David Gemmell. The Hawk Enternal

He thought of his father and grinned wolfishly. Asbidag, the destroyer of nations, the bringer of blood. The most brutish warrior of a generation of warriors. He had nothing to offer the world, save ceaseless agony and destruction. He had no genuine thoughts of empire, for it was alien to him to consider building anything of worth. He lived to fight and kill, dreaming only of the day when at last he would be summoned to the hall of the Grey God to recite the litany of his conquests.

Drada shivered, though the sun was warm.

Asbidag had sired eleven sons. Three had died in other wars, one had been strangled by Asbidag soon after birth during a row with the mother. She had died less easily.

Now seven sons remained. And what a brood, cast as they were in the image of their father.

Of them all Drada hated Tostig the most. A vile man of immense power, Tostig possessed all the innate cruelty of the natural coward. A pederast who could only gratify himself by killing the victims of his lust. One day I will kill you, thought Drada. When Father is dead. I will kill you all. No, he thought. Not all. I will spare Orsa the Baresark, for he has no ambition, and despite his frenzy in battle, carries no hate.

Drada leaned his head back, closing his eyes against the bright sunlight.

‘So this is where you plan your campaigns.’

Drada opened his eyes. ‘Welcome, lady. Please join me.’ He didn’t like to be disturbed here, but with Morgase he was careful to mask his feelings.

As always she was dressed in black, this time a shimmering gown of silk and satin. Her dark hair was braided, hanging over one marble-white shoulder. She sat beside him, draping her arm along the back of the bench, her fingers hovering near his neck. ‘Always so courteous, Drada. A rare thing among the Aenir.’

‘My father sent me away as a child to the court of Rhias. I was brought up there.’

‘You were a hostage?’

‘More a viper in the bosom of a future enemy.”

‘I see.’ Her hand dropped to his shoulder, squeezing the firm flesh of his upper arm. “Why do you not like me?’ she asked, her bright eyes mocking him.

‘I do not dislike you,’ he countered, with an easy lie. ‘But let us assume that I made love to you here and now. By tonight my bloody corpse would be alongside the unfortunate Martellus.”

‘Perhaps,’ she said, interest fading from her eyes. She took her hand from his shoulder and glanced around the garden. ‘A pretty place.’

‘Yes.’

‘Are you planning a war against the clans?’

‘They are not the enemy.”

‘Come now, Drada, do you think I never talk with your father? Do you see me merely as a mistress? Someone who shares only his bed?’

‘No, Lady.’

‘Then tell me.’

‘I am planning for our visit to the Farlain. We have been invited to view the Games.*

‘How dull.’

‘Indeed it is,’ he agreed.

‘Tell me, then, if you were planning a war against the clans, how would you go about it?’

‘This is a game?’

“Why not?’

‘Very well. First tell me how you would plan it, Lady, and then I shall add my own refinements.’

‘Are you always this cautious?’

‘Always,’ he said, smiling.

She leaned back, closing her eyes as she relaxed in thought. She was beautiful but Drada instantly quelled the desire that surged within him. It confused him momentarily, for in the six months she had been with Asbidag Drada had never been attracted to her. Her eyes flickered open and the answer came to him. There was something reptilian in those eyes. He shuddered.

‘Extermination,’ she said triumphantly.

‘Explain,’ he whispered.

‘Conquering a city can be considered in a number of ways. You

may desire to take over the existing enterprise of that city; therefore you would take it with a minimum loss of life and make the inhabitants your servants. In this way you would merely transfer ownership of the enterprise. But with the clans it is a different matter. The Aenir desire only the land, and obviously the livestock. But not the people. They are a wild race, they would not tolerate serfdom. Therefore an invasion against the Farlain would be a prelude to the extermination of the people.’

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