A Strange Hymn by Laura Thalassa
Chapter 50
I walked Des and myself into a trap. One I can’t figure out.
Des’s father back from the dead, and the Green Man claiming to have memories he shouldn’t.
The Green Man smooths down his shirtfront, looking at his body. “This bloody sot died long ago.”
I swallow, beginning to back up.
“Deep in the forest, the Green Man met a stranger who wanted to harvest the most peculiar fruit.” The Green Man—or whoever this guy really is—laughs. “The weakling sought to strike me down.” He flashes me a sly smile. “But I am a hard thing to kill.
“He died, I lived, and I indeed harvested the most magnificent fruit.” He lifts his hands, gesturing to the bloody trees around us.
He was responsible for the disappearances?
I’m itching to reach beneath the hem of my dress and grab my daggers. Slowly, my hand moves to my skirts. I begin to hike the material up slowly.
Keep him distracted.
“How did you hide this from Mara?” I ask.
No wonder the Flora Queen was utterly uninterested in her mate. Whoever this man is, it doesn’t sound like he’s the true Green Man. Which means she’s been living with an imposter for who knows how long.
He laughs. “You mean her bleeding trees? She thought they were dying of rot—which they are—and she sought to hide it from her kingdom. Little known fact: trees die when Flora rulers are too weak to sustain their kingdom. She feared she was losing her hold on her reign.”
I continue to gather the fabric of my skirt in my hand.
“And Karnon?” I ask. “How did you infiltrate his kingdom?”
The Green Man’s eyes alight. “Ah, Karnon. That mad, clever king was my greatest conquest yet. To slip into a skin not yet dead … It was effortful, to say the least.
My flesh crawls. How could I not have noticed before the lingering wrongness of this man?
“But, as you saw, living bodies have their drawbacks. I fought with his mind for dominance, and I didn’t always win.”
Karnon’s split personality! The mad king had still been in there when this body snatcher took it over.
But … how?
The Green Man continues talking, unaware of my thoughts. “That animal made you in his likeness to escape me. He sought an end to his life by provoking the King of the Night, and what better way to do so than to harm the Night King’s mate?”
I’ve hiked up almost all of my skirt. So close to my daggers.
“What are you?” I ask.
For one second, his body morphs. Inky black hair and eyes replace the Green Man’s more vibrant ones. His skin pales, his features turning sinister.
Those upturned eyes, that pouty mouth and plaited hair. I’ve seen that face before! It’s that of the dark haired man from my most recent nightmare.
“What is a body really?” he says. “Something that constrains you, something that perishes.
The illusion dissipates, and he’s the Green Man once more.
“I have a thousand eyes and even more souls. I am what happens when even darkness dies. Look at me, and see the truth.”
I do look at him. I can’t bear to take my eyes off of him. This is the man who has hidden thousands of soldiers and raped thousands more.
The Thief of Souls.
