{"id":109,"date":"2026-01-03T20:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T20:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/the-age-of-madness-02-the-trouble-with-peace-abercrombie-joe\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T20:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T20:22:14","slug":"the-age-of-madness-02-the-trouble-with-peace-abercrombie-joe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/the-age-of-madness-02-the-trouble-with-peace-abercrombie-joe\/","title":{"rendered":"The Age of Madness 02 – The Trouble with Peace – Abercrombie, Joe"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Book Preview<\/h3>\n
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The World\u2019s Wrongs<\/h1>\n

\u201cI<\/span> hope no one minds if we dispense with this for now?\u201d Orso tossed his circlet down, gold twinkling in a dusty shaft of spring sunlight as it spun around and around. \u201cDamn thing chafes rather.\u201d He rubbed at the sore spots it had left above his temples. There was a metaphor there somewhere. The burden of power, the weight of a crown. But his Closed Council had no doubt heard all that before.<\/p>\n

The moment he sat they began to drag out their own chairs, wincing as old backs bent, grunting as old arses settled on hard wood, grumbling as old knees were eased under the tottering heaps of paper on the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s the surveyor general?\u201d someone asked, nodding at an empty chair.<\/p>\n

\u201cOut with his bladder.\u201d There was a chorus of groans.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne can win a thousand battles.\u201d Lord Marshal Brint worried at that lady\u2019s ring on his little finger, gazing into the middle distance as though at an opposing army. \u201cBut in the end, no man can defeat his own bladder.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the youngest in the room by some thirty years, Orso ranked his bladder among his least interesting organs. \u201cOne issue before we begin,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

All eyes turned towards him. Apart from those of Bayaz, down at the foot of the table. The legendary wizard continued to gaze out of the window, towards the palace gardens which were just beginning to bud.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am set on making a grand tour of the Union.\u201d Orso did his best to sound authoritative. Regal, even. \u201cTo visit every province. Every major city. When was the last time a monarch visited Starikland? Did my father ever go?\u201d<\/p>\n

Arch Lector Glokta grimaced. Even more than usual. \u201cStarikland was not considered safe, Your Majesty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStarikland has always been afflicted with a restless temper.\u201d Lord Chancellor Gorodets was absently smoothing his long beard into a point, fluffing it up, then smoothing it again. \u201cNow more than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I have to connect with the people<\/em>.\u201d Orso thumped the table to give it emphasis. They needed some feeling<\/em> in here. Everything in the White Chamber was cold, dry, bloodless calculation. \u201cShow them we\u2019re all part of the same great endeavour. The same family<\/em>. It\u2019s supposed to be a Union, isn\u2019t it? We need to bloody unite<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orso had never wanted to be king. He enjoyed it even less than being crown prince, if that was possible. But now that he was<\/em> king, he was determined to do some good with it.<\/p>\n

Lord Chamberlain Hoff tapped at the table in limp applause. \u201cA wonderful<\/em> idea, Your Majesty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWonderful,\u201d echoed High Justice Bruckel, who had the conversational style of a woodpecker and a beak not dissimilar. \u201cIdea.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNoble sentiments, well expressed,\u201d agreed Gorodets, though his appreciation did not quite reach his eyes.<\/p>\n

One old man fussed with some papers. Another frowned into his wine as though something had died in it. Gorodets was still stroking his beard, but now looked as if he could taste piss.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut?\u201d Orso was learning that in the Closed Council there was always at least one but<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut\u2026\u201d Hoff glanced to Bayaz, who gave permission with the slightest nod. \u201cIt might be best to wait for a more auspicious<\/em> moment. A more settled<\/em> time. There are so many challenges here<\/em> which require Your Majesty\u2019s attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

The high justice puffed out a heavy breath. \u201cMany. Challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orso delivered something between a growl and a sigh. His father had always despised the White Chamber and its hard, stark chairs. Despised the hard, stark men who sat on them. He had warned Orso that no good was ever done in the Closed Council. But if not here, where? This cramped, stuffy, featureless little room was where the power lay. \u201cAre you suggesting the machinery of government would grind to a halt without me?\u201d he asked. \u201cI think you over-sugar the pudding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are issues the monarch must be seen<\/em> to attend to,\u201d said Glokta. \u201cThe Breakers were dealt a crippling blow in Valbeck.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA hard task well done, Your Majesty,\u201d Hoff drooled out, with cloying sycophancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut they are far from eradicated. And those that escaped have become\u2026 even more extreme in their opinions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDisruption among the workers.\u201d High Justice Bruckel rapidly shook his bony head. \u201cStrikes. Organising. Attacks on staff and property.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the damn pamphlets<\/em>,\u201d said Brint, to a collective groan.<\/p>\n

