Carl, still clutching his sliced-open stomach, was coughing hard by the time Drake and Valentia safely descended to the ledge where the three defeated assassins clustered together at the mercy of Lydia’s glowing knives. They looked to have completely given up on fighting.
Judging from the blood still pumping out of the dark-haired archer’s shoulder, it wouldn’t be long before she bled out. As for the dark-skinned man, Drake had no idea how long you could survive with your intestines attempting to leave your body. Not long, probably.
He lowered Magnum. He didn’t need to shoot any of these people unless he only did it to spare them a painful death. He glanced at Lydia. “Can you save them?”
She frowned. “I would not recommend that, lord.”
“Please just answer the question. Can you save their lives?”
Lydia grimaced and looked back to their new captives. “With great effort, Valentia and I together could mend their wounds and save their lives. I will not be able to flutterstep afterward, and her ability to freeze enemies will be greatly reduced.”
“Please!” Gaby begged softly. “We’ve surrendered, so just help them! I’ll pay you!”
“Shut up,” the dark-haired archer hissed. “Pleading is useless.”
“But I don’t want to die, Robin,” the blond-haired girl hissed. “This was all your idea!”
“Hey.” Carl coughed. “Decide quick? Getting dizzy.”
“Agree you won’t use your rarities on us and won’t try to escape,” Drake said. “You also have to answer any question I ask or I’ll let you bleed to death right here.”
“I agree!” Gaby said. Then, she glared at Robin. “Agree, right now!”
“I won’t.”
“If you don’t agree then Carl dies! Of intestines!”
Robin bared her teeth and glanced at the man coughing up blood beside her. Finally, she met Drake’s gaze with a glare. “I surrender. I agree.”
“Get them stable,” Drake ordered. “We’re just going to assume Carl’s agreed too.”
Though she looked visibly angry about it, Valentia dropped to Carl’s side and forcefully pressed his own hand against his intestines. “Hold here,” she ordered coldly.
She obviously didn’t agree with Drake’s order. The fact that she still followed it was a sign of how far they’d come in trusting each other. Her trust was flattering.
As Carl did his best not to die, Valentia’s gloves flared white. Drake continued to stand a few paces away with Magnum in case they tried anything. Meanwhile, Lydia was grimly working out the bolt buried in Robin’s shoulder out of her shoulder.
The woman quickly passed out, either from pain or blood loss. The bolt came out with another spew of blood. Lydia then went to work as well.
Drake looked between the three slumped would-be assassins, the narrow mountain path leading to the distance watch fires, and his battle maids. Every non-benevolent voice inside him screamed he was making a mistake. He was wasting time, he was standing in the open, and he was expending the valuable blood of his battle maids to save assassins.
Yet they were just kids, and they looked to have some interesting rarities. Rarities he might find useful in the future. Rarities that might make a good addition to his manor... if he could convince them not to mention his changes to the blood pact to the noble court.
The whole time Gaby hadn’t moved. She remained locked somewhere between fear, hope, and desperation. She almost touched Carl to check on him before a low hiss from Valentia sent her arm slapping protectively against her own chest.
Finally, Lydia rose. “This one will live.”
“The boy too,” Valentia said grudgingly. “Though he won’t enjoy relieving himself. That is going to be painful for some time.”
Lydia was now visibly paler than she had been, and Valentia was practically moon white. Both had spent a great deal of their blood—blood they needed to use their rarities—to heal two people who had just been trying to kill them. Had he made a mistake?
It didn’t matter now. He’d made his call. Time to see where it went.
“We should get them off the road,” Drake said. “Gaby? You’re our prisoner now.”
“Of course,” she said meekly. “We did surrender.”
“And my battle maids just saved your lives,” Drake said. “So unless you want to make me undo all their fine work, you’re going to do everything I say.”
Gaby blinked rapidly before her eyes once again shot wide. “Gods!” She stared fearfully between Lydia and Valentia, her jaw dropped. “You... you are...”
“We should move,” Valentia reminded Drake grimly.
“You’re Gloomwood Manor’s battle maids!” Gaby whispered fearfully. “What are you doing out here?” As her eyes fixed one more on Drake, she squeaked. “So that means you’re...”
“Lord Gloomwood,” Drake agreed impatiently. “Now, you feel like living?”
Gaby nodded in wide-eyed, fist-clenching terror.
“Then you’re responsible for your dark-haired friend there. Get her up. We’re moving.”
