A Feast of Dragons - By Morgan Rice Page 0,64
moment like this. The Ring had been nothing but a thorn in his side, in the side of the entire Empire—the only free territory left in it, for as long as his ancestors could remember. He was determined to change that. He had conquered virtually every corner of the Empire, and his victory could not be complete without invading the Ring, making the entire land subservient to his will.
Andronicus had a backup scenario in mind for news such as this, and now it was time to employ it.
He suddenly rose, the entire room dropping to its knees and bowing down as he did, and threw off the lifeless corpse, now cold, of the young girl. He marched across the room, as hundreds of his followers bowed low to the ground, and was followed his entourage of loyal advisors. The advisors knew better than to question where he was going, knowing to obediently follow until he told them otherwise.
Andronicus left the chamber, and his men followed close as he entered the corridors of his castle.
Andronicus marched, fuming with rage, deep into the bowels of his castle, working his way down towards the torture chambers. The corridors were shaped in wide circles, and he went around and around, the walls lined with torches, until finally he reached a square, metal door, iron spikes protruding from it. At the sight of him, three attendants hurried to yank it open, bowing their heads low.
Andronicus marched in, his men close behind.
In the chamber stood two prisoners, members of the McCloud kingdom, men they had captured years ago off of one of the McCloud ships. Andronicus examined the men, chained against the opposite wall, hands and feet bound, and decided that they looked ripe. They had kept these men chained here for years, starving them, torturing them once a day, breaking them utterly, completely, for a moment such as this. For a moment when McCloud had defied him. Now it was time for Andronicus to use them, to extract the information he had been needing to know for a lifetime. He only one had shot at this, and he needed to get it right.
Andronicus stepped forward, grabbed a long, sharp hook off the wall, came up close to one of the men, and held the hook under his chin. He began to lift it, under the most tender and fragile part of his vocal cords, until the point pierced the skin.
The man’s eyes flooded with tears, and he shrieked out in agony.
“What is it that you want?” the man shrieked.
Andronicus smiled down at him.
“The Canyon,” he growled, slowly. “You have one chance to give me the answer. How do we breach it. What is its secret? What is the energy shield? Who controls it?”
The man blinked several times, sweating.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I swear it—”
Andronicus was not in the mood: he lifted the weapon high and the man shrieked in agony as it severed his throat, then his head. A moment later, his head rolled off his body, onto the floor.
Andronicus turned and looked at the other prisoner, chained to the opposite wall, the other McCloud. The man blinked several times, staring; he started moaning and shaking as Andronicus approached with the hook.
“Please!” the man squealed, “please, don’t kill me! Please, I beg you!”
McCloud got close to him, and held the hook to his throat, leaning in.
“You know the question,” Andronicus said. “Answer if you choose. If not, join your friend. You have three seconds. One, two—”
He began to lift the hook.
“Okay!” the man screamed. “Okay! I will tell you! I will tell you everything!”
Andronicus stared at him closely, trying to see if he was lying. He was expert at that, having killed so many people in his lifetime. As he stared deeply into the man’s pupils, dilating, he saw that he was telling the truth.
Slowly, he smiled, relaxed. Finally, the Ring would be his.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Gwendolyn stood on the upper parapet of the castle on the cold Fall day, the wind blowing back her hair, and looked out at the brilliant countryside. The rolling farmlands were filled fall harvesters, dozens of women gathering fruits into baskets. All around her, everything was changing, all the leaves a myriad of colors, purples and greens and oranges and yellows…. The two suns were changing, too, as they always did in the Fall, now casting a yellow and purple hue to the day. It was a magnificent day, and looking out at the vista before her, everything seemed