Ting ting ting, went his teeth. The chair scraped away behind her and the waft of his black cloak brushed the hairs on her neck that were already standing up on end.
She had never thought of it before: I haven’t ever seen an image of the gods with their teeth showing. But King Anthony’s reasoning was ridiculous; trying to mimic them. “So why don’t you paint yourself blue as well then?” In the paintings she had seen, the gods were always depicted with blue skin.
“That would be quite impractical,” he said, dismissively.
He likes picking and choosing what to follow. “And filing your teeth until you can barely eat is practical?”
She didn’t get the response she was expecting: “They’ve found him!” the king exclaimed in (what was for him) a loud shout.
Londenia swiveled around on the floor to face him as he stared at the glowing gods’ device. She decided to give the king the question he was clearly fishing for: “Found who?”
“That abomination spawned from the Watch King’s seed.” He laughed in an obviously forced manner, clearly only to show her his joy—or perhaps for the gods he felt he was serving.
Taigo… Her heart sank. After learning about King Anthony’s plans, she realized the hybrid son of King Servin was likely a very big part of it. He was a boy born of a king and a brown-eyed, brown-skinned woman of Green Island descent who looked as if he would one day become King of the Watch.
Londenia wanted to keep as much a position of power as possible. “I thought you killed all in Deca’Point,” she said, playing dumb.
The king studied the gods’ device, tapping at it as he held it in one hand. With a flutter of black robes, he glided out of the room into the hallway and left her, as the sun rose over the Dead City outside.
She heard him lock the door before his footsteps faded down the long hallway leading to the stairs. Londenia jumped up and hurried to the writing desk. It was completely clear, except for King Anthony’s breakfast plate. She rounded the desk, trying each drawer in turn. All were locked, apart from one. It contained the file he used to point his teeth (the sight of it made her shiver) and a small blade. Londenia left the blade untouched and closed the desk. She sat back down, leaning against the outside of the cage, waiting. There’s no point in taking the blade because if I attack him, my people are still under threat. Her mind worked through scenarios but each one seemed more ridiculous than the last.
It was over an hour before she heard returning footsteps. The door to the high room clicked open. Taigo stumbled in with his hands bound behind him. The boy wore only tattered dark-brown cottons. His face was grazed, one eye was bruised and blood dripped from his nose. As usual, his mouth hung open ever so slightly.
Both of Taigo’s eyes swirled in his head until they locked onto Londenia. They widened and he gasped. His bare chest heaved. She quickly shook her head at him before King Anthony glided in. Wielding a blade, he casually flicked his foot behind him to close the door. The handle of the knife had brass knuckles to accommodate each finger. He rounded Taigo and perched himself on the writing desk, propping up the boy’s chin with the cold sharp metal. Taigo stood like a guard at attention, staring through the window, his nose occasionally wrinkling with a sniff. It looked painful to swallow.
“King Taigo of the Watch Kingdom. Sounds good in principle. Tai-go.” He sounded out the boy’s name. “A pure and noble sounding name. But those blue eyes aren’t true blue, are they? That brown skin is a giveaway even for somebody who does not know your background.”
Taigo’s back was failing him and his shoulder began to slouch. He stiffened his body again, giving no reply.
“Who is this you’re toying with now?” Londenia ventured, pretending not to know Taigo, hoping he would understand and play along.
“This is the late King Servin’s son.” King Anthony rested the tip of his blade on Taigo’s nose. “His only son…if you can call something like this a son.”
She could think of nothing to say that would help the situation, so she held her tongue.
The King of the Dead Cities lowered his blade and looked the boy in the eyes. “Do you want to know why I destroyed Deca’Point?”
Taigo coughed. His body shook. “You destroyed it because of me,” he rasped through broken lips and bloodied teeth.
