“Absolutely not.” Morgana sat back in her seat, pursing her wrinkled lips. “We’ve no plan in place for this. It’s too much of a risk. If you fail—”
“I won’t,” Roark said, brow furrowed.
Albrecht threw up his hands. “Here we go! The lost noble of Korvo knows better than the combined experience of the entire T’verzet now.”
“I know better than that gibberish you scrawled on the door up there,” Roark said, infusing his voice with a lightness he didn’t feel. “It’s a wonder you’ve only burnt off half of your face so far.”
“Know-everything poseur,” Albrecht snapped, kicking up from his seat. “Acting like you’re not as self-taught as the rest of us—”
Roark snorted. “Can you even say your letters, mate?”
“You’ll want to watch that big head, Graf, before somebody kicks it in.”
“Both of you bullheaded pups shut your yaps!” Cambry boomed with a strength that belied his aging body. He gestured to Morgana. “What the councilwoman was trying to say is, so far, we’ve been blessed lucky in hiding the seat of the resistance. One slipup—one hint that we’re here—and every Ustar in Traisbin’ll descend on this city like flies on a rotting corpse.”
“I won’t slip up,” Roark said with every ounce of the confidence he felt. “I know that manor like the back of my hand—I could walk its passages in my sleep.” In fact, he often did when he slept long enough to dream. “I can get in and back out again before Marek himself knows he’s dead.”
“The risk is too great,” Morgana said, shaking her head.
“But the payoff is everything we’ve been fighting for!” Roark tried but was unable to keep the desperation from his voice. “Twenty years of the Tyrant King’s oppression, and we could end it tonight!”
“Would you see Korvo burned to the ground?” Bran, the barrel-gutted innkeeper, asked, speaking up for the first time since Roark’s arrival. He leaned forward in his seat, bracing his meaty arms on the table, and continued in his quiet, measured voice. “Her people turned against one another as informants and snitches, turning their friends and neighbors over to the Tyrant King to save themselves and their children? Because that’s the price of failure, Graf. That’s what you’re gambling with here.”
“Laying aside the fact that this is hardly a gamble considering my familiarity with the manor house,” Roark said, “isn’t it worth at least that much? Did any of you join the resistance without realizing you were risking your life and the lives of everyone connected to you? Because you’re in the wrong line of work if you did.”
“Dammit, man, I’ve got a family!” the usually soft-spoken innkeeper thundered. Bran looked as taken aback at his outburst as anybody else. He lowered his head, collected himself, then went on in a voice once again calm. “I’ve five children and a wife to look out for, haven’t I? You may have nothing left to lose, Graf, but we do. You wouldn’t be so quick to throw it all away if you did.”
Roark felt his lips pulling up in a contemptuous snarl. He pushed down the sudden urge to leap across the table and punch Bran’s teeth into the back of his skull.
“You all feel this way?” His dark eyes slid from face to face in the green-lit war room, seeing nothing but fear and weakness reflected back at him.
One by one, the so-called rebels lowered their eyes or glared back at him as if he were the one who couldn’t understand.
“Cowards,” he spat. “If you aren’t ready to risk everything to free your people, then you don’t deserve to call yourselves T’verzet. When the right opportunity presents itself, you can’t hold anything back.”
Unable to look at them for a second longer, Roark turned on his heel and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
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Books by Shadow Alley Press
LitRPG
Rogue Dungeon: The Rogue Dungeon Series (Book 1)
Civil War: The Rogue Dungeon Series (Book 2)
Troll Nation: The Rogue Dungeon Series (Book 3)
Rogue Evolution: The Rogue Dungeon Series (Book 4)
Zero.Hero 1
Zero.Hero 2
Inheritance: The Last Enclave Book 1
Redemption: The Last Enclave Book 2
A Snake’s Life: A Snake’s Life Book 1
A Snake’s Path: A Snake’s Life Book 2
Dungeon Heart: The Singing Mountain
Black Dawn: Fae Nexus Book 1
Shadowcroft Academy for Dungeons: Year One
Viridian Gate Online (LitRPG)
Viridian Gate Online: Cataclysm (Book 1)
Viridian Gate Online: Crimson Alliance (Book 2)
Viridian Gate Online: The Jade Lord (Book 3)
Viridian Gate Online: Imperial Legion (Book 4)
Viridian Gate Online: The Lich Priest (Book 5)
Viridian Gate Online: Doom Forge (Book 6)
Viridian Gate Online: Darkling Siege (Book 7)
Viridian Gate Online: Side Quests (Anthology)
Viridian Gate Online: The Artificer (Imperial Initiative 1)
Viridian Gate Online: Nomad Soul (The Illusionist Book 1)
Viridian Gate Online: Dead Man’s Tide (The Illusionist Book 2)
Viridian Gate Online: Inquisitor’s Foil (The Illusionist Book 3)
Viridian Gate Online: Firebrand (The Firebrand Book 1)
Viridian Gate Online: Embers of Rebellion (The Firebrand Book 2)
Viridian Gate Online: Path of the Blood Phoenix (The Firebrand Book 3)
Viridian Gate Online: Vindication (The Alchemic Weaponeer Book 1)
Viridian Gate Online: Absolution (The Alchemic Weaponeer Book 2)
Viridian Gate Online: Insurrection (The Alchemic Weaponeer Book 3)
Cultivation
Darkening Skies (Path of the Thunderbird Book 1)
Stone Soul (Path of the Thunderbird Book 2)
Demon Beast (Path of the Thunderbird Book 3)
Hollow Core (School of Swords and Serpents Book 1)
Eclipse Core (School of Swords and Serpents Book 2)
Chaos Core (School of Swords and Serpents Book 3)
Burning Core (School of Swords and Serpents Book 4)
Infinite Core (School of Swords and Serpents Book 5)
Eternal Core (School of Swords and Serpents Book 6)
The Elements: Silver Coin Saga Book 1
Death Cultivator Book 1
Death Cultivator Book 2
Tokyo Blood Magic (Shinjuku Shadows Book 1)
Foundations: Bastion Academy Book 1
Sages of the Underpass (Battle Artists Book 1)
Shadowbound: Ghostlight Academy Book 1
Urban Fantasy
Strange Magic (Yancy Lazarus Episode One)
Cold Hearted (Yancy Lazarus Episode Two)
Flashback: Siren Song (Yancy Lazarus Episode 2.5)