Warqueen by Darius Hinks

Author:Darius Hinks
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2018-09-27T14:13:56+00:00

Chapter Twelve

‘We should kill them all.’ Leortas paced back and forth across the throne room, scratching angrily at his beard, glaring at the doors.

‘And go against the will of the need-fire?’ Alimus was seated near the throne, hunched over a copper bowl, jabbing at a mess of bloody feathers with his long, curved nails.

Leortas walked back towards him. The throne room was the grandest structure ever built by the Darkoath tribes – nearly a hundred feet long and crowded with battle trophies. Runeshields and sacred axes glimmered in the light of the great fire, creating the illusion of movement, as though the weapons were battling, even now. There were hide-strewn couches down both sides of the hall and every inch of earth was covered in animal skins. The throne itself was a grand affair, carved from the trunk of a single, vast oak and scored, by Alimus himself, with hundreds of runes and poems. The back of the chair had been sculpted to resemble an eagle, rising from flames, screaming at the smoke-crowded eaves.

‘I would never deny the Lord of Change,’ Leortas grimaced, staring at the throne. ‘But I can’t sleep, knowing that Vedra’s kin are here, in the Sickle Keep, watching me, all the time.’

Alimus nodded. This was entirely as he had foreseen. Leortas had no stomach for treachery. As the weeks rolled on, he was growing more and more disturbed by what he had done: lying to the other chieftains, tricking his way into power, helping Alimus murder their true ruler. It was eating at his soul, clashing with his idea of himself as a proud, ennobled Tannen. And each glimpse of Vedra’s kin only made it worse.

‘The Changer of Ways does not explain his reasoning,’ said Alimus, ‘but, in this case, it’s clear.’ The door was locked but he lowered his voice to be safe. ‘Your fellow chieftains believe that Vedra betrayed us. Imagine how it might look if all her kin were murdered. Even a bone-headed oaf like Budar might suspect that something else is going on – that Vedra was removed from the throne, rather than deserting it.’

‘When did a Darkoath king ever show mercy to his predecessor’s family?’ demanded Leortas. He gripped the handle of his broadsword. ‘Who would blame me for removing every echo of her face?’

‘You are not king yet,’ warned Alimus. He lifted his hand, bird entrails glistening as they dangled from his spindly fingers. ‘I have shown you the augurs. If you follow my advice, you will defeat all challengers on the night of the need-fire. But if you ignore the warnings of Tzeentch, we will both be dead before we get that far.’

‘But must I see their wretched faces? Especially her sister. She stares at me. I’m sure she knows something. The next need-fire is not until Dalenar. If I have to see that girl around here until mid-winter, I will go mad. And why must she serve me? We could at least send her away from the Sickle Keep.

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