Page 51 of Jailer to the Death God
I lay aside my planning book. “If you tell me to smile, I will punch you.”
“That will hurt you more than it hurts me.”
“True. And I suppose it qualifies as ‘human sensation’ and would thus alleviate the weight of your chains.”
He shakes his head. “Only novel or pleasant sensations offer real relief.”
“Oh.”
We’re the only ones in the carriage. I left my maids behind on purpose, so we could take the smallest, lightest coach and travel faster. The inns where we rest will have people to assist if I need any help; and besides, I have no problem caring for myself. The real priority was the guards, for protection and crowd control.
Not bringing servants along means Arawn and I have complete privacy within the confines of the carriage. We can discuss anything.
“Did you find some relief last night?” I ask. And then heat floods my cheeks becausewhyam I asking the death god about his sexual state?
He lifts his dark eyebrows. “Did you?”
“No.” I flush deeper. “I went to sleep.”
“As did I.”
“Sleep is important.”
“It is. You get far too little of it. It concerns me.”
“Are you afraid I’ll die from lack of sleep?”
He shrugs. “There are other illnesses in this world besides the plague. Keep treating yourself poorly and neglecting your own needs, and you may fall prey to one of them.”
“Your concern would be more touching if our lives weren’t bound together.”
Arawn shifts his great shoulders, glancing away from me. “Your death would bring me no joy even if we weren’t bound.”
My heart leaps, but I say dryly, “And here I thought you were looking forward to designing some creative punishments for me in the Unlife. Tell me, great god of death, what torments will you devise for the queen who has ensnared you?”
He takes a long gulp of hot tea. Then his eyes lock with mine, dark as a deep green forest.
“You would come to me naked,” he says quietly, and my stomach thrills. “All souls arrive in that state. I would greet you, because as my nemesis and captor, you deserve special treatment. I’d take your hand in mine and lead you through the Furnace of Souls myself, listening to your sweet sighs of agony as your past was revealed and your wrongdoing exposed.”
“Wrongdoing?”
“I have not read your sins, little Queen, but I assume you have some. If nothing else, there is the sin of summoning me—”
“Which was done in the most correct way possible,” I interject.
“—and killing eight people—”
“They were willing sacrifices.”
He sighs. “Fine. Then you are guilty of inconveniencing a god in the most egregious fashion.”
“Doesn’t seem like much of a crime.”
“Oh, I assure you it is. Once you’ve passed through the furnace and assumed your Unliving body, I will splay your limbs on a rack and bind each of them in place.”
“I’m still naked at this point?”
“Yes,” he growls. “Always.”
