Crownless by M. H. Woodscourt

Author:M. H. Woodscourt [Woodscourt, M. H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: True North Press
Published: 2021-06-18T22:00:00+00:00

24

The Drifting Sands

“You truly know the art of making enemies, Jinji.” Aredel strode forward to stand above the dead queen. He smiled. “I confess I feel better about her death this way. Execution is far too formal and far too public, and I face enough of that in KryTeer. I had hoped she would be foolish. In the end, she did not disappoint.”

“So I thought,” said Ledonn, as he moved from the back of the Hall. “And she looked so furious, I suspected she might wish to vent.”

Shevek laughed. “Chivalrous as Cavalin of old! Are you certain you were not simply careless, Ledonn?”

The other man smiled. “She was clever, but not clever enough. To presume she could outrun a Blood Knight if he wished to catch her? Ignorant sow.”

Aredel knelt beside Jinji, prompting his men to lower themselves to the floor. The Blood Prince rested a hand on the storyteller’s shoulder and felt it tremble. “Jinji, my friend?”

The Shingese man lifted his head. Aredel started. Tears tracked down his face, and his smile looked broken. “I weep for this woman, as I wept for my mother, Aredel. Both were selfish, ambitious, loathsome creatures, incapable of love or kindness. Who could be more pitiable than they?”

“No one,” said Aredel to soothe Jinji. Personally, he found such creatures undeserving of pity or mercy or any other tender feeling this peculiar, kindly soul could give. Yet that’s what set Jinji apart from Aredel. He wouldn’t want the humble man to be any other way. “Come, my friend. You’ve wept long enough for her damned soul. Let me introduce you to someone who deserves your smile. I believe the two of you will be friends, though it may cost me something to allow it.”

He offered his hand and pulled Jinji to his unsteady feet.

The storyteller’s eyes shone through his tears. “Did you bring King Jetekesh with you then?”

Aredel chuckled as he shook his head. “Never can a man surprise you, O astute one. Could you not pretend ignorance now and then?”

Jinji laughed. “My apologies, Aredel. But I recall well the price of deceiving you.”

Memories flickered in Aredel’s mind, warm with nostalgia. “How you grate upon a man’s patience. I wished at that time to skin you and wear your strange eyes for jewels.”

Jinji’s laugh was like the crystal chimes of Rahajardaj Temple back home. “Do you not now wish the same upon occasion?”

Aredel shrugged. “The thought does cross my mind in your stubborn moments. I suppose you expect me to honor your word and let Prince Jetekesh attend you in the desert?”

Those bright eyes glittered with nothing short of cunning. Had circumstances been different, had fate not made Jinji live the life of a shepherd, Aredel almost feared the course the storyteller might have taken. Surely their paths would still have merged, but under far uglier conditions than what they’d been. And that was a feat.

The Blood Prince led Jinji from the Hall, Shevek and Ledonn following. The procession strode up into the west tower of Keep Falcon, and to the westmost chamber.

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