\u201cDamn. Pamphlets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUsed to think education was merely wasted on the commoners. Now I say it\u2019s a positive danger<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bloody Weaver can turn a phrase.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot to mention an obscene etching.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey incite the populace to disobedience!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo disaffection!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey talk of a Great Change<\/em> coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

A flurry of twitches ran up the left side of Glokta\u2019s wasted face. \u201cThey blame the Open Council.\u201d And published caricatures of them as pigs fighting over the trough. \u201cThey blame the Closed Council.\u201d And published caricatures of them fucking each other. \u201cThey blame His Majesty.\u201d And published caricatures of him fucking anything. \u201cThey blame the banks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey promote the ridiculous rumour that the debt\u2026 to the Banking House of Valint and Balk\u2026 has crippled the state\u2026\u201d Gorodets trailed off, leaving the room in nervous silence.<\/p>\n

Bayaz finally tore his hard, green eyes from the window to glare down the table. \u201cThis flood of disinformation must be stemmed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have destroyed a dozen presses,\u201d grated Glokta, \u201cbut they build new ones, and smaller all the time. Now any fool can write<\/em>, and print<\/em>, and air their opinions<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cProgress,\u201d lamented Bruckel, rolling his eyes to the ceiling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Breakers are like bloody moles in a garden,\u201d growled Lord Marshal Rucksted, who had turned his chair slightly sideways-on to give an impression of fearless dash. \u201cYou kill five, pour a celebratory glass, then in the morning your lawn\u2019s covered in new bloody molehills.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMore irritating than my bladder,\u201d said Brint, to widespread chuckling.<\/p>\n

Glokta sucked at his empty gums with a faint squelch. \u201cAnd then there are the Burners.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLunatics!\u201d snapped Hoff. \u201cThis woman Judge<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shudders of distaste about the table. At the notion of such a thing as a woman, or at the notion of this particular one, it was hard to say.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hear a mill owner was found murdered on the road to Keln.\u201d Gorodets gave his beard a particularly violent tug. \u201cA pamphlet nailed<\/em> to his face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rucksted clasped his big fists on the table. \u201cAnd there was that fellow choked to death with a thousand copies of the rule-sheet he distributed to his employees\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne might almost say our approach has made matters worse,\u201d observed Orso. A memory of Malmer drifted up, legs dangling from his cage as it swung with the breeze. \u201cPerhaps we could make some gesture. A minimum wage? Improved working conditions? I heard a recent fire in a mill led to the deaths of fifteen child workers\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be folly,\u201d said Bayaz, his attention already back on the gardens, \u201cto obstruct the free operation of the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe market serves the interests of all,\u201d offered the lord chancellor.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnprecedented,\u201d agreed the high justice. \u201cProsperity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo doubt the child workers would applaud it,\u201d said Orso.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo doubt,\u201d agreed Lord Hoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad they not been burned to death.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA ladder is of no use if all the rungs are at the top,\u201d said Bayaz.<\/p>\n

Orso opened his mouth to retort but High Consul Matstringer got in first. \u201cAnd we face a veritable cornucopia of adversaries overseas.\u201d The coordinator of the Union\u2019s foreign policy had never yet failed to confuse complexity with insight. \u201cThe Gurkish may still be embroiled in all-encompassing predicaments of their own\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Bayaz gave a rare grunt of satisfaction at that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the Imperials endlessly rattle their swords on our western border, exhorting the populace of Starikland to continued disloyalty, and the Styrians are emboldened in the east.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are building up their navy<\/em>.\u201d Lord Admiral Krepskin roused himself for a heavy-lidded interjection. \u201cNew ships. Armed with cannon. While ours rot<\/em> in their docks for lack of investment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bayaz gave a familiar grunt of dissatisfaction at that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd they are busy in the shadows,\u201d went on Matstringer, \u201csowing discord in Westport, enticing the Aldermen to sedition. Why, they have succeeded in scheduling a vote within the month which could see the city secede from the Union!\u201d<\/p>\n