Gaby urgently shook and even slapped Robin several times until the woman groaned and opened bleary eyes. “We need to move now, right now. Right now! Or we die.”
Drake looked at Valentia and Lydia, both still pale from blood loss, and sighed as he settled Magnum over his shoulder with his leather strap. “I’ll get the other kid.”
“He could stab you,” Lydia warned.
“Not through feathersteel.” Drake walked forward and offered an arm. “Time to move, Carl. Unless you want to stay here and wait for my feral to eat you.”
With a numb, half-awake nod, Carl allowed Drake to help him to his feet. As he tossed the young man’s arm over his shoulder and walked off with Carl stumbling beside him, he wondered how many times he was going to stupidly risk his life tonight. He had a few more in him.
Carl wore silverweave, but it looked old. It also hung on his spare frame, so if he was hiding a blade, it was small enough feathersteel would stop it. Drake wasn’t worried. The kid could barely keep his eyes open.
Behind him, he heard a shuffle of unsteady feet that suggested Gaby was helping Robin walk as well. From Valentia he heard nothing, but he knew she was back there, silent and seething. He hoped she’d come around eventually.
Lydia once more took the lead and chose a path up and off the narrow mountain road that would be easier for three wounded high school-age assassins to navigate. From there they doubled back toward the ledge where they’d observed the distant watch fires and then stopped.
Lydia glanced back. “This should be safe enough, lord.”
“I’m so sorry we attacked you,” Gaby said fearfully. “We had no idea you were Lord Gloomwood. Please, forgive us!”
“Shut up,” Robin managed.
“It was my idea,” Gaby said. “To attack you. So if you have to punish someone—”
“Shut up, Gaby!” Robin hissed. “You can’t reason with a manor lord!”
“But you can’t—”
Drake turned on them. “Both of you shut up.” He pointed at a nearby slope leading up. “Sit down, stay quiet, and wait until I’m ready to interrogate you.”
Gaby meekly hurried over to the spot he’d designated. Once Drake gave Carl a gentle shove, the man stumbled over as well. Robin looked hesitant, but one glance back at a visibly murderous Valentia sent her skittering forward. Once more, the three were contained.
“May I ensure we were not followed?” Valentia asked. Her tone remained hard as stone.
He glanced at her in concern. “You can’t freeze people right now.”
“I need only keep watch.” She stared. “Resolve your interrogation of these three quickly. If I do spot anyone approaching, I’ll return and bring warning.”
She spun and stalked back the way they came. Drake let her be. He still wasn’t sure he’d done the right thing, sparing his enemies, but at least he didn’t feel like an asshole. He’d thought he was ready to kill anyone he faced, but it seemed he wasn’t.
So good news? He didn’t just kill everyone. Bad news? He didn’t just kill everyone.
Drake looked to Gaby first. She seemed the most pliable. “Ready to talk?”
She nodded fearfully.
“All right. Tell me exactly what you are doing out here.”
“We came for the bounty, lord,” Gaby said. “On the Asp.”
Drake frowned. Who the fuck was the Asp?
“And for revenge,” Robin added. “This was my idea. I forced the others into it.”
“We both agreed to come along!” Gaby protested.
“Only because I twisted your arms, and shut up!” Robin turned her hard gaze back to Drake. “I lead this group. I know you must take vengeance for our attack, but I beg you, consider taking Gabriel and Carl as your blood thralls instead.”
Robin reminded him of Lydia. When faced with her own death, she immediately focused on protecting her friends. That made him resent her attempt to murder him less.
He tapped his chin as he considered taking his first new blood thralls since Jeremy. He’d already made peace with the fact that his pact would protect them from other manor lords and that he would free them of compulsion after they joined. Still, Samuel’s caution about how the noble court might react stayed with him. Would these three keep his secret?
If he invited these people to join him, and they accepted, he wouldn’t have any way to compel them not to share that his blood pact no longer compelled anyone to do anything. On the other hand, like his own people, the desire to protect their new manor could convince them to keep his secret. Even if he believed that, bringing in new people remained a risk.
Yet he’d lost five servants and a zarovian patroller in the assassin raid. He’d lost Thak a few nights ago. He was down seven people and could lose more. Adding these three young people to his manor would bring him back up to... seventy-two? He’d have to check the roster.
Moreover, if he did intend to stay here and lead Gloomwood Manor, his manor would eventually fall if he refused to recruit new warriors. Building a manor’s roster and keeping it strong enough to protect everyone was his responsibility. He needed powerful people and powerful rarities, especially since those rarities were ones he could copy and burnish.
