Mark Lawrence - Road Brothers

Harper Voyager

an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in ebook in Great Britain by Harper Voyager 2017

Copyright © Mark Lawrence

Map © Andrew Ashton

Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2020

Cover illustration © Jason Chan

Mark Lawrence asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008221386

Ebook Edition © September 2017 ISBN: 9780008221393

Version: 2020-07-15

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Copyright Copyright Map Introduction A Rescue Sleeping Beauty Bad Seed The Nature of the Beast The Weight of Command Select Mode Mercy A Good Name Choices No other Troy The Secret Escape Know Thyself Three is the Charm Keep Reading … Acknowledgements Also by Mark Lawrence About the Author About the Publisher Harper Voyager an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in ebook in Great Britain by Harper Voyager 2017 Copyright © Mark Lawrence Map © Andrew Ashton Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2020 Cover illustration © Jason Chan Mark Lawrence asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library. This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Source ISBN: 9780008221386 Ebook Edition © September 2017 ISBN: 9780008221393 Version: 2020-07-15

Map Map

Introduction Introduction I learned most of what I know about writing from writing short stories. They’re a great place to practise the art. They are also a fine means by which to revisit a character or a world, illuminating a corner of the original tale that perhaps deserves more attention. In addition, they can be used to look back over the years, allowing us to see how our heroes and villains … well mainly villains if we’re honest … came to be where we found them and what shaped them along the way. The stories in this anthology were written over the space of a few years, mostly for other projects. They offer a mix of murder, mayhem, pathos, and philosophy, and stand on their own without the need to have read the books that inspired them. The events occur before or around the edges of those described in the Broken Empire trilogy and will contain a variety of spoilers. I hope you’ll enjoy dipping into the lives of Jorg and his brothers one more time. It was a grand tale and I was sorry to leave it behind. Mark Lawrence Bristol, 2017 Oh, and I’ve added a brief footnote at the end of each story … because I wanted to!

A Rescue

Sleeping Beauty

Bad Seed

The Nature of the Beast

The Weight of Command

Select Mode

Mercy

A Good Name

Choices

No other Troy

The Secret

Escape

Know Thyself

Three is the Charm

Keep Reading …

Acknowledgements

Also by Mark Lawrence

About the Author

About the Publisher

I learned most of what I know about writing from writing short stories. They’re a great place to practise the art. They are also a fine means by which to revisit a character or a world, illuminating a corner of the original tale that perhaps deserves more attention. In addition, they can be used to look back over the years, allowing us to see how our heroes and villains … well mainly villains if we’re honest … came to be where we found them and what shaped them along the way.

The stories in this anthology were written over the space of a few years, mostly for other projects. They offer a mix of murder, mayhem, pathos, and philosophy, and stand on their own without the need to have read the books that inspired them. The events occur before or around the edges of those described in the Broken Empire trilogy and will contain a variety of spoilers.

I hope you’ll enjoy dipping into the lives of Jorg and his brothers one more time. It was a grand tale and I was sorry to leave it behind.

Mark Lawrence

Bristol, 2017

Oh, and I’ve added a brief footnote at the end of each story … because I wanted to!

‘I spent a year hunting down the men who burned my home. I followed them across three nations.’

‘I see.’ The old man laid down his quill and looked up across the desk at Makin.

Makin returned the stare. The king’s man had a long white beard, no wider than his narrow chin and reaching down across his chest to coil on the desk before him. He’d asked no question but Makin felt the need to answer.

‘I wanted them to pay for the lives of my wife and my child.’ Even now the anger rose in him, a sharpness twitching his hands towards violence, a yammering in his ears that made him want to shout.

‘And did it help?’ Lundist studied him with dark eyes.

The guards had told Makin the man had journeyed from the Utter East and King Olidan had hired him to tutor his children, but it seemed his duties extended further than that.