The House of Crows

officer. But Athelstan? Gaunt glanced at his scrivener.
    ‘Draft a letter,’ he murmured, ‘to Prior Anselm at Blackfriars. T ell him I am grateful for the good services of Brother Athelstan, yet now I do fear for him in the sea of troubles which now confronts us. Tell him...’ Gaunt lifted up a finger. ‘Tell him I would like to see Athelstan removed: his talents can be better used in the halls of Oxford.’ Gaunt sat back in his chair and, closing his eyes, dreamed his dark dreams of power.