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

to you. It’s a poor strategist who commits himself without knowing the strength of all forces. I do
not have your measure, but I respect you tremendously. I simply couldn’t risk it.”
“My thanks, Athedon, but the time for flattery has passed.”
“The time for flattery should never have existed, General. So let me ask directly: Do you
know what is coming?”
“I believe,” I replied, “that you are planning a coup, probably before winter ends, or
perhaps shortly thereafter. I have seen the positions in the palace changing. I have seen the king
bow to political expediency in the name of national security. And knowing full well my loyalty to
the Empire, you have removed me from the position from which I might oppose this coup.”
His expression didn’t move, but a smile came to his eyes. “Glasyin, I am glad to know
that I did not underestimate you. I know that you are shocked and surprised to find my… our…
plans so far along. I believe you to be an honorable man, and a good man, and your opinion
matters more than you know. May I tell you how all this came to happen?”
I nodded, and wondered where his assassins were. He wouldn’t be telling me this unless
he knew perfectly well that no others could hear his treachery.
He said, “I am a student of history. I have read all the great historians of our age and the
last, as well as the more obscure theoreticians and the writers of historical fiction. I have studied
the ebb and flow of power from one country to the next over hundreds of years, and I have come
to the inescapable conclusion that unless something dramatic happens with this land, we will lose
ourselves in the mists of history. I am not talking about eventually, I am talking about the next
generation. If we wait even another decade, it may be too late.
“Our king has sired his children in the winter of his life. He is old. He is infirm. His mind
is not what it was. He is, in short, dying. His new wife is a scheming, power-mad shrew who
cannot be trusted, and who focuses on trivial slights. He married her to strengthen his position
with the High Houses. He does not trust her, and because she is a Bhumar, neither do the others.
In fact, none will accept her as regent, and the civil war that will result in her ascension will tear
our provinces apart.”
It was true what he said. It was an open secret that Bhumar was heavily invested in the
underworld, and if they did not break Imperial law daily, they surely danced upon the line. Yet
they brought money to the treasury and helped the Empire pay its bills, and the House spies and
informants would have surely proven useful. Yet here I sat, next to the man who had made all
those spies useless, and I could not help but agree with his assessment.
Colin McComb Oathbreaker, Book 1: The Knight's Tale
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