Something dangerous

“Probably the kind which would make your mother very upset with me for getting you mixed up in it, I’d imagine,” Cahern shrugged, “But it’s probably a lot more to your liking that garrison duty.”

“It won’t see me end up like those broken men, will it?” Callum asked, with his thoughts turning to one of those pathetic figures screeching in pain as he’d ran his sword through him. That wasn’t a fate he’d wish on anyone, to be cast out of society, declared to be without honour and left worth less than the cows the men he’d killed had tried to steal.

“Of course not, but chances are you’ll be going up against swine a lot worse than any poor, stupid sods trying to make a living the only way they know how,” Now Cahern fixed his nephew with a firm stare, “One thing about this place is that there are at least as many reprobates at the top as there are at the bottom. And the war’s only left those cunt bastards richer and greedier.”

“Right.”

“There’s more than one reason why I think you shouldn’t join up, lad,” Cahern continued, “Now, are you still interested in finding out how good you are with that sword?”

“Yes.”

“All right, then what are we waiting for?” Finishing his beer in one go and hissing at the lingering taste of it, “Time to go see a friend of mine.”

“This friend of yours,” Callum said as he followed his uncle down the street outside the tavern, “Who is he?”

“A good enough man, all things considered. He got one knee messed-up pretty bad down south and headed back up here before the rest of us,” Cahern smiled again, but this time it was thinner and with more of an edge to it, “Last I heard, he’s got some crazy plan brewing and has been looking for the right people.”

“How come he hasn’t asked you?”

“Who says he hasn’t?” Without stopping, Cahern threw Callum another piercing glance, “Listen, boy, my friend was lucky to just up end up with a limp. If that spear had hit a little higher, he’d have bled out in minutes, and a little higher still would have left him a fucking eunuch. It doesn’t matter how good or lucky you are, in the end it might not be enough.”

“What I’m saying, Callum, is that maybe I’m just fine with spending my time doing drills, growing fat and paying pretty girls to suck my cock,” Cahern went on, “It’s not such a bad life.”

“But this friend of yours?” Around them, the architecture changed, buildings got taller and more bridges appeared to cover one stream or canal after the other, meaning that nephew and uncle were soon spending almost as much up and down over stone arches as they were moving over even ground, “It’s not enough for him?”

“No, it’s not,” Cahern glanced over at a group of three men positioned just within the mouth of an alleyway, each dressed in cloaks that could conceal weapon as well as armour. Callum did the same, and the prospect of going up against them both apparently was enough, “Anyway, you’ll find out more about him soon enough. Just a couple more minutes...”

“Uncle, this place...” Gradually, the people wandering the streets had changed. While the pair of girls he’d seen outside the barracks would still have stood out through their beauty, there more around here dressed in the same manner. And while there had been soldiers and guards back there, now they were mixed in with a different kind of armed men, rougher and more menacing, looking less like they’d ever march onto a battlefield and more like they’d beat people to **** in alleys.

“It’s the Oldtown, Callum,” Cahern explained, “Brothels and bars to tend to the needs of soldiers, sailors and merchants, plus a lot of other stuff as well.”

“Other stuff?”

“Thieves, gangs, robbers and murderers, plus more slavers than I’d care to think about,” Cahern said, “And there’s a lot more of them than there used to be.”

“Didn’t you say there’s scum at the bottom as well?”

“I did, but now we’re here.”

‘Here’ turned out to be another of the tall, slender buildings that were so different from the roundhouse in which Callum had grown up. Like a lot of them, even the increasing darkness of evening turning into night couldn’t mask that its best days was behind it.

“All right, Callum, get ready...” Cahern said to his nephew before pounding one heavy fist against the door.