Gorgesque Page 9

  The flames ran down the still visible wound, following the trail of oil that had entered via the blade’s long furrow.

  The oil that already soaked Courundia’s jacket also instantly set aflame, adding a new ferocity to the freshly spilled oil that was already unquenchably blazing.

  I rushed, screaming, towards Courundia, wondering what I could do. There was no hope of dousing the flames completely enveloping poor Courundia’s oil drenched body.

  Even so, Pavro briefly made an attempt. Not to save Courundia, of course; but to save his queen.

  But his queen was dying, already aflame within Courundia’s oil saturated wound, her oil sodden flesh.

  Courundia still held the long-bladed knife. With a last, pained smile at me, she plunged it deep within her heart, pinioning the shrieking Queen of Queens there: and also, I prayed, saving herself from any further agony.

  Pavro’s own actions were hurriedly becoming less coordinated as he, too, began to crumple limply, to swiftly die.

  The insects that had originally been lying beneath my facial skin dribbled from my nose, a minor horror against the dismay of seeing Courundia’s flesh crinkle and warp in the intense, unstoppable heat of the flames.

  It could have been the way the flames ate at her flesh, revealing the skull beneath, but I would have liked to think that, somehow, Courundia was smiling through all this; the unimaginable pain she would undoubtedly have suffered hopefully tempered by the knowledge that her sacrifice had saved us all.

  I found that hard to believe, however.

  The insects fled the crumpling bodies, scattering uncontrollably across the wooden boards, returning once more to their chaotic lives.

  Poor Courundia briefly writhed upon the floor, the actions of the fiercely devouring flames rather than any sense of life remaining within her; then, thankfully, she lay perfectly still.

  When the flames had at last died down enough for me to finally draw near to Courundia’s hideously contorted body, I could no longer recognise her.

  Her seared flesh was still too hot for me to kiss: even so, wherever my tears fell, they cooled her reddened, steaming skin – kisses of love, in their kind.

  It should have been a revolting experience for me, but it wasn’t.

  Because I no longer saw this shell of flesh she presently occupied.

  I saw, rather, the truly beautiful person who had always existed.

  Who would always continue to exist, within my heart at least.

  ‘Yes, Courundia: you are a more beautiful person than I could ever be.’

  *

  Chapter 37

  My horse hadn’t fled: it was still tied to its post.

  The town was quiet, deserted, with just a few horses left alive, aimlessly ambling along the streets. Other horses, those that had been taken over by a queen and her hive, lay dead upon the floor, lying alongside the empty shells of men and women.

  As I mount up on my horse, I also wear my hat, slipping the veil over one side of my face.

  The side of my face where Courundia would have been, if the Queen of Queens had still been alive to continue with her and the Church’s efforts to keep us subservient to them.

  For I will be taking the veil.

  As I reminder that, from now on, I’m half me – and half of the beautiful Courundia.

  End

  If you enjoyed reading this book, you might also enjoy (or you may know someone else who might enjoy) these other books by Jon Jacks.

  The Caught – The Rules – Chapter One – The Changes – Sleeping Ugly

  The Barking Detective Agency – The Healing – The Lost Fairy Tale

  A Horse for a Kingdom – Charity – The Most Beautiful Things (Now includes The Last Train)

  The Dream Swallowers – Nyx; Granddaughter of the Night – Jonah and the Alligator

  Glastonbury Sirens – Dr Jekyll’s Maid – The 500-Year Circus – The Desire: Class of 666

  P – The Endless Game – DoriaN A – Wyrd Girl – The Wicker Slippers

  Heartache High (Vol I) – Heartache High: The Primer (Vol II) – Heartache High: The Wakening (Vol III)

  Miss Terry Charm, Merry Kris Mouse & The Silver Egg – The Last Angel – Eve of the Serpent

  Seecrets – The Cull – Dragonsapien – The Boy in White Linen – Porcelain Princess – Freaking Freak

  Died Blondes – Queen of all the Knowing World – The Truth About Fairies – Lowlife

  Elm of False Dreams – God of the 4th Sun – A Guide for Young Wytches

  The Wendygo House – Americarnie Trash – An Incomparable Pearl