Page 7 of Till Kingdom Come

Perhaps in my righteous outrage and defense of myself and my friends, I was a bit too impassioned in my reply. He made it even worse by smiling at me mockingly.

He waved a hand over my mouth and suddenly I couldn’t speak. I glared at him in outrage as he grinned down at me.

“Oh, did you have something you wanted to say? Why stop now? Cat got your tongue?”

Coughing and sputtering, I tried to catch my breath. At that point I would have been wise to shut up, but no one had ever accused me of being smart.

“Wait,” I managed to get out now that he’d released me. “Are you calling me a thief?”

“Yes, I believe I am. Now go ahead. Tell me which part of what I said is untrue. Make a liar of yourself as well as a thief.”

“That’s not fair. I’m not a liar and I’m not a thief!” I said hotly, pulling back my fist to strike him. “Take that back or I’ll…I’ll…”

He grinned down at me. “What will you do, boy?”

I swung at him then and all the onlookers gasped. His men took a step forward, but he caught my fist in his hand in an iron grip I couldn’t break. Then he waved his men away and laughed in my face, pushing me backward.

I was still furious and though I knew he might kill me for what I was doing, I couldn’t seem to stop. “What’s the matter?” I shouted at him. “Because you lost your spurs to us, did you then begin making up lies about us? But you’re angry at us?”

He moved so fast it was like a blur. He twisted my hand that was holding my sword around behind my back, squeezing it until my sword dropped to the ground. Then he pulled me up close so that the lean, hard line of his body was pressed against mine. It occurred to me then that I might have said a bit too much. Maybe I was a little too sharp in my reply. He stared down at me intently for a few moments, and I couldn’t seem to look away from that fierce gaze.

“I’ve killed men for much less. Tell me you’re sorry and beg my forgiveness. Do it quickly.”

“I-I…”

Bracca’s green eyes were flashing at me. He had been playing at first, but I’d said too much and with a mercurial change of mind, now he was giving me what sounded like my last chance to take my words back before he killed me. I had a feeling I’d made a serious mistake in arguing with this man. He bared his teeth at me as he saw me realize it, and I saw his sharp incisors. I nearly swooned.

He shook me hard, and I stammered at him. “I-I’m sorry. I apologize.”

He let go of me so suddenly I almost fell on my ass. I recovered and backed away, grabbing up my sword. I looked over to see Ellien staring at me, like he thought I must be crazy. Perhaps I was. As for the prince, he nodded, as if satisfied.

“Better,” he said. “Now be a good boy. No more talking.”

At that point I should have stayed quiet. I absolutely should have, and I knew it. But again, I felt the need to defend my honor and my pride.

“I don’t deserve such rude treatment, Your Highness. I was merely explaining things to you. Answering your questions. Explaining to you about tournament games…”

“Be quiet!” he shouted, his voice ringing out around the courtyard. He thrust his hand toward my face, and I flinched away, thinking he meant to strike me, but instead, he made that pass over my mouth again. Suddenly, I found I could no longer speak or even move my lips. Even worse, I couldn’t produce a single sound from my throat. I grabbed it and gave him a shocked, furious and alarmed glare.

He smirked at me in such a way that I felt a chill run quickly down my spine.

Rather than defend me, Ellien held out a hand in supplication. “Please, Your Highness. Take the trade and go. I don’t want any bloodshed here.”

“There will be no bloodshed. The ‘trade’ has been accepted.”

“It-it has? I mean, yes, good. I thank you, Your Highness.”

“Make the formal declaration then.”

“I will.” I noticed Lord Ellien’s voice trembling, and I turned to look at him in horror and reproach. I tried to catch his eye and grabbed for his arm, shaking my head back and forth. Did he realize what he was doing? I wasn’t sure myself, but I hoped he wasn’t about to trade my life away. They’d been talking in circles as far as I could tell, but that was the Fae for you. I hoped he wasn’t just going to hand me over to this barbarian. It was intolerable. He had to stand up for me. They’d been talking about my life in exchange for the captain’s life.

I pulled on Ellien’s arm again, but he brushed me off like I was an irritating insect. “In return for the life of your soldier, I offer you this trade. Freely offered.”

“Freely accepted. But let me be clear about the terms. I will claim this life today and take the boy with me.”

Was he saying he was about to murder me because Ellien had offered me in some intricate, twisted Fae trade? I tried to shout at them both to tell them how stupid and incomprehensible this was, and that’s when I started choking as I couldn’t get a sound out. They both turned to look at me. What was happening right in front of me was frightening and tense, but at the moment, I had bigger problems.

My tongue had seemed to swell inside my mouth until it closed off my throat and I couldn’t breathe at all. I admit I might have overreacted just a bit. I thought I could feel the muscles of my throat tightening more and more until I felt like I was choking to death, and I had to get someone’s attention. I might have been dying, and I had to get help.

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