Redbird and Rogue by Kirby Crow

Author:Kirby Crow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bonecamp
Published: 2022-08-10T00:00:00+00:00

Sweet Words

An intimate scene set just after The Land of Night.

Reclining on a comfortable couch, Scarlet traced the thick black letters on the page with his finger, pursing his lips to make the letter-sound. He whispered it, not wanting anyone to hear him reading. He supposed Rshani children sounded like this when they learned. All the more reason to keep quiet.

Not that there was a chance of being overheard if the shouting emitted from the king’s greathall was any indication. He was in a small, plush library next to the greathall, where Liall was holding council with the western barons and a smattering of small lordlings from the holds and fortresses of Kalas Nauhin.

None of whom have any fondness for me, Scarlet thought resentfully. He was suddenly embarrassed by his bitterness. What matter if they didn’t like him? Liall loved him and wanted him here, and that was all that mattered. Unlike Liall, he had no illusions that time alone would soften the Rshani view of foreigners, but maybe seeing more of him would.

And yet, the thought of appearing at Liall’s side in the great council or at state dinners turned his stomach to knots.

Time would be of no more help to him than it was to the Rshani.

A servant had left a pot of che earlier, but Scarlet had drank none of it. He tried to turn his mind back to his primer of Sinha letters, but another booming round of shouts drew near and echoed hollowly in the rafters. A door slammed nearby, making him jump. A moment later, the library door banged open and Liall strode in. Jochi followed the king closely but halted at the threshold when he spied Scarlet.

Jochi shot him a questioning look.

Scarlet sat up and motioned for Jochi to come in, but Jochi remained rooted to the spot. Yet another court taboo? Did he need to be formally invited to enter a room where the newly-crowned king’s consort was sitting? So many rules exhausted Scarlet’s mind.

Let him stand there, then, he thought grumpily.

“That was a lot of yelling,” Scarlet said with a sigh, turning his attention to Liall.

“Stubborn, blind, grasping fools!” Liall snarled. He threw off his black cloak and tossed it to a chair, uttering a spate of rapid-fire Sinha that Scarlet didn’t have a chance of following. Liall was all in black today, unusual for him. His daily attire was the royal sky blue and silver, but he wore any color he pleased for more informal meetings. Scarlet thought he looked even finer in black, with his amber skin and snowy hair.

“I don’t understand you,” Scarlet said. “You might as well natter at me in moose or owl. How’d it go in there?”

At the door, Jochi shook his head and frantically waved his hands. He froze the instant Liall looked his way.

“Sire, I was only—” Jochi began.

Liall strode to the door and slammed it shut in Jochi’s face.

“You are in a fine temper.” Scarlet put his book down and touched the side of the little ceramic pot on the table.

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