You resisst. I love a challenge. Ssuch a dissappointment not to usse thesse lovely toolss.”
* * *
Sylvester debated having the sixth brew. His legs seemed a tad wobbly and the room had a distressing tendency to tilt. Can’t deal sober. Need to piss. He rose and staggered toward the ‘necessary’ but a hand on his shoulder intercepted him.
“My Lord. She wants you.”
He turned and blinked blearily at his aunt’s servant, who seemed to have materialized out of the smoky murk hanging in the air of the seedy establishment. “Gotta piss.” He giggled. “Piss on ‘er.”
He stumbled up the steps to the tenement townhome his aunt kept in a poorer section of Sylvan Mintoth. Not what the bitch’s used to, but she can’t risk discovery by the Tetriarch. He wagged his finger back and forth. “No, no, can’t have that.” Should get a message to DeLorion ‘bout her. Anon, anon—y—mouse Moues. Yeah. He belched loudly. That’s the word. Anonymous.
Fumbling drunkenly with his key, he finally managed to work the lock’s tumblers and he fell into the dark hallway.
“ Dissgussting.”
He looked up at her menacing figure. She had not even changed clothes. Dark red stains spread across the front of her gown and spattered her grotesque face. Blood. He knew it was not hers. “I’m going to be sick.”
“Later. I have work for you. Follow me.”
He staggered after her as she descended into the lower room.
“Clean this place and disspose of that.”
His eyes followed her gesture then she turned and left him alone in the room. Didn’t drink nearly enough.
The remains of a human figure hung from chains on the wall. He knew it to be human only because he had chained the girl there himself . Ahhh, shite! She has skinned the woman! The smell wafting into his nostrils proved too much for his rebellious stomach.
He remained bent over for many minutes , vomiting the contents of his stomach onto the floor until there was naught left but bile, and at last only dry heaves. Wiping the strands of drool and he dared not wonder what slimy stuff from his mouth, he finally straightened and staggered to the bloody hunk of raw meat suspended in front of him. As he reached to release the metal cuffs, the mass moved. Oh, fuck, the woman’s still alive. It seemed there was a bit left in his stomach after all.
* * *
Sylvester whimpered in self-pity as he shoveled dirt over the bundled form at the bottom of the shallow grave. He would take to his own grave the sick, sucking gargle of sound as his blade severed the windpipe of the Oshtesh woman; the precursor to more nausea, saliva welled in his mouth as his stomach lurched at the very memory of that sound . He wiped his tears on the arms of his jacket and kept shoveling doggedly as he mentally composed the message to Doral DeLorion. I’ll have to wait until the bitch is well and truly gone from Sylvan Mintoth.
* * *
Sophi rode quietly beside Eric. The soft dirt of the road winding away from the garrison at Silver Grove Gate muffled the rhythmic “clopp-clopp” of their horses’ hooves. On either side, knee-high grass dotted with purple and yellow wild flowers formed a garland skirting the travelers’ path. A light breeze swirled the treetops, rustling through the bright green leaves high overhead and further covering the sounds of the four cavalrymen behind them. Golden columns of sparkling sunlight speared through the green canopy. A smell of rich loam and fragrant flowers perfumed the air. Through the silvery trunks of trees, she could see a narrow, fast-flowing creek, burbling happily over rocks in a laughter of white foam.
“You are quiet.” Eric’s green eyes caught hers in a questioning glance.
“Mmm.” S he smiled. “I didn’t remember this land being so lovely. Everywhere you look it is lush, green paradise.”
“Verdantian blood nourishes this soil. Your brother and High Lord DeTano defeated platoons of Haarb mercenaries to
* * *
Sylvester debated having the sixth brew. His legs seemed a tad wobbly and the room had a distressing tendency to tilt. Can’t deal sober. Need to piss. He rose and staggered toward the ‘necessary’ but a hand on his shoulder intercepted him.
“My Lord. She wants you.”
He turned and blinked blearily at his aunt’s servant, who seemed to have materialized out of the smoky murk hanging in the air of the seedy establishment. “Gotta piss.” He giggled. “Piss on ‘er.”
He stumbled up the steps to the tenement townhome his aunt kept in a poorer section of Sylvan Mintoth. Not what the bitch’s used to, but she can’t risk discovery by the Tetriarch. He wagged his finger back and forth. “No, no, can’t have that.” Should get a message to DeLorion ‘bout her. Anon, anon—y—mouse Moues. Yeah. He belched loudly. That’s the word. Anonymous.
Fumbling drunkenly with his key, he finally managed to work the lock’s tumblers and he fell into the dark hallway.
“ Dissgussting.”
He looked up at her menacing figure. She had not even changed clothes. Dark red stains spread across the front of her gown and spattered her grotesque face. Blood. He knew it was not hers. “I’m going to be sick.”
“Later. I have work for you. Follow me.”
He staggered after her as she descended into the lower room.
“Clean this place and disspose of that.”
His eyes followed her gesture then she turned and left him alone in the room. Didn’t drink nearly enough.
The remains of a human figure hung from chains on the wall. He knew it to be human only because he had chained the girl there himself . Ahhh, shite! She has skinned the woman! The smell wafting into his nostrils proved too much for his rebellious stomach.
He remained bent over for many minutes , vomiting the contents of his stomach onto the floor until there was naught left but bile, and at last only dry heaves. Wiping the strands of drool and he dared not wonder what slimy stuff from his mouth, he finally straightened and staggered to the bloody hunk of raw meat suspended in front of him. As he reached to release the metal cuffs, the mass moved. Oh, fuck, the woman’s still alive. It seemed there was a bit left in his stomach after all.
* * *
Sylvester whimpered in self-pity as he shoveled dirt over the bundled form at the bottom of the shallow grave. He would take to his own grave the sick, sucking gargle of sound as his blade severed the windpipe of the Oshtesh woman; the precursor to more nausea, saliva welled in his mouth as his stomach lurched at the very memory of that sound . He wiped his tears on the arms of his jacket and kept shoveling doggedly as he mentally composed the message to Doral DeLorion. I’ll have to wait until the bitch is well and truly gone from Sylvan Mintoth.
* * *
Sophi rode quietly beside Eric. The soft dirt of the road winding away from the garrison at Silver Grove Gate muffled the rhythmic “clopp-clopp” of their horses’ hooves. On either side, knee-high grass dotted with purple and yellow wild flowers formed a garland skirting the travelers’ path. A light breeze swirled the treetops, rustling through the bright green leaves high overhead and further covering the sounds of the four cavalrymen behind them. Golden columns of sparkling sunlight speared through the green canopy. A smell of rich loam and fragrant flowers perfumed the air. Through the silvery trunks of trees, she could see a narrow, fast-flowing creek, burbling happily over rocks in a laughter of white foam.
“You are quiet.” Eric’s green eyes caught hers in a questioning glance.
“Mmm.” S he smiled. “I didn’t remember this land being so lovely. Everywhere you look it is lush, green paradise.”
“Verdantian blood nourishes this soil. Your brother and High Lord DeTano defeated platoons of Haarb mercenaries to
Similar Books
