NaNo Check-In, Day 25
Word Count:
Best Work:
“Lady Galina.” Banassi followed on Zhelanin’s heels, voice tight as he watched the man lope around the room like a bloodhound. “Are you certain that it’s wise to have it in here, after everything?”
Zhelanin lifted his head. “You think I did this.”
Banassi had the grace to flush. “I am only saying. We all saw your handiwork during the ambush. There are few men who could treat a body with such little regard.”
Zhelanin’s eyebrows lifted. “Is that what you think happened here? That the killer had little regard for the body.”
“I--”
“I reckon he’s right, Banassi.” Juda pointed at the carvings. “You don’t do this to a man unless you were thinking about it real hard. I’ve seen Zhelanin pull a spine out of an elk, and I’ve seen him break a man’s back, but that all cold hard practicality.”
Banassi’s jaw clenched. “But it takes the mind of a beast to treat a man this way, while he lives--”
“No,” Galina said thoughtfully. “It takes someone who sees this body as intensely personal, who believes that this will send a message.”
Juda let out a huff. “Well, I sure wish they’d left it in Meridian, then we’d all know what they were trying to say.”
Zhelanin stared down at the body, dispassionate. “That was the point,” he said finally. “It was something we would never understand.”