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Poley and Moody are men of the same stamp: players in the secret theatre, provokers of sedition, pledgers of false vows.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n The Reckoning<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Charles Nicholl<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Poley leaned back casually. He realized that there was a part of him that had been expecting this or something like this. He reached out, picked up his mug, took a leisurely sip, then put it back down. His mind completely bent towards the smiling man sitting across from him, as if everyone else in the tap room had ceased to exist for the moment. He\u2019d felt the same in similar situations, events balancing on the knife edge, the utmost effort required for success. He kept his voice mild. \u201cWhy would you do something like that? You know well enough that I can have you up on a treason charge, Michael.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Moody\u2019s smile never even flickered. \u201cI am a man of many talents, Bob. Many talents indeed, and I deserve to be compensated for each and every one of them. Them as compensate me the best are them that get the benefit of my talents.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Poley\u2019s sigh was unfeigned. \u201cBlood of Christ, Michael. Coin and praise? That\u2019s why you\u2019re going to see your cods on a plate before they let you die screaming? During your time in the Tower you\u2019ve seen it done; you know how bad a way to die that is.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s not going to be my death.\u201d Moody shrugged. \u201cI know that my talents will keep me from the axe and block.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd I\u2019ll wager that most of them that died there thought the same fucking thing.\u201d Poley changed his tone. \u201cYou\u2019re right about your talents, though. When you and I worked together on the Babington Plot, I thought that you were the best intelligencer I\u2019d ever worked with. And by the end, with all those traitors snared and gathered up, I knew that you were. You were a perfect instrument of intelligence. And now you\u2019re here, bragging that you\u2019ve betrayed me. Now you\u2019re a broken instrument that I\u2019ll never use again. What a waste you are, Michael.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Moody\u2019s smile never wavered. He rolled his hand, essaying a partial bow while remaining seated. \u201cYou\u2019ll turn my head with all these compliments, Bob, if I\u2019m not careful. And please don\u2019t hold yourself waiting for similar words from me. In point of fact, I\u2019ve never been too impressed by you. Case in point, right now, since you seem too dull to grasp it. I\u2019m not bragging. I\u2019m offering.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And that was the sound of a key clicking in the lock that Poley had been waiting for. \u201cYou see that big bastard over there?\u201d Poley nodded in the direction of Ralph, who was standing at the bar talking with Kate while keeping an eye on Poley and Moody. \u201cWhat if I call him over and have him take what you\u2019re offering? He can rip you apart like a capon fresh off the spit and you\u2019ll beg to tell all you know. We\u2019ve both seen that happen and we both know that you\u2019d tell in the end.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Moody shrugged dismissively. \u201cOf a certainty. I\u2019m no martyr like that fucker Campion to go to death racked and silent. I\u2019d talk in the end, you\u2019re right. But I know that I could hold out long enough for Owen\u2019s agents to take Nick and all the secrets he\u2019s holding. And you\u2019d be left with fuck all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNot bad. You seem to have it all thought it out. And, truth be told, I do have enough coin to pay you. Look around you, would I be running an operation like this if I didn\u2019t have coin and backing?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTrue enough. I see men coming and going. I see that you\u2019ve got that northern git Barnstable in your pocket. And, in the end, I\u2019d like to be able to call England home. I see those poor bastards that Owen has working for him. They\u2019re going to die and be buried in foreign lands and never really come home.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI never took you for such a romantic, Michael. So what do you want in return for delivering Nick to me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Moody leaned forward intently, all playfulness gone. \u201cYou give me -\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And then things happened fast.<\/span><\/p>\n The door slammed back and Ollie Streight came through, dripping blood from a couple of places. He made right for Poley. Before Ollie had even cleared the door, Ralph had broken off talking to Kate and was standing in front of Poley\u2019s table. A blade dropped into Ollie\u2019s hand. \u201cYou\u2019re getting the fuck out of my way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Poley got out of his chair so quick, it fell over, the clatter loud in the suddenly silent room. He moved up beside Ralph. \u201cWhat\u2019s happened?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe got jumped. They took Meg and your man.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Poley and Moody are men of the same stamp: players in the secret theatre, provokers of sedition, pledgers of false vows. The Reckoning Charles Nicholl Poley leaned back casually. He realized that there was a part of him that had been expecting this or something like this. He reached out, picked up his mug, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":311,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309\/revisions\/311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}