Chapter Four
In a certain house of pleasure a girl was leaving the room in which
his first mate lay, in tears, ashamed of the things she had been made
to do. As she went out the door, two men entered.
2 "I'm sorry, gentlemen," announced the woman, "I'm not one of the
ladies of the house, but a customer. You'll have to leave."
3 The men nodded. Suddenly one of the men knocked her back onto the
bed, grabbed a small pillow, and covered her mouth so she couldn't
scream. The other man pinned her down on the other side.
4 "Our master has just learned," the second man answered, "that our
army has survived the unfortunate attack by The Oneness, and that
your mate may have lived. It will not take him long to figure how the
enemy got the information on their routes. He wants you to know
this is nothing personal, but he must protect himself. He told us to be
quick, and that you weren't to suffer. It's a pity. We could've had
some fun!"
5 The woman tried to struggle when she saw the knife, but the man used
it quickly. They wrapped her in the bedding and that night threw her in
the river. It would be a long time before her body was found.
6 Unfortunately for the keeper of the house, her death did him no good.
The captured prince knew who had sold the information to his people.
Despite his precautions the man still lost his head, and so did most
who worked for him.
7 As the army marched north, Red Cat's aides were surprised by his
change of character. He refused ale or wine, even cut back on his
eating. And