The Mad God's Muse (The Eye of the Lion Saga Book 2) by Matt Gilbert Read Free Book Online Page A

gestured
sewing her lips shut, and the kitchen fell silent save for the
gentle farting sounds and scraping of pans.
    Shirini
looked out of the serving window into the dining room where Master
Davron and his visitor sat, talking quietly. Not quietly enough,
now that these chickens have the idea.
    The woman was a real looker,
with long, raven hair, deep green eyes, and full, red lips. She had
noble written all over her, but her build was anything but.
Noblewomen tended to be way too thin in Shirini's opinion, but this
one bucked that trend. She had bosoms to rival Shirini's own
well-cultivated pair, and her red, silk dress was cut to display
them well. More, her hips shone wide and fine in contrast to her
narrow waistline. Shirini winced at her own broadened waist, then
shrugged with good nature. She'd had enough babies, and was enjoying
being done with that part of life. She felt no guilt at enjoying
eating at least as much as cooking, and there was plenty of interest
from the men despite it. Not so much from the younger ones, but
then I prefer men to boys anyway.
    Davron's guest crossed her legs
and leaned in seductively, but her eyes gave lie to the pose. “How
long do you intend to go on with this foolishness? It threatens my
only son, and for what?”
    Davron offered her a
patronizing smile. He was a damned fine specimen of a man, Shirini
mused. He dressed well, but without pretense, and had bulges in all
the right places, quite a feat for a man of his age. “It will
go on as long as it amuses me,” he told his guest. “I'll
decide if he lives or dies in my own good time.” The woman
opened her mouth to speak, but Davron help up a hand. “I have
no sons, but I had a nephew, until recently. He was a useless thing,
really, partial to debauchery, but his mother loved him. He was a
regular at Tasinalta's disgusting orgies. For once in his life, the
fool found a use for his balls beyond fucking, and the Southlanders
cut him down like a dog.”
    The woman smirked at this, and
jabbed at him. “No sons, you say? Imagine that. Don't care for
girls do you?”
    Davron chuckled at this and
nodded in appreciation at the gibe. “I like 'women' not girls.
The problem lies with my wife, if you must know.”
    “So set her aside.”
    Davron darkened at this.
“Perhaps that's how you handle such things in the lesser
houses,” he sneered. “In house Noril, we value loyalty,
history, duty.”
    The woman answered with a
seductive smile and a feigned nod of concession. “That's good
to know.”
    Shirini growled to herself, and
clutched her spoon in anger. Who are you, bitch, to mock him so?

    Narelki stared in silence at
her trembling hands, willing them to be still, but the best she
could manage was to quiet their shaking, not eliminate it. Her gut
churned in helpless, blind objection to reality. Once, that would
have been enough to move worlds. She felt her eyes burning as tears welled, uncertain if they were
for Aiul or for her own lost self.
    I will not do this! She clamped her eyes closed and gritted her teeth. There
must be something left!
Some tiny shred, at least! People change all of the time, but they
don't simply turn in on themselves and vanish. A snake can't simply
swallow its tail until it pops out of existence!
    And
yet that was just what it was like. Whole pieces of her were gone as
if they never were, and now the one piece she had left, her son, was
being torn from her as well.
    How
many times had she come lately? Ten, Twenty? She had lost count.
There were no handholds for memory because nothing changed. Aiul
said nothing. He gave no indication that he even knew she was there,
much less that he recognized her. Of course, the damned bandages
made it impossible to read anything in his eyes or his expression.
    Someone
behind her politely cleared his throat, and Narelki dashed the tears
from her eyes before she turned to face Rithard. It was far too late
to pretend she was anything but shattered, but she stood