King Croenert of Toom bought dung for his fields to make the grass grow deeper.
But found one day that warlords in gray would sell their sons far cheaper.
–Nursery rhyme alluding to King Croenert, who hired cheap mercenaries from Internook to attack Lonnock
In South Crowthen, King Anders had been entertaining guests all night.
Among them were a dozen fierce old warlords from Internook with their sealskin capes and horned helms. They’d sailed on ships painted like gray serpents, and the smell of sea salt clung to their beards. Their silver-gold hair was braided; the wind had burned their faces raw.
Any lord but Anders would have sought to buy their loyalty. The warlords of Internook were notoriously cheap. But Anders offered no money.
He merely filled them with strong drink and tales of the treachery of Gaborn Val Orden. By midnight they were pounding the wooden tables with their silver mugs and shouting for the boy’s head. To celebrate their decision, they killed a hog and dyed their braids in blood, then painted their faces with streaks of green, yellow, and blue. They’d take no pay for their services other than the spoils of war.
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