Stab, Twist, Pull

Raina watched the ritual with a fake smile. She had to play happy for her husband. The husband her father had decided to bestow her birthright upon. The husband who killed the man she loved. The husband she would have to bed come sundown, while her mother watched. That prospect had Raina praying for time to stop.

The ritual involved an unholy amount of blood. Cow's blood and Willy's blood. But unlike the cow, Willy lived. He squeezed drops of his blood into the urns of her father, grandfather, and a dozen other ancestors, swearing to uphold traditions, bring glory to the House of Sherhor, and defend both the house and its members with his very life if need be.

The rituals and the swearing took the better part of two hours. Raina hoped Willy would bleed to death but no such thing happened.

When all the swearing was done, Willarn Bramyrlus Karkbhurg officially became Willarn Nylarnus Lamanbhurg, Lord of the House of Sherhor.

Then Raina stood dutifully by Willy's shoulder as he accepted oaths of fealty from Lamanbhurg vassals. Ten lesser lords and five times as many landed knights renewed their commitment to the House of Sherhor and its new leader, Lord Willarn. A couple of Lamanbhurg bannermen were absent from the swearing, the most notable absentee being Lord Varamyr Malbhurg, Robyr's father.

It was sundown by the time all the oaths of allegiance had been said. Raina returned to her chambers like a lamb marching into a slaughterhouse.

Willy collapsed onto the bed as soon as they got there. "Bloody priest nearly killed me with all that bloodletting," he grumbled.

"He should have killed you," Raina spat.

"You want to kill me, don't you, sister?" he asked.

"Call me sister again and I will kill you," Raina warned.

Willy sighed. "My dear sister, I never took you for a kinslayer."

Raina exploded. She turned and slapped Willy hard across the face. Her hand stung but she was too angry. She continued hitting him, climbing on top of him and pummeling away.

After a few more blows, Willy decided he had had enough and seized her hands. She struggled against him but was no match for his strength. She had seen him wrestle bulls and win.

Willy flipped her and soon it was Raina trapped under him, struggling futilely against his weight. He trapped her under his body and there was nowhere to go. He stretched out on top of her. His legs trapped hers and his arms pinned hers to the bed.

The only thing Raina could move was her torso. Their faces were so close when Willy moved his head their lips brushed. The most infuriating thing was that he was still smiling. "Tell me, Raina," he said. "Now that we have the same father, would it be incest if I fucked you right now?"

Raina spat in his face. Some spittle landed near the corner of his mouth. His tongue darted out and licked it. Then he smiled. "Now I know what you'll taste like when I kiss you."

Raina couldn't say a thing. Rage was coursing through her veins but she was powerless to do anything about it. She struggled against him with all her strength but he didn't budge.

So she spat at him again, targeting his forehead this time. But some of that spittle dribbled off his forehead and onto her face. "Do you want me to lick that off your face?" he asked with another jocular smile.

"NOOOOO!" Raina screamed.

Willy stuck out his tongue and then chuckled when Raina cringed back. "Screams are a very poor form of communication, my dear," Willy said. "You know you can't stop me. So why don't you ask me nicely and maybe I won't lick it off your face."

Raina glared at him. Willy stuck out his tongue. "Willy please," Raina begged, her eyes watering.

"Please what?" Willy asked.

"Please don't lick me. Please."

Willy smiled. "That's my wife." Then he let her go. He released her arms and raised himself off her, sitting on the bed again.

Raina was pummeling him with her fists again the moment she was up. "You bastard!" she screamed while pummeling away.

Willy caught her hands again. "Let's not bring my mother into this," he said mildly as Raina struggled against his grip.

"Who mentioned your mother?" Raina asked.

"You did call me a bastard. An insult that implies my mother is a whore. I will not suffer insults to her honor. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" he roared.

Raina cringed back at the sudden outburst. She had never seen Willy this angry before. This was only the second time she was seeing him angry. It was terrifying.

All her rage melted away and fear rushed in to fill the void. Raina nodded slowly at Willy, tears flowing down her cheeks. This seemed to satisfy him. He released her hands and Raina collapsed into a heap, curling and sobbing in defeat. "Get up," Willy said.

