Page 49 of Kingdom of Rot & Ruin
Wonderful.Another broken, frail thing.No matter. I’d woo her and charm her, just as I’d done Clover and all the other kitchen girls. This girl with her dark hair and eyes would hardly be a challenge.
Then her eyes sparked with an inner fire as she straightened her spine and met my eyes, still refusing to offer her hand.
“Shava,” she said.
I assumed that could only be her name.
“Shava?” I asked, testing it out in my mouth. “An old word with several meanings, ranging from a cry for help tosimply an expression of joy. Regardless, it is not a flower name. How did you manage that?”
Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second, then flattened into a bored expression.
Inwardly, I grinned. She would feign disinterest, but she was intrigued by my intelligence and inquiries, instead of confused. A worthy challenge, indeed.
“You are very … learned,” she drawled, eyes lingering too long on my dark hair to be anything other than intentional.
Rather than take offense, it only sharpened my interest and burgeoning desire. This was not a meek, helpless female. This was the first woman I’d met from the mud quarter, and the first one other than the queen who had sparked an intense emotion inside of me—and so far, I liked it. And her.
“I am a scribe in the archives. I know many things,” I purred at her, eyes roving up and down her body suggestively.
Clover was fun, but this woman … She was a challenge. She was not automatically impressed by me, nor cowed by my intelligence. I would have to work to earn her. And I loved nothing more than a challenge.
She tossed her dark hair over her shoulder dismissively.
“You would find a nickname as well if you had my birth name,” she fired back, not meeting my gaze.
I raised an eyebrow, waiting patiently. “What, did Rose or Sunflower not suit you? Have you had enough petals to last you a lifetime?” I goaded.
“Yucca,” she spat out, flushing red. “My name was Yucca.”
I took that in for a moment, running it through my brain. My lips pursed.
“Yucca … the succulent that grows outside the dome in the desert?”
A dark chuckle burst from me. “Your parents named you after acactus.”
“Mymother,” she savagely corrected me, “wanted to call out a name in our quarter and haveonegirl come running, not a dozen. No one else was named …that.”
Hmm. Were there truly that many girls in the mud quarter? I couldn’t imagine. Belatedly, I was reminded how little knowledge I had about the other quarters that made up this kingdom. Safely sequestered in my archives, there were areas of my knowledge that were sorely lacking.
Perhaps my dearYucca—Shava—could help.
“Who is that?” she asked.
I followed Shava’s gaze over my shoulder as it settled on Vession with a look of absolute hatred.
“Has he offended you in some way?” I asked, puzzled.
Her hands clenched into fists at her side.
“He violated not only me, but every girl reaped in my year. I will never forget the feel of his cold hands on my … on …” she trailed off angrily, blinking back tears.
Vession? Was she sure?
“It is not in Vession’s character to … assault girls,” I protested, not wanting to antagonize her by calling her a liar, but still wanting more information.
Her face twisted, lips curling into a sneer as her shoulders tightened. Her hands clenched the shiny fabric of her dress, uncaring how it creased.
“He forced us to lie down on a stone table in a dungeon, spread our legs, thentouchedus there. If we didn’t, we were dragged away by Fireguards. If he found something he didn’t like, we were dragged away by Fireguards. What the fuck would you call that, if not assault?”