The old men competed to display the most patriotic outrage. It was enough to make Orso want to secede from the Union himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cDisloyalty,\u201d grumbled the high justice. \u201cDiscord.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBloody Styrians!\u201d snarled Rucksted. \u201cLove to work in the shadows.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can work there, too,\u201d said Glokta softly, in a manner that made the hairs prickle beneath Orso\u2019s braid-heavy uniform. \u201cSome of my very best people are even now ensuring Westport\u2019s loyalty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least our northern border is secure,\u201d said Orso, desperate to inject some optimism.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell\u2026\u201d The high consul crushed his hopes with a prim pursing of the mouth. \u201cThe politics of the North are always something of a cauldron. The Dogman is advanced in years. Infirm. No man can divine the fate of his Protectorate in the event of his death. Lord Governor Brock would appear to have forged a strong bond with the new King of the Northmen, Stour Nightfall\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat has<\/em> to be a good thing,\u201d said Orso.<\/p>\n

Doubtful glances were traded across the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless their bond becomes\u2026 too<\/em> strong,\u201d murmured Glokta.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe young Lord Governor is popular,\u201d agreed Gorodets.<\/p>\n

\u201cDamned,\u201d pecked the high justice. \u201cPopular.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHandsome lad,\u201d said Brint. \u201cAnd he\u2019s earned a warrior\u2019s reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAngland behind him. Stour as an ally. Could be a threat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rucksted raised his bushy brows very high. \u201cHis grandfather, lest we forget, was an infamous bloody traitor!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will not see a man condemned for the actions of his grandfather!\u201d snapped Orso, whose own grandfathers had enjoyed mixed reputations, to say the least. \u201cLeo dan Brock risked his life fighting a duel on my behalf!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe job of your Closed Council,\u201d said Glokta, \u201cis to anticipate threats to Your Majesty before they become threats.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter may be too late,\u201d threw in Bayaz.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are\u2026 discomfited by the death of your father,\u201d said Gorodets. \u201cSo young. So unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung. Unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you, Your Majesty, are\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDespised?\u201d offered Orso.<\/p>\n

Gorodets gave an indulgent smile. \u201cUntried.<\/em> At times like this, people yearn for stability.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed. It would without doubt be a very fine thing if Your Majesty were\u2026\u201d Lord Hoff cleared his throat. \u201cTo marry?\u201d<\/p>\n

Orso closed his eyes and pressed finger and thumb against them. \u201cMust we?\u201d Marriage was the last thing he wanted to discuss. He still had Savine\u2019s note in a drawer beside his bed. Still looked at that brutal little line every evening, as one might pick at a scab. My answer must be no. I would ask you not to contact me again. Ever.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hoff cleared his throat once more. \u201cA new king always finds himself in an uncertain position.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA king with no heir, doubly so,\u201d said Glokta.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe absence of clear succession gives a troubling impression of impermanence,\u201d observed Matstringer.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps with the help of Her Majesty your mother, I might draw up a list of eligible ladies, both at home and abroad?\u201d Hoff cleared his throat yet a third time. \u201cA new<\/em> list\u2026 that is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy all means,\u201d growled Orso, pronouncing each word with cutting precision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen there is Fedor dan Wetterlant,\u201d murmured the high justice.<\/p>\n

Glokta\u2019s permanent grimace became even further contorted. \u201cI hoped we might settle that matter without bothering His Majesty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m bothered now,\u201d snapped Orso. \u201cFedor dan Wetterlant\u2026 didn\u2019t I play cards with him once?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe lived in Adua before inheriting the family estate. His reputation here was\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost as bad as mine?\u201d Orso remembered the man. Soft face but hard eyes. Smiled too much. Just like Lord Hoff, who was even now breaking out a particularly unctuous example.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was going to say abominable<\/em>, Your Majesty. He stands accused of serious crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe raped a laundry woman,\u201d said Glokta, \u201cwith the assistance of his groundskeeper. When her husband demanded justice, Wetterlant murdered the man, again with the groundskeeper\u2019s assistance. In a tavern. In full view of seventeen witnesses.\u201d The emotionless quality of the Arch Lector\u2019s grating voice only served to sicken Orso even more. \u201cThen he had a drink. The groundskeeper poured, I believe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBloody hell,\u201d whispered Orso.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are the accusations<\/em>,\u201d said Matstringer.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven Wetterlant scarcely disputes them,\u201d said Glokta.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis mother does,\u201d observed Gorodets.<\/p>\n

