One man in the second row looks furious as he watches. His clothes are some of the richest I’ve ever seen, and his wife also wears those cursed Enduar diamonds—blooddiamonds formed from the lava that ravaged the continent.
My eyes stick to the gems and their shine as the other giant reads out a list of matters that will be attended to first. Everyone else likely sees the brilliant rainbow of lights reflected from the diamond, but I see the darkness when the lighthits it just so.
There’s a flicker of recognition when the name Nandi is mentioned. That was Keksej’s wife before he died.
Wasn’t she also executed by Rholker’s hand? My palms start to sweat when a side door opens, and a giant woman is brought in.
The best way to describe her is haggard, from the dirty red hair that hangs around her face to the clothes that look like they’ve seen weeks on her body. It’s hard to resist looking up at Rholker as half the ladies in the room gasp.
When the female prisoner spots King Rholker, she starts screaming in giantese.
I make out the words “pig fucker” and “my son” before they wrap a cloth around her mouth and hit her with the long end of a staff. Her stream of insults is silenced with a whimper, only for one of the men at the back of the hall to stand up, positively indignant, and resume shouting. It’s a sharp contrast to the general ambivalence coming from most of the giant lords.
“What’s the meaning of this?” he has the audacity to demand. “Unhand my sister!” His silk clothes look expensive, and his burning yellow eyes look just like those of Keksej’s widow.
Rholker doesn’t move from his seat, effectively ignoring the outburst until the man stands up. “Lord Eriekk,” he starts, but the man starts to make his way out of the row. “Ezdur, be seated or you will join your sister.”
The man casts a look hot enough to sear through metal to Rholker before slowly returning to an empty seat and lowering himself.
The woman has started sobbing as she kneels before the king.
The rest of the court looks on. Silent.
They spent so many years making my people no better than animals, but they don’t have a miniscule scrap of consciencethey could use to protect one of their own kind? Giants are the worst of us all, and my hatred burns hot within me.
Rholker stands up. “Some of you had begun to doubt my legitimate claim to this throne on the grounds of my nephew’s continued breathing. When I succeeded my father and brother, I thought that leaving my nephew in the court would be a merciful action.”
Rholker’s eyes scan the crowd, and my skin crawls.
She was screaming for her son. Something primal inside me blinks to life. It’s justa child.
“Hell, I feltthe same mercy for the lovely Nandi. But you all don’t want a merciful ruler; you want an iron fist,” he says harshly.
My stomach drops into my ass, and I can’t take my eyes off of Nandi.
Her face is agony and hopelessness.
Rholker stands and holds out his arms. “Do you see Nandi’s son in this court? Son of my brother, thegreatFirst Prince Keksej?”
No one answers his mocking tone.
He points at a man glowering in the second row. “Lord Fektir, do you see Nandi’s son?”
The giant lord sticks his chin out. “If you are asking me to play your dirty game, then I will answer that I seemychild chained at your side. And that I used to have a second daughter mere months ago.”
Understanding blooms.
He’s speaking about Rholker’s bride. The one he was meant to marry when he took me to his rooms. But… I saw her. Marej, they called her. She hated me, and she definitely isn’t the person chained to the other side of the throne.
If Rholker has taken two of this lord’s daughters, then this must be the other—Marej’s sister.
Did Rholker kill Marej after I was escorted from his room?
Rholker holds out both hands. “Keksej’s heir is gone. He will never claim his right to the throne.”
Nandi lets out another gods-awful sound as the realization that her child is dead sinks in.
Rholker rubs his head.
