Page 126 of Wingless Crow: Part 1

“I want her dead, Voron!” she screeched, stomping her foot. “And I want it done publicly. Let it be the lesson to anyone who dares raise a hand against the Crown of Sky Kingdom. Iorderyou to get everything ready for her execution on the main plaza of Elaros City. Now!”

* * *

The queen’s order was carried out just as she wished.

The scaffold was erected on the main plaza of Elaros City. Draped in red, it was a horrid monstrosity among the glowing whites and soft pastels of the city streets.

Queen Pavline didn’t share her husband’s fondness for impaling as a method of capital punishment. Instead, Voron had sourced an executioner skilled with an axe from a village nearby.

The executioner was a blacksmith by trade, but he’d delivered enough death sentences during the rule of King Tiane’s father to ensure a swift and relatively painless death for Sparrow.

The time of the execution had been set. The announcement was heralded all over the city and the surrounding area. The scroll with the verdict had been prepared and signed by the queen to be read before the crowd.

Voron surveyed the last preparations as a group of workers cleaned up the construction debris around the execution site.

Alcon landed in front of him, folding his wings.

“All is ready, my general. The executioner will be here in less than an hour, and the Head of the Council is on his way to read the verdict.”

Voron nodded.

“Good.”

He turned to leave the plaza, heading back to the palace. Alcon caught up with him, matching his wide stride.

“Gather the men, Alcon. What I’m going to do next will at the very least get me banned from court. At most, it will cost me my head. I’m not ordering any of you to join me in this. It’ll be entirely your choice if you do.”

His direct order was to get everything ready for the execution. The queen had made it clear what she wished to happen to Sparrow. But she hadn’t explicitly ordered him to go ahead with the execution.

He learned a long time ago to pay close attention to the wording because words could mean the difference between life and death.

And in this case, they did.

ChapterThirty-Two

SPARROW

“Want some more? Here you go, little buddy.” I pinched off another crumb of the moldy bread that was supposed to be my lunch and tossed it to the rat in the corner of my cell.

The rat sniffed the air, its whiskers moving rapidly. It then scurried to the crumb and picked it up.

Repulsion rolled through me. I drew my legs to my chest, afraid the rat would come too close. But the rodent had been my constant companion for the past two days, my only companion. Panic no longer jolted me as it did when I first saw it sneak into my cell through a hole between the wall stones. By now, I even found the way it held the bread in its front paws cute, as if they were little hands.

Well, at least someone had the appetite to eat this food. The bread covered in black mold was still better than the bowl of maggot-infested porridge I got for breakfast.

Last night, I was so ravenously hungry, I actually picked at some of the least moldy pieces of my dinner.

Today, my appetite was gone. My stomach felt so queasy, I feared I’d throw up even if the food was good.

It was cold in here, and all I had on was my nightgown. When the guards had dragged me out of bed the morning they brought me here, they didn’t even let me get dressed.

“You won’t need clothes where you’re going,” they’d said. “It’ll be harder for you to escape this way.”

As if I could run away from here. The cell had no windows, only a thick wooden door with a narrow opening in it for the guard to peek through to make sure I was on my best behavior. The door was locked at all times. When they brought me the nasty food, they shoved it through the slit in the door, not bothering to open it.

The rat moved my way, and I squeaked, pressing harder into the wall behind me.

“More bread? Here you go!” I tossed another small piece its way, keeping the rodent at bay and away from my bare toes. Though my feet were so cold and numb, I probably wouldn’t even feel it if the rat gnawed on them.

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