King Anthony stood. “You?” He laughed. “You think far too highly of yourself. I mean, yes, you were part of the reason, a big part. But Servin set an example for his kingdom that his high lords and even smallfolk began to follow. The whole place was infested with scrotes, runts and bastards. He joined with a woman from Arland. He elevated a female from Narscape to queen as well. Creatures, both of them, who knew nothing of the Ten! Nothing!
“The wife still worshipped her one false-god—while his so-called queen had no faith of any kind. Did you know that our wise King Servin even set up a temple for Jahanar,” he spat and tapped his chest ten times, “so that his heathen wife could worship in her old and heretic ways. Everywhere you looked, them—and others like them—and lowborns, were climbing to power and positions of—”
Taigo spat in the king’s face, stopping him mid-rant.
King Anthony leaned forward, carefully rubbing his stubbly skin on the side of the boy’s hair to wipe off the bloody saliva. The blade was back at Taigo’s throat. “May the Ten forgive you,” King Anthony said calmly.
He’s going to execute him unless I do something. Londenia couldn’t allow any more deaths.
She lunged for King Anthony. Joint-locked his wrist with precision. The blade fell. He spun out of her lock. She strode out into a Yarth-stance: feet wide, knees bent with one hand covering her face and the other covering her groin. The lessons from her youth came flooding back to her as the king dipped for the blade at Taigo’s feet. The boy kicked the blade under the desk and it slid all the way to the window. He kneed the cloaked king in the stomach, then chased the blade with his hands still bound. King Anthony stood, winded. Londenia tracked him in her low fighting stance. He rushed at her. She deflected punches away from her face.
The king was slow and she realized her concerns of not being able to take him one-on-one earlier were unfounded. But there was still the problem of her party being held hostage.
She threw an uppercut to his ridiculous chin-arse and followed it with an elbow to the crown of his head. Dazed, he staggered between her and Taigo, who was trying to use the blade to cut his hands free. King Anthony snapped around to his writing desk and pressed a red circle of light on the gods’ device. It began to sound like a distant battle horn.
Londenia shouted, “What did you just do?”
The king slowly stood upright and held his hands out to the side and smiled his sharpened grin.
“Tell me what you just did!” she demanded.
The lack of response, along with the king’s non-aggressive stance, unnerved her. He’s used that device to call for help. She panicked, then shook her head to refocus her thoughts. For once she was glad of her ability to think of every possible outcome in a situation. She helped Taigo free his hands. The boy leaped the desk and held the blade to the king’s throat.
“Stop!” Londenia hollered at him.
“Have you become that fond of me in our time together, my lady?” King Anthony hissed.
“Shut the fuck up!” Londenia yelled, forgetting her courtesies, then looked at Taigo, who was breathing fast through gritted teeth. “If you kill him now and they find him bleeding, they will likely kill all of my people,” she warned the revenge-hungry boy.
“Correct,” King Anthony said, still smiling. As she looked on his face, she saw wrinkles around his eyes. She realized how often he must use this false mask of fake smiles. “However, I am quite happy to die for my cause as there will be others who will come after me. I can assure you of that. And I am content with where I stand with the gods. So slice me if you must.”
They both ignored him. Taigo spoke through tight lips with the blade making an impression on the king�
��s pale, scrawny neck. “Let me kill the cunt! Let me bleed him like he did to all the others.”
“No,” Londenia commanded. She paused for a moment letting her mind work. “You will get your revenge on him, I promise you that, but now he must remain unharmed until my people are safe.” She shook her hands and rubbed her face.
“What’s the fucking plan then?” Taigo shouted at Queen Londenia while he held the blade firm against the king’s flesh. She had never heard the boy raise his voice in anger like this but she knew it wasn’t a personal attack on her.
“Yes, Queen Londenia, what is the fucking plan?” the king scoffed calmly as the cold metal blade pressed on his skin. It was as if none of this was happening to him. He smiled, as always, and the arse on his chin still annoyed her to her very core.