There was a chorus of groans. \u201cLady Wetterlant, by the Fates, what a battleaxe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolute. Harridan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I\u2019m no admirer of hangings,\u201d said Orso, \u201cbut I\u2019ve seen men hanged for far less.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe groundskeeper already has been,\u201d said Glokta.<\/p>\n

\u201cShame,\u201d grunted Brint with heavy irony, \u201che sounded like a real charmer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Wetterlant has asked for the king\u2019s justice,\u201d said Bruckel.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis mother has demanded it!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd since he has a seat on the Open Council\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot that his arse has ever touched it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2014he has the right to be tried before his peers. With Your Majesty as the judge. We cannot refuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we can delay,\u201d said Glokta. \u201cThe Open Council may not excel at much, but in delay it leads the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPostpone. Defer. Adjourn. I can wrap him up. In form and procedure. Until he dies in prison.\u201d And the high justice smiled as though that was the ideal solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just deny him a hearing?\u201d Orso was almost as disgusted by that option as by the crime itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course not,\u201d said Bruckel.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no,\u201d said Gorodets. \u201cWe would not deny him anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d simply never give him anything,\u201d said Glokta.<\/p>\n

Rucksted nodded. \u201cI hardly think Fedor dan bloody Wetterlant or his bloody mother should be allowed to hold a dagger to the throat of the state simply because he can\u2019t control himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe could at least lose control of himself in the absence of seventeen witnesses,\u201d observed Gorodets, and there was some light laughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s not the rape or the murder we object to,\u201d asked Orso, \u201cbut his being caught doing it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoff peered at the other councillors, as though wondering whether anyone might disagree. \u201cWell\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy should I not just hear the case, and judge it on its merits, and settle it one way or another?\u201d<\/p>\n

Glokta\u2019s grimace twisted still further. \u201cYour Majesty cannot judge the case without being seen to take sides.\u201d The old men nodded, grunted, shifted unhappily in their uncomfortable chairs. \u201cFind Wetterlant innocent, it will be nepotism, and favouritism, and will strengthen the hand of those traitors like the Breakers who would turn the common folk against you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut find Wetterlant guilty\u2026\u201d Gorodets tugged unhappily at his beard and the old men grumbled more dismay. \u201cThe nobles would see it as an affront, as an attack, as a betrayal. It would embolden those who oppose you in the Open Council at a time when we are trying to ensure a smooth succession.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems sometimes,\u201d snapped Orso, rubbing at those sore spots above his temples, \u201cthat every decision I make in this chamber is between two equally bad outcomes, with the best option to make no decision at all!\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoff glanced about the table again. \u201cWell\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is always<\/em> a bad idea,\u201d said the First of the Magi, \u201cfor a king to choose sides.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everyone nodded as though they had been treated to the most profound statement of all time. It was a wonder they did not rise and give a standing ovation. Orso was left in no doubt at which end of the table the power in the White Chamber truly lay. He remembered the look on his father\u2019s face as Bayaz spoke. The fear<\/em>. He made one more effort to claw his way towards his best guess at the right thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cJustice should be done. Shouldn\u2019t it? Justice must be seen to be done. Surely! Otherwise\u2026 well\u2026 it\u2019s not justice at all. Is it?\u201d<\/p>\n

High Justice Bruckel bared his teeth as if in physical pain. \u201cAt this level. Your Majesty. Such concepts become\u2026 fluid. Justice cannot be stiff like iron, but\u2026 more of a jelly<\/em>. It must mould itself. About the greater concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut\u2026 surely at this level, at the highest<\/em> level, is where justice must be at its most firm. There must be a moral bedrock! It cannot all be\u2026 expediency?\u201d<\/p>\n

Exasperated, Hoff looked towards the foot of the table. \u201cLord Bayaz, perhaps you might\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The First of the Magi gave a weary sigh as he sat forward, hands clasped, regarding Orso from beneath heavy lids. The sigh of a veteran schoolmaster, called on once again to explain the basics to this year\u2019s harvest of dunces.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour Majesty, we are not here to set right all the world\u2019s wrongs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orso stared back at him. \u201cWhat are<\/em> we here for, then?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bayaz neither smiled nor frowned. \u201cTo ensure that we benefit from them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Book Preview The World\u2019s Wrongs \u201cI hope no one minds if we dispense with this for now?\u201d Orso tossed his circlet down, gold twinkling in a dusty shaft of spring sunlight as it spun around and around. \u201cDamn thing chafes rather.\u201d He rubbed at the sore spots it had left above his temples. There was … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-joe-abercrombie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}