The Truth of Things Unseen

Slick with Blood

Llandred’s hand was slick with blood, but his grip was strong. As he pulled her to her feet, he seemed to remember himself. He looked her in the eye and smiled gallantly as though stabbing Hal in the back had been a great victory.

"My lady."

He swept a bow, cloak wide, playing the role. A little blood smeared his blade. He didn't wipe it.

Taliette stared at Hal. It was as though a stone had been placed in her chest. He lay face down in a pool of blood, a neat, narrow wound in his back. She suddenly found it hard to breathe.

"Careful," whispered her heart.

"Please, would you help me turn him? I want my bow."

She did want her bow, which he still held in one huge fist, but more than that, she realised - she wanted to look at his face.

She worked with Llandred to roll Hal onto his back. Her bowstring was stained red with his blood. The arrowhead looked so tiny in his palm, like a toy, she wondered why she had been afraid of it. Just a tiny point in the hand of a man who would have died to protect her. Who died for no reason other than someone else's ambition.

She pried open his fingers and tugged her bow free. His hands were still strong, the fingers still warm. His sightless eyes were open, a smear of blood across his broad, honest face.

It was funny, seeing him like that, all dead with his eyes staring. Was it funny? She wasn't sure it it was funny or not. There was a sort of itchy hotness building in her throat. Why was it hard to talk all of a sudden? Why couldn't she think of anything funny?

Stupid, stupid man. She had told him to run. As good as warned him what was going to happen. Now he was dead, and he deserved it for not listening, and why did her throat feel so hard and full?

She swallowed. Never let them see.

"You sacrificed him for the greater prize", whispered her heart. "Don’t waste your chance."

Her smile was a weapon, and she deployed it now, a faint, wan smile, tilted up at Llandred: a lost little damsel, looking for a brave young prince to love her and keep her from harm. It was what Gintas wanted. After the clarity of the kill, she felt sick, but she kept it all inside and only smiled.

Llandred's cheeks coloured under her gaze. She saw him catch his breath. Boys were so stupid. Why was everyone so fucking stupid? Why could nobody see what she was? Why would nobody stop her?

"My lady, he said again, "My lady, we have to..."

"What happened with Hewitt, Llan?"

"What, who?"

"The big man," she said. "build like a block of wood."

"What, you know him?"

"Careful, whispered her heart."

"I heard the men talking," she said without missing a beat.

"Oh," he looked confused for a moment. "An arrow whacked into the tree behind me. I got it and jabbed it into his face, then mother stuck a knife in him, and he went off roaring into the trees. A black arrow, one of yours?"

She nodded, trying to hold the demure look. Swallowing the lump.

"One of mine."

"Then once again, you have saved me, my Lady. I am in your debt twicefold."

"And you have saved me, my Lord."

She gave him her hand, and he bowed his head, touching his forehead to the knuckles. It was a relief not to have him looking at her face for a moment. When he looked up, he seemed confused, as though unsure what the next formality was.

"What's the ship for, Llandred?" she said.

"What? It's father's ship. He should be here. He promised he'd be here..."

The boy looked dazed, he could hardly talk. She could hardly talk. Neither of them could talk, and they were on a tower next to a pit, and everyone was dead, and Hal's blood was still oozing.

"Your father brought the ship here for a reason," she said. "He moored it next to the pit."

"Good," whispered her heart. "Let him work it out for himself."

"He always said that he'd show us what to do when the time came."

"Get on the ship Llan."

"What?"

Why was everyone so stupid? She could feel Gintas' disapproval, but she ignored it.

"The ship will take you back to your country. That's why your father put it there. Get on board."

He frowned. Perhaps he wasn't such an idiot after all. "Not without Fen and Esten and mother. How do you know all this?"

"Esten is dead Llan." She softened her voice, put a little edge of sympathy into it. The boy slumped. She saw his jaw tighten, and for a moment she thought he would strike her, but instead, he slammed his fist down onto the stone parapet.

"There was nothing I could do," she said. "Your grandfather's men caught him in the open. It was quick."

She rested her fingertips on his chest. She could hear him breathing. He turned away from her and leaned out over the parapet, shoulders working up and down.

"Where?" He said at last.

"Outside the ring."

"What was he doing outside the ring?" There was an edge of danger in the boy's voice now. She felt a little thrill of fear. She was teetering right on the edge.

"Don't let his thoughts go down the wrong path," whispered her heart.

She stood close beside him, leaned up against him, felt the tension in his muscles. She took the dagger point of the broken arrow and pressed it into his hand. She stood on tiptoes and murmured in his ear.

"You will have your revenge," she said. "You will board your father's ship and cross the shadow gates. You will take back your kingdom and kill your grandfather. I will help you do this. You will use this point to kill him, and it will hurt him a lot."

Llan's knuckles whitened as he gripped the dagger point.

"Find Mother and Fen. Let’s get on the ship."