The Traitor (The Covenant of Steel #3)

by Anthony Ryan

Dedicated to the memory of the late David Gemmell from whom I learned the lesson that the hero’s journey is always more tragedy than triumph.

“Cynicism is not wisdom, merely an excuse to watch the world burn when you should be helping to quench the flames.”

And so are paths chosen in life when we confront a crossroads. Ever, it is the easier road we tread, the one that promises familiarity, continuance, love.

I have come to understand that there is a madness lurking in the hearts of most people, a beast waiting to be unleashed when presented with defenceless prey and the absence of consequences.

My anger mounted once again, stoked by the sense of being controlled by another’s will; a puppet forever dancing to her hand on the strings.

A singular lesson I’ve learned is that, if there is one thing that unites humanity, it’s catastrophe.”

It is often opined by the lazy of mind that love and hate are but two edges of the same blade. I tend to think of them as the same sea but with an ever-changing coastline. In the good days the waves wash gently on sun-kissed beaches beneath cloudless azure skies. When strife inevitably arrives, they pound and roil against rocky inlets and sheer, rain-lashed cliffs. Sometimes, calm will be restored, sometimes not.