no longer a young man either,
Glasyin. You have served with distinction and honor these many years, and our armies are in the
best shape they have ever been, I believe. This is due to your leadership and your innovations.
However, it is time for you to step aside and allow new vision to guide our forces.”
“Your Majesty—”
“Your pension is assured, of course, and I have signed an order granting you and your
heirs land in perpetuity in honor of the service you have performed for this Empire.”
“Your Majesty!”
Colin McComb Oathbreaker, Book 1: The Knight's Tale
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