Page 38 of The Bone King and the Starling

I sit and am bone cold. The king’s fur I wear does nothing for me anymore as the crowd rushes with excitement and seemingly ignores Olec and his wife seated high above them, one dead, the other tortured. Olec moans while the king whistles loudly enough to command attention.

“Let the games begin!” he roars.

THE FIGHTER

Isit upon the elevated square looking down at the rowdy cluster of fighters as they battle in small contests. There are pitiably few fighters here, and I regret that I cannot take more of them to train and return, but Innara, who organizes the trainees and sees to it that our ulterior motives in bringing them to the capital are fulfilled, will not allow me to bring more than six from a village as small as this.

A cartographer and expert city planner, she is responsible for aiding me in much of Wrath’s design — where new roads are built, where we must erect new dams, where cities and villages sprawl dangerously, where they need to expand and where we need to better refine our borders.

She keeps a census of the populations of Wrath’s villages and has been concerned for some years that the smallest villages will suffer from too much inbreeding. Inland villages such as these do not raid often. It is her imperative that any warrior who comes to train finds a mate, and with the help of a small, conniving team, she has a high success rate.

There are eighteen who fight now, though only eleven true contenders. The others are either too young, too old or too small, likely coerced into participating in the games, as Starling’s friend’s brother was. It is a pity that he is a satisfied farm boy. Had he a bit of bloodlust, I’d have enlisted him into my army. As it stands now, I will take him for a year and make him capable of picking up arms to defend his town, in addition to matching him with whatever bride Innara chooses.

Of the eleven contenders, I can already pick out two or three that might make suitable warriors for this village. The brother, a small male who fights with speed and cunning who I may even need to keep at my side in Ithanuir, and…Tori. It is a pity he is a rotten boy who will not survive these games. He may not even survive the day.

Yes. As it turns out, I am still a little angrier than I initially thought I was.

I glance to my left. Chief Olec sits fuming beside me, his rage almost as large a presence as his grief. He weeps like a miserable drunk every few minutes, but he never glances once to the seat beside him where his wife sits. Coward. Filthy, miserable coward. I still have yet to decide, among a short list of tortures, which one will be most suitable for him. I wonder if my queen has an idea.

I glance to the right and am surprised to see her staring straight out at the field where the young warriors are battling, her face oddly ashen. I glance at the sky. The sun is shining, glittering over her hair. But her skin seems to lack its usual light. I release her hand and gently trail my fingers across the curve of her cheek. She jumps.

“Little bird, is everything alright?” I ask her as the groups break up into pairs under the administration of Daneera, Puhyo, Fuzier and Hektor.

She nods, but she doesn’t look at me. The easy way we walked to the training field is dead. We are back to where we were two nights before, when I had my little bird backed into a corner. When she thought herself a whore.

I lean over towards her, take her chin between my fingers and force her to look at me. She sits lower in her chair than I do, and she looks utterly dwarfed by my fur, which is sure to be keeping her warm — if not hot — but when she meets my gaze, she still shivers. “What is wrong?”

She glances past me and I am immediately caught off guard. Olec and Rosalind. She is displeased. I’d have thought she would appreciate the suffering of those who wronged her, yet she seems utterly shaken by the sight of them.

“What did you do to Rosalind?” Her voice is thin as ash, brittle.

“I gave her the payment she was owed for your virginity.” I take her hand, lacing our fingers and giving her palm a squeeze. She does not squeeze back.

“You…m-m-melted the payment? And fed it to her?”

“Yes. On both accounts. First, I let your fellow former thralls repay the kindnesses she bestowed onto them using the same wire cords she took to your back. They were very vigorous.” I chuckle and then my laughter fades. I realize…perhaps, I made a slight. “I did not think to rouse you from bed to exact your own vengeance. I am sorry for that, though I would be pleased to let you take your rage out on Olec by proxy.”

Olec is clearly listening to me and shouts at my back, voice muffled and mangled through the gag he’s been fixed with. I reach over and give his shoulder a firm squeeze, one hard enough to make the grown man whimper.

Meanwhile, my hand on hers remains utterly tender.

I smile in her direction, but she’s shaking her head quickly and sputters out, “N-no. No, please no.”

“You don’t have to…”

“Thank you. Thank you, Your Highness.” Your Highness. We’re even further from Calai. She does not even address me as lord… “I just…I think I need to relieve myself. I’m suddenly not feeling well.”

She leaves, escorted by three of my men and Hilde. It takes them a while to return and, when they do, Hilde joins my queen on the platform. She gives me a dark look I do not understand before unfurling a large black sheet and using it to cover Rosalind’s body. I don’t know why. The outline of her shape still clearly shows her golden mouth, forever opened towards the sky above. This seems to settle my young queen a little, but she still doesn’t eat when food is offered to her.

By now, the pairs have switched three times, and Tori has proven to dominate all three of his partners. My fists clench. My desire to jump down and meet Tori’s blade with my axe is strong, but that would be an insult to me, to fight one so small and pathetic.

No, I have more creative plans for Tori. I clap my hands. The fighters break for water. Those that are performing well are congratulated. One older warrior is attended to by a healer and removes himself from the battle.

“I am impressed,” I tell the crowd. My words are met with cheers. The pride of this small town is not to be dismissed or scoffed at. It is important. It is what will keep this town together when Rosalind and Olec are removed from the mortal plane forever and returned to the dirt.

“There are many among you with fighting skills strong enough to protect your people in times of hardship. There are several of you even who might make warriors strong enough to raid with me.” More cheers sound. My wife’s is not among them, but when I glance at her, I see a similar pride shining in her eyes. Even if the rest of her is clenched tight and oddly leaning away from me.

I wonder if it is the sight of Tori that vexes her. That doesn’t seem quite right, given the way she spoke back to him that very first night when my life changed forever. Still… Perhaps I should get on with Tori’s punishment, then, just to be certain it is not the sight of him breathing and winning at these games that causes her such stress.

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