I cradled the dead man’s head in my hands and lifted it gently. His face was smooth and slack. Only the tightly sealed eyes betrayed the pain he experienced before he finally died. I sighed and laid my forehead against his.
“Do you like your gift?” The heavily adorned prince stood at the entrance to the torture chamber. His guards waited just out of sight.
The deceased still hung by his wrists from the crossed beams. His skin was pale from desanguination. I noted there were no marks on the part of his body that remained. Everything down from his mid-chest was gone. Carefully removed so he wouldn’t bleed to death instantly, so the contents of his digestive tract would immediately poison what remained. I knew it was done slowly, methodically, and without any kind of anesthetic.
I was dressed in a covering robe as is the custom of women in this country. A hood over my head allowed only the eyes to be seen, but over that opening was a lace veil that prevented others from seeing even that small amount of flesh clearly. Simple cloth gloves covered my hands and arms, disappearing under the wrapping sleeves. Even my feet were shod in wrapping shoes.
I had disagreed with my host about the color of the robes. I wished black, as it is my preferred color for most occasions. My host rejected that as the color of death and evil and nightmares that still plague him. He wished me to wear bright scarlet red and over that, chains and drapes of spun gold.
I rejected that as a visual declaration that I was one of his… personal… treasures, which I was undoubtedly not.
“You are in my kingdom. All in my kingdom belongs to me.”
“If you wish to test that hypothesis, then I suggest you lay hands on what you think is your property. If you keep that hand, then what you grip is truly yours.”
The members of his court offered to teach me how to properly address the vain prince. A few others to teach me how to know a woman’s place. The prince and I watched those around us while staring at each other. He raised a hand to silence the court.
“And what would you do with your prize?”
“Lean flesh like yours require a long cooking time. However, I would not abuse your knucklebones with a common stew. I would confer with the djinn of the east, the man-eating djinn, about what spices are proper for such a rare and unique taste that your flesh would bring.”
His court was horrified into silence. The briefest hint of a smile flicked across the prince’s face. “I appreciate that you would take my status in consideration. Should such occasion come, the fruits and tubers for such a feast will be supplied by my own kitchens. After all, they have fed me and contributed to the taste you will be sucking off my bones. So it would stand that they would have the most complementary flavors to accompany the last meal of your life.”
“You are gracious, your lordship.” I bowed in honest acceptance.
“Gray, then.” He returned the discussion to the first matter. “Because you are no longer in my nightmares, but you have stepped out of them into light, and that light has diffused you. And never shall you wear red before me, unless it is the blood of my enemies. You are not like the women that accept me as lord. You have not made yourself into a treasure to be fought over. So you shall not be marked as such with chains and jewels.” He turned to the keeper of his house and demanded a set of covering clothes, including boots and gloves, be made of the grayest cloth.
The Keeper remarked that the only grey cloth in the entire estate was the cloth reserved for making funeral shrouds.
My broad smile and lack of offense confused the court. The prince nodded his approval.
Now properly adorned, the prince led me to the depths of his castle. He had a gift for me. We quipped back and forth about various acts of violence and other unbecoming and improper topics of discussion. The prince enjoyed making his retinue nervous. He spoke often of his nightmares and how easily I fit the appearance of some characters that tormented him.
“I have something for you. I had it carefully prepared. It was a risk to call you before it was completed, but if I waited too long it would be spoiled.” He had the prison doors unlocked and opened. “Go on. It’s best if you see it alone. Nothing here will hurt you, and anything that tries deserves what you do to it in response.”
I understood now why the prince played with words and the delicate senses of his court. I had arrived too soon. My gift was not yet ready. While we conspired to offend as many in his court as possible, this man was being cut in half and dying.
His head was still warm.
I recognized him as someone that had once caused me pain and discomfort, someone that after I recovered my senses had been swiftly put in his place and humiliated before his peers. I recognized him, but had forgotten even his name. He was a story in the past.
“You’ve spoiled the flesh. I can smell the intoxicants on his lips.”
“You do not feast on the dead like a mere ghoul. [Boneburner].”
My forehead still touching the corpse, I stroked the slack cheek in sincere comfort. I was searching for the deceased’s spirit. He died mere minutes before I entered, surely his spirit is still here. I found nothing. The flesh was empty. Not even fading echoes of his painwracked last moments remained. As if…
“You are a poor giver of gifts, your lordship. Where is the jewel that holds his spirit?”
