Retribution Falls - Chris Wooding [160]
Grephen had begun to sweat, his limp hair becoming lank. He looked to Gallian Thade, but Thade couldn’t help.
“I can answer that,” called Frey. He was still kneeling on the platform, with the executioner standing next to him, Frey’s cutlass held loosely in his hand.
“You be quiet, criminal!” Grephen snapped.
Drave’s eyes narrowed as he looked for the first time at the man who had almost killed him a few weeks earlier. Frey wondered if the malice in that glare would be the death of him or if Drave would give him the chance he needed. For a long instant, Drave said nothing, then he held up a hand.
“Let him speak. I’d like to hear what he has to say.”
Grephen looked nauseous with fear. The guards in their light blue uniforms glanced at one another nervously. They’d thought this would be a simple execution; they realized now that there was much more to it.
“Can I get to my feet?” Frey asked. “My knees are getting kind of sore like this.”
Drave motioned for him to get up. The executioner backed away a step. “Make it quick,” he said. “And make it good. I will get to the bottom of this, but I’ll not lie to you, Darian Frey: I’d like to see you dead as much as anyone.”
Frey got up. All eyes were on him. He was still possessed of that strange sense of calm that had settled on him with the surety of death. It was as if his body couldn’t quite believe there might be a reprieve.
“I’ll keep it simple, then,” he said. “Duke Grephen plans to overthrow the Archduke. He’s being bankrolled by the Awakeners; they want to see the Archduke deposed because of the political measures he and his wife are introducing to limit their power. They know Grephen is devout and that he’ll act favorably toward them once he seizes power.”
“These are lies!” Grephen shouted, but Frey went on anyway.
“The Awakeners don’t have an army, and Grephen doesn’t command enough troops to challenge the Coalition Navy, so between them they’ve raised a force of pirates and freebooters, paid for with Awakener gold. This army is at the hidden port of Retribution Falls, waiting for the signal to move on Thesk and unseat the Archduke. As far as I know, that signal is coming any day now.”
“And what does any of this have to do with the destruction of the Ace of Skulls and the death of Hengar?” Drave asked.
“Hengar’s death was a preliminary. They wanted to be sure there was nobody left for dissenters to rally around. He was the only surviving member of the Arken family who could inherit the title after the Archduke is gone. His secret affair with a Samarlan gave them an opportunity to get him out of the way and make it look like an accident. And Hengar was the popular one; by killing him and then leaking the information about the affair, they made the Archduke’s family look dishonest and immoral. All the better for after the coup, when they could claim it was a revolution to depose a corrupt regime, just like the dukes when they overthrew the monarchy.”
“This is pure fantasy!” Grephen shrieked. “I will not stand here and listen to this slander from a pirate and murderer.”
“I can prove it,” said Frey. “I’ve been to Retribution Falls, and I’ve seen the army that’s waiting there. I know how to find it.” He stared hard into the eyes of Kedmund Drave. “I can take you there.”
Drave stared back at him. “In exchange for a pardon, no doubt.”
“A pardon?” cried the Duke, but was ignored.
“For me and my crew,” Frey said. “The Ace of Skulls was rigged with explosives. Any engineer would tell you it’s nigh on impossible to blow up a craft that size with the guns I have on my craft. We were set up to take the fall for it, so nobody would suspect that it was part of a bigger plot. They hoped we’d be killed before we ever worked out what was going on, so we wouldn’t be able to tell anyone.” He raised his bound hands and pointed across the courtyard. “The setup was Gallian Thade’s doing. He’s in on it too.”
Thade said nothing, but his gaze was murderous.
“You’re going to take his word for what kind of guns he has