Page 5 of Kingdom of Rot & Ruin
Single.
One.
I licked my dry lips. Surely there was some kind of mistake or … something! I wasn’t a mud boy. I was a noble. I was?—
“Sit, or they will make you.”
They were all damp, with hair cut to a uniform length just past their ears. Rough hemp robes adorned their bodies, and their feet were bare. Yet it was their eyes that held me most. Some held black fire as they gazed hatefully at the Fireguards around them and us. Others had eyes that were nothing but black chasms of hopelessness and defeat.
What had they seen? Where had they been? Did the dragon hunt them since they were outside the protection of the castle? I’d read that the great dragonsbane domecovered our entire kingdom. Well, most of it. Parts of the castle stuck out from it. But the mud quarter (where they were all from) were behind the city’s walls and covered by the dome. Why then did these boys look as though they had suffered?
They were skin and bones; all knobby knees and sharp elbows.
And there were so many of them—over four times the amount of noble boys. I wondered at that. Perhaps it had something to do with the flux? After all, this reaping was nearly seven years past due.
The Fireguards took up posts around the tables where the mud boys sat, making them flinch and eye them warily. A brown-haired boy across from me raised an eyebrow, shrugging. A small flicker of kinship flared at this shared gesture. To Nobles, Fireguards were simply part of the decoration, and not any cause for concern.
Lord Vession walked up a small dais so he could look out over all of us. “Welcome to your reaping. All of you will learn and grow together, or die trying.”
The surrounding boys snickered and elbowed each other as if sharing a joke. I shot a glance at the mud boys, most of whom had gone white.
“Know now your place and your order in things,” Vession continued. “You are not to start fights. You are not to cause trouble. You will work hard, study harder, and fulfill your glorious purpose for the crown.”
There was a beat of silence until a single voice rang out from one of the mud boy tables.
“Why do they get nice clothes and we get this?” A boy tugged at his sack-like garment, distaste twisting his expression.
Vession’s brow furrowed. “The noble children come with what they have. You came with nothing, so we gaveyou what we had. Once you get sorted into your respective paths, you will earn clothing that is more befitting of your talents and work ethic. Right now, you are a blank slate. Your garment reflects that.”
He paused, as if bracing himself for what he was going to say next.
“Do not think for a second you are equal to the Nobles. You are not. Accept this now, or things will be much harder for you.” Vession’s eyes tracked to the Fireguards lining the edges of their tables, their faces and features undecipherable behind their armor and face masks.
“But he’s just like us! He’s just got nicer clothes on!” the boy protested, one finger rudely pointed at my chest.
A flicker ofsomethingwent through Vession’s eyes, but then a Fireguard moved toward the boy, who didn’t have time to react before he got cracked fully in the face.
The boy shrieked and fell back, clutching his face as blood and tears streamed between his fingers.
“Any other questions?” Vession asked tightly.
The hall was silent except for the boy’s sniffing and small, gasping cries.
Chapter
Two
Gazing around and seeing no one stupid enough to ask anything else, Lord Vession nodded.
“Very well. You may eat.”
As if waiting for the command, primas strode into the hall carrying plates covered with small domes. I recognized them as the same plates my mother and I always received for the meals in our rooms.
Straightening in my chair, my mouth watered, and my stomach growled. I hadn’t gotten breakfast this morning, and it had to be past afternoon by now.
“Thank you.”
The prima gave me an odd look as she set the steaming plate with its cover in front of me. Remembering the manners my mother drilled into me, I resisted from opening the cover until everyone else at my table received one as well. A few other boys at my table did the same, but most didn’t, instead preferring to rip off the cover and dig in immediately.
