The Secret cover art

The Secret

A Broken Empire Tale

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Secret

By: Mark Lawrence
Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £2.99

Buy Now for £2.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

"The Secret" was published in the anthology Blackguards: Tales of Assassins, Mercenaries, and Rogues.

About this story, author Mark Lawrence says, "'The Secret' is set in the world where my Broken Empire and Red Queen's War trilogies take place. I've been writing short stories based on the various members of Jorg Ancrath's brotherhood of the road, exploring their origins. When I saw that the Blackguards anthology was seeking tales of assassins, I thought it was time to write about Brother Sim."

©2015 Mark Lawrence (P)2015 Audible, Inc. Anthologies & Short Stories Science Fiction Fiction Assassin
All stars
Most relevant
Lawrence is a master storyteller whether full novel of short story.
Brother Sim has a job to do and finds a novel way to do it.

Excellent short story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Well not the Mark Lawrence I’d expect. A bit flat to be honest. Not sure I’ll bother with any more short stories again.

Not the Upto the Mark

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed it as it fleshed out an interesting character from yorgs band. But predicable plot.

Interesting but highly predictable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A good story, nothing mind-blowing, somewhat predictable but still well written and fun that it ties loosely into the novels

Good story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great story about one of my favourite brothers - though is also available in the Road Brothers book.

Brother Sim at his work

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews