by Terina Adams
Those words should make my heart sing, but the smile I found was not given through joy. Why should I feel so afraid? Hunrus had proven how evil he could be. With him gone and Cerac prince, I would have little to fear within the city. But my life was never meant to be lived as a consort, for the king would never permit Cerac and me to marry.
The other day in the forest, I’d felt in love. I’d allowed myself to be swept away in a fantasy that could never be true. