So this is the boy king who has caused us so much trouble?” he sneered. “I’m not much impressed. ”
He removed the boot, then bent on one knee beside me. I kept my head turned away from him but felt his hot breath as he spoke. “I wish I could report that the girl died quickly and without pain,” he said. “But I found her alive at the bottom of the hill — barely. She begged me to have mercy on you. I told her I had no such intentions. And in the last breath of her life, she asked me to give you a message, from her heart straight to yours. ”
This time I did look at him, though from his tone I knew he was bringing me anything but words of love. He grinned wickedly and showed me two of his fingers, wet with blood. Her blood. He ripped at my undershirt until he got my bare chest and brushed his