Raina ignored him. "UP!" he commanded, startling Raina into sitting up. She was seeing an entirely different side of Willy. Not the carefree man who laughed off everything but an angry and dangerous man that she was suddenly aware was strong enough to snap her in half.

"Stand," Willy ordered. Raina did as she was told. "If you want a man dead, you don't use your fists," he advised. "You're not strong enough to kill anything bigger than a cat with your fists. Not unless you're wearing a gauntlet." Willy unsheathed his sword from the scabbard hanging on a wall and handed it to her.

Raina's gaze went from the sword to Willy and back to the sword. It was her father's sword, Siirabhisieno (Demonslayer). Demonslayer was made of sichumradi, a rare and costly metal. It never dulled, never broke, and never rusted.

Demonslayer was hard enough to slice stone and common steel as easily as common knives sliced carrots. There were tales of such swords being used to slay dragons in the old days. Only a handful of similar swords existed in the whole world. It was the most precious thing the Lamanbhurgs owned.

Demonslayer had been in Raina's family for 700 years. Another Nylarn Lamanbhurg had nearly bankrupted himself purchasing it. It had been passed from father to son since then. It was supposed to go to Raina's son, her son by Robyr.

Now it had passed to Willy. He was legally her father's son but he didn't have their blood and that rankled Raina to no end.

She looked at the silvery-gold metal, glittering as rays of the setting sun poured through a window and danced upon it. The more she looked, the angrier she got. Raina took her eyes off the sword and looked into Willy's eyes, lively and gray and glittering with mischief.

"I am teaching you to kill," Willy told her. Then he took the tip of the sword and positioned it just below his sternum. The sword stretched straight between them, silvery-gold surface turning the rays of the setting sun into rainbows.

Willy's abdomen braced the tip and Raina held the hilt. If I push… she thought.

"Stab, twist, pull," Willy said.

"What?" Raina gasped.

"To kill a man, you shove the sword into his belly, twist it once, and pull it out," Willy explained. "The twist is important. Even if you aim too low and miss the heart, you still leave a large enough wound that he will bleed to death in minutes. If you just stab and pull, it's a clean cut that can be patched up if he is lucky. The twist guarantees death."

Raina nodded. "Okay."

"Now do it!"

"To you?"

"Of course not. There is a goat hiding inside my stomach. I want you to kill it."

Raina felt her anger flaring and sucked in a breath. Her hands trembled with the urge to open Willy's belly but she restrained herself. "Why?"

"What do you mean why? You want me dead, Raina. This is your chance. Stab, twist, pull."

Raina hesitated. She was utterly dumbfounded. Who is this man?

"Come on, Raina," Willy prompted. "Kill me. Put me out of my misery. Blame it on an assassin. One already killed your father. Why not me? Pin it on Laman if you want. My father will send 10,000 men to avenge me. All my brothers will come. All my cousins. They will destroy whoever you point the finger at. You will be rid of me and all your enemies in one stroke. All you have to do is kill me. Stab, twist, pull."

"Is this another one of your games?" Raina asked.

"It's not a game. I have stolen your birthright. I killed 100 Lamanbhurg men at the battle outside Siiruch's Roost. I slew them with my sword and bashed their brains in with my war hammer, and I enjoyed it. I laughed as I killed them and stepped on their corpses to kill the next. I have killed countless men in battles and skirmishes. I've been killing since I was fourteen. Think of all those men, Raina. Think of their wives, their children, their lovers, their mothers. Kill me and avenge them. Kill me and avenge Robyr. Kill me and end your misery. Stab, twist, pull, Raina."

Raina trembled. Her lips quivered. She felt her palms moisten and sweat trickle down from her armpits like a waterfall. She could barely stay on her feet. Her knees were rattling against each other.

"You're really just a coward, aren't you?" Willy asked. "A silly little girl full of piss and shit. No heart. No soul. No spine. Your mother has ordered me to consummate this marriage. At any moment, she's going to walk through that door to witness the act. Is that why you hesitate, my dear? You want me to fuck you while mommy watches? You want me to make you a woman as poor dead Robyr never could? Think of him, lying in the mud, his head a gooey paste. Think of him watching from wherever ghosts go; watching as I fuck you senseless. Isn't that what you want, my dear? Isn't that what you've always wanted? Does your cunt grow moist and slippery at the tho—"

Raina put her full weight behind the sword and pushed.