Take My Heart...: Dark Ages - Fantasy (Dark Gods & Tainted Souls Book 3) by julius schenk Page A

out with a smile, bellowing the Red’s victory song.
    Goldie watched him walk away and thought of how quickly things could turn to shit. He’d be happy with his victory, his profits, and his prospects. All he had to do was take his loot, get himself to the nearest city and set up a tavern or anything. Now he had to lead this ragtag army once again against an enemy he didn’t even want to beat let only try to. If this king was anything like he thought then he could only imagine what he wanted them to do on the way to Twin Plains. He feared for any person that crossed their path along the way. He needed to find out about this king and what the hell was driving him. As he thought a face loomed into view and it filled him with hope.
    Skinner walked up silently and simply nodded. “More shit then,” he said.
    “Yes, more shit. What do you know about the king?” he said.
    “Almost everything. I lived in his Keep for a few years.”
    Goldie thought on that fact. “You were a prisoner in his jail?”
    “True enough, what do you want to know?”
    “I want to know what we’ve gotten ourselves into.”
    “All you need to know is who the Order of the Learned are and then you’ll know who he is. They are secretive bastards. Good thing prisoners and slaves are invisible.
    Skinner sat down next to Goldie.
    “I’ll start at the beginning,” he said.
    ***
     
     
    Thellas sat in the shabby dining room and ate a quick repast. The Duchess had the fine silverware laid out and he cut into a thin slice of meat that sat cold on his plate. The servers had run away it seemed so it was left to his Red tunic guards to help him. Old Renfra had finally arrived and joined him at the table. The man had been his mentor for many years since the night in his father study. Now his face was aged and he walked more slowly but was still filled with vigor for a sixty-year-old.
    The man reached out and pulling out a padded chair sat down next to his king.
    “Looks like you’ve been busy. I thought you might give me the chance to talk with her,” he said.
    “What has she got to say? We have her books, we know where the passages are. She’s told us all she needs to.” He spoke between mouthfuls of meat.
    The old man slapped him hard across the face with a loud crack. The king looked shocked and tears almost welled in his eyes. He spat the unchewed meat back onto the plate.
    “I said I wanted to talk with her, did I not?” he said sharply.
    “I’m sorry, of course, you did,” he said, rubbing his face lightly. “I got carried away.”
    “Now finish up and follow me. We need to see if our spies have spoken true about this place.”
    The king put down his knife and simply slid off his chair. He knew it was a mistake to keep his mentor waiting. He followed the elderly man through the dining room and into the library. It was a ruin. In the corner of the room lying on the plush carpet, lay the body of the Duchess. A torn down curtain of dark black covered her body from sight. The floor was littered with torn and destroyed books. The old man looked back at him and laughed.
    “You did get carried away didn’t you!” He beckoned him to a wall. “Look at this.”
    With a careful hand, he pulled out a single book, as it slide out there was a slight clicking sound from behind the bookcase. Taking the wooden frame he slid it slowly to the left, showing a dark stone archway and metal stairs behind.
    “Let’s see what they’ve been hiding away down here,” he said with a grin and led on.
    His feet easily found the metal stairs and his fine boots made no noise as he followed the old man down into the darkness below. The room was dank and smelled of wine and old barrels. The room opened out at the bottom and Thellas followed the disappearing back of his mentor. Soon they stood in an opened out room. It was filled with racks and racks of wine bottles. Each had neat writing on the label.
    “A winery?” Thellas said.
    “You see many grapes around