Page 32 of Lich's Mate

“Thank you, Korval. I’m done,” she says with a shy smile.

He cleans the table in a few quick moves and walks away, closing the dining room door behind him.

Meera looks at me expectantly.

“Tell me about your experience with the xaphans. Start at the beginning and leave out nothing.”

Her eyes lose their shimmer, and the sight ignites a low-burning fire in me.

“I, uh… I was watering the vegetable patches when my younger brother Kai ran over to me. He came from the village and told me about strange, armed creatures just outside the village borders.”

She wrings the napkin with her hands, her voice unsteady.

“I didn’t believe him at first. But then…we rushed back to see the xaphan invaders ransacking huts and rounding up villagers. Those fuckers attacked anyone who resisted.”

I pour a glass of wine into a tall glass and pass it to her. She wordlessly takes it and swallows almost half of the drink.

“I tried to reach my parents but one of them restrained me. I managed to break free but two chased after me. I didn’t stand a chance… the bastards have wings…”

Meera goes quiet and we sit in silence for a few minutes. I decide to speak. I need to know more.

“Do you know why they chose your village?”

She looks up at me as if my question violently broke through her thoughts. She nods.

“Revenge. They wanted retribution for what happened to one of their own. Zathex, they called him.”

I flinch when she begins to tremble, the memories of that day deeply unsettling her. My fist clenches and I have to fight the urge to console her. That would be inappropriate of me. She’s an ally, a guest. Most importantly, she’s a human.

“What else can you tell me?” My voice is firm despite the turmoil of feelings in my heart and mind.

She takes another sip of the wine and presses her lips together.

“You want details? Okay, I’ll give you details. I was dragged through the dusty streets by my hair. I tried fighting back but those monsters were too strong. I watched as the people I grew up with and cared for were killed brutally. This included children.”

Meera looks into my eyes as she continues her recounting.

“Any woman who tried to resist or even ask for help was mercilessly whipped. We had dried blood all over us. I’m sure you saw what we looked like at the auction.”

She laughs bitterly, wiping at her eyes. A redness encapsulates them.

“They were smart about it, too. They made sure to leave our faces mostly intact. They’d whip our backs until our clothes clung to us, the blood congealing. They’d hit us in the ribs and stomachs so the bruises wouldn’t show and lower our value.”

My jaw tightens as I listen to her talk, though I do not react outwardly. The anger simmers inside me. Not due to the injustices done to humans overall, but the injustices done to her specifically. I only care about those, for some reason.

I maintain a composed exterior and motion to her to continue. “Anything else? Even the smallest details can help me with my plans.”

“They treated us like we're nothing but scum. What more is there to tell? I could go into detail about how they groped us and made lewd comments, but I don’t think that’s relevant to your master plan.”

Images of xaphans dragging their dirty hands along Meera’s body flash through my mind. The low-burning fire in me starts to grow taller and brighter and I have to use all my self-control to not react.

Those pieces of shit will know the meaning of pain when I get my hands on them.

A thought strikes me. “And your family? Where are they now?”

“Dead, I presume.”

She speaks with such coldness that I have to search her eyes to determine her emotions. They are shiny and she avoids eye contact. It’s obvious she’s doing her best not to cry.

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