KINGDOM OF THE STONE -- a Wattpad featured novel

Chapter Thirty Nine

"Amantis wants Garanth to dine with him?"

"Your husband," here she paused with a most patronizing politeness, "is having a feast in honor of his son's birthday."

Charissa scowled trying to discern what new insult this request signified.

"Oh you needn't worry," Apaidia added in mock surprise, "you are invited as well, though you are not required to be there if you do not wish."  She smiled and with an airy wave of her hand, she left.

 -=====|==

Apaidia had positioned Charissa's couch at the far end of the table where she had an intimate view of everyone's feet.  Garanth sat at the head of the table on the edge of Amantis' couch, delighting in the attention of the wealthiest and most powerful men of Nur, whose wives took turns popping sweetmeats into his laughing mouth.  Apaidia reclined next to him, sweeping the guests with a proprietary smile as if she were the lady of the house and Garanth were her child.  When her gaze fell on Charissa, her shapeless face glowed with malicious glee.

Charissa should have been outraged at the carefully crafted insult.  Instead, as she stared into the long shadow of the future Apaidia showed her, a future without her husband or child, without even a family, cast adrift in a foreign land, she felt only growing despair.

Refusing to recline at the table, Charissa sat on the edge of her couch, staring at her food and ignoring the boorish comments of the fishing merchant on the right as well as the flatulence of the old vegetable merchant on her left.  As she sat squeezing a torn lump of bread back into dough, Ctonos rushed in breathlessly and whispered in Amantis' ear.  Charissa caught the words "beastmen", "caught" and "wiped-out" from across the table.

Amantis sat upright, blinking in surprise.  He fumbled at his belt and mumbled "...have to consult..." as he rose and stepped back into a shadowed corner of the room.  He put his face to the pouch containing his stone and stood still for a moment.

That accursed stone, Charissa thought.  Someone should toss it out into the street or, as he feared, expose it to the sun.

The dinner guests exchanged curious glances, and then all eyes darted to Amantis as he began laughing.  Amantis carefully closed the pouch and returned to the table.  His laughter held a nervous brittle edge.  "If our beastmen are no longer authentic enough, then we'll give them some real monsters."  He clapped a hand on Ctonos shoulder.  "After dinner, send me three of your biggest, boldest and most loyal men.  Tell them I want to drink to my son's health.  Then send me up a cask of that "bronze cleaner" stuff you guys drink, the strongest you can find."

"Yes dra."  Ctonos hurried off.

Amantis dropped on his couch chuckling.  Garanth laughed along with him.

Charissa shivered.  Every time Amantis consulted the stone, some new atrocity followed.

 -=====|==

Charissa walked back to her room, clutching herself, wrapping her arms around herself and squeezing as tightly as she could, for fear her body might shiver apart.  When she had excused herself from the table, Amantis, in front of his guests, had asked her to let him keep Garanth with him as he wanted to spend more time with his son.  She had been too shocked to say no, but now as she walked the expensively remodeled stone corridors of Amantis' cancerous house, she could feel the weight of doom hanging over her head and wondered if it were not already falling toward her.  Would he return her son to her in the morning or would he send one of his spears to cast her out?

She forced herself to walk calmly into her empty room, Sphal following along behind.  The tears flowed silently as she trembled before her window.