The Shadowed Throne by K. J. Taylor

narrowed eyes.
    Blue
eyes. Bile rose in Saeddryn’s throat. “Yer own father went through his manhood ceremony under my mother’s eye. But not here. His ceremony happened a long way away, high up in the mountains. Once, those mountains were the only place we could live free. There’s a place there that’s more sacred than our Temple ever was.”
    â€œThe Throne!” Torc exclaimed. “Of course!”
    â€œTaranis’ Throne!” said the Master of Trade.
    â€œIt’s said great King Taranis himself was crowned there,” said Saeddryn. “King Arenadd became a man there.” She allowed herself a smile. “I was married there. What better place could there be for a Queen to have her womanhood ceremony?”
    â€œIt’s perfect!” said Torc.
    Saeddryn bowed again, hands clasped over her stomach. “What do ye say, my lady? Come to the Throne with me, an’ learn what it is to be a darkwoman. The Night God will embrace ye, an’, at last, yer soul will be whole.”
    Oeka stirred. “And we shall see our territory while we travel there.”
    Everyone looked at Laela.
    â€œSounds like a plan,” she said eventually.
    â€œIt’s settled then,” said Saeddryn. “Now if ye don’t mind, I should go. I’m an old woman, an’ I need my rest.”
    â€œDon’t let me keep yeh up,” Laela said graciously.
    Saeddryn left, exalting silently. It was all so easy. The mountains were a harsh place, the harshest in Tara. They had claimed many lives in the past. Anyone who went there unprepared, anyone with an inner weakness—anyone not worthy to be in those mountains would be claimed by them.
    And Laela would be next. Saeddryn had no doubt about that at all.
    As she left, the High Priestess was too frayed to notice the scarred shape that watched her from the shadows.
    N obody saw Ravana, and he liked it that way. At least, people saw him, but they didn’t
notice
him. He was used to it. Growing up as a slave from birth, he had always been seen but not noticed. Slaves were supposed to be invisible—noticed only when they failed to do their work the way they should.
    Ravana didn’t mind. To him, life had always been about pleasing somebody. It didn’t matter who gave the commands, or what they were, as long as somebody did. Ravana needed a master. It was what made the world make sense to him. When he had a master, everything came down to two simple rules. He must please his master, and everything he did must be to protect that master.
    Being unseen only made following those rules easier. During the meeting that morning, he stayed close to Laela and watched everything that happened around them both. Nobody looked at him or tried to speak to him.
    The fact that he could not speak their language made those around him assume that he couldn’t understand anything. He was stupid in their eyes, and mute as well. Ravana didn’t care. It was just another weapon he could use to defend his master. People were careless around him, they didn’t try to hide their feelings. They assumed he would be oblivious.
    But Ravana was not stupid, and he did not need language to know what he needed to.
    He watched the council talk, and once again his gaze fell on Saeddryn in particular. Since the beginning of his service to the Queen, he had seen the High Priestess many times and had seen how they were to each other. Saeddryn was insolent; she would look the Queen in the face—even shout at her. Ravana knew for a fact that she had threatened her more than once. It was all in how she moved, how she looked at her.
    Ravana did not like that. It infuriated him to see such disrepect to a great and powerful ruler like this Queen he served. It confused him, too, that the Queen had not had the old woman’s tongue torn out. None of his previous masters would have let her go unpunished.
    He thought about it for a long time, day