Page 7 of A Heart of Crimson Flames
I couldn’t hear a single heartbeat, couldn’t sniff out the pumping blood of a single living soul. Some of the bodies were far from intact, injuries that weren’t inflicted by those scavenging theirflesh. A few had fought valiantly, it seemed. I scented Wolf blood, saw a few patches of silver fur torn out by panicked fingers, but humans were no match for trained Wolf soldiers.
Nero’s Silver Wolves had torn them all to shreds, and it was soon apparent they’d beenunleashedon this little town. In all my years as a soldier for the Silver Wolf King, never had I seen such untethered wrath. I shuddered to think of the murderous frenzy that played out across Rockford, for the mutilation of these corpses was far beyond what was required to kill. This was the epitome of hatred.
The state of the world around me was the clearest indicator that the Silver Wolf King had gone from ruthlessly calculating to utterly insane.
My fear of him grew with every step. If he inspired this kind of violence. If he commanded it to spread...
If he brought this wreckage to Olmdere...
When we’d turned over every corner left of the little village and found nothing but despair, the Songkeepers gathered to sing the souls into the afterlife. The harmonies of their voices were rousing and hauntingly beautiful, blanketing the silent landscape in song.
I cleared my throat and wandered to the far side of the wagon, permitting myself a few tears before squaring my shoulders and returning.
I stared up at the brilliant red dragon circling high above us and I once again thought of Nero. We needed to end him. I once called his pack my own, but I now knew he needed to be gone for good, and perhaps the entire depraved pack along with him. Too much was at stake. How many human villages were there even left? How many towns sat poised at the edge of his domain, living in fear of becoming the next Rockford? My homeland was in ruin, the humans the whipping boys of Nero’s jealous anger.
Except sometimes whipping boys lived. There was no such hope here.
Their song finished, we solemnly loaded back into the wagon before pressing on toward the temple of knowledge, resolute in our mission. The only thing that mattered now was stopping Nero, whatever it took.
I thought of Navin’s dragon and once more wondered if it would grow big enough to handle that task.
Briar
THE ROOM WAS THE SAME AS THE DAY OF MY WEDDING—PLUSHcarpets, sparkling chandeliers, gilded mirrors—but no longer did it fill me with nervous excitement but instead a deep-seated fear. I saw a vision of my former self in that mirror, wearing a wedding dress with seamstresses milling around her, Calla lounging on the bed behind, her reflection eating candied almonds, all of them more excited than fearful.
Despite my nerves, I’d once relished the thought of moving out of my cabin in the woods and to a castle with such opulent furnishings. But now the luxury felt like a bribe for obedience, not that one needed to be bribed when they would inevitably be forced. The memory of this place warped and distorted in my mind’s eye.
That I never wanted to marry Grae had always been true. But more, I had never wanted to be aqueen. Still, I had been enthusiastic to have a life outside the little town of Allesdale. I was excited to have a pack, and a purpose, and a world that I would add value to.
Now, however, standing here, I knew the only value they ever wanted me to add was my silent presence—a decorative display of their wealth, just like that gilded mirror.
No seamstresses today. No maids to attend me.
I restyled my hair, combing out the last of the tangles my fingers had missed and anointing myself with oils and perfumes. I hoped it would cover the stench of dread that wafted off me like its own sickly fragrance. I rouged my cheeks and painted my lips that crimson red that I knew they all wanted to see—the vixen, the princess, the beauty. I’d resigned myself that Wolf kings would only ever appraise me for my looks, my money, my title. Resigned myself that wasokay.
But then I found Maez, someone who loved me so far beyond either, and now I knew I was worth more.
Normally, there was this strong connection between the two of us like a rope wrapped round my waist, a tugging right behind my navel. But that tether felt frayed now, the solidness with which I navigated through the world now all fuzzy, as if my limbs were filled with sparkling wine.
I heard the clamor of barked orders out the window and mindlessly drifted over to peek through the warped stained glass.
What I saw made my stomach drop.
A line of humans were tied to poles like dummies upon which the Silver Wolf soldiers practiced. Slicing and hacking at the air inches from the humans’ flesh... except not always. Because I spotted several who had actually been struck, blood trailing down their tattered clothes.What world is this?This was cruelty I had never seen before. Why wasn’t anyone stopping them? I searched down the line of steely-faced guards. Why wasn’t anyone doing anything?
But I knew why. Because thiswasthem doing something. This was what the Silver Wolves were.
As if sensing my surveillance, the one who had been issuing the commands looked up at me and saluted.
“Come on, lads,” he shouted, squinting against the sun to stare up at me, sword now raised high. “Let’s show our princess what happens to traitors of the crown.”
I stared back at him without emotion, vowing inside that if Iever had the power to, I would cleave his head from his body myself. But for all my bravado, nothing could prepare me for what happened when he dropped his sword.
The sight made me want to scream and retch, the truest part of me wailing beneath the surface. But I only stood there woodenly and watched, stone-faced, as my soul withered a little further and tears pricked my eyes.
The bound humans didn’t even cry out, their bloodshot eyes wide with shock as the Wolves sliced them open one by one, gutting them from navel to throat. Their last vision of this world was their insides spilling out, splattering on their bound feet, as they bled out onto the mossy earth. My eyes welled until my vision was glassy, but I still didn’t look away, staring hatefully at that commander as he craned his head back up to me and winked.
Wolves killed to feed, to protect, to defend. This was none of that. This was a horror like I’d never known. Nero had truly gone mad, and his pack had followed him into that madness.
