Page 126 - Microsoft Word - FANG EMPIRE - NOVEL.docx

“You are disturbing the devil with that racket!” shouted Raki.

“This Moroccan scimitar is the devil’s handiwork for sure,” Daka said as the blades

clashed. “It is wielded by my hand but a demon swings it!”

Several royal guards entered with slats of wood and threw them onto the fire.

“There is not much wood left from the raid,” said a guard. “We can supply only a few

more days and nights. We should have kept the provisions and used the crates for the fire.”

At that, Daka stopped in mid-parry and turned to the obstinate guard. “Those were not the

queen’s orders!” he barked.

Daka had halted so abruptly that the guard he was fighting could not forestall his own

swing. He panicked as his scimitar’s blade continued toward Daka’s head. The sword shimmered

in the firelight as it connected—swoosh—with thin air. Without looking, Daka ducked with the

casual ease of a master swordsman who knows the latitude of the enemy’s blade before it strikes.

The guard breathed a whale’s sigh of relief.

Just then, heads turned toward the main entrance. Sygnosis entered the throne room. She

was carrying the pale, bloodless body of Ophi, the missing Rhune Mystic.

#

GoGo sat alone by the fire in her bedchamber. She drank a cup of warm goats milk. The firelight

reflected in her eyes—as her mind reflected on recent events.

“Was I wrong to question her?” GoGo thought. “Maybe she knew nothing of the Rhune

Mystic. By questioning her, did I cause her fury? Did I break her trust? Has my crown destroyed

my trust?”

She placed the cup down on the table next to her chair. There was a dagger there. She

picked it up. She lifted it and held the blade to her cheek as she did when she was a depressed

young girl. She pushed it against her flesh and pulled it down—but with no pressure upon the hilt,