Screams Fallen Silent
an excerpt

From: Chapter One: Slave to the Wheel (King Reborn)

Leaning heavily on his walking stick, he pointed his withered, gnarled finger at her. “You are a blasphemer, Lolheid Songfall. A blasphemer, and a whore.”

Lolheid narrowed her eyes; how dare he slander her. Blasphemer, yes. Whore? Hardly. With a snarl, she raised her hand, fingers stretched out to him.

“And you, sir, are a disgusting, blinded pig.”

With those words, and the shocked gasp from the crowd, a thin stream of fire flared from her fingertips. With the purpose of a bloodthirsty killer, the fire split through the crowd, growing larger as it touched the Grand High Poobah. Happily, merrily the fire licked at him, fed by his flesh and his screams. The crowd scattered, screaming and running as if they were the ones on fire. Lolheid lept over her box, and knelt down beside Xelre’s to speak, hushed and quickly, to her.

“You may come with me, or you may stay here. The choice is yours; if you stay, even if you claimed to be brainwashed, you will spend your entire life serving the Six Big Gods in their Temple, as nothing more than a mere shrinemaiden for eternity. If you come with me, we will find refuge.”

Zohetib was almost shocked; Lolheid hadn’t exibited kindness like that for years. Many, many years. The girl, Xelre, looked up at her mistress with frightened tears in her eyes. Her fingers trembled as she lifted her hands, taking Lolheid’s proffered ones.

“I pr..I promised I would fo..follow you,” she said, her voice scared, shaking, full of tears. “I will…will…I will follow you, if it means my…my death!”

Lolheid’s face softened, and her smile was genuine – the first genuine smile she’d smiled in years, Zohetib supposed. She turned, lowering herself to pick Xelre up on her back, and in the confusion of the court, she sped off into the forest.