KINGDOM OF THE STONE -- a Wattpad featured novel

Chapter Thirty Two

"No!" Odo shouted through clenched teeth, as Carak put the knife to his throat.  It took surprisingly little pressure for the stone knife to find the artery and open it up.  Blood sprayed out in strong pulses coating the stone in a rich bright red. 

The struggling Odo convulsed and went limp as the fountain of blood drained away.  The milk began to pour from the stone.  "Tell the others to bring their bowls," Carak told Temnein, then he looked to Wexia.  "Help me get him out of sight," he said as he lifted Odo's shoulders.

Wexia grabbed Odo's legs.  "Should we save the meat?"

Carak paused and closed his eyes as a wave of nausea spasmed through him.  Had it really come to this?  He sighed in resignation.  Were they not already drinking their own blood?  "Yes" he said.  "Batra has a root cellar, let's put him in there for now."

They hefted Odo's corpse and carried it to Batra's house.  Carak looked up and discovered he was walking south east, directly toward the sacred mountain.  High Lord help me, he thought.  If the Simarrah came today, the whole village would face His judgment.  None of them would be allowed to return.  Tears came to Carak's eyes which he couldn't wipe away while he carried Odo's corpse.  He had only been trying to keep everyone alive.

-=====|==

Amantis rose late and ate a leisurely breakfast.  He knew the crops had failed and that there would be little grain for sale in the market.  He also knew the value of the grain he did have was increasing practically every minute, so he felt no urgency to open up the granary early.  When he did arrive, he found a line of people outside already waiting so that when he opened the store, they eagerly outbid each other.  By that afternoon he had collected a large pile of kerma and clay contracts including several pieces of property.

As he cleaned up at the end of the day he heard a group of men arguing outside his door.  "We're closed," he called out, eager to go visit Destrin's tavern before he headed home.

"Pardon us, Amantis, we need to speak."

Amantis looked up and saw virtually the entire town's council of elders standing in his store.

"I'm afraid I'm closing up for today."

Mosond, the wealthy shipwright and the leader of the council, addressed him.  "We would like to speak with you about a matter of grave civic importance."

Amantis smiled, "I'm a man who has always taken his civic responsibilities seriously."

"Good.  Very good."  Mosond glanced back at the others and cleared his throat.  "As you know the crops have not done well.  The people are beginning to grow restive with hunger...."

"I believe I warned everyone of this last year."

"Had you?  I remember the angorym threat..." Mosond looked a little surprised.

"Absolutely.  My seer stone warned me and I warned everyone else.  That is the reason Corago hired me.  He was one of the few to listen to me and as you can see, he has profited by it."

"Er, yes.  I remember now."  Mosond drifted off as if he had lost the trail of his thoughts.

"Listen up," Taelik, an irritable old man wearing a traditional fisherman's hat blurted out.  "Food is getting scarce and you are charging too much."

"Am I," Amantis frowned.  "Only this morning I had customers practically throwing kerma at me, each offering more to make sure they got the grain rather than their neighbor.  How can you say I'm charging too much when they are so willing to pay?"

"But some people can't afford to pay."  This came from a thin faced man with a short salt and pepper beard.  "You should reduce your demands in trade."