Dolwillen plucked the feasting fly from the prisoner’s weeping, crimson face and dropped the struggling insect into the maw of the giant pitcher plant. The fly paddled and buzzed in the digestive juices of the plant’s open stomach for a whole minute before the corrosive mixture burnt through its shell and stilled its struggling.

Dolwillen observed the fly dissolve over a period of about fifteen minutes, listening to the musical moans of the man slumped in the chair next to him. The man’s hands and feet were twisted together by trellis training wire from the hot house wall. A large black crow squawked from the confines of its iron cage.

“I’m surprised you showed your face here again. I didn’t believe anyone could be quite so stupid,” said Dolwillen. He took a small glass rod and dipped it into the interior of one of the pitcher plants, extracting a single bead of liquid from its depths. He placed the wet tip of the glass rod on the back of the prisoner’s hand. It was already blistering from previous applications, “Well Cerddin, do you have anything else to say?”

“The servant laughed at me!”

“So you followed him home, sprinkled the Feorhhord Gimcynn into the well near his house in the hope that it would kill him? Apparently eighty people have died and almost twice as many have developed debilitating disfigurements, but not only did you fail in your revenge, you were seen too, ruining the agreement I sent you to procure.

“Audovera has all but declared war on me and visited the King personally to air her complaint, claiming you tried to both threaten and bribe her to defect, revealing my plans. The last I heard, the King was calling the whole capital to arms to form an ‘investigative force’, accompanied by the Marchioness.

“Thankfully, Guntard was more successful than you and the disgusting Duke Engram, as well as his partner in crime and eternal sparring partner, Earl Vyvyan, and their vassals, will be siding with me against the injustice.”

“You said I should use it anyway, as a reminder. I was only following your instructions,” said Cerddin, his bottom lip quivering.

“And a wonderful experiment it was too, very successful. I think it sends the perfect message, no one is safe unless they swear fealty to me. Neither the King or the Gods can protect them from divine punishment, only me. Convincing, don’t you think?”

“Yes, father.”

“Today’s challenge though, is what to do with you. You’re an eyesore, a blight that should not exist in a perfect world, but it would be a waste to kill you. Can you see where I’m going with this?”

“I’ll leave, you’ll never see me again.”

“Wrong again Cerddin, you are ever the failure.” Dolwillen sighed. Despite his plans being disrupted he was enjoying himself. How could he not? In this small glass room amongst the rich scent of decaying flesh and warm, humid air and bright sunshine, he was supreme.

Everything will live and die according to the rules he set. There would be no pain and no blackouts. There will be order. Unfortunately, once I leave my hot house, there is only one man I have complete control over. It is time to change that.

After seeing the filthy peasant at the ball with the Feorhhord Gimcynn, he’d sent some men to collect the stones. They’d all died, mauled by some huge creatures, but the second expedition was more successful and the men had returned with a small sack of the things, which sparkled next to the crow’s cage.

Half the stones had been carved into the shape and size of the heart they’d be replacing. The other half were shaped into pentagonal trapezohedrons - two, five sided pyramids stuck together at their bases.

Dolwillen had spent yesterday afternoon copying the symbols from Guntard’s extensive notes onto several pairs of small Feorhhord Gimcynn using the same stylus he’d painted the girl with.

Imprecise work, but not bad for a first effort. They will suffice as long as I can stomach a few failures and short lived pawns.

Dolwillen reached into the cage and extracted the crow. He pinned it to the potting board with several small nails, hammering them in with a trowel. What a lovely metallic ring. If I hit the nails hard enough it even drowns out the noisy bird.

“What are you doing?” said Cerddin.

“An experiment.”

“Can you let me go?”

“You belong to me, so there is nowhere for you to go. Now shut up. I need to concentrate.”

Dolwillen slit open the bird’s chest with a pruning knife. Its eyes rolled back and both it, and his son, were silent at last. He sniped the ribcage open with a pair of secateurs and pulled it apart. He pressed the first lump of Feorhhord Gimcynn against the crow’s heart. It melted like wax between his thumb and index finger, flowing around the tiny muscle. Once the heart was encased, the stone hardened and the symbols became legible again.

Dolwillen plucked the reformed stone from the bird’s chest and dropped the paired replacement heart into the blood filled cavity. Tiny yellow filaments shot out from the carved heart, reconnecting the severed veins and arteries. He took a deep breath and placed a finger on the bird’s artificial heart. The weird colours swirled in his vision and his own veins pulsed black. The little creature’s body jolted in its restraints and the stone heart pulsed into motion.

New life! Life given and governed by I alone.

He withdrew his finger. Threads of yellow light spread through the bird. With a sharp snap, they contracted, pulling the ribcage back together. Flesh churned, flowing over the cut. Dolwillen removed the nails and the bird twisted upright.

“CAWWWW.”

Like the cry of a newborn. Is this what it is like to be a parent? Now, how do I control it?

The crow hopped off the bench towards the exit.

That won’t do.

Dolwillen squeezed the avian heartstone. The bird went rigid. He let go. This time the bird hopped towards Cerddin. He let it continue. The crow pecked at the half digested flesh on the back of the boy’s hand. Cerddin screamed and tried to rock the chair from side to side. The bird took flight.

Wrong.

Dolwillen squeezed. The creature squawked again then collapsed on Cerddin’s shoulder.

“Get that thing away from me! It’s trying to eat me.”

“Of course it is. Shall we let nature take its first course?” Dolwillen chuckled.

Cerddin’s single eye rolled in its socket, trying to track the bird on his shoulder. The crow eyed Cerddin and gave him a tentative peck. The boy shook his head from side to side, shouting. It tried to fly off again but Dolwillen squeezed again.

The second peck pierced Cerddin’s remaining eye.

Cerddin screamed, then fainted.

“CAWWWW,” said the crow.

“Good boy,” said Dolwillen.

With a wet sucking noise, the bird pulled Cerddin’s eye from its socket and gulped it down.

The heart in his hand stopped beating. The bird collapsed. Dolwillen sniffed and wiped his nose with his yellow and pink handkerchief.

Such a short life. I must do better.

He clapped his hands together and smiled.

This was a success. If I stimulate a creature with pain, I can force it to follow a direction, then leave it to its base instincts.

What else could I do? No, no, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. I need more practice shaping the stone hearts first. What should I use as a model?

Dolwillen looked at the pathetic, unconscious lump of flesh tied to the chair.

It will do.