William King - Stealer of Flesh

“It is unusual for a Prince to be so interested in my work.”

“He is not really a Prince and I am not really a Princess,” she said. “In the west we would be minor nobles at best.”

“You would be wealthy ones,” Kormak said. “Not many of the nobles I have encountered live like this.”

She walked over towards him. He was very aware of the swishing her nightdress made as she moved. She stood in front of him, offering him the scrolls submissively. The smile on her face was anything but submissive.

“Why are you here?” Kormak asked.

“Do you find it so hard to believe a woman might find you attractive?”

“Many women have,” Kormak said. “As I am sure many men have found you beautiful.”

“I do not encounter many men,” she said.

“Why would that be?” Kormak asked.

“We are not popular with our neighbours or with the local nobility in general. My father is regarded as a degenerate, my brother an effete poet. Some of his verses are regarded as scandalous. Many think him mad and that madness runs in our family.”

“Do you think so?”

She shook her head. “He has morbid interests. They stimulate his imagination. He is not mad though. He really is a poet. I think he is going to offer to accompany you to Tanyth.”

“Why would he do that?”

She leaned so close he could feel her scented breath.

“He is curious and they say only madmen visit Tanyth, that the place is accursed. He wants to go to the place that all men are afraid of, and he wants to return and write about it and so win fame.”

“He is already famous. I had heard his name in Taurea.”

“He wants to be remembered, to make his name immortal. It’s the only certain form of immortality men will ever have, is it not?”

Kormak reached out and touched her cheek, ever so gently. She shivered and then leaned her face against his callused sword hand. “And you do not want him to go?” Kormak asked.

“On the contrary, I want to go with you.” Her eyes were very large and wide and innocent and Kormak found that he did not trust her in the slightest. It did not stop him wanting her though.

“Why?”

“We can talk about that later,” she said, leaning forward and bringing her lips close to his. They parted slightly. He kissed her and then swept her up and carried her to the bed.

The Lady Olivia lay naked on the bed. Part of her body was in shadow but that just made the white flesh and the curves he could see all the more voluptuous. She stroked his cheek with one soft hand. Her nails were long and had tiny runes worked on them in dye.

“Why do you want to go to Tanyth?” Kormak asked. She smiled at him sardonically, teeth glittering in the dark,

“No compliments, Sir Kormak. You are not very gallant.”

“I am not a gallant man,” he said.

“No, you are not,” she said. “Perhaps that is why you are attractive. You do not speak of honour or nobility. You are not a hypocrite.”

Kormak studied her face in the darkness. She seemed serious. He smiled. She obviously did not know him well. “You are projecting what you want to see onto me,” he said.

“Most men would not tell a lovesick girl that.”

“You are not a girl and you are not lovesick. Let us not pretend otherwise.”

“You do not think there is even the slightest possibility of that?”

“I am certain.”

“You do not understand what life is like here then. It is not often I see a handsome man who interests me. It is not often I have the chance to break out of here.”

“Is that what you want?” She sat up suddenly and reached out and took his chin, playfully twisting so that he had to look directly at her.

“To be a woman in this land is to be a prisoner. We may not go out unaccompanied lest the moon-worshippers ravish us. We may not do this. We may not do that.”

“You do not seem to accept many limits.”

“My situation is unusual. Within the walls of this house I am mistress. Outside of them I must go veiled. I must become invisible”

“And you wish to be seen.”

“I am not so unlike my brother, Sir Kormak. I am a scholar. I will write upon this subject. I too wish to be remembered.”

“I will remember you.”

She smiled. “That is a start,” she said, reaching over to kiss him again.

At breakfast next morning they sat like strangers. It was odd to rest in the chair and look at the woman sitting there so cool and collected and to remember the passion of the previous evening.

Prince Luther strode into the atrium, sat down at the table, picked up a sweetmeat and said, “I have been thinking about your quest, Sir Kormak. I would like to go with you.”

“It will be dangerous, Prince Luther,” Kormak said. His conversation with Olivia the previous evening had prepared him for this.

“That will only spice the dish,” said Luther. “I have a hankering to see Tanyth, to look upon its ancient wonders.”

“Why have you not done so before?” Kormak asked.

“Because those who go there go mad or never return. I think that if I go in the company of a Guardian, I may return to tell the tale.”

“My quest is not to protect you, Prince. It is to slay Razhak and end his evil. He has killed a number of people since he was freed. I will see that he kills no more.”

“Understood, Sir Kormak, but I could be of help to you. I can provide maps, guides, supplies, warriors, finance an expedition. It is not just demons you must worry about in the wastes. There are bandits and wild beasts and other dangers. If we go together you would not need to worry about such things. Nor would you need to worry about being granted permission to cross certain lands or go to certain places.”

Kormak understood the veiled threat there. The Prince could no doubt make it difficult for him to leave the city if he wanted or place other obstacles in his path. And to tell the truth he could see certain advantages in taking up the Prince on his offer.

“Will your soldiers accompany you into Tanyth? You said that men fear the place.”

“They can await us at a safe distance from the city. I do not fear to enter the city.”

“Very well, I accept your offer,” said Kormak. Olivia stared at him very hard. “On one condition…That your sister accompanies us as well.”

The Prince glanced between Kormak and his sister. His smile was slow and a little sad. He clearly sensed that something had passed between them.

“So that’s the way it is,” Luther said. “Very well. I accept. All three of us will go to Tanyth.”

He said it as a child might when considering a treat. Kormak wondered if Luther really knew what he was letting himself in for. He wondered if he knew what he was letting himself in for himself.

“We need to leave immediately,” Kormak said. “We need to stop Razhak before he can find his spell-engines and perform his ritual.”

It did not take Luther long to arrange things. His guards were well drilled and his stewards efficient. He was a wealthy man with little difficulty getting supplies. There were horses in his stables and mules. Watersacks were filled from the fountains and well. Maps were brought from the library. By noon, they were ready to go. A line of soldiers headed out with the Prince and his sister riding at the front with Kormak.

Olivia was dressed for travel in a cowled robe with a silk veil over her face. The veil was so thin as to be almost translucent and the effect was to hint at and accentuate her beauty rather than hide it. Much to his surprise she had a sword scabbarded at her waist and a bow on her saddle. On her belt were pouches for herbs and metal vials of alchemical substances held in leather loops.

Sensing the direction of his gaze, she said, “I wanted to learn as a child and my father saw no reason not to teach me. It was one of the advantages of having so unorthodox and disreputable a parent.”