So... he would consider recruiting these three. But only if they volunteered to join him, understanding they had freedom to refuse, while understanding what they were agreeing to.
“Why would I recruit you?” Drake asked.
“Carl can draw forth, ignite, and propel solid rocks,” Robin said. “You saw the results of his aerial bombardment. Such a rarity would strengthen your manor. And Gabriel can immobilize even the strongest warriors with shields of force.”
“Temporarily,” Gaby added quickly. “And I’m so sorry I did that, miss battle maid!”
“I fully intended to kill both of you,” Lydia reminded them calmly.
“Well... thank you for not killing us!”
“Thank Lord Gloomwood. He is the only reason you still breathe.”
Drake was perfectly fine allowing Lydia to play bad cop while he considered his options. The rarities these kids had weren’t as terrifying as his battle maids, but they still beat the hell out of the domestic rarities most servants in his manor had. He was curious to know more.
Drake fixed Robin with a hard gaze. “What is your rarity?”
“I can jump rather high,” she said calmly. “As you no doubt noticed.”
So she could. Robin’s rarity was like a much weaker version of flutterstep, and she also set herself up to get drilled by a crossbow bolt as she came down. Still... she’d had him dead to rights with that arrow, and she’d made the shot while flying through the air. If Valentia hadn’t crystalized that icy shield from water vapor, Samuel might be in charge of the manor now.
All of that, however, could come later. He turned his gaze to Gaby. He needed to know more about this bounty, and in particular, the Asp. Whoever that was.
“Who is the Asp?”
Gaby blinked. “Is this a test?”
“No, I really don’t know who that is. Who are you hunting?”
“A monstrous woman who brutally murders whoever displeases her,” Robin said fiercely. “Her rarity allows her to produce and toss acid as easily as you or I would toss water. She answers to no manor, only coin and her own avarice.”
“She sounds fun,” Drake agreed. “So what the hell is she doing out here?”
“Mercenaries have cornered her in Fort Graystone and called for brave warriors with rarities to slay her,” Robin said. “We came here intending to put an end to her for good.”
These three weren’t anywhere near powerful enough to take a woman as powerful as this Asp sounded, but he’d give them points for ballsiness. Seeking out a woman who could toss acid was pretty brave.
Also, what the hell was this all about? Was the Asp the woman who had kidnapped Lady Skybreak? Had Sky put out a bounty on the woman? When would she even do that?
“Who posted the bounty?” Drake asked.
Robin glanced at Gaby, then back at Drake. “Lord Redbow.”
As Drake finally put two-and-two together, he slapped his forehead. “Oh, that’s slick.”
“What is, lord?” Lydia asked.
“If we’ve stumbled over what I think we have, it’s low down dirty as fuck.” Drake focused on the trio of would-be bounty hunters. “Where was this bounty posted?”
“In Corinian, lord,” Robin said.
“No, that’s wrong,” Gaby said in visible confusion. “It was posted in Ashglaive, remember?”
“You might have seen it there,” Robin said. “But it was also posted in Corinian.”
Drake now suspected this particular bounty was posted in a number of places. “How long ago did you see it posted?”
“Six days, lord,” Robin said. “But I believe it had been up longer.”
In retrospect, this plot was so simple Drake could have devised it. Lord Redbow had started by hiring the Asp for a job: go to Fort Graystone, enter the fort, and wait there. Then, he’d had his army of mercenaries surround her. All of that had actually occurred.
Redbow had then posted the bounty offering to pay anyone who traveled to Fort Graystone and slew the Asp while she was trapped inside the fort. This was not a lie, as he did intend to pay them. If they killed the Asp while she was inside the fort.
Lord Redbow had then let the Asp leave Fort Graystone about the same time he had more of his mercenaries abduct Lady Skybreak (Sky’s mom) and deliver the ransom ultimatum. Thus, Sky had come to Fort Graystone, killed those inside, rescued her mother... and been trapped inside after the rest of Redbow’s men once more closed the noose around them.
Now, thanks to Redbow’s doublespeak, Sky and her people would spend the next few days being attacked by every bounty hunter with a hard-on for the Asp. Either they would succeed and kill Sky (thinking she was the Asp) or they would die in the attempt (leaving Sky thinking Redbow had sent them). Either way, Lord Redbow lost nothing and had a great deal to gain once Sky fell.
If he wasn’t such an evil douchebag, Drake could almost have respected the man.
