Page 98 of Wingless Crow: Part 1

SPARROW

The king left me standing alone in the middle of his bedroom while he headed to his bathing area through the arched entrance. King Tiane didn’t have a bathtub brought to him whenever he wished to bathe. He had a pool carved out of marble right there in his bedroom suite.

“I’ll be right back.” He stretched his arms and shoulders before disappearing behind a decorative wall inside the bathing area. “Take that necklace off, will you?”

Panic struck me. The king was going to have his way with me again, and I would never learnwhathis way was.

I fisted the rock pendant of the necklace. If I refused to remove it, it was safe to assume he would find a way to do it for me, even if it meant breaking it. The king’s attitude was far more direct and forceful tonight. He’d grown bored with charming me. Now, he simply went for what he wanted.

The sound of running water came from the royal bathing area, like he was washing his hands or flushing the toilet. He’d come back out here soon.

Hurriedly, I opened the closure of the necklace and took it off but didn’t put it away. Instead, I loosened my corset, the only piece of clothing I’d kept on after my first night with the king. He didn’t bother removing it the last time, probably because the under-bust corset didn’t block his access to the parts of my body he wished to touch.

Wrapping the necklace around my waist, I closed it. It was just long enough to fit like a belt. Then I tightened the ribbons of my corset and tied them back up, hiding Voron’s necklace under the corset.

The king strolled in through the arched exit from the bathing area.

“A drink?” He took a crystal carafe from a stand by his bed and poured two glasses of the dreaded shimmering blue-and-pink liquid into them.

His words sounded like a question, but he wasn’t asking or offering. He shoved the glass into my hand, proving it was an order.

I feigned a smile and made one last attempt to avoid, or at least postpone, the inevitable.

“Would you like to play a game, Your Majesty? I’ve been learning how to play War of Kings. We can—”

“Now why would you bother learning that?” he cut me off.

“To be able to entertain you in more ways than this.” I gestured at the glasses in his hands.

“You’re too cute.” He grinned. “But I already have lots of people to play War of Kings with. I need you for a very different game, sweet baby chick. Now drink.” He tipped his chin at the glass in my hand. “Don’t make me wait.”

He took a few sips from his glass, watching me closely as I drank from mine. He didn’t take his eyes off me until I finished it all, to the very last drop.

Holding my breath, I braced for the onset of carefree dizziness. But it didn’t come. Voron’s necklace on my body neutralized the effects ofcamyteand glacial saffron. Now, I hoped it would also prevent the king from taking away the memories of the upcoming night.

Despite the trepidation buzzing through me with warning, I needed to know what the king did to me. Maybe once I knew, I could figure out how to protect myself in the future.

The king took my empty glass from me, then trailed a finger around my neck where Voron’s necklace used to be.

“Good girl,” he murmured. “Isn’t it so much easier when you just do what you’re told?”

I kept smiling, not saying a word. The king didn’t appear to care whether I answered, anyway.

From a trunk by the far wall, he produced what looked like a long jewelry box made from dark metal, with cut-outs shaped like swirls. A yellow glow filtered through the cut-outs.

“Today, I have something far more precious for my dearest pet than a simple hunting knife we played with last time. You deserve the best.” Opening the box, the king took out a narrow black dagger. “It arrived just this morning. I can’t wait to try it on you.”

A knife?

On me?

My insides froze with horror.

The metal of the blade was dark, like Nerifir iron. Unlike the iron, however, the dagger sparkled with neon yellow light instead of red.

“Come, my sweet, little human.” He grinned. “Let the fun begin.”

He headed toward a tall shelf across from his bed, clearly expecting me to follow him. My feet rooted into the marble floor, however, and I couldn’t move. Wherever he was he going with that blade, I didn’t want to be there.

---