Drake Snippets

All The Plagues Of Hell – Snippet 45

All The Plagues Of Hell - Snippet 45 Chapter 24 Milan Francisco had informed his commander that he too was staying in Milan. "I cannot be on hand to see to you if I'm seeing to troop deployments in Brescia. Besides, you have better men than me for that. And you really do need to rest, stick to the diet I have prescribed, and take that vile concoction of mine." He pointed to the cordial he had made up. He was not too sure that it would help, just as he was not too sure what poison had been given to Sforza. It was not, at least as yet, a lethal...

Though Hell Should Bar The Way – Snippet 38

This book is available now so this is the last snippet. Though Hell Should Bar The Way - Snippet 38 * * * Slaves were sold at the top of the swale near the underground prison. There were stone seats and a permanent roof of structural plastic for spectators. There was nothing for the prisoners, unless you counted the tower which mounted an automatic impeller. It was sited on the back side of the bleachers, which struck me as odd until I realized that from this location the muzzle couldn't be lowered enough to bear on the customers. Given the...

Though Hell Should Bar The Way – Snippet 37

Though Hell Should Bar The Way - Snippet 37 CHAPTER 21 I'd say that the lunch with Lal had changed my life, but it really didn't. It just sort of reinforced my plan to keep on doing things the way I was. Particularly about trusting Abram. The worst Giorgios and the Admiral would do if Abram told them I was planning to escape would be to put me in shackles, but if Abram had told them what he'd figured out on his own -- that I was spying on the wives -- my punishment wouldn't have stopped till I was dead. I kept watching the wives, but mostly I...

Though Hell Should Bar The Way – Snippet 36

Though Hell Should Bar The Way - Snippet 36 * * * I was at work on the dry goods accounts, as best as I could. It was a tangled mess, with minimal data entered -- usually a gross amount -- and uncertain dates. At least a third of the entries were identical to the sou to one or more other entries. That didn't necessarily mean they were false, however, because it was the nature of housekeeping expenses to be repetitive. I'd have been right more often than not to say an account was false, though. It's not just that ben Yusuf existed by piracy....

Though Hell Should Bar The Way – Snippet 35

Though Hell Should Bar The Way - Snippet 35 Abram was always working an angle. If you stayed on his good side, you wouldn't find that angle jabbing you in the dark some night. The Admiral had only stayed twenty minutes before going back to the women's wing with his entourage of guards and toadies. None of them were permitted to watch what he was doing at the console. As before, I had Abram shoo the spectators off to a distance, though there hadn't been any reason for that except that I didn't want to be jostled. Less than half of the palace...

Though Hell Should Bar The Way – Snippet 34

Though Hell Should Bar The Way - Snippet 34 CHAPTER 20 I'd thought my first order of business would be to find Abram, but I heard his laugh -- a cheerful bray -- coming up from below several times while Giorgios and I were chatting. I leaned over the gallery railing and saw the boy among the customers at Martial's diner. I could have shouted to him, but walking down the stairs didn't arouse general notice. That didn't necessarily make me safe, but keeping a low profile struck me as the better option. People who randomly whack the heads off...

Though Hell Should Bar The Way – Snippet 33

Though Hell Should Bar The Way - Snippet 33 The woman scampered off. All three were dressed as maids: young enough to be more than that, but too plain for that to seem probable. The two who remained clutched one another's hands and stared at me with a frightened expression. I smiled at them with what I hoped was a friendly face and said, "I'm new here, but your master and I are going to be great friends shortly. I've just come by to get acquainted." They continued to stare like bunnies in the headlights. At least they weren't screaming. It...

Though Hell Should Bar The Way – Snippet 32

Though Hell Should Bar The Way - Snippet 32 CHAPTER 19 That was my introduction to my duties as the chamberlain's assistant. I copied out the food orders and gave them to Giorgios. He would have gone off with them, leaving me on my own, if I hadn't followed him out of the alcove and caught him by the flowing sleeve. "Sir!" I said. "I need somebody to guide me around. Where do I get food? For that matter, where's the latrine?" Giorgios glared at me, but he couldn't pull his tunic away without tearing the fabric. We had an audience, at least a...