The Chessboard Undead Prince

Chapter the Eighth

"Quick! Compress it." Violet had grabbed the prepared bandages and clamped them around his throat. The slit was oozing fresh blood.

"Why am I bleeding?" he'd asked.

"Don't speak," Joelle had said. "I'll have to examine your throat..." Gently, she'd pried back the edges of the bundled bandages away from his throat to see. The cloth had already soaked up the flow of blood and she could see what was happening.

Ellius had seen her fingers lowering. Joelle's had blood gone cold. "Violet," she'd said. "You won't need those swabs..."

"What?" Violet had whipped her head around. "These rags are getting sodden." Beads of bright blood had risen over the fabric and into her fingers.

"You won't need a basin either. Just.." She had hesitated.

"Why am I bleeding?" he'd asked again.

"That answer, I cannot answer. Violet, hold the rags until the worst of the blood dies down."

"Am I dying?" His eyes were clear. His chest rose up and down.

"No... I—I n-need to seal your veins. Violet, Find me a fresh, hot poker."

Hands had exchanged and Violet dashed out. "Your Highness, can you prepare a needle and silken thread?"

He's not bleeding to death? Her head had filled with curious questions as she'd threaded the thick steel needle.

"His pulse is weak, Your Highness. Very weak. With the blood coming out of his throat, he is dying, Your Highness, and living at the same time. We can staunch the blood, but his soul is leeching out through his throat."

Charming. Like when the heads roll on Adonis' block. "Is there a way to sustain his life?"

"Not known in our history."

What about in reverse? Ellius had chewed her thumb. If a soul was leaked into his corpse, could a fresh glass soul enter his body?

"What about finding a glass soul and using it?" she'd asked.

Joelle had paled. "You— you mean...? Your Highness, you would be putting your head on the Executioner's block!"

"But not if I'm committing the crime."

"Many paupers try to hide their starving children from the soldiers. They can hide them for up to three months, at the longest. Some healers are smuggled to their houses and take the children away."

"How long can I keep him here?"

"There is a spare vacancy in the kitchens. He could take the place. I can take care of it."

Until Father discovers him and beheads him for his damned collection.

Smoke had wafted through the tower. Violet, panting like a dog, had her hands gripping a red-hot poker. "Fresh from the flames!" before Joelle could question her.

"Your Highness, as I drag this over his veins, remove the cloths."

Ellius had pressed her fingers around the bundle at the man's neck. Joelle had rolled up a thick gauze and stuck it between his gaping teeth. "Not a word."

His question had been cut off as she pressed the molten metal along his throat. Ellius had gagged, her stomach heaving at the smell of burning glass. She felt nauseated  The gag had kept the boy's scream of pain quiet before his eyes rolled up and he'd fainted dead away.

"Salt, Violet. Herb poultice." Joelle's eyes had been fixed on her unconscious patience. Violet had opened the packets of herbs on the tables and briskly ground up a mixture with a motor and pestle. Joelle had flipped the poker around and completed the other half of the boy's throat.