Intro (from Chapter 1) of 'The Melody of the Red River' [Low/Dark Fantasy 497 words]

The question here is: would you want to read on?

~

With a hot hiss, the condemned man's tongue landed in the vessel at his feet. The executor held the bloodstained tongs aloft, his face as unmoving as the wood of the platform beneath his boots.

A wisp of smoke rose slowly from the seething flesh, curling in the cold air and causing a low murmur in the crowd. Words flew like dust through the rows of spectators - no one spoke aloud, but they all whispered.

Arlyena stood in the middle of the crowd, hidden between curious glances and eyes widened in shock, but close enough to see everything. The flesh seemed to writhe as though trying to outlive the act of its own destruction.

The voice of the executor cut through the silence with the sharpness of a dagger.

'As you all know, it is strictly forbidden to speak the name of the Regent who once died so suddenly!' His words echoed across the square, penetrating even the back rows.' This is what happens to anyone who does not respect such a law!"

A muscular hound was led onto the platform on a short leash. Shiny saliva ran down his lips as he stomped towards the vessel, his tail twitching. A stifled gasp went through the crowd as the dog swallowed the tongue with a smacking sound.

Arlyena looked at the accused.

His gaze was fixed, as if frozen in pain, and yet his eyes seemed to take in everything - the crowd, the platform, the animal that was so greedily finishing its work.

He was barely older than her. A simple man whose only fault had been to speak when he should have remained silent. The dark red of his blood ran down his chin, thick and heavy, until it fell to the ground like died hopes.

She had to leave. A lump in her throat turned into a smothering heaviness. Arlyena turned away, pushing her way through the crowd, which still remained in expectant silence, as if the dread was not yet over.

The clinking of her purse led her to pause and with determination she turned around again. She had sworn to herself that she would be more careful with so many palace guards around, but she could not help it.

With a dull thud, muffled by the wood but still clear, a coin landed on the platform and rolled to the condemned man's feet. There was complete silence for a moment, then coin after coin landed on the old planks.

Smiling thinly, Arlyena turned away - and wandered straight into the arms of a broad guard.

'Got you', the guard said, a broad grin on her lips.

Arlyena knew the young woman who crossed her strong arms in front of her stained breastplate. The many times she had snuck into the city, this guard had always been near the place of punishment.

So many times Arlyena had quietly and secretly thrown a coin onto the platform without being caught.

Until today.