Cold Queen - K Webster Page 0,49
rubble. I follow her gaze to the bones. So small. A fox, perhaps? One look at Valari’s pursed lips and I know.
Children.
Elzira stiffens. The calm before the storm.
Her rage consumes her to the point that snow begins heavily falling in the room. I touch her shoulder in a calming gesture.
Calm down until we slaughter each and every one of them, my queen.
We can’t let them know we’re here and her losing her cool—literally—is the worst possible idea ever.
I head for a staircase and everyone follows after me. More men file in behind us. We climb the stairs that eventually lead into a great room where a fire is still lit. The stench of cooked meat makes my stomach roil. Several fat men are snoring nearby, passed out at the table. Valari and Danser make quick work of stabbing them through the base of their skulls. Quick, violent, silent.
“Spread out,” I order. “Remember the plan.”
Valari and a few others had been inside the castle before. Once they laid out where The Untouchables were, we decided on the best possible way to kill them without hurting any women or children.
As much as I disagreed with the plan, Valari and Elzira are to seek out the nest of innocents while the men kill the monsters. I know she wanted the satisfaction of spilling their blood, but there’s more to being a queen than just punishing the wicked. Saving the good is just as important.
“This way,” Valari urges, quietly surging ahead. Elzira follows with five of the Bloodstones behind her. They disappear around a corner.
Everything in me begs to go with them, but the castle is too big. Elzira and Valari are capable. Danser and I have our own battles to fight.
We take another flight of stairs. Up, up, and up. I didn’t need Valari to tell me the ones who rule The Untouchables live at the top, safe in their tower. Danser and I move stealthily up staircases and down hallways, slitting the throats of men along the way.
When we reach what seems like the royal suite, and kill the two men standing guard, I gently push inside the door. A fire flickers in the fireplace. On the bed, a man with a large belly fucks a small woman, who lies there and does nothing. He’s lost in the throes of passion, unaware that two lethal men have entered his space. As I approach, I notice the woman has bite marks all over her body and her stomach is swollen with child. She’s missing several fingers and toes. What’s the worst is her eyeballs are gone from their sockets.
“Yes,” the man groans, baring his teeth that are covered in blood.
I stalk forward and lash my whip at him, satisfied at the way his stomach opens up with the lash mark. He chokes out in pain before stumbling back, holding his abdomen. I lash again, whipping his dripping wet cock straight from his pathetic body. I’ve just raised my whip when the man cries out a garbled plea.
A flash of dark hair swishes past me and the girl throws herself out the window. Danser doesn’t make it to the window in time. The sickening crunch can be heard a few moments later when she hits the bottom.
“My queen,” the man sobs. “You let her go.”
At least the poor woman has found peace.
“You’re no king, pig. Kings have cocks.”
The man cries as he clutches where his cock used to be. Danser strides forward and drives his blade into the man’s gut before dragging it up forcefully. The man’s stomach opens up and all of his innards spill out onto the floor with a loud splat. He falls with a thud.
Summoning my fires, I light up the dead pig and all his body parts. The smell of human flesh isn’t one I enjoy, but watching this poor excuse of a human burn is satisfying. I inhale his sweet scent of death. Once he’s charred black, I storm off to assist the rest of my men in taking over Castle Highland.
Elzira
When we approach a locked door, I summon my ice. The lock turns blue before cracking down the middle. I pull it off and gently set it on the floor. Valari pushes inside the room. What we see disgusts me.
Four men.
Two are rutting against lifeless women while the other two are skinning meat from carcasses. Human meat. Not animals. Small, human bodies. Valari, overcome by rage, rushes toward one of them men on top of a brown-haired