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Wylder smiled. “And another and another.”
“All of them friends of yours, no doubt.”
“And one of them will take out your damned prince,” agreed Wylder. “You can’t stop it.”
Nicolo lowered his blade. “Can I not?”
“Father!”
The cry came from behind me and I turned around to see Whitethorn and two of the guards holding a woman and a pair of boys with knives to their throats.
One look at Wylder’s face as he lurched up and off the ground told me who these people were; his wife and children.
“What are you doing?” Wylder demanded.
Nicolo shrugged. “I should have thought that was obvious. I’m taking your family hostage.”
“What good will that…?”
“If I kill you,” Nicolo interrupted, “then I have rid the Gath of one traitor. But, as you say, there are plenty more. All friends of yours. So now it’s up to you.” He glared down at Wylder. “Your family will be safe and secure in the Great Castle, so long as all attempts on the prince’s life cease. But if you, or any one of your treacherous allies makes a move against Prince Balduin, then I will personally slit their throats.” He paused to let this information sink into the horrified Wylder. “I assume I can trust you to spread the word.”
“You damned bastard!” Wylder spat into Nicolo’s face. “You call yourself a gentleman?!”
Nicolo shrugged. “I’m a loyal servant of his Highness and there is nothing I won’t do to keep him safe.” He took a breath. “Besides, a man who employs assassins should be careful how he uses the word ‘gentleman’.” He turned to Whitethorn. “Take them away.”
Even I was shocked, and I tried to block out the cries of Wylder’s wife and children as the guards dragged them off. But the look on Wylder’s face was worse, it was as if his world had caved in on top of him. He levelled his gaze at Nicolo once more.
“When I come for you, expect no mercy.”
Nicolo shook his head. “I never do. Regardless, you’re stripped of your title and banished from the Gath. If you are found within the Castle Complex then… Well, I don’t have to tell you the consequences, do I?”
Wylder’s head dropped to his chest, a broken man. He’d lost everything that mattered to him and his cause lay in tatters. If he or anyone else moved against Balduin now, then the lives of his family were forfeit. Rather than working to take down the prince, he was now forced to spend time begging everyone he knew to cancel their own crusades.
“Come on,” Nicolo instructed as he walked past me, turning his back on former Duke Wylder. “We’ve a long ride ahead of us.”
The stories of ‘The Terrible’ came back to me on the ride home. I’d dismissed many of them as rumor and hearsay, but now I’d seen firsthand just how ruthless he could be when the situation demanded it.
I couldn’t help but wonder if this whole thing had been fueled by his own selfishness. After all, Nicolo’s own survival depended on Balduin and so he’d protected himself by protecting his friend. He’d done what it took. It was a sort of bloodless pragmatism that made me question everything I knew about the man and everything I unwillingly felt for him, further confusing my already confused emotions.
***
And yet…
When we returned to the Great Castle, Nicolo took charge of the family of Duke Wylder, leading them, not to the dungeons, but to the Lay House, the same building where I lived. They were to be treated as guests, not prisoners and, though they would be under constant guard and locked in their rooms by night, Nicolo laid out terrible consequences for any guard who mistreated them in any way. His words would be obeyed, because everyone knew what he was capable of.
Nothing was ever simple with Master Nicolo, he remained a complex and enigmatic man. He had taken harsh measures to protect his friend, but he wouldn’t treat the Wylder family harshly just because he could. He had simply done what was needed.
Did that make him a good person? Or did it make him even more dangerous?
