Chapter 37: Feigned Kindness

We'd spent hours in the strategy room with no results besides placing more protection on the surrounding villages and those venturing closer to the palace. Alaric pulled me aside before I took my leave, pleading with me not to do anything reckless-- say, like running away. I nodded, still a little dumbfounded by the description of the bodies, the whole ordeal, really.

Were the two attacks linked? Was it the same person or group? They were both so brutal and sounded unreal. Their bodies were drained of blood; even if a sacrifice was needed to appease the gods, they would not be bled out until there was nothing but skin, bone and organs.

"It would take longer than a few hours…"

"Lia."

"Agh!" I almost jump out of my skin, clutching my chest where my heart thuds wildly. My arms ache from where I'd been gripping my elbows tightly, almost to ward off the eeriness that followed me out of the strategy chamber.