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Esme harrumphed.Of course we could take one alone, maybe even two of them together.
Let’s not try it, shall we? I’d rather leave this place alive. If we die, then so does Bobby.
That was enough to sober Esme’s blood lust.Okay,she agreed reluctantly.We won’t kill any of them.
Thank you,I replied primly.
I started forward towards the High King, touched my hand to my heart and bowed low for five seconds; actually, I made it six just to be sure. ‘My honour to meet you, High King Robert Krieg. My name is Lucy Barrett.’
He reclined indolently, eyeing me with open distrust. After a long moment, where all I could hear was the thundering of my heartbeat, he finally inclined his head, touched his hand to his heart and gave me the barest of bows from his seated position. ‘My honour to meet you, Lucy Barrett. You have requested this meeting in my den. Can I get you something to eat?’
‘Thank you for the offer, but no. I’ve just eaten my breakfast.’
‘A drink, perhaps?’ he asked, with a gleam in his eye.
I had no doubt that he was hoping I’d commit a faux pas and refuse. ‘That would be wonderful, thank you,’ I said instead.
The King jerked his head and the scowling woman disappeared inside, presumably to get us refreshments rather than summon more ogres. Fingers crossed.
I looked at the crows that surrounded him; fifteen or twenty of them, at least. I thought that crows were solitary creatures, but it seemed I was wrong. Krieg had a pile of seeds next to him, and every now and again he scattered some among the crows. Despite the sizeable pile, at no point did any of the crows try to sneak onto the table to steal them.
Were they afraid of him? Because I’m supremely nosy and sometimes don’t think things through, I hummed a soft ditty under my breath and summoned my piping powers. I reached out with them towards the crows. I only meant to touch the mind of one crow, but inadvertently I touched a couple. The two crows nearest to me gave an alarmingly loud caw, tilted their heads and examined me closely.
I felt a wave of curiosity and mischief wash over me. They wanted to know who I was and they wanted to play in equal measure. I sent them the image of Krieg with an overlying question.Do you fear him?
Almost instantly the two crows started to make a sound that I can only describe as corvid laughter, and a rush of love and affection swamped me. The crows loved Krieg – well, these two did, at least.
The crows sent me a mixture of images. It took me a second to decipher them all, but they were layered over each other so I could tell what they were trying to show me. Come rain, snow or sun, Krieg always came to feed his crows; he fed them in the morning and he fed them at night, even if that meant coming out in a torrential downpour or in the pitch dark. Ha. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have said they were his pets.
The crows gave a caw of outrage at the thought that they were his pets – they were hiscompanions. They protected him. I got the sense that they would happily attack anyone who tried to harm the High King.
I let go of their little minds gently and pulled back to my own. It felt like several minutes had passed but the mental exchange had barely taken seconds. It had been useful because it gave me some insight into the guy before me; he was an ogre, but he was more than that. He clearly had some affection for those crows, and I could totally relate to a guy that looked after his pets.
‘I love your crows,’ I said aloud. ‘They’re in great condition. You must look after them very well.’
Krieg examined me with a frown, trying to understand my interest. I gave him my best open smile but, if anything, his frown deepened. ‘They are my little warriors. Crows are far more intelligent than they are given credit for. They would happily attack anyone who sought to harm me.’
‘I can see that. They are fiercely protective of you.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘And you’d know that how?’
‘Wolves are pack creatures. I recognise certain behaviours when I see them,’ I lied smoothly.
‘And does your pack include a griffin these days?’ He pointed at Bastion.
‘No, the griffin is a friend.’
Krieg laughed loudly. ‘Griffins don’t do friends, Lucy Barrett. They have allies or victims, and sometimes you can use those terms interchangeably.’
He wasn’t what I’d expected at all; instead of conversing in words of one syllable or grunts, he was using language like ‘interchangeably’. Shame on me for my negative preconceptions. All right, I’d seen a gargoyle pulverised to death and all the arrows pointed to the ogres as culprit, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t clever. It just meant that they were also violent.
They weren’t alone in that in the Other realm. Standing next to me was Bastion, the realm’s paramount assassin. His violence made the ogres’ achievements look like child’s play. And I had a wolf in my head that constantly suggested we should kill things.
‘Perhaps,’ I agreed. ‘But not today. Today Bastion is here to ensure my safety.’
‘And how does he do that?’ Krieg’s voice dropped dangerously low. ‘Do you think one griffin can survive the might of a devouring horde of ogres?’
I snorted irreverently. ‘Of course not, but he’d take an awful lot of you down with him. By all accounts, you’re an excellent leader.’ Flattery never hurts. ‘I doubt you’d want to see your ranks destroyed just to kill me today. Better to kill me another time.’ I spoke lightly, like my heart wasn’t hammering in my chest. ‘The ogres are the premier warriors of the Other realm. If I’m ever threatened, I want to hire you guys as my protectors. But in the meantime, I wonder if I could ask you some questions?’
