Bloodrush (Scarlet Star Trilogy #1)

Epilogue - A Bloodmoon is Rising...

London was being roasted alive. The summer sun had come early, and ferociously. The hottest summer since records began, the newspapers brayed.

Lord Bremar Dizali sat stiff in his wide leather chair, presiding over a fine mahogany desk full of papers and folders and all sorts of other important things.

Sweat dribbled down the man's bony chiselled features. Dizali hated the heat. He hated the stench of London's sewers and the swarms of people aching to soak up the precious sunlight, something the Empire's beating heart rarely got to see. Rain was normally the flavour of the day.

There came a rap on his huge doors, ornately carved with a design of the Dizal eagle, dragging a tiger into the cloudy sky.

Bremar sighed irritably. 'What now?'

The handle turned, and in marched Gavisham. Despite his obvious urgency, the man knew better than to leave the door open behind him. He shut it with a bang, and then practically jogged to Lord Dizali's desk.

'What the devil is it, man?!' Bremar hissed. He was not in the mood for theatricals.

Gavisham held a folded piece of paper aloft before letting it fall to the desk. 'A wiregram, Milord. I think you'll want to have a look,' he said, loudly. Bremar couldn't tell whether the man was fuming or burning with excitement. His curiosity was piqued, that was for sure. He snatched the letter from the man and walked to the window. Gavisham followed him like a hound.

'Almighty's sake man, calm down,' Bremar snapped as he flicked the wiregram open and began to read. His green eyes scanned over the message, and with each word they grew wider and wider.

Dizali had barely finished the last sentence when he ripped the letter in two, threw it to the carpet, and put his fists against the hot glass of the window. 'One boy ...' he growled. 'One fucking thirteen year-old boy did this?!'

'Slaughtered the whole lot of them, and burned the riverboat to ashes.'

'No survivors?'

'None, save for the two lordsguards that sent the letter. More's the pity.'

Lord Dizali thumped the glass. 'How, damn it, how?! By the Almighty. Damn that boy to hell!' he roared. Gavisham simply stood still, hands folded behind his back, glaring. 'Fetch me a carriage!' Bremar snapped at him.

Gavisham clapped his hands. 'With pleasure, Milord. Where to?'

'To the Palace of Ravens,' barked his lordship, beginning to pace around in furious circles.

'And you're sure that's wise, Milord?' Gavisham. 'To tell her so soon?'

Lord Dizali whirled around to face him. He did not speak, he did not deign to reply. He simply narrowed his eyes and glared, daring his manservant to challenge him again, staring deep into those strange mismatched eyes of Gavisham's. Just like his brother's.

One green. One blue.

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Ben