Season of Sacrifice (Blood of Azure Book 1) by Jonathan Michael (best ebook for manga txt) 📕

in your actions, Stone McLarin.” Then, he departs the chamber. There is a clicking noise to follow.

Overwhelmed with the pain, I am thankful to not have to suffer his presence any longer, but it doesn’t take long for him to return. This time he returns with two others. A man donning a charcoal-grey Crimson Guard uniform—a general’s uniform. And a younger man, probably only a few seasons older than Stone and me. The boy looks awkward, as though he’s uncomfortable being here.

“Where is my sister?” Stone manages to squeak through his clenched teeth while rubbing his neck.

As Stone casually transitions from massaging his neck to his shoulder, I notice a black bruise in the shape of a thumb and forefinger on the base of his neck where the Taoiseach was handling him. I rub at my own neck, wondering if it’s the same. It’s tender. Too tender. Bits of flesh flake off the surface. I wipe my hands on my tunic and go back to picking at it. There’s a slight satisfaction, like peeling wax off a cheese wheel.

“She’s dead. She already confessed her crimes,” Harris retorts with a wicked grin on his face as if death is pleasurable.

“Tigershit! You’re lying. Where is she? How long have we been unconscious?”

The Taoiseach wrenches on Stone’s neck again. This time only utilizing his muscles, not his talents. Stone cringes underneath his grasp.

“Watch your language, lad,” he says in his cool, monotone voice.

Something is off. His voice isn’t quite as resonating as it was only a moment ago.

“You speak to me with respect. There is no reason to lose your manners in a time of desperation. Arden and Shae would be disgusted with you, just as I am.” Harris lets go and looks at his hand. Some of Stone’s rotten flesh departs with Harris. His face distorts, and he wipes it on his tunic.

Harris moves around to the other side of the glass table, and I see a slight disturbance in his facial features. Something unnatural. More than just shadows creeping across the contours of his face. Something shifted in his appearance.

“No, Jaymes is not dead. And it was rather disgusting of me to say so. I apologize. Something about filth brings out the worst in me.” He pauses and paces. I keep my eyes locked on him. The other two men stand behind us. “But she might as well be. All of you will be dead in a week’s time. Your trial is in a few days, in which you will be found guilty, and you will participate in an execution shortly thereafter. Until then, you’ll be held in a cell, but don’t worry, your last few days won’t be complete desolation. You’ll get a daily ration of food and water, and there is a small pot to defaecate in. We’ll provide you that much decency.”

His malevolent smirk makes me want to take a club to his face.

“You’re a snake,” I yell and spit in his direction. I miss, but I’m hoping the act proves my point. “How did you become such a merciless, evil person, treating children the way you do? We’ll never be executed if we have a fair trial. You have no evidence. And we’re witnesses, not suspects.” The word fair probably doesn’t exist in his vocabulary. Not a man in his position. There will be no trial unless he can control the outcome. I must hang onto some glimmer of hope, though, regardless of how diminutive it is. There’s too much in this world to explore. Too much knowledge to gain. I’m not ready to depart.

“I do have evidence. I have two dead bodies and a motive.”

“What motive?” Stone replies. “They’re our parents. We have no reason to murder them.”

“Were,” he corrects him. Stone’s eyes become pools of water, and his face glows red. “They were your parents, and they were traitors to all of Azure. They were conspiring to eliminate, if not all, at least one other race on Azure. They felt threatened by the Dihkai and were plotting genocide. That is your motive. You could not stand the thought of your parents being such evil human beings, which led you and your sister into an emotional rage resulting in the death of your parents. You’re young, and with your sister being a Dihkai, she simply couldn’t control her destructive talents. Elder was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, so he will share your fate as well. An accomplice.”

“Once again, you have no evidence. And that’s a very weak motive at best,” I say with unconvinced hesitation.

“Do you think I am careless enough to allow minor loose ends such as yourself to unravel what is necessary? I am the Taoiseach, the head of Parliament. I control all of Vedora. All of Azure. Not that there is much outside the boundaries of Vedora. I would know.” Another unnatural disturbance wisps through his facial features. His eyes narrow in on me then break to Stone. “The evidence has already been taken care of, and the motive will suffice. Enjoy your last few days.” He moves closer and leans in to whisper. “It’s a shame you won’t get to witness the days to come when Carib Reign offers freedom to all.” A ripple of ashen flesh flows through his cheek and across his face. This man isn’t Harris. Or Harris isn’t who he says he is.

I look to Stone, wide-eyed. He’s staring down at his hands. He didn’t see it.

“General Greyson, see to it they find their temporary cells.”

“Yes, sir,” the general acknowledges.

They all leave the room. On the way out, the younger lad looks over his shoulder. His discomfort with the situation is clear, but he disappears behind the door all the same, and it locks behind him.

“Wait! Why?” Stone yells through the door, chasing after him. A delayed reaction with weak fists