Varek Soren woke up screaming loudly and kicking things, anything his hands and feet could touch he kicked.He kicked his blanket off so hard and violently that it tore badly, His foot caught the wooden chest near his bed and sent it flying across the boards. He threw the bedside table to the floor and the basin there shattered, the water inside splashed everywhere, he swung his fist in the air thinking that he was still on the cold table and it hit the wall… the pain shot up his arm but he did not even stop because he was not in his room anymore. He was back on the cold table with the straps cutting into his wrists and the metal pressing against his spine.He could feel the blade going into his chest, he could still feel it all, he could see Vespera standing beside him in her dark gown, she was calm and quiet as always, handing the instruments to Aurelius one by one. Her hands were so steady and her face was innocent. She looked at him the way she used to look at him when they sat to

The invitation came on a silver tray the next morning.Marta carried it up the stairs with a face like she was holding a dead rat by the tail. She knocked and Varek opened the door with the Gnarl still curled on his pillow. The creature had not moved all night. It looked small and harmless in the daylight."A servant from the Valerius estate brought this," Marta said. "It's for you."Varek took the card. Thick white paper with gold lettering… he read it aloud."Lord Draven Valerius requests the pleasure of your company this evening. A celebration in honor of new beginnings."Marta crossed her arms and scuffed. "New beginnings. His new beginning with Lady Vespera, no doubt. They want you there so they can laugh at you in person.""I know.""Will you go?"Varek looked at the invitation and thought about the vision again. "Yes," he said. "I will go."Marta stared at him. "Why? Why walk into that house and let them shame you boy?""Because if I hide, they will say I am a coward. If I sta

The day passed in a raced by so fast, Varek stayed in his room throughout. He told Marta he was still feeling unwell from the nightmares. She brought him soup and bread at noon and he ate because his body needed strength, not because he was hungry. The Gnarl stayed curled on his pillow, its red eyes closed, its breathing slow and even.But inside his skull, the vision of his death kept playing over and over. The burning city, the broken spear. Aurelius touched his forehead with two cold fingers and said to him “You were never going to win.”It was not enough to know how he died but he needed to know why this time, he needed to understand what Aurelius was building and see the end of everything.When the sun went down and Marta's candle went off and everywhere went dark, he sat up on the bed, the Gnarl opened its red eye immediately.[You want to borrow again.]"I need to see it again. I caught a glimpse of the throne and the bones when I first woke up, but I need to see it clearly. I

Chapter 7: The Blood BondThe eastern gate stood unguarded at this hour. Varek slipped through the stone archway and followed the narrow road as it wound down toward the sunken field where the dead beasts lay. The moon was thin and cold overhead, and the wind had died to a low whisper that moved through the dry grass like a voice he could not quite hear.The Beast Graveyard stretched ahead of him in the pale light. Piles of bones rose up among the weeds like broken monuments. The larger corpses were dark shapes against the grey earth. A Stonehide Boar with its flank split open. A Wind Wolf with its grey fur matted and stiff. The remains of something with too many legs curled in on itself like a dead spider.Varek stopped at the edge of the field and pulled the Gnarl from inside his coat. It had grown heavier during the walk, or maybe it was just that he was tired. He set it on the cold ground and watched it lift its blind head toward the piles of bones."Can you eat all of this?" he a