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Authors: Chris A. Jackson

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BOOK: Weapon of Vengeance (Weapon of Flesh Trilogy)

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Epilogue

“L
oren!”
Tika burst into the kitchen of
Tap and Kettle
, his brow furrowed with
worry. He lowered his voice to a whisper, and switched from Lad’s pseudonym. “Lad,
there’s someone here to see you.”

“Who?” Lad hitched Lissa up on his hip and
continued stirring the huge kettle of soup. Though there were a few things he
could no longer do around the inn due to his maimed hand, he could still hold
his daughter and stir soup, and that was more than enough for him.

Tika glanced back over his shoulder and lowered his
voice. “Norwood, the Royal Guard captain!”

Lad stopped stirring, every muscle in his body suddenly
tense. He’d arrived back in Twailin barely a month ago. Sereth had informed
him when Norwood returned a week later. Though Lad was pleased that the
captain survived, he considered that chapter of his life over. Now it looked
as if he had been wrong.

“He asked for me specifically?”

“He asked to see Wiggen’s husband.”

The pang in Lad’s heart still ached, but he had
finally come to accept Wiggen’s death. She might not be here in the flesh, but
her memory was always with him.

And Lissa
… Lad laid his cheek against his
daughter’s head, inhaled the heady fragrance of her hair, the warm milky scent
of her breath. He had vowed never to leave her again…and never to kill. But
if Norwood was here to arrest him…

“Here, Tika.” Lad handed his fussy daughter over to
her uncle and fumbled with the apron strings. Taking a deep breath, he tried
to relax.

“Da!” Lissa reached out her pudgy little arms. She
had clung to Lad since his return, reluctant to be parted from her father. At
least she had stopped crying for her mother endlessly every night. She was
finally healing. They all were healing.

“You think talking to him is wise?” Forbish paused
over the vegetables he had been chopping.

Lad shrugged. “I think it would be unwise to refuse
to talk to him.”

Forbish frowned. “And if he wants to arrest you?”

Lad draped his apron over a stool and tried to keep
his voice light. “I don’t think he will. We’ll see.”

The common room wasn’t as busy as they would have
liked. With rumors of rebellion and even possible civil war, merchants weren’t
traveling as much as usual, holding their goods close to home until things
settled down. It would either sort itself out or not, and Lad had resolved to
have nothing to do with it.

Norwood sat by the cold hearth, a tankard of ale in
his hand and a plate of cookies beside his chair. He was feeding one to the
huge mastiff that sat beside him, its massive head on his knee. The dog turned
and looked at Lad, and its ears pricked up. Norwood followed the dog’s gaze and
stood with some difficulty as Lad approached.

Lad stopped two steps away, wary of the dog’s
scrutiny. “May I help you, Captain?”

“Don’t worry about Brutus; he’s well trained,”
Norwood said as he patted the mastiff’s head. His eyes flicked over Lad, lingering
on his maimed hand, then fixing upon his face. “You’re Loren? Wiggen’s
husband?”

“Her…widower, yes. Would you like to speak in
private? We have a back room.” He waved toward the door that led into the
small back chamber.

Norwood smiled and sat back down. “No, thank you.
Here is fine.”

Wary, Lad pulled up another chair. “Well, then, is
there a problem?”

“No. No problem.” Norwood absently scratched the
dog’s head, his eyes on Lad. “I just learned of your wife’s death. You have
my condolences.”

“Thank you. It’s been several weeks…” Lad endured
his scrutiny for a moment. Norwood seemed to be mesmerized by him, staring
into his eyes. “Can I ask the reason for your visit?”

“I wanted to meet you.” Norwood sighed and rubbed a
spot on his leg near the knee. Lad remembered a wound there from one of the
iron maiden’s screws, and wondered if it pained him. “You remind me of a
fellow I met not long ago.”

“Really?” Lad tensed. Did Norwood recognize him
from his late-night visits, or had he somehow glimpsed Lad’s face in Tsing?

