Read The Colour of Vengeance for Free Online

being the son of the Grand Inquisitor and...”
    “You know that Inquisitor Heron was killed then?”
    “Of course,” Jacob said, still staring out of the window. “It was all anybody talked about for a long time. She was a heretic, or so I hear. Arbiter Darkheart tried her for heresy himself, without the approval of the Inquisitors. I heard they let him go. Is that true?” He turned to Arbiter Fields to find the man squinting at him.
    “You heard all of that from here?” the Arbiter asked. Jacob didn't answer; he didn't feel the need to. “Hmm. What you may not know is that we recently captured the man known as the Black Thorn.”
    “The thorn in the Inquisition's side. What were you doing to him?”
    “I was treating him, his injuries. He was to stand trial for the murder of six Arbiters. Only he escaped earlier today.” The Arbiter lied, Jacob knew that he lied but he wasn’t sure how much of it was a lie.
    “Which one of them sent you to me?” Jacob asked.
    “What?”
    “You know what I mean, Arbiter. I'm only allowed out of my cage under the direct orders of an Inquisitor. So which one was it?”
    Arbiter Fields grumbled a curse under his breath. Jacob pretended not to hear. “Inquisitor Jeyne.”
    “Ahh. Yes. Inquisitor Jeyne always did have a soft spot for me. I believe he appreciated my directness. You're aware, of course, I don't bring them back alive, Arbiter Fields?”
    “That's why Jeyne ordered me to send you, Jacob. He wants the Black Thorn dead.”
    “And what do you want?”
    “I want you to not make me look bad while you're outside. The Black Thorn escaped only a few hours ago. He is most likely still in the city. We believe he will try to secure passage back to the untamed wilds as a priority. That means the docks are your best chance of catching him.”
    “Thank you, Arbiter. I am well aware of how to hunt.”
    “You're to come straight back here once you are done so...” Arbiter Fields started.
    “So you can lock me back up again.”
    Arbiter Fields swallowed down a reply. Jacob could hear the man's heart beating rapidly, could see the perspiration leaking from his old skin, could smell the fear rising from him. “You're the one that requested the locks on the door, Jacob.”
    Locks on the inside to keep things out. Locks on the outside to keep things in.
    Jacob heard a single note from somewhere. The start of an epic ballad or maybe just a tawdry little ditty. He rarely knew the song, never knew the words, but he had to dance all the same.
    He looked from the Arbiter to the cell door to the small hook that held his Arbiter coat dyed black where most Arbiters' coats were brown. Jacob hopped down from his bed, crossed to the hook that held his coat and reached towards it. His hand stopped just inches from the coat as another note drifted by.
    “This job may have to wait until tomorrow, Arbiter,” Jacob said to the old man, his hand still hovering close to his coat.
    “I don't think it can, Jacob. Every moment is another the Black Thorn could...”
    Jacob turned to look at Arbiter Fields and the old man went pale. A moment later and he was scrabbling out the door to the cell and fumbling to put the key in the locks.
    Jacob took his black Arbiter coat and slipped his arms through the sleeves. The band was just starting to play now. Sounded like a lute and maybe some pipes as well. It was a sad song, full of regret and loss and sadness. It reminded him of Sarah. Jacob started to dance.
Thorn
    “I need ta speak ta ya cap'n,” Betrim said in his harshest rasp.
    “Yeah well I don't reck...” the sailor stopped mid-sentence and froze. “Shit.”
    “Any time, eh.”
    “Right. Yes'sir.” The sailor left the crate he was attending to and ran up the gangplank. A moment later another man's face poked over the railing of the ship, glanced once at Betrim and then disappeared. The Black Thorn waited, smiling to himself.
    The Bloody Bride looked much the same as she always had. A big