Londenia turned her back on the distracting skeleton-like-face of the king and ran her hands through her hair, willing her usual uncanny ability of predicting the outcome of every situation to come to her rescue. Yod’Herem give me wisdom, she prayed. Footsteps from the corridor made her spring into action. His help is here! Her heart pounded. “Taigo, get him in the cage,” she hissed in a lowered voice and braced the door to the room. King Anthony didn’t resist in the slightest as he was prodded behind the bars and locked in.
Then an unexpected, concerned voice spoke softly, saying, “Tony?” Londenia heard the king’s mother on the other side of the door that she was pressed up against. “Tony, we heard banging.”
I think you mean, you heard banging, Londenia corrected in her head.
Taigo was now next to her, helping to brace the door. “Who is that woman? And who the fuck is Tony?” he asked.
“That’s Tony.” She nodded towards the king in the cage. “And that’s his doting mother on the other side of this door.” She noticed that King Anthony no longer had a cocky look about him. What little color he had, drained from his face. She realized what she must do. Nodding to Taigo to step back from the door, Londenia put her hand on the knob. She turned it, then pulled it open to see the caring old mother on the other side, looking small and vulnerable in the long corridor.
Ilar gave a shaky smile and tried to peer into the room. She enquired, “Is everything okay, Queen Londenia? And who is your young friend—” She stopped talking as her eyes met the blade in Taigo’s hand. The old woman shrieked like a squawking bird. “No, Tony! What have they done to you?”
Londenia snatched her and covered her mouth. Although it was doubtful that Rigard would hear the screams, she had no idea how close King Anthony’s guards were in their climb from the bottom of the tower.
The king kicked off, pleading, “Queen Londenia, I beg of you! Do not harm her. She played no part in all of this. She is innocent in the crimes you feel I have committed.”
As Londenia went to speak, Taigo butted past, storming towards the cage, wielding his blade at the king. “Fucking innocent! Do you want to know who was innocent, you cunt? My fucking father and my sisters and every other person you had skinned and burnt!” The boy punched the cage and the metal rang.
Londenia could feel Ilar’s mouth moving, trying to speak and felt the old woman’s warm tears rolling over her hand.
“Taigo, give me the blade,” Londenia ordered, reaching out her hand that had covered Ilar’s mouth.
With her lips free, Ilar let out a torrent of emotion, asking, “Tony, why does that boy say these things?”
To Ilar’s words, King Anthony just stared as if he were a child caught stealing treats from a jar.
Taigo stood still.
“Taigo…Give me the blade!” Londenia said more forcefully this time.
He swung an arm back so that the handle of the blade was outstretched. Londenia grabbed it.
“Tony, answer me!” Ilar shrieked. The pain in her voice brought a lump to Londenia’s throat. She felt for the poor woman who clearly loved her son and just had her whole world torn apart. And now Londenia had to drag the wretched creature into the twisted mess. It was the only way she saw her party being able to escape. She held the blade to the old woman’s throat, but Ilar seemed unaware, and continued to plead with her son for answers.
Ignoring his mother’s wails, King Anthony appealed, “Queen Londenia, I beg you, do not do this.”
“What did you press on that panel?” Londenia asked coldly.
“I called for my guards.” For once he answered plainly.
“Are they coming from the ground?”
“Yes.”
Then they will likely not even have reached halfway. “You will call them off immediately,” she commanded, finally feeling like she was regaining control.
“Yes, yes. Of course.” King Anthony bowed.
“Taigo!” She nodded to the boy to let the king out of the cage.
He did so and shadowed his every move. The king walked to the writing desk as Londenia shuffled backwards with Ilar restrained, keeping her distance from him. He touched the gods’ device with his bony white hand and the quiet horn sound stopped.
“And you realize if I see one sign of a guard, I will bleed her.” The words tasted foul in her mouth. Please forgive me, she willed Ilar to hear but could not say it out loud.
“I swear by all Ten that I have called them off,” King Anthony promised. “Now tell me what I must do for you to release her.” Even though it was Londenia he was addressing, the king stared into his mother’s eyes the whole time he spoke.