Norwood finally tore his gaze away and picked up his
tankard, sipping the ale as he stared into the cold hearth. “He saved my life
once.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. In fact, I think he may have saved my life
twice, though I can’t be sure about the second time.”

“I see.” Lad struggled to remain calm. The captain
had somehow put the pieces together. But then, Lad knew the man was good at
his job.

Norwood’s eyes flicked up to his. “Yes. Yes, I
think you just might. Too bad I don’t know who this fellow is, because I’d
like to thank him. I owe him quite a lot.” The captain’s wide jaw trembled as
he spoke. Like Lad, the man’s outward calm seemed threatened by some inner
storm. “I think the whole Empire of Tsing owes him.”

Lad stared. “Why is that, Captain?”

“Because there are things in this world that need
killing, and sometimes you have to look through the bad to see the good.”
Norwood stood and extended his big warrior’s hand. “I’m pleased to finally
meet you, Loren.”

“And I’m pleased to meet you, Captain.” Lad took
Norwood’s hand in his and easily matched the hard grip with his own. “I’m glad
you came by.”

“Yes, so am I.” He released Lad’s hand and looked
around the common room with a broad smile. “I like the
Tap and Kettle
. I
may visit again, just for a pint and a nibble.” He snatched up a couple more
cookies, fed one to Brutus and ate the other himself.

“You’ll always be welcome.” Lad was surprised to
realize that he meant it. Despite their differences, he liked Norwood very
much.

“Thank you.” The captain patted his leg, and the
big mastiff lurched to its feet, following its master as he headed for the
door. After only a couple of steps, however, Norwood stopped and turned back.
“Loren, if you’d ever like to visit, late at night, just to talk, you’d be
welcome in my home. I think you might know where I live.”

“I think I might.”

The Captain of the Royal Guard nodded, smiled, and
limped out of the
Tap and Kettle
, his huge dog padding along at his
heels.

A high-pitched squeal from the kitchen brought a
smile to Lad’s lips. Lissa was being fussy again. A father’s work, it seemed,
was never done.

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Continue the Adventure

With the
Assassins Guild in disarray, who will have the strength and the smarts to pull
it back together?

Look for
Weapon of Fear
, due out Summer 2015.

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next book release?

About the Author

From the sea to the stars,
Chris A. Jackson’s stories take you to the far reaches of the imagination.
Raised on the back deck of a fishing boat and trained as a marine biologist, he
became sidetracked by a career in biomedical research, but regained his heart
and soul in 2009 when he and his wife Anne left the dock aboard the 45-foot
sailboat
Mr Mac
to cruise the Caribbean and write fulltime.

With his nautical background,
writing sea stories seemed inevitable for Chris. His acclaimed Scimitar Seas
nautical fantasies won three consecutive Gold Medals in the
ForeWord
Reviews
Book of the Year Awards.
Pirate’s Honor
, a Pathfinders
Tale from Paizo Publishing, combines high-seas combat and romance set in the
award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Not to be outdone,
Privateer Press released
Blood & Iron
, a swashbuckling novella set
in the Iron Kingdoms.

Chris’ repertoire also
includes the award-winning and Kindle best-selling Weapon of Flesh Trilogy (
Weapon
of Flesh
,
Weapon of Blood
,
Weapon of Vengeance
), as well as
five additional fantasy novels, the humorous sci fi Cheese Runners trilogy of
novellas, and short stories.

Preview Chris’ novels, download
audiobooks, and read his writing blog at jaxbooks.com. Follow Chris' cruising
adventures at
www.sailmrmac.blogspot.com
.

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@ChrisAJackson1

Novels by Chris A. Jackson

From
Jaxbooks

A
Soul for Tsing

Deathmask

The
Weapon of Flesh Trilogy

Weapon
of Flesh

Weapon
of Blood

Weapon
of Vengeance