Page 83 of Shadows and Flames
One of the guards marched forward, picking up the leather pack and inspecting it with quick professionalism. Even still, they licked at their bottom lip, and their throat bobbed with a hungry swallow.
They deemed Blackwood’s offering safe, and extended the black leather to the queen who sat, I was now convinced, on achair made of bones carved and shaved to resemble the elegant twisting of branches. Queen Sarya pulled Von Herron’s head, now turning a greenish gray and deforming. It hardly looked human anymore, but some other thing that had no business in the lap of this otherworldly female dressed in white.
But utterdelightswept her features, as if she’d been gifted a rare jewel instead of a decomposing head.
When we decided to take Von Herron’s head with us, we assumed it would provide the assurance that Blackwood was not offering them a deal the people of Pyrestan would not need. With Von Herron certainly dead, his link between their world and ours was severed, leaving an opening for Blackwood.
What we did not anticipate was Queen Sarya, in this room in front of all her eager people, pulling flesh from Von Herron’s cheek like that of tender, slow-cooked meat. The discolored skin between her healthy brown fingertips was almost more unsightly than watching her pop it into her mouth.
She chewed slowly with eyes closed, and I fought back the saliva pooling into my mouth, warning of vomit churning. Her children were watching with rapt attention, as were the Folk behind me. But unlike me and my companions, they clearly wanted a taste.
Tomás’s dark skin took on an ashen hue, and though I could not see Fenix’s, his shuffling feet were obvious. If this Queen of the Folk enjoyed… eating corpses, the propositions thrown the Vyrkos’s way now held a much more sinister tone.
The Queen pulled another morsel off of Von Herron’s head before placing it back in the bag and buckling the flap. When she returned her attention to Blackwood who now smelled of fear and disgust, she either could not smell it or was even happier at that fact. “This gift pleases me greatly. You will accompany the Raouga to supper tomorrow eve, and we will speak of trade.”
“Y-Yes, Majesty.”
She batted her lashes, clicked her fingernails against the bones resting beneath her arms. “And may I have your name, valiant human?”
Von Herron’s admonishment of his old employer and business partner shone clearly as the queen’s taunting compliment reached his ears. In the face of her compliment, Blackwood looked up, stood tall. “Walter Blackwood, Your Majesty. At your service.”
And the splitting grin was back, like the great sharks in the deep waters surrounding Rhaestras. She did not have endless rows of teeth, but the ones she displayed were more than enough.
“Yes, you are.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
MELINE
By the time we exited the palace, the sun had retreated behind the clouds, painting the world in shadows of gray. Even the soft grass beneath my boots appeared dulled as I paced, imagining what horrors Francie was enduring whilst we waitedanotherday.
“We have to go get her,” I said for the fifth time as we stood beneath a tree, away from these Folk who took no issue with the torture of my friend or their monarch eating a decaying head.
This time, Fenix was the one to object, “I’m not in your line of work, but that still seems unwise.”
I clutched my dagger for comfort or to stab him, but Tana stepped between us. Her leathers matched mine, brown and simple, yet equipped with enough weapons to storm that fucking castle. My cousin was more than formidable with her staff alone. And with Elián, Tomás, and even Fenix’s help? Surely we could spring her from Queen Sarya’s captivity.
“Leen. I know it was horrific to see Francie in that state and to know now the cruelty of these Folk. But we are no help to her if we are dead.”
Elián had tried to tell me the same thing in fewer words, but just like then, this was unacceptable. “And leave her starving andafraid? Have any of you been in Frenzy before? To that extent? We have no idea what pain she is in, just that it persists.”
I doubted the monster of a queen was keeping Francie in a furnished room filled with smooth sheets and a warm fire. She treated an actual animal with more kindness than what she displayed toward Francie.
“It’s awful what they’re doing to her, but I’m not storming that palace. Nogón says he has the item you need in exchange for the caregiver, and I like my flesh on my body, thank you very much.”
I whirled around, shoulders heaving, and shot my arms wide. “I don’t even know why the fuck he said that! How can thatbe?”
In all the time since we reunited, Elián’s demeanor was the closest to the laconic Shadow I’d first met three years ago. Now, I remained open as he crossed his arms and juttedthatbrow inthatway, which only made my anger climb higher. “I said it because it is true.”
“How?”
Elián remained a statue, letting the breeze sweeping the small field of green and wild flowers shift his hair like the young branches above. Today, it was tied up at the crown of his head, but, like always, silky strands escaped and framed the hard planes of his face.
“When I searched Nethras. For you.” My breath stalled on its way from my throat to my lungs. “We will bring it tomorrow, get Francie, and leave.”
I dropped my arms, letting them flop against my sides and was reminded again of how Elián had searched our realm. For me. My failures kept mounting, mocking me with the feel of a still body, the scent of Frenzy. El didn’t pull me into him this time, but he held my stare, keeping us locked until I could feel my legs steady beneath me.
Fenix stood with his back against the thick trunk—or, branch of the ancient tree beneath us. He was nearly camouflaged by the weight of his shield against the sun, and his voice did not hold its usual audible sneer. “In that state, she will be hard to restrain. Especially if he is with us.” Fenix gestured toward Blackwood who was writing notes in a ledger and warily listening to us. “She will scent and view us as adversaries, competitors in the way of her feeding. We will either have to keep her restrained or strike her unconscious for the journey back.” Experience underlined his steady instructions, as if he had made mistakes and was relaying what he’d learned from them. In his short past, had he been the one in Frenzy or the one having to do the restraining? “She will need help… adjusting. Once she is in her right mind again. Might help if you are alive for that part.”