“You will clear the streets of guards to the long path leading to the coast. We will walk there with my people.” She didn’t wait for a response from King Anthony as she turned to Taigo. “There’s a blade in the top drawer of the desk. You will go to the second door on your right. You will find an old man. If you talk to him, he will not understand unless he can see your lips.”
Taigo’s non-bruised eye narrowed as he shrugged. His nose wrinkled above his chapped lips.
She shook her head. “Just don’t talk to him. Bring him here.”
The boy found the blade in the top drawer of the desk and ran out of the room.
“Rigard! Rigard! They’re coming!” Ilar shouted hopelessly, through sobs, to her husband in the other room. His broken ears of course couldn’t hear her.
Londenia stared at the king. She was left alone with him and his mother, while Taigo retrieved old Rigard.
“Now you will get word to your guards on the ground,” Londenia demanded, “using whatever sorcery you have and tell them to clear the streets. They will release my people and not harm us as we walk to the Fair Blue Maiden.”
The king was clearly torn. She felt horrible using the love he bore for his doting mother and father as a weapon to force him to release them. But she kept reminding herself of the travesties that the monster had committed. It has to be done to save my people. And after all, I won’t have to cut her…will I?
Reluctantly, his thin hand moved to the brass-trimmed panel on the desk and his bony fingers flicked and tapped the shiny surface. He stepped back from the writing desk and looked at Londenia.
“Is that it?” she asked, doubting he placed any order with just a few taps on a panel. Londenia dragged Ilar with her over to the window and looked down. Even after all this time in the high room she still felt her rear end clench as she saw how far away the ground was. A group of ant-sized mortals milled around in the streets. From here it was hard to tell but it looked as if all were trained guards, judging by their clothes and the way they stood. “Nothing has changed. There are still guards in the streets.”
“Please give it time, my lady,” he pleaded. His eyes lowered.
Sure enough, the streets looked to be clearing. Within minutes, they were empty. Londenia spotted a huddled group moving out into the middle of the thin strip between the buildings below.
At that moment, there was a noise from the corridor. Londenia jumped to face the door. She squeezed the old woman tight to her. Anthony began to head for the door. “Stop! Don’t you fucking move!” She didn’t like the s
ound of herself cursing but the blood coursing through her veins forced her tongue.
The king stopped in his tracks.
Holding her breath, Londenia listened to the creaking on the other side of the door. Please don’t make there be something on the other side that will make me have to follow through on my word. Even if it were guards I don’t think I could bring myself to slice her. What good would it do at that stage anyway?
The hinges creaked. Rigard stepped through with Taigo’s light-brown arm wrapped around his neck, with the blade held tight to it. “What ith goin’ on?” he asked, in his broken speech. His eyes were wide and his face pale. When his gaze locked on to Ilar, the old man erupted, yelling, “Le ’er go—”
“Queen Londenia, let me go to him,” the king pleaded, with his body looking as if it wanted to sprint to the old man but his feet rooted him in place, frozen to the spot.
She nodded, hoping King Anthony might be able to calm his father.
They began their long climb down the stairs. After ten stories, Taigo and Londenia decided to take turns at holding hostage. For ten stories Taigo would hold Rigard and for the next, Londenia would hold Ilar. As long as we have one bladed, he won’t try anything.
They made King Anthony walk at least ten footfalls below them on the stairs. He couldn’t run and, most importantly, he had no control for the time being.
The way down was much faster than the way up, or at least it seemed that way. It was less strenuous of course, but she knew where she was going, so that, perhaps, was why it felt quicker.
Ilar and Rigard were struggling. When they weren’t being restrained, they would clutch onto the handholds jutting from the walls. Rigard took to leading with his right leg and dragging his left. If they ushered him to go faster and use his left leg to step down, he would wince in pain with each landing.
A Poisoned Land (Book 1: Faith, Lies and Blue Eyes) Page 32