A Man Rides Through By Stephen R Donaldson.pdf →

He was a man who had once believed in oaths. Now he believed in silence.

“You burned my village,” Herric said. His voice was flat. Not angry. Angry was for men who still had hope. a man rides through by stephen r donaldson.pdf

He had been fourteen when they gave him that brand. A page in the Duke’s household, eager and stupid, believing that service to power was the same as service to justice. He had learned otherwise the night the Duke ordered him to hold a torch while a debtor’s hands were broken, finger by finger. Herric had dropped the torch. The Duke had smiled and said, “You’ll learn, boy. Pain is the only teacher that never lies.” He was a man who had once believed in oaths

“I swore an oath to protect the Marche. Not to serve your cruelty.” His voice was flat

The water was thigh-high and cold enough to stop a lesser man’s heart. Herric waded through it in the dark, his sword held above his head, his breath coming in short, controlled gasps. The tunnel smelled of rust and rot. Twice he slipped on algae-slicked stones. Twice he caught himself before the current could sweep him over the falls.

“This is not an oath,” Herric said. “It is a scar. And scars can be cut away.”

The Duke set down his goblet. For the first time, something flickered behind his eyes. Not fear, exactly. Recognition. The recognition of a man seeing a force he had miscalculated.