Free Skull Gate by Robin W Bailey

no other witnesses.
    She dragged them into the royal chambers and shut the door again. Thogrin groaned on the carpet and clutched his belly. She watched him, disgusted, as he struggled to rise, then kicked him in the face, ruining his teeth.
    He looked up at her, blood and tears streaming on his chin. Her incarnadined blade hovered near his left eye. “They didn't have to die!” she hissed. “You sold their lives for nothing!"
    â€œS-soldiers...” he stuttered, spraying red foam and bits of teeth as he spoke. “Duty to their k-king!"
    â€œDamn their duty and damn you!” She seized a handful of his dark hair and wiped her weapon clean in it. Fear kept him from crying out against the pain. When the edge was bright again, she stood back and looked at the men she'd killed. She knew them both, good men who'd bought her drinks at the taverns when she'd been a common mercenary. The carpet drank up their life-fluids.
    She turned back to Thogrin and indicated the chair at the desk. “Get up,” she ordered. When he did not move fast enough she kicked him again—cracking ribs, she was certain. His face contorted, the breath rasped from him. “Move,” she said.
    With an effort he rose and struggled to the chair at the desk. He eased very gingerly into it. After a moment, the pain seemed to leave his features. A vague mockery of a grin twisted his torn lips. “Pretty little wench,” he managed. “You'll die very slowly."
    She raised an eyebrow. “You're hardly in a position to threaten."
    His chest swelled. He wheezed as he drew a deep breath. “I am High King of Korkyra."
    â€œYou're a man at the wrong end of a sword."
    He thought about that. “I submit to your higher reason,” he said at last. “How much do you want?"
    Her hand twitched. How easy it would be to lean on her sword and end this insulting pig's life now. She sucked her lower lip. That would not get her what she wanted. “I want Aki,” she answered. “Where is she?"
    Thogrin's grin spread into a full smile. “You killed her; I have witnesses who will testify to that.” He regarded her in a slow, irritating manner, his gaze roaming up her blade, up her arm to her face, down her body. “We thought you'd escaped over the border or taken ship somewhere when we couldn't find you. We gave you a trial, though, and sentenced you to hang."
    She sat on the edge of the desk. The point of her sword drew a thin crimson line upon his collarbone. To his credit, he did not flinch this time. “No games, Thogrin Sin'tell.” She kept her voice calm, cold. “Look in my eyes.” He boldly complied. “I know you have Aki."
    He shook his head. “It's all a game,” he answered, “a game called Power. Aki had it, and I wanted it. Korkyra needs a man on the throne, not a child."
    Her eyes narrowed. “Where is she?"
    Thogrin lost his smile. “Look for her in hell."
    His eyes taunted her, mocking, and the grin came back. She spat in his face, and his head jerked away as if he'd been hit again. He wiped the spittle with the back of his hand. His look was purest hatred.
    â€œYou didn't kill her,” Frost said. “You haven't the guts. Your kind never has the guts."
    Thogrin Sin'tell shrugged. “Others have."
    She considered that, recalling suddenly the man in the black robes. “It was he who put you on the throne,” she said. “Wasn't it?"
    He shrugged again.
    â€œWho is he?"
    Thogrin stared at his feet. “I don't think I'll tell you."
    The flat of her blade cracked on his cheek. The impact reopened the cuts on his lips, which had just begun to clot. Blood poured down, spattering his gown. He dabbed it with a sleeve. “Bitch!” he mumbled. He tried to straighten in his chair, to draw himself up. A tongue licked out and collected the blood that threatened to run down. “I'll never tell you, no matter what you