Carl, still clutching his sliced-open stomach, was coughing hard by the time Drake and Valentia safely descended to the ledge where the three defeated assassins clustered together at the mercy of Lydia’s glowing knives. They looked to have completely given up on fighting.
Judging from the blood still pumping out of the dark-haired archer’s shoulder, it wouldn’t be long before she bled out. As for the dark-skinned man, Drake had no idea how long you could survive with your intestines attempting to leave your body. Not long, probably.
He lowered Magnum. He didn’t need to shoot any of these people unless he only did it to spare them a painful death. He glanced at Lydia. “Can you save them?”
She frowned. “I would not recommend that, lord.”
“Please just answer the question. Can you save their lives?”
Lydia grimaced and looked back to their new captives. “With great effort, Valentia and I together could mend their wounds and save their lives. I will not be able to flutterstep afterward, and her ability to freeze enemies will be greatly reduced.”
“Please!” Gaby begged softly. “We’ve surrendered, so just help them! I’ll pay you!”
“Shut up,” the dark-haired archer hissed. “Pleading is useless.”
“But I don’t want to die, Robin,” the blond-haired girl hissed. “This was all your idea!”
“Hey.” Carl coughed. “Decide quick? Getting dizzy.”
“Agree you won’t use your rarities on us and won’t try to escape,” Drake said. “You also have to answer any question I ask or I’ll let you bleed to death right here.”
“I agree!” Gaby said. Then, she glared at Robin. “Agree, right now!”
“I won’t.”
“If you don’t agree then Carl dies! Of intestines!”
Robin bared her teeth and glanced at the man coughing up blood beside her. Finally, she met Drake’s gaze with a glare. “I surrender. I agree.”
“Get them stable,” Drake ordered. “We’re just going to assume Carl’s agreed too.”
Though she looked visibly angry about it, Valentia dropped to Carl’s side and forcefully pressed his own hand against his intestines. “Hold here,” she ordered coldly.
She obviously didn’t agree with Drake’s order. The fact that she still followed it was a sign of how far they’d come in trusting each other. Her trust was flattering.
As Carl did his best not to die, Valentia’s gloves flared white. Drake continued to stand a few paces away with Magnum in case they tried anything. Meanwhile, Lydia was grimly working out the bolt buried in Robin’s shoulder out of her shoulder.
The woman quickly passed out, either from pain or blood loss. The bolt came out with another spew of blood. Lydia then went to work as well.
Drake looked between the three slumped would-be assassins, the narrow mountain path leading to the distance watch fires, and his battle maids. Every non-benevolent voice inside him screamed he was making a mistake. He was wasting time, he was standing in the open, and he was expending the valuable blood of his battle maids to save assassins.
Yet they were just kids, and they looked to have some interesting rarities. Rarities he might find useful in the future. Rarities that might make a good addition to his manor... if he could convince them not to mention his changes to the blood pact to the noble court.
The whole time Gaby hadn’t moved. She remained locked somewhere between fear, hope, and desperation. She almost touched Carl to check on him before a low hiss from Valentia sent her arm slapping protectively against her own chest.
Finally, Lydia rose. “This one will live.”
“The boy too,” Valentia said grudgingly. “Though he won’t enjoy relieving himself. That is going to be painful for some time.”
Lydia was now visibly paler than she had been, and Valentia was practically moon white. Both had spent a great deal of their blood—blood they needed to use their rarities—to heal two people who had just been trying to kill them. Had he made a mistake?
It didn’t matter now. He’d made his call. Time to see where it went.
“We should get them off the road,” Drake said. “Gaby? You’re our prisoner now.”
“Of course,” she said meekly. “We did surrender.”
“And my battle maids just saved your lives,” Drake said. “So unless you want to make me undo all their fine work, you’re going to do everything I say.”
Gaby blinked rapidly before her eyes once again shot wide. “Gods!” She stared fearfully between Lydia and Valentia, her jaw dropped. “You... you are...”
“We should move,” Valentia reminded Drake grimly.
“You’re Gloomwood Manor’s battle maids!” Gaby whispered fearfully. “What are you doing out here?” As her eyes fixed one more on Drake, she squeaked. “So that means you’re...”
“Lord Gloomwood,” Drake agreed impatiently. “Now, you feel like living?”
Gaby nodded in wide-eyed, fist-clenching terror.
“Then you’re responsible for your dark-haired friend there. Get her up. We’re moving.”
