Page 63 of Ogres Don't Play

“Lanise, your intern said you wanted me?” he asked, lounging on a chair and taking a big bite out of an apple that was there, waiting to be eaten.

“Intern? That’s funny. Yes. Do you happen to have any weapons or armor handy that I could use?”

“You mean in your suicidal duel tomorrow? Can’t say that I do.” He smiled and took another big bite of apple.

“Oh.”

He didn’t seem worried. Why was that? I could ask him, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. I glanced at Lanise. “Lanise, will you please go ask the silvery green elf if he could help me translate some old music texts on magic theory? He seemed to be really old and knowledgeable.”

She frowned at me. “He refuse.”

“Not if you’re persuasive. Who could possibly refuse you?” Of course he’d refuse. He probably wouldn’t even acknowledge her question enough to refuse. But I wanted to have a conversation with Rich in private.

She grunted and left me alone with Richard, my older brother, who was a lion, terrifyingly fierce and vicious in spite of that relaxed way he was lounging on that seat eating an apple.

“Do you have any advice for defeating the troll?”

“Sure. Draw her into the center of the stadium, then kill her like you did that contingent of merc troops the last time you played as a harp. You can control the perimeter, right?”

I stared at him while my heart beat harder and my stomach started roiling. I sat down and pulled up my knees, wrapping my arms around myself. “What?”

He stared at me levelly. “You wipe her out. You have the capacity for great destruction. Hope, my dearest mother, only dearest because I have no other mother, told me all about it, your genius, the way you saved your entire platoon by single-handedly destroying the opposition, killing thousands withnothing but your harp and your voice. Do you not remember? I know you collapsed, had to be carried off the field, had some convulsions, and some of your associates were concerned that you were being possessed. It’s not ideal, because it did almost kill you, but I don’t see any other options. It would be better if you’d ordered the duel in the middle of the night, so there were more Song inhabitants and fewer of Sing, in case you lose control and wipe out a larger group than you intend.”

Memories rose up of the dead, their ghosts whispering and screaming, countless souls that had ripped me apart until I was brought to my dad, and he did something that sent them to the other side and kept me here. I hadn’t gone back to the HARPS after that, even though he was right about Hope sending me countless messages that my dad had started blocking.

“You think I should wipe them out? Do you know how large an area was affected? I asked, and dad had them map it out. Miles. I killed for miles around our little safe bubble. I’d destroy the entire city, Rich. It’s not an option.”

He grinned. “Then you’re toast, or rather, you’ll be on her toast as a nice minced paté.”

“Seriously, Rich? That’s the only advice you have for me? How would you destroy her?”

“Me? I’d have my beautiful Pegasus, as well as my wings, so I’d stay out of her range while I blasted her with Electro.”

“Do you have Electro with you?” I asked eagerly. His sword was incredibly powerful, like shooting lightning bolts, only more.

“Yes, but you know how much he dislikes women in general, and you in particular. Even if you were cleansed and purified in preparation to receive the weapon, he’d still jolt you bad enough to knock you unconscious. That’s an idea. If you’re that determined not to destroy Singsong City, if you were unconscious, no one could be upset that you missed the duel.”

“You are absolutely no help.”

“Thanks, I try. Why did you leave HARPs? It clearly wasn’t because you were tired of war and wanted to get married, like you publicly announced.”

“I left because I was tired of war and wanted to play music.”

“Ah. You do realize that if you were married, you could play all the music you liked.”

“As long as it was angel standard.”

“Like I’d let you marry someone who wasn’t open-minded. You’re part ogre. That means he’d have to be okay with that.”

“Name one lion who would be okay with marrying a part-ogre.”

He frowned at me. “I don’t know exactly, because it’s not like I go around advertising the fact that my sister’s an ogre, but there are several lions who are much more open-minded than dad would like.”

“Angel whores?”

He grinned. “Well, they can’t all be as perfectly perfect as me. Seriously, Mira, you can still come home, forget about this business, and go on with your life. You could stay with dad, be his nurse in his old age.”

I stared at him. “That’s your advice, annihilate the whole city, or go running back home to hide behind dad?”

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