Page 14 of The Jester

“I said . . . respect.” Rawk meets his eyes.

The Gloomweaver tuts, then offers a sarcastic smile before gently fastening magic binders onto Rawk’s wrists. “Now,” he says, jerking his head at me. “Get those gloves off her and put these on instead.” He dangles an identical pair of magic binders in front of Rawk’s face.

Rawk narrows his eyes but smiles, then turns to me.

He approaches me slowly.

Standing in front of me, he moistens his lower lip in a way that makes me want to rip his skin from his scalp and burn it in the fire.

“Try anything, and you’re dead,” he whispers.

“Why are you doing this?” I hiss. “Are you really going to work with them? Do you think they’ll extend you any grace? Do you think –”

An unexpected slap across the face makes me cry out. Rawk stares at me, hand still raised as if he’s preparing to strike me again, his eyes blazing.

The Gloomweaver chuckles darkly.

No one else speaks.

“Keep still.” Eyeing the flush of pink that blooms across my cheek, Rawk slides the gloves from my hands and drops them to the floor. Instantly, the Gloomweaver notices the cuffs that are already on my wrists and strides forward. “What are those?”

“They were to prevent her from changing at the Forest Moon.” Rawk shrugs. “Sadly, they don’t stop all magic.”

“Get them off her,” the Gloomweaver spits.

Rawk nods, then mutters an incantation over the cuffs. When they do not fall away, he turns to the Gloomweaver and says, “I need my magic to take them off. I was the one who gave them to her. Only my enchantment can unfasten them.”

The Gloomweaver sighs loudly, rolls his eyes, then unfastens the magic binders on Rawk’s wrists. “Be quick,” he spits.

Rawk turns back to me. He meets my eyes. And in that second, suddenly, I know what he’s planning to do. I give a quick shake of my head, but as my cuffs fall away, Rawk spins around. Bright white light blooms in his hands. He roars and throws it at the Gloomweaver, his wings expanding and filling the space between them as he rises up into the air.

Like this, I see why he was on the path to becoming an elder. He is powerful, and magnificent.

The Gloomweaver has landed on his back, but springs to his feet and draws a dagger from his waist.

“You think a dagger can protect you?” Rawk laughs. “We were caught off guard but our magic –” his eyes widen. He looks down at his chest.

An arrow has pierced his skin. His wings falter. He dips in the air, tries to stay alight, then dips again and crumples on the floor. He blinks, coughing as blood pools at the corner of his mouth.

A second Gloomweaver steps out of the shadows, shaking her head and tutting, holding a bow and a clutch of arrows. “I knew one of them would try something,” she says, helping up the one Rawk knocked to the floor.

“Rawk . . .” I breathe.

Some of the others, still tied up and blinded by the cloth sacks they wear, begin to cry.

Rawk coughs again as the Gloomweaver stands over him. He reaches down, takes hold of the arrow, then leans on it. Rawk releases a gut-wrenching moan, and writhes beneath the Gloomweaver’s weight as the arrow burrows deeper into his chest. “You forest folk really are as stupid as you look,” he spits.

Then he pulls the arrow free, kicks Rawk onto his stomach, and steps over him to get to me. “You were smart not to fight,” he says, motioning for me to extend my arms.

I cannot speak.

Nodding, the Gloomweaver fixes the magic binders onto me, then picks my gloves back up and pulls them down over my hands. “Now take the rest off,” he says, raising an eyebrow.

I can’t breathe. Can’t move.

“Or I’ll do it for you.” He reaches for me and I flinch, backing away and reaching around to unlace my dress. It falls into a pool around my ankles, and he quickly picks up a hose and sprays me down. Ice-cold water stings my skin, freezes my thoughts, leaves me shivering and unable to speak.

When he shoves a pale brown dress into my hands, he stands back to watch me put it on. It has barely dropped past my hips when he grabs my arm, tugs me to the wall, and chains me beside Kayan.

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