Gaby urgently shook and even slapped Robin several times until the woman groaned and opened bleary eyes. “We need to move now, right now. Right now! Or we die.”
Drake looked at Valentia and Lydia, both still pale from blood loss, and sighed as he settled Magnum over his shoulder with his leather strap. “I’ll get the other kid.”
“He could stab you,” Lydia warned.
“Not through feathersteel.” Drake walked forward and offered an arm. “Time to move, Carl. Unless you want to stay here and wait for my feral to eat you.”
With a numb, half-awake nod, Carl allowed Drake to help him to his feet. As he tossed the young man’s arm over his shoulder and walked off with Carl stumbling beside him, he wondered how many times he was going to stupidly risk his life tonight. He had a few more in him.
Carl wore silverweave, but it looked old. It also hung on his spare frame, so if he was hiding a blade, it was small enough feathersteel would stop it. Drake wasn’t worried. The kid could barely keep his eyes open.
Behind him, he heard a shuffle of unsteady feet that suggested Gaby was helping Robin walk as well. From Valentia he heard nothing, but he knew she was back there, silent and seething. He hoped she’d come around eventually.
Lydia once more took the lead and chose a path up and off the narrow mountain road that would be easier for three wounded high school-age assassins to navigate. From there they doubled back toward the ledge where they’d observed the distant watch fires and then stopped.
Lydia glanced back. “This should be safe enough, lord.”
“I’m so sorry we attacked you,” Gaby said fearfully. “We had no idea you were Lord Gloomwood. Please, forgive us!”
“Shut up,” Robin managed.
“It was my idea,” Gaby said. “To attack you. So if you have to punish someone—”
“Shut up, Gaby!” Robin hissed. “You can’t reason with a manor lord!”
“But you can’t—”
Drake turned on them. “Both of you shut up.” He pointed at a nearby slope leading up. “Sit down, stay quiet, and wait until I’m ready to interrogate you.”
Gaby meekly hurried over to the spot he’d designated. Once Drake gave Carl a gentle shove, the man stumbled over as well. Robin looked hesitant, but one glance back at a visibly murderous Valentia sent her skittering forward. Once more, the three were contained.
“May I ensure we were not followed?” Valentia asked. Her tone remained hard as stone.
He glanced at her in concern. “You can’t freeze people right now.”
“I need only keep watch.” She stared. “Resolve your interrogation of these three quickly. If I do spot anyone approaching, I’ll return and bring warning.”
She spun and stalked back the way they came. Drake let her be. He still wasn’t sure he’d done the right thing, sparing his enemies, but at least he didn’t feel like an asshole. He’d thought he was ready to kill anyone he faced, but it seemed he wasn’t.
So good news? He didn’t just kill everyone. Bad news? He didn’t just kill everyone.
Drake looked to Gaby first. She seemed the most pliable. “Ready to talk?”
She nodded fearfully.
“All right. Tell me exactly what you are doing out here.”
“We came for the bounty, lord,” Gaby said. “On the Asp.”
Drake frowned. Who the fuck was the Asp?
“And for revenge,” Robin added. “This was my idea. I forced the others into it.”
“We both agreed to come along!” Gaby protested.
“Only because I twisted your arms, and shut up!” Robin turned her hard gaze back to Drake. “I lead this group. I know you must take vengeance for our attack, but I beg you, consider taking Gabriel and Carl as your blood thralls instead.”
Robin reminded him of Lydia. When faced with her own death, she immediately focused on protecting her friends. That made him resent her attempt to murder him less.
He tapped his chin as he considered taking his first new blood thralls since Jeremy. He’d already made peace with the fact that his pact would protect them from other manor lords and that he would free them of compulsion after they joined. Still, Samuel’s caution about how the noble court might react stayed with him. Would these three keep his secret?
If he invited these people to join him, and they accepted, he wouldn’t have any way to compel them not to share that his blood pact no longer compelled anyone to do anything. On the other hand, like his own people, the desire to protect their new manor could convince them to keep his secret. Even if he believed that, bringing in new people remained a risk.
Yet he’d lost five servants and a zarovian patroller in the assassin raid. He’d lost Thak a few nights ago. He was down seven people and could lose more. Adding these three young people to his manor would bring him back up to... seventy-two? He’d have to check the roster.
Moreover, if he did intend to stay here and lead Gloomwood Manor, his manor would eventually fall if he refused to recruit new warriors. Building a manor’s roster and keeping it strong enough to protect everyone was his responsibility. He needed powerful people and powerful rarities, especially since those rarities were ones he could copy and burnish.
So... he would consider recruiting these three. But only if they volunteered to join him, understanding they had freedom to refuse, while understanding what they were agreeing to.
“Why would I recruit you?” Drake asked.
“Carl can draw forth, ignite, and propel solid rocks,” Robin said. “You saw the results of his aerial bombardment. Such a rarity would strengthen your manor. And Gabriel can immobilize even the strongest warriors with shields of force.”
“Temporarily,” Gaby added quickly. “And I’m so sorry I did that, miss battle maid!”
“I fully intended to kill both of you,” Lydia reminded them calmly.
“Well... thank you for not killing us!”
“Thank Lord Gloomwood. He is the only reason you still breathe.”
Drake was perfectly fine allowing Lydia to play bad cop while he considered his options. The rarities these kids had weren’t as terrifying as his battle maids, but they still beat the hell out of the domestic rarities most servants in his manor had. He was curious to know more.
Drake fixed Robin with a hard gaze. “What is your rarity?”
“I can jump rather high,” she said calmly. “As you no doubt noticed.”
So she could. Robin’s rarity was like a much weaker version of flutterstep, and she also set herself up to get drilled by a crossbow bolt as she came down. Still... she’d had him dead to rights with that arrow, and she’d made the shot while flying through the air. If Valentia hadn’t crystalized that icy shield from water vapor, Samuel might be in charge of the manor now.
All of that, however, could come later. He turned his gaze to Gaby. He needed to know more about this bounty, and in particular, the Asp. Whoever that was.
“Who is the Asp?”
Gaby blinked. “Is this a test?”
“No, I really don’t know who that is. Who are you hunting?”
“A monstrous woman who brutally murders whoever displeases her,” Robin said fiercely. “Her rarity allows her to produce and toss acid as easily as you or I would toss water. She answers to no manor, only coin and her own avarice.”
“She sounds fun,” Drake agreed. “So what the hell is she doing out here?”
“Mercenaries have cornered her in Fort Graystone and called for brave warriors with rarities to slay her,” Robin said. “We came here intending to put an end to her for good.”
These three weren’t anywhere near powerful enough to take a woman as powerful as this Asp sounded, but he’d give them points for ballsiness. Seeking out a woman who could toss acid was pretty brave.
Also, what the hell was this all about? Was the Asp the woman who had kidnapped Lady Skybreak? Had Sky put out a bounty on the woman? When would she even do that?
“Who posted the bounty?” Drake asked.
Robin glanced at Gaby, then back at Drake. “Lord Redbow.”
As Drake finally put two-and-two together, he slapped his forehead. “Oh, that’s slick.”
“What is, lord?” Lydia asked.
“If we’ve stumbled over what I think we have, it’s low down dirty as fuck.” Drake focused on the trio of would-be bounty hunters. “Where was this bounty posted?”
“In Corinian, lord,” Robin said.
“No, that’s wrong,” Gaby said in visible confusion. “It was posted in Ashglaive, remember?”
“You might have seen it there,” Robin said. “But it was also posted in Corinian.”
Drake now suspected this particular bounty was posted in a number of places. “How long ago did you see it posted?”
“Six days, lord,” Robin said. “But I believe it had been up longer.”
In retrospect, this plot was so simple Drake could have devised it. Lord Redbow had started by hiring the Asp for a job: go to Fort Graystone, enter the fort, and wait there. Then, he’d had his army of mercenaries surround her. All of that had actually occurred.
Redbow had then posted the bounty offering to pay anyone who traveled to Fort Graystone and slew the Asp while she was trapped inside the fort. This was not a lie, as he did intend to pay them. If they killed the Asp while she was inside the fort.
Lord Redbow had then let the Asp leave Fort Graystone about the same time he had more of his mercenaries abduct Lady Skybreak (Sky’s mom) and deliver the ransom ultimatum. Thus, Sky had come to Fort Graystone, killed those inside, rescued her mother... and been trapped inside after the rest of Redbow’s men once more closed the noose around them.
Now, thanks to Redbow’s doublespeak, Sky and her people would spend the next few days being attacked by every bounty hunter with a hard-on for the Asp. Either they would succeed and kill Sky (thinking she was the Asp) or they would die in the attempt (leaving Sky thinking Redbow had sent them). Either way, Lord Redbow lost nothing and had a great deal to gain once Sky fell.
If he wasn’t such an evil douchebag, Drake could almost have respected the man.
