I took a step back. “No.”

Henry took a step toward me, placing his hand on the handle of a knife where it protruded from its sheath by his belt. “Or make a fuss… Preferably alive, they said. I’m no man of fancy words, but I reckon than means dead’s fine, too.”

My eyes flicked between his and how he slowly unsheathed his knife, letting horror freeze my muscles, my stiffening hand shifting to cover my child.

Big mistake.

“Told you she’s pregnant,” Rose said. “Retched behind the bushes more times than I went to piss.”

Hinges creaked.

Pa leaned against the frame and poked his head out, glassy eyes widened with shock. “Wh-what is this? What do you want with—”

“Go inside!” I shouted, and when Pa didn’t move, I turned toward him. “I said go—”

The stranger lurched at me.

I stumbled back a step, pulled my knife from its sheath, and pointed it straight at him. “Come closer and I’ll gut you!”

Anger seethed beneath my skin at the unfairness of this, my foolishness over wanting rot for the likes of them. Enosh could turn the three of them into cups for all I cared, and I would drink from them gladly. Wicked, wayward mortals!

“We should kill her,” Rose hissed. “We can tell the priests she attacked us and fell onto a knife. If she’s the one, they won’t care. And if she’s not… they won’t care, either.”

Pa whimpered.

I gripped my knife tighter.

Henry smacked his lips. “Might get us into trouble with the provost. Let’s just grab her and march her straight back.”

“And what if she makes such a ruckus that others snatch her from us, huh? It’s bad enough that I have to share with the two of you.”

“Almost don’t care about those coins anymore.” The stranger shifted his weight back as he pulled a knife from his mud-crusted leather boots, pointing it straight at my belly. “I say we kill her. Who wants to take chances when she might as well have the devil’s babe in her belly? World’s bad enough without the King’s spawn.”

“No!” Pa thrust himself away from the door. “By Helfa, how can you—”

Henry pushed against Pa’s chest. “Stay out of it, old man.”

Pa’s spine crashed against the wooden frame, ripping a bloody yelp from him before he collapsed to the ground.

“Pa!”

I hurried toward him.

Pain seared across my scalp. One tug, and the stranger pulled me back by my hair, nearly ripping me off balance.

Cr-shk!

Stabbing pain shot into my belly. It reached all the way through to my spine, from where it spread across my entire body. My knees wobbled and specks of darkness clouded my vision.

What… what was happening?

The ground shook.

I shuffled back.

I stared at the man.

He stared at my belly.

My gaze dropped to the frayed cotton of my dress, soaked red a hand-width to the right of my navel. Coldness encapsulated my skin, numbing me into the paralysis of shock.

My baby…

No.

No. No. No.

“Something’s not right,” Henry mumbled as another tremble shook the earth beneath my unsteady legs and screams resonated from the village center behind him. “Ground’s shaking like it did when they captured him. What if she’s truly his wife? What if the King’s sending corpses after us?”

The stranger tightened his grip where he still held on to my hair. “Then we best make sure the child’s gone.”

Another stab.

And another.

At the third csh of metal gliding into flesh, my legs gave out underneath me. My back hit the quivering ground to the sound of the blade clanking onto the frozen mud, shuffling feet, and screams… so many screams. The ground ripped open beside me. Trees swayed. Birds took flight.

Darkness hushed around the edges of my vision as the weight of the world squeezed down on me.

Cold… so very cold.

Pressure expanded within my chest. Iron seasoned my tongue. Hair clung to my cheeks. The ends tickled my lips as I trembled, the chill of winter sucking all warmth from my body.

“Ada.”

I blinked but saw nothing but an eagle circling the sky. And snowflakes, so many snowflakes. Beside me, before me, around me, next to the man—

I groaned, fighting how my eyes wanted to flutter shut on the man kneeling beside me. Wind swept through his long white hair, framing eyes entirely black. He had neither white nor brown in them, yet I sensed his stare.

“Come into my light, give me your breath.” Gentle fingers stroked along my jawline as he crouched over me, his thumb stroking blood-painted lips. “I cannot let him extend it a second time.”

“Eilam.” His name was a dying whisper on my lips.

Lips he suddenly suckled between his in a stiff kiss. It lasted only the fraction of a breath before he pulled back, his mouth and chin smeared with blood. My blood.

He dragged his tongue over it, licking it, tasting it, before he shook his head. “No, I do not understand. Now, come to me. Let me ease your pain. Life is precious to me, but I will not allow him to steal you a second time.”

“Come into my light,” his voice beckoned from where darkness faded into pure brightness. “Return to me what I let you borrow.”

Lightness settled upon my body as my head lolled to the side. One step of my mind, and light encapsulated me.

Pain. Sorrow. Grief.

It all vanished.

The earth shook with rage.

“How extraordinary,” Eilam’s voice wafted around me. “There is more life in you than in any before. More than I need to sate this hunger existence has cursed me with.”

The light faded away, leaving me with no pain, no warmth. Coldness gnawed on me from the inside, along with an overwhelming need to find warmth in Enosh’s arms.

I tried to call for him.

Lips refused to open.

My mind called to him instead, saying only one thing.

Master.

This concludes King of Flesh and Bone. If you have a moment, please consider leaving my story a review.

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