The Way We Fall

Chapter 108 (Tigris)

Tigris had attended many meetings between her father and the bounty hunter, but none of them had ever gone like this.

"So, you've unleashed an inkblood on my city, Draven?" the king asked, his voice as icy as the rain that assaulted them from all sides.

Draven winced, a rain soaked leaf splatting against his bald head. He bowed, sensing the fury building in his monarch's eyes. "I swear to you, my lord. Every precaution was taken to keep the cursed inkblood bound in chains. I saw someone in a cloak helping her escape."

"You took every precaution but took the time to get a drink?" the king mocked cruelly, staring at the now empty tavern sitting behind the dilapidated cart. Draven's pale face reddened at the insult. Wisely, he kept his mouth shut and looked down, like a kicked dog.

Tigris brushed a damp strand out of her face, adjusting her gown which was beginning to stick to her legs. She leaned forward, inspecting the cart. There was human excrement and urine piled in the corner. Even the damp scent of the rain soaked air couldn't erase the foul smell. She wrinkled her nose, turning back to address the king as disgust turned her stomach.

"The knights said that the inkblood and her ally were seen fleeing into the castle grounds," she reported, glancing at Draven who nodded in confirmation.

The king pursed his lips, "Organise the guards. See to it that they are at Draven's disposal." The king turned to the hunter, whose eyes lit up with hope, "It is only because of your previous successful bounties and experience with inkblood that I am allowing you to redeem yourself. If you can find the inkblood, you will get all the coin you are owed for a successful hunt."

Tigris watched the hunter's face bloom with relief and felt a stir of doubt regarding her father's plan. Her father allotted huge sums of the kingdom's finances to bounty hunters every year. She could understand the need to eliminate inkblood from the kingdom, but it seemed that bounty hunters often targeted inkbloods from the pacifist covens that often strayed into the kingdom's forest. Tigris found the practice distasteful, even if the covens had inkblood.

Draven bowed deeply, oblivious to Tigris hidden disapproval. His eyes gleamed brightly, reflecting the bolts of lightning that cracked through the sky.

"You won't be disappointed, your majesty," Draven insisted, his deep voice carrying over the crash of thunder, "This inkblood is a special one, you see. Even those awful covens didn't want her."

Tigris barely managed to hide her surprise. What had this inkblood done to warrant exile from the peaceful covens?

"Truly?" the king asked, curiosity overriding his anger. Draven nodded.

"I found her stumbling through a forest, a coven not too far off from her. They'd left her for the dead. They looked happy about it too." Draven toyed with one of the rings on his fingers, one of which was crusted with red flakes, "Pity they didn't survive the journey over here, or you could have asked them more."

"Indeed," the king agreed, "Finding this inkblood is a priority, then. Tigris, assist aid to Draven as necessary. If the inkblood is hated by other monsters of its kind, it cannot be allowed to roam the city."

"Yes, father," Tigris agreed, ignoring the unsettled feeling that knotted at the base of her spine as she curtsied. The walk back home was drenched with rain, erasing any possible tracks that the escaped inkblood had left behind.

Tigris vowed to help Draven as much as possible. She didn't want anyone that the covens feared roaming the city.

Roche was waiting in Tigris' chambers when she arrived back in the castle. The maid was humming, setting a fresh plate of food on Tigris's study.