The man licked his lips. “Is that so?”
“Yes.” She slipped off the chair and onto her knees.
The prince rolled the throw sticks in his hand as he watched her slither toward him. “And what do you desire in exchange for these offerings?”
“Only your favor, my prince,” she replied, slipping her shoulders between his legs. She rubbed her cheek against his thigh in a gesture familiar to the cat, a gesture of possession, of territory claimed. “With so many burdens on your back, you will need pleasure. Release. I can give you that, and more.” She reached out to touch him.
The prince’s hand darted forward, catching her wrist. His expression twisted into disgust.
“Do you really think I’d want my father’s half-chewed meat?” he snarled.
The girl’s face went pale.
“You think you can crawl into my bed, simply because you amused him? A man who’d mate with anything with two legs?”
Tadia shrank back, staring at the prince as if seeing him for the first time.
The cat’s tail twitched with nervous anticipation, the mouse all but forgotten.
The prince rose from his chair. “I am going to wipe everything he fouled with his touch from the face of the earth,” he said, prowling after the girl as she tried to scurry away. “Starting with you.”
He lunged and caught her by the throat.
It happened so quickly that the girl didn’t have time to scream.
The cat flattened itself against the ground as Tadia tried towrench her body away from him. Her arms batted against his chest with futile blows as her face swelled and purpled. She flailed, sweeping the snake board off the table, scattering the red and black pieces across the floor. She pried at his fingers, her mouth opening and closing.
The prince drank in the sight and continued to squeeze.
Soon, Tadia stopped struggling. The room fell to silence. The prince released his grip and she slid to the floor, her eyes open and staring.
With a sigh, the prince sat back in his chair. He pushed a loose lock of hair from his eyes, reached for the cup of wine sitting on the table, and drank deeply. When it was empty, he set it back down.
“Guard!” he called.
A tall, barrel-chested man entered from the other room. He glanced at the body on the floor but didn’t seem particularly alarmed by it.
“Yes, my prince?” he said in a clipped tone.
The prince waved a hand toward the girl. “Clean up this mess.”
“Yes, my prince.” The guard stooped down to gather up the corpse, then draped it over his shoulder like a beast after slaughter.
The prince stopped him before he departed. “I think it’s time for you and the others to take care of the king’s personal guard. Don’t you?” He patted the big man’s arm affectionately. “Much to do tonight.”
“I will take care of it, my prince. As we discussed.” With a crisp bow, he was gone.
That done, the prince carefully gathered up the red and black pieces from the floor and set them on the table next to the Mehen board. When he found the red jackal piece, he placed it on the snake’s head and smiled.
The cat, ever curious, slunk out from her hiding place to sniff at the black jackal piece that had landed near her. Unable to resist, she batted it across the square tiles.
The prince turned toward the sound, noticing her.
“Hello there, cat,” he crooned. “Out for a hunt tonight?” He chuckled, and a primal hunger flashed in his eyes. “That makes two of us.”
25
Sita
