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Over to the east, in the thick of Caldwell&039;s farm country, Zypher sat in silence upon his top bunk He was far from alone in the Band of Bastards&039; basement accommodations The three cousins ith him, each as capable of conversation as he was, but likewise not inclined to indulge

There was no realthe knife as he cleaved it into soft wood again and again

No one was sleeping

Whilst dawn settled over the land and claihts were siht of the actions of their leader settling heavily upon them

It was not at all unfathomable that Xcor had so brutally stabbed Throe for his insubordination It was not unbelievable that he had then ordered the rest of them away such that their fellow soldier was left for dead for the enemy

And yet he somehow could not understand it And clearly, neither could the others

Throe had always been the glue that bound, a male of worth with ether as well as a ith logic that had landed him in the role of facilitator with Xcor: Throe was typically on the front lines with their cold, calculating leader, the only voice that could get through to the male - well, usually He&039;d also been the translator between all of them and the rest of the world, the one with Internet access who had found this house and was trying to get them females of the race to feed from, the one who coordinated ht about the technology, too

Except Xcor had snapped, and now if slayers hadn&039;t gotten Throe in that alley, the Brothers ht well have killed hi to be a price on all of their heads soon It was only a , he thought it was a piece of crap, no more obviously a bird than it had been as a thick maple stick Indeed, he had no artistry in his hands, his eyes, or his heart This was just a way to pass the ti

Indeed, he wished there was a fe was his best talent, and he&039;d been oft known to pass hours between the legs of a reat effect

He could certainly use the distraction

Tossing the hunk of wood to the foot of his bunk, he examined his blade So pure and sharp, capable of soa wretched s

He hadn&039;t liked Throe at all at first The , and he&039;d looked as out of place as he was: a dear boy a outside a hovel that no doubt he wouldn&039;t have stabled a horse in

From his top hat to his perfectly buffed-up shoes, they had all despised every inch of him

And then Xcor had had them draw straws to find out ould beat him down first Zypher had won, and had sotten ready to hand the male&039;s masculinity to his royal self on a silver plate

Throe had flailed at the first couple of punches that had co the blows in his head and gut But sooner than was at all expected, soed for no good reason, his fists coether different way

The turnabout had been nothing short of extraordinary

Zypher had kept fighting theout combinations of punches that were abruptly parried and, after a bit, returned, until he himself had had to step up his efforts

That dandy had been learning, right then and there, even as his fine clothes had gotten shredded and torn, even as he had beco that very first fight, and at each succeeding one, he had demonstrated an uncanny ability to assimilate Between the initial fist that had been thrown at him, to the moment when he had finally landed on his ass with exhaustion, he had evolved hter than soldiers who had spent years in the Bloodletter&039;s war camp

They had all stood around Throe as he sat there in the , his pretty face bruised, his top hat long lost

Standing over the male, Zypher had spit the blood out of his mouth and then he&039;d leaned down and offered his palm The dandy had still had ht

In fact, no lackey had he e&039;er proved to be

&039;Twas strange to feel any allegiance to someone of the aristocracy But Throe had earned the respect ti been one of theh that ht

Zypher turned his knife back and forth, the candlelight on its blade a beautiful thing, as lovely as when it fell upon the skin of a feh

Xcor had used one of these for what it was intended - to cut, toall that Throe did for theood Indeed, Xcor&039;s blood hunger washim mercurial And with a ood combination -

The back of Zypher&039;s neck tickled, one of the spiders that lived with the around with a curse, he scrubbed at his flesh, destroying the thing

He should probably try for so up for Xcor&039;s return, but dawn had long since arrived and the male had not coht his he had with that one sour

Zypher was surprised to find he didn&039;t care He rather hoped, as a ain

It was a big change in his thinking Back when the Band of Bastards had first coether in the Old Country, they had been a mercenary lot, each out only for themselves The Bloodletter had been the only one capable of uniting the es, had been the rawest male to ever walk in a soldier&039;s boots, and they had individually followed hith in the war

After all, there was no way the Black Dagger Brotherhood would ever take any of theardless of how Xcor thought of things, the soldiers who fought under him had developed loyalties and they extended even to the foronna talk with him?" Syphon asked softly from down below

He and Syphon had shared bunks for aeons, with Zypher always on top It was the saood pair Syphon could keep up: in the bed, on the floor, against a wall in the field as well

"Aye If he comes houe was thick in that deep voice, putting a different twist on the syllables And it was the same for the male&039;s cousins "He shouldnae done that"

"Aye"

"You dinnae haft t&039; stand up to him y&039;self"

"No, I&039;ll take care of it"

The grunt that caested that there was backup available at a ly a fighter as he was a lover -

"Damn spiders," Zypher ain

"We should &039;ave done aught," somebody said in the dimness

It was Balthazar

And a ruht

"We shan&039;t sit idly by again," Zypher announced "And shan&039;t do so the now"

Assu the fucker came back Which, if he didn&039;t, would not be because he had second thoughts or regrets about what he&039;d done Not Xcor He was as decisive as his blades

One thing was clear, however: If Throe was dead, Xcor was going to have a ardless of whether that soldier lived No one was going to put their heads on the chopping block in pursuit of the throne for someone who didn&039;t honor the bonds of -

Zypher smacked the nape of his neck so hard, soers, we have &039;e forward -

Blood Red blood A lot of it

Da his other hand up, he investigated the area, probing with his fingertips -

A droplet hit the back of his wrist

Looking up to the floor joists above hih a small crack in the hardwood

He was off his bunk with knives in both hands before there was another

The others went on instant alert, not even proffering a question - just seeing hiht called them up out of their beds and to attention

"You&039;re bleedin&039;," Syphon whispered