Page 16 of Kingdom of Rot & Ruin
From the mud boys, I’d steal their grit and toughness. I’d learn to strike hard and fast without feeling guilt,rewarding my allies like M and slowly destroying my enemies, like B.
I would be cruel and clever.
I had the talent and intelligence of a noble boy, but I’d survive like a mud boy. And when I did, I would find out the truth of what happened to my mother.
And who I would need to take my vengeance on. The queen would never see it coming.
In my head, I added the kind Fireguard to my list of allies. I would find him again and see if there was something I could do for him in the future. It wouldn’t do to have this favor hanging over my head.
I also added Vession to the list. He hadn’t needed to come get me when the Fireguard had found him. He had risked the queen’s ire and displeasure, and for what? What did he have to gain by helping me?
He must see something in me. He must know something I didn’t. I vowed to find out what it was.
Chapter
Five
FIVE YEARS LATER
Ihad to spend an entire evening in forced socialization.
As we grew, we were invited to a few of the queen’s lesser balls, and encouraged to socialize with the females of our age who were in prima training, or if we were lucky, reaped women.
I said forced, because those of us who offended or were rude were … removed rather publicly as a warning to take our etiquette seriously.
It was the only time I envied the mud boys, who weren’t required to attend as they were only going to grow up to be Fireguards anyhow. I was in this middle ground where I was considered a Noble, but treated by everyone like a mud boy.
“No! I’m sorry! Please!”
A Noble boy with dirty blond hair who liked to laugh when B hit me fell to his knees, launching forward at a young girl in a pretty dress. Dark wine stained the front of her gown.
I winced.
She tried to get away from his desperate, pawing hand, but he grabbed onto her arm and didn’t let go as he tried to dab up the mess.
Fireguards stepped in and dragged him away.
His screams echoed down the corridor, and eventually cut off abruptly. The girl shook herself and tried to offer a shaky smile to the next Noble, but everyone avoided her now, like she had some plague.
Disgusted, I eyed the exits. I didn’t need to witness anymore of this. It was a pointless slaughter. Why spend time and resources feeding, educating, and housing the Noble boys if you were going to kill off half of them, anyway? Only half the amount of boys were left from the day of my reaping.
Senseless.
At least they were giving half of them the chance to prove they’re worth it,my brain argued back. Which was a fair point: how did you choose between babies which one would be more worth resources down the line?
Well, whatever the method or motivation, I didn’t need to stick around to see it. I turned to go.
“Look, the bookworm can’t handle a little culling. What else is new?”
I barely paused in my stride as a Noble boy’s voice floated over the top of the crowd. I was used to their inane prattle and constant attempts to push my buttons. I’ve been ignoring them all for years now. This wasn’t anything different. One day I would take my revenge, but I would use cunning and patience to do it. Just wait until I finished my studies!
But it was an ironic comment. If he (or anyone else) knew what I had discovered deep in the archives, no one would accuse me of being squeamish.
I didn’t understand the purpose of these stupid balls. For the others, perhaps. They needed practice with their social skills and hoped to one day continue their Noble lines by marrying and producing children with one of the mud girls.
Because while mud boys were abhorrent, mudgirlswere in high demand for breeding. I hadn’t found too many answers on why so far, but it had something to do with birth defects.
I had no such ambitions, and no woman was likely to choose me since I looked like a mud boy. Why force me to take part in this charade, then? There were manuscripts to read and diagrams to plot out. At some point, I would need to sneak out of the palace and find somewhere abandoned to try my first ritual.
