Chapter 53: Murder

THE STORM EAGLE MOUNTAINS.

JOMIN.

The festivities were in full swing, and though Jomin felt the pull of the excitement, he couldn’t let himself be swept up in it. Pina’s marriage to Kren, or rather her engagement to him, had all but cemented her place as the village’s next leader. Even those who had once leaned toward supporting him had fallen straight into her camp.

It didn’t matter, though. In a way, this might even be the best outcome for everyone. He would never have to face his sister, or put their father in an impossible position. Jomin was different enough, his bloodline aside, and a life spent in service to a king sounded far better than one spent clawing for scraps of power alongside his sister. Alongside his family.

He turned into an alleyway that would lead him straight back to the square. The glow of the blazing bonfire spilled down the dim street in long, wavering reflections. Jomin didn’t hear the knife. He only felt it, sinking into the back of his knee. His next step never landed, and he hit the ground with a pained grunt. A dark chuckle followed him down.

"I’d have thought you had better senses than this, Little Lord Jomin. It would’ve made this little meeting of ours a lot more exciting than what I suspect you’re about to give me. There’s no pleasure in killing a weakling like you."

A host of emotions tore through Jomin’s mind, chief among them a deep, bone-settling fear. He risked a glance behind him and caught only a flash of silver, then darkness as the second blade sank deep into his right eye.

He screamed, but the sound came out muted, as though his throat had swollen shut and the noise he needed to make couldn’t find its way past his lips.

"We can’t have you screaming. I’d like to take my time and enjoy poking you full of holes, so I laced my blades with a fast but mild paralytic. It mostly targets the tongue, makes it heavy and your words slur for the next thirty minutes. By then I’ll have seen the color of your insides, and you’ll be well on your way to meet your ancestors."

Jomin let out a strangled cry and twisted around, struggling to his feet even as blood poured from his ruined eye. He hobbled forward, subdued whimpers slipping past his lips with every step. He made it only a few paces before another blade buried itself in his heel. This time there was nothing he could do to stop it. He tipped forward and crashed against the cold mountain ground, his blood already spreading out in a dark pool beneath him.

"Honestly, there are no hard feelings between us. We’re just doing this as a favor for someone very close to you. Unfortunately, that means your young life is about to be cut short. Take it as a lesson."

Blades sank into his back, or perhaps it was only one blade, moving in and out so many times he couldn’t tell. There was nothing he could do as the cold hands of death closed around his neck. His inner beast raged against such a fate, its furious howls reaching for a heaven it would never get the chance to see.

"In your next life, remember this. A man’s worst enemies always come from his own household. Only family is brutal enough to kill its own in an abandoned alley. Go on to the next world with some measure of closure, at least. Now you know exactly who wants you dead."

Jomin felt the final blade lift high into the air. He twitched, knowing this was the end. The moment that blade completed its arc, whatever story Jomin had left to offer the world would end, and so would he. And it would be because of his own family. Because of Pina.

"Murder!"

Jomin never learned whether the blade came down or not. The scream from beyond the alley brought him a sliver of relief, his fading vision catching the shapes of people gathering ahead, his ears picking up the sound of rapidly retreating footsteps. He should have felt vindicated. Perhaps they would catch his murderer, and deny him the pleasure he’d been so eager to take.

But there was no vindication to be found, only fear and despair as his blood drained out of him and the world began to dissolve at its edges. He could feel hands on him now, though even that sensation had gone dull and distant as his mind gathered one last thought. And, strangely enough, Jomin thought of Kren. Of his new king, and what might have been had he been given the chance to serve him. What might have been if he’d finally left these mountains for the plains, the way he’d always wanted. What might have been, serving at the feet of the N’kora. Those were the final thoughts of Jomin of the Storm Eagles, before the cold darkness of oblivion swallowed him for good.

----<>----

[Spirit of the South Wind]

Kren sat back, glaring at Pina from across the room. For two hours now, he’d been channeling his summoning spell to keep Jomin alive while the physician worked to stitch him back together.

The boy had been stabbed fourteen times. If not for the South Wind’s remarkable ability to heal as well as defend and attack, Kren would never have managed to contain the worst of the damage. Even so, Jomin was a wreck. The mischievous, vibrant youth Kren had first met lay buried beneath a mountain of blood-soaked bandages, his breathing so shallow Kren feared it might stop at any moment.

"If I find out you had anything to do with this, I will—"

"You’ll what?" Pina held his gaze without a hint of fear. She’d been in the room the entire time, beside Kren, because someone had overheard the attacker speaking. Someone had heard him tell Jomin that a man’s worst enemy came from his own household. It had cast a dark shadow over the festivities, especially now that the rest of the Storm Eagles were looking at Pina as though she were fully capable of murdering her own brother. And perhaps she was, after all, given the state Jomin was in.

"Your Majesty, if we’re going to give chase, it has to be now." Aki said from the threshold of the room. "Toa and Fima will lead the wagons after us. The attackers have a head start, but if we leave immediately and take the mountain goats, we can cut them off before they reach the centaurs’ forest."

Kren turned to Ruhu. "You’re the only one staying behind. Keep Jomin safe. If she so much as twitches the wrong way, you have my permission to find the darkest cave or dungeon on this rock and throw my new fiancée inside it. Then toss the key off the mountain."

Pina glared at him. "I had nothing to do with this! I hate his guts and I hate his very existence, but Jomin is still my brother. I changed his fucking diapers, Kren! I would never do this!" Fima scoffed from the side, clearly convinced Pina was putting on a show.

"You’ve already tried to have him killed once, and you very nearly succeeded, I might add. There’s no one else in this village with a more believable motive to want Jomin dead. Only a fool would have missed your pettiness and jealousy toward your own brother all this time.

"So whether you’re innocent or not, someone out there knows enough about your rotten character to use it and frame you. Or you sent them yourself. Either way, once I catch up to them, they’ll squeal. And if you truly had anything to do with this?"

Kren turned away and marched toward the door. Just before stepping out, he paused and glanced back at her.

"I’ll kill you myself."