Aaron D'Este

Jeffers stretched up on his toes to see the back of the mob, __ut James, we__e doing all this for you... We need this gold to build a united Alba. We need it to fund an army and to forge decisive leadership._ His voice was almost plaintive. __e want to hand your generation a real empire rather than just a loose collection of competing Families. We want to give you the foundations to achieve glory! What could possibly be wrong with that?___ubbish!_ cried Tristan, not about to let honey-coated nonsense dissolve the glue that bound his army. __bsolute codswallop!_ he let his calm facade slip for the first time that day. __hat you__e actually trying to do is to build a legacy that you don__ deserve! You want to swan around as an armchair General for the next twenty years while your precious army strives and dies for hollow victories that do nothing more than feed your ego! And do you know who strives and dies in this picture?_ He waved one arm at the figures behind him. __e do! We here in this alley, along with other young men and women just like us!__ristan watched Jeffers from the corner of his eye, as he shook his fist towards deGroot, __ell we__e not having it! If you want us to fight and die, then we__e going to fight now, and we__e going to fight you! So come on down deGroot and take a swing!

It wasn__ like that at all!_ argued the Sleuth, looking around for support. __t was a heroic, selfless act of spectacular bravery! I should be worshipped like a god! Immortalised in song!_ He struck a dramatic pose, __ne man, alone and outnumbered, sacrificed himself for the greater good___mmortalised in song, eh?_ chuckled Mick. __ow about __idiculed in nursery rhymes_?

The thing I can__ figure out,_ Axel turned to gaze directly at the gorgeous Elf. __s how we got drawn into this mess? A week ago we were just boys, bumbling about in our last year of study, and now we__e in the midst of events that will change the course of Alba__ future! How did that happen?_ He tossed his hands in the air and shook his head. __hese are our parents_ battles. This is our parents_ world. They__e supposed to hand over something valuable and precious, not suck us into a scarred and shattered wreck!__arolyn struggled to maintain her composure. She bit her bottom lip until it quivered in pain. __ don__ know how it happened,_ she whispered, shaking her head, feeling guilty and tortured and evil and awful. __t__ not fair though.___ell, we__e in the game now,_ said Axel, as he stared down at the deadly black blade. __nd heaven help all those who stand in our way.

Tristan turned to face the Talon crowd and placed one hand on his own chest, __ur parents think that __ompromise_ is a dirty word, a sign of weakness and neglect. They choose combat over concession every time. They fight for the sake of fighting because in their world,_ and now he pointed out of the room into the distance, __very disagreement has to have a winner and a loser; life can never be a draw.

The sun was late, stuck in heavy mist. When it finally broke free there was no one to see, no one to applaud its sterling effort, because everyone in Freemantle was heading west. The burnt orange blaze of dawn made it look like they were fleeing a fire, but all knew that the real conflagration lay ahead.

Rotten, dirty, back-slapping, wine-quaffing, haemorrhoid-hosting, goat-shagging, fart-sniffing, Crispin-loving, gold-snatching bastards!!!

Mick reached backwards without breaking eye contact and ran his hand across the door behind him, __ee this?_ he said. __his is my door. And no-one is touching my door today._ He shook his head slowly as if the issue wasn__ even up for debate.Surle said nothing, just stared.Mick swung his sword lazily, pointing towards the floor between himself and the infamous Marshal, __ee this floor here? This floor is my porch,_ he said. __nd no-one is welcome on my porch today, especially you.__till nothing from Surle, just silence.__o why don__ you just sod off like a good little lackey?

In an ideal world, he__ simply scrape the surface of his bottomless courage, carelessly slip off his horse, scratch his massive balls, and then stroll over to the Lair in his own good time. But this wasn__ an ideal world, Rawley__ courage reservoir was barely a puddle, and at that particular moment he had precious little below the belt worth scratching!