Page 50 of The Witch who Trades with Death

Chapter Fifty

“You are in my town,” Phramanka said curtly. “So unless you’re here to surrender, you can climb right back on that behemoth and fly off.”

Yamueto stopped when he and Phramanka were two spear lengths apart. Not close enough to use witchcraft. More than close enough to make Khana choke.

“I don’t typically let people speak to me like that,” he said, in his usual bored tone. He was every inch the emperor in his black silks, hair swept back in a topknot. He glowed with aji, immune to anyone who tried to attack him. There was no question that he was a royal, an immortal, a god among his people.

Phramanka, in her sleep clothes and uncombed hair, replied, “Tough shit.”

He didn’t respond. Khana’s body trembled, muscles locked.

Haz leaned into her ear. “Breathe.”

She sucked in a breath, light-headed with the sudden influx of air, then another. Part of her wanted to run. Part of her wanted to stay rooted to the spot. Don’t move, just do as he says. Don’t move, don’t move, don’t –

“My concubine has taken refuge in this town,” Yamueto said, his voice cutting through the still morning air. “A girl named Khana. Dark skin. Black hair. Small. She killed another concubine of mine, and my son.”

“Oh, I know. That was a sight to see,” Phramanka said.

“Your people have survived for centuries by hiding behind these mountains. An excellent way to block soldiers who cannot fly ,” he continued, as if the chief hadn’t even spoken.

Khana swallowed, her throat dry. He has more of those flying creatures.

“Give her to me – alive. Surrender the town, and I will spare your lives and livelihoods,” Yamueto said. “Not one stone or drop of blood will fall by my hand.”

A pit opened in Khana’s stomach. A hundred eyes fell on her. She shrank back into Haz, and he put an arm around her shoulders.

Phramanka spat at Yamueto’s feet. “I don’t trust or obey the word of tyrants.”

Khana had seen men die screaming for less.

Yamueto turned his heel, scanning the crowd. His eyes fell on Khana.

She stayed still, trembling. Say something. Do something. Kill him!

She couldn’t.

Haz tightened his grip, his smile all teeth. “Fuck off, Emperor Asshole!”

The cry went up in the crowd, first by a couple of soldiers, then a handful, until the whole town was jeering: “Fuck off! Fuck off! Fuck off!”

Yamueto silently returned to his beast, saying only, “You have until nightfall,” before he flew away. Khana didn’t stop shaking.