He barely constrained his laughter, expressing only a happy “humph” at my demand. He shifted his posture slightly and a small happy child ran into the torture chamber. The tyke wore a flashy gold and red toned cloth tied harshly around kir waist. The knot was made to keep the tyke from removing it, but no child would be stymied by it for long. The child ran to me and held up a red bag decorated with gold embroidery.
“Here! Here! It’s for you! It’s pretty! It makes pretty light!”
I took the bag and opened it. The ruby it contained is the size of my fist and roughly the same shape. The size of a human heart. I peeked inside the exposed chest of the cadaver. Lungs, the tied off end of the esophagus, a dissected pericardium hanging in shreds. No heart.
I held the ruby up to the light. A faint shadow pulsed within. I counted seconds and judged the pulsing to be about 70 pulses per minutes.
“You stinker. You converted flesh to stone and didn’t tell me? You little shit.” I should be horrified. I should be howling in the fury of revenge. I wasn’t moved. Was I in shock that this was considered a proper ‘gift’ to me? Somewhat. My lack of reaction was more disturbing to me than the gift itself.
The prince furrowed his brow. This was not the reaction he was expecting either. I placed the ruby back in the bag and patted the deceased man’s face one last time. The flesh was empty. There was nothing here for me to do. And while I did have the spirit in hand, I was not being compelled to take it to the Boneyard.
“Which is my gift, oh gracious prince? The flesh, the spirit, or the method by which this ruby was created? For I recognize him as one that had slighted me in the past.”
The prince entered the torture chamber and for the first time I took a hard look at what he was wearing. Strings of pearls. Loops of gold. Chains strung with a thousand swinging gems. Just enough of a loincloth to give lipservice to modesty. His body was painted with lines of gold and white. He sought to outshine the sun, to be seen as a god among men.
A name teased my lips, but even as I thought it, I knew to speak it would bring horror.
“You don’t like it.” He pouted dangerously.
“I like the pretty that came of it. If you are wondering why I have no comment on the methods used, I have nearly had my fill of humanity. I tire of the high road. We are not a noble species. We are animals with opposable thumbs and thus can wreak havoc faster than the others. Nothing more.”
His pout segued to a leer. “The gift is the method, the state you found his flesh in, and the gem. You remember him only as an inconvenience and a thug. He committed further crimes against your memory, and eventually, against me. His greater crimes required a greater response.” He came close to me, such that even though I was fully shielded in cloth, I could feel the heat of his body seeking mine. “I shall have what remains of his flesh disposed of since it is unsuitable for consumption after all. But now there is a new question. How shall you show your gratitude for my thoughtfulness?” He raised his hand and slowly slid it under the hood of my robes.
~crunch~
He yelped and withdrew his hand quickly. A neat pebble of flesh was missing from a finger. Ink black tendrils of solidified shadow twisted at the hem of the offense, licking up every stray drop of blood that had escaped the initial bite. He saw the squirming appendages and froze in a rarely seen fear.
His guards rushed in but the small child was faster. The tyke took me by the hand and begged me to pick kir up. With the child in my arms, the guards were reluctant to attack me.
“It is a rude and inhospitable giver that offers something freely, and then when seeing it accepted, demands gifts in return. Here is how I shall show my gratitude, oh prince. When next the shadows come, I will not be among their number. You should have allowed me to present myself as merely Weaver, your lordship. You forgot how fears work in this world. That which you try to hide, you increase in strength.”
I placed the tyke back down and tucked the bag with the gem under my robes. “I do thank you for the gift, surprising as it is. It is a valuable one. Tell your court whatever story you wish to tell, for I am sure that by the time the story hits the streets, your glory will be upheld and less fool will be daring to challenge you or me.”
The prince recovered his speech and tried to recover his arrogance. “And what will you do with the gem?”
I thought of the djinn merchant. “Everything has a price. Everything has a buyer. Thank you again for the gift, grand prince. And for the snack. You’re as sweet as candy!”
The prince blanched again and backed away from me. I winked at the tyke as I left and noted the child was able to see the action despite the veil. Making sure I remembered that tidbit of information, I left the chamber, castle, and dream.