Page 32 of The Bone King and the Starling

She smiles again, but it is shaky this time in ways that make my fists clench. “Truly, my lord. Please, let it go. This is more painful.”

“What is?”

“The way you look so genuine. It is… That’s what I was talking about from last night. You said things with such passion. Things that couldn’t possibly be true.”

I surge forward, place my hand against her unblemished cheek. Lean over her and close my eyes, press our foreheads together. “They may not be true yet, but I want them to be, so long as you want them, too.” I kiss the tip of her nose then lean back so quickly she sways towards me. Rapidly, she blinks. “But we have time to talk about that over these next days.” I clear my throat. “Among many other things. I will not touch you again in Winterbren. Your body needs time to heal and I do not deserve your warmth after having savaged you like this.”

“You won’t touch me again in Winterbren?”

I shake my head. “But perhaps in Ithanuir…”

“In Ithanuir?” Her eyes widen. Her nostrils flare.

“I’d like for you to spend these next days with me, considering.”

“If…are you saying… Asking me to consider coming with you, my king?”

“No. I want you to consider coming with me, Calai.”

She gasps just a little bit and I feel it all the way down in my toes. I smile at her softly, reach forward and tuck her curls behind her ear. “Eat, little bird. You need to regain your strength.” I pluck a grape off of her tray and she watchesme chew for several breaths. “You have all day to relax and tomorrow the games begin.”

She picks up a piece of meat and chews thoughtfully, her gaze never straying far from mine. We don’t speak, but the silence between us is comfortable up to the point that she breaks it with a whisper. “I would be honored to watch the games at your side, Calai.”

My heart slams against my rib cage and I smile. “The honor, Starling, is all mine.”

THE QUEEN

The king leaves me for a short time and while I hear commotion in the great hall, I can’t hear at all what is being said. There’s a chorus of voices though, mostly male. The sounds of trouble, a rowdy discourse, followed finally by loud cheers. The king returns to me shortly after that.

His expression is, as ever, inscrutable but when he glances at the tray on the bed, the stern expression he wore softens. The smallest smile graces one corner of his mouth, entirely transforming this imposing male into one I can almost imagine dining with every night. Almost.

“You’ve eaten,” he breathes.

“I have.”

“Good. Would you like more?”

“Oh no, I’m full, my lord. Thank you. It was very generous of you to feed the thralls and cooks like you did. I don’t think many other guests would have, even those with the means.”

The king grunts and pulls a seat next to the bed. He begins to eat in earnest from the tray, which is so full, it could have fed me for four days. “I think you might be surprised by the benevolenceof other leaders. You have had the misfortune of having Olec and Rosalind as your only examples of leadership thus far. Among the twelve villages I have visited across Wrath in the past two years, only four maintain the practice of keeping thralls and in none of the others are thralls treated as appallingly as they are here.”

He speaks so matter-of-factly, without maintaining my gaze, that I feel compelled to believe him even if his words seem so unbelievable. “Maybe, Olec and Rosalind can learn from another example,” I whisper, wondering if the king speaks true on the promises he made to punish them…and that I won’t have reason to fear the repercussions of whatever punishment he chooses.

The king makes a gruff sound I don’t understand and sucks a piece of pork into his mouth in a way that I find oddly…salacious. His gaze flashes to mine and I start. Heat stirs in my chest. “Yes. Olec and Rosalind have learned what happens when my people are mistreated,” he says cryptically. “The thralls have been released from their duties. It will take some time to restructure your village — there were more thralls than I thought — and while the former thralls have been encouraged to continue their existing duties, they have been compensated for their work and will continue to be compensated.”

My eyebrows pull together, my chest feels hot. “From what coffers, my lord?” I immediately bite my bottom lip, aware that this knowledge is so far beyond the scope of my duties and my rank. I go to apologize, but the king seems to think nothing of it.

He answers right away. “To start, from Olec and Rosalind’s personal coffers. Additionally, the grain you produce in your village is substantial. You are my second largest grain supplier and Rudabeth, my largest, is a village with ten times your population. The success of their production draws many to the city. Winterbren appears destitute and derelict by contrast, andyet, Rosalind and Olec were in possession of many precious gems and quite a bit of gold.”

“Truly?” I gasp, shocked. Though…perhaps not that shocked. Perhaps, I shouldn’t be shocked at all.

He nods. “They removed the gold and gems from these chambers before I took them. They were moved to Olec’s man, Torbun’s residence, where Olec and his wife have been staying. Those gems alone will be enough to fairly compensate all thralls for many months. Possibly a year or more. And then profits from the grain supply can be used to supplement when that runs out. The farmers, however, should be the recipients of that profit, minus a small tithe — much smaller than the one they were offering up to Olec and Rosalind before.”

My brows scrunch, my fists clench. That same cold rage I’ve only felt in recent days crawls up my back and covers my head. “B-but Rosalind always maintained that the tithe was so large because you requested it.”

“A fact that I have corrected. I didn’t bring my books but I offered enough history to repudiate that claim to your townspeople. I hope that you may simply take my word for it.” He smirks.

Shock. I can’t believe it. His easy way with me, or his words.

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