She stared up at me with uncomprehending eyes, black blood staining her mouth. “Cattle. You are c-cattle.” “Moo,” I said. And I lifted my right hand. Her eyes widened further. She gasped a word I didn’t know. From the corner of my eye, I saw the Red King rise from his distant throne. I poured all that was left of my fury into my hand and snarled, “No one touches my little girl.” The explosion of force and fire tore a crater in the ground seven feet across and half as deep. Arianna’s broken, headless corpse lay sprawled within it. Silence fell over the ruined city.
