I ignoredthe people in the courtyard, and for the most part, they ignored me. I was only a gargoyle, after all. A hideous stone creature carved from something inanimate. I should not have been alive at all. Did I even possess a soul? Or was my consciousness a fluke, a stupid stroke of luck granted by the gods?
I did not know.
But sometimes, people did pay attention to me.
Two young men sat on the edge of the fountain. From their clothes I assumed they were not commoners and not royals, but somewhere in between on the social hierarchy. One of them flipped a coin in a steady rhythm.
"You gonna make a wish or what?"
The young man with the coin snorted. "And waste my money?"
The other playfully tried to snatch the coin. "Give it to me, then. I want to make a wish."
The coin man clutched his prize in his fist, refusing to let it go. Then he lifted his gaze, looking up the fountain until his eyes landed on me. He looked me dead in the sapphire eye.
"All right, Ben. I'll make you a deal," Coin-Man suggested. "See that ugly gargoyle up there?"
"Yeah?"
"If you knock its eye out, I'll let you keep the coin and we split profits on the jewel. If you
miss, you owemea coin."
Ben bent down and picked up a small rock. "Challenge accepted."
They both stood. Ben casually glanced around the courtyard, but the guards paid them no attention. I had noticed long ago that the guards were more likely to hassle commoners than anyone else. It did not surprise me that these well-dressed young men escaped their scrutiny.
What did surprise me, however, was that Ben began eyeing me like a hunter. I did not think their little game was serious. I could have laughed. What kind of prey was I? I was an immobile target, unable to flee or fight back. If I was truly a living creature, it would have been a dirty hunt.
But that was my dilemma. I was not alive, not in the way humans and beasts were.
Not like how Florian was alive, with his warm skin and soft touch.
Ben drew his arm back, clutching the rock between his fingers. I watched, unmoving, already knowing the outcome. In my gargoyle form, I felt nothing. Perhaps I was indestructible. There was not a single instance where I experienced injury. That was the nature of stone.
Ben's arm whipped in an arc. He threw the stone directly at my eye.
A searing pain electrified me. It was so sudden, so shocking that my mind went blank. I could not think. All I felt was agony. And the worst part was that I was just a gargoyle—I could not even scream.
My vision was hazy with pain, like thick fog had poured into the courtyard. My left sapphire eye burned. As the shock and terror wore off, I realized the stone had grazed my eye. Until now, I did not know there was a part of my body thatcouldfeel.
And now I was afraid. Because the ability to feel was the ability to be hurt.
Below me, the young men whooped.
"I can't believe you actually hit it!" Coin-Man cried. "Do it again."
Ben smirked. "Is that part of the challenge?"
"Yeah, yeah, you get two chances."
"All right. Give me another rock."
A cold wave of dread crashed into me. Not again. I braced myself for the incoming agony as Ben squinted an eye and prepared to strike.
"What are you doing? Stop that!"
The voice belonged to an angel. My heart swelled with relief and hope and something deeper.
