We Cry for Blood by Devin Madson

Author:Devin Madson [Madson, Devin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2021-08-03T00:00:00+00:00

16. DISHIVA

It was no unified herd we led back to Kogahaera, each day upon the road more divided than the last. I swung hourly between pride that so many Swords looked upon the chained Torin and saw it for the horror it was, and wanting to shake them all until they could see their enemy wasn’t Gideon, but Leo. Leo and the Swords who were taking the opportunity to revel in cruelty. They gathered around Yitti and Lok and the twins, harrying them to walk faster and hissing at them for traitors. It was an ignominy no Levanti ought to bear, but the Torin stood proud and walked in silence.

Keeping to the back of the cavalcade, I watched the movement of Swords, gathering to mutter and whisper, an endless dance of hooves upon the road. At our head, Gideon rode, paying no heed to any of it, and I couldn’t but wonder what was going through his mind. The part of his mind that was still him.

I watched and I worried and I waited until the shadow of Kogahaera City came into view, our walled compound sitting like a duckling beneath its wing. With our destination in sight, I urged Itaghai to a trot and, moving onto the grass, passed the staring, muttering mixture of troubled Levanti and wary Kisians.

Gideon didn’t so much as turn his head as I reined in beside him.

“Defender Dishiva,” Leo said, greeting me with an inclination of his head as though he had been the emperor. In every way that mattered he was.

“Your Majesty,” I said, ignoring Leo like the annoying fly I wished he was. “What do you intend to do about the unrest caused by your plan to execute the Torin?”

A flicker of expression crossing Gideon’s face rewarded my bluntness, yet it was in an emotionless voice he said, “Anyone to whom the execution of traitors is a problem is themselves a traitor.”

“Ah, so this is going to be a very large execution then. It is going to take you quite a while to take the heads of at least half your supporters.”

“Burying them will be easier.”

I knew they were Leo’s words, but could not stop disgust flaring through me at such calm dismissal of our beliefs coming from Gideon’s lips. “Of course,” I bit back. “I’m sure Rah would agree with so reasonable an efficiency.”

The moment the words were out of my mouth I wished I could call them back. Even as Gideon’s eyes closed in pain, Leo smiled the most self-satisfied smile I’d ever seen lips produce, physical distance all that kept me punching it off his face. Not a moment went by when I did not wish Gideon strong enough to fight back, but in all too real a way, he was our shield, forcing Leo to focus on him so completely that he could not turn his ability upon the rest of us. And I had hurt him for it.

To push my point further would be to fight with Leo through Gideon and achieve nothing, so I let Itaghai fall back.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.