A dull roar permeated the bar, making every conversation at every table as private as if the people were talking in their own homes. More private, probably, since a bug planted in the Sump Hole wouldn’t get much more than snippets of conversation.
‘I say we should have kept it,’ said Scabbs.
‘They needed it more than we did,’ replied Yolanda.
‘But I could have worn it,’ said Scabbs. ‘You know, for protection and power.’
‘Aw, you never would have figured it out,’ said Yolanda. She grabbed her bottle of Wildsnake and downed it in one go. She bit the snake in two and spat half of it at Scabbs. It wasn’t Yolanda’s normal method of dealing with the ‘Snake, but spitting seemed suddenly more appealing with Scabbs involved. ‘It’s a complex machine, and you’re, well, you.’
Scabbs wiped the snake off his forehead, causing a cascade of dead skin to fall on his shoulders.
‘What in the Hive are you two arguing about?’ asked Kal.
‘Yolanda gave the last working Spyrer rig to those two Wildcats!’ whined Scabbs. ‘I wanted to keep it.’
‘They needed it,’ Yolanda said to Kal. ‘The vampire and that unit wiped out all but the two of them. The creds they can get from breaking that thing down and selling it for tech will more than rebuild the gang.’
‘Okay,’ said Scabbs. ‘I guess it’s the least we can do for Lysanne, after she saved our lives. At least we’ve got that cartridge. It’s got to be worth something.’
‘I gave it to Valtin.’
‘You what?’ asked Yolanda and Scabbs at the same time.
‘He needed it more,’ said Kal. He stroked the barmaid’s arm aimlessly as he spoke. ‘Besides, if we had kept it, Nemo would still be after us.’
Scabbs scratched his chin. Amazingly, nothing fell off his face afterward. ‘Well, that’s true,’ he said. ‘At least we got the bounty on the vampire.’
‘I had to spend most of that on new lasguns,’ said Kal. Yolanda stared at him. ‘They’re scavving sweet guns,’ he added. ‘Pearl-handled, wood grip, laser sights. Just gorgeous.’
‘You mean we’re broke?’
‘Not quite, but we’re going to need work soon enough,’ said Kal. He took a drink of his Wildsnake and shifted a little in his seat to make himself and the barmaid a little more comfortable. ‘Maybe you should go check the Wanted posters, Scabbs.’
‘I sure wish you hadn’t thrown away that spear,’ said Scabbs. ‘That thing must have been worth a fortune.’
Kal remembered something. ‘Say, some of the gems on that spear scraped off when I killed Arma… the vampire. Did either of you pick those up?
Scabbs’s face sported its normal blank stare, but Yolanda looked sheepish. ‘Yolanda?’
She reached into her special hiding place and pulled out a few small gems, and reluctantly scooted them across the table. Suddenly she looked a lot less cold.
‘I could have sworn more fell on the floor than that,’ said Kal.
Yolanda brushed her blonde spikes out of her eyes. ‘I might have given a few to the Wildcats, you know, to help them rebuild.’
The table fell silent. Kal stared at his drink, stewing about the lost gems.
‘Do you regret losing out on all that Spire money?’ asked Yolanda, finally.
‘What?’ said Kal. He put his arms around the barmaid. ‘And give up all of this?’
Just then, a huge Van Saar ganger pushed his way through the crowd up to their table. ‘What are you doing with my sister?’ he bellowed. He broke a bottle of Wildsnake over Kal’s head.
Kal jumped up, dumping the barmaid on the floor in the process. ‘Your sister?’ he said. ‘I thought she was my sister.’ He threw a punch that knocked the ganger onto the next table, and then jumped on top of him.
The table broke, and all of the drinks went flying. The owner of one of the drinks grabbed Kal and punched him in the gut. ‘Now, this is the life for me!’ Kal yelled as he kicked his new assailant in the groin.
About the Authors
Will McDermott is a fantasy and science fiction writer who has written three Necromunda novels for Black Library featuring the bounty hunter Kal Jerico: Cardinal Crimson, Lasgun Wedding and Blood Royal, co-written with Gordon Rennie. He lives and works in Bothell, Washington with his family.
Gordon Rennie is the author of the Warhammer 40,000 novels Execution Hour and Shadowpoint, both set during the Gothic War, the Warhammer novel Zavant and the Necromunda novel Blood Royal, with Will McDermott. He wrote many comics for Black Library, including Deff Skwadron, three volumes of the Blood Angels series Bloodquest, two volumes of Kal Jerico and a run on the Adepta Sororitas series Daemonifuge. He lives and works in Edinburgh, Scotland.
A BLACK LIBRARY PUBLICATION
Blood Royal copyright © 2005, Games Workshop Ltd.
This eBook edition published in 2015 by Black Library, Games Workshop Ltd., Willow Road, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, UK.
Cover illustration by Clint Langley.
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Blood Royal © Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2015. Blood Royal, Necromunda, GW, Games Workshop, Black Library, The Horus Heresy, The Horus Heresy Eye logo, Space Marine, 40K, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, the ‘Aquila’ Double-headed Eagle logo, and all associated logos, illustrations, images, names, creatures, races, vehicles, locations, weapons, characters, and the distinctive likenesses thereof, are either ® or TM, and/or © Games Workshop Limited, variably registered around the world.
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ISBN: 978-1-78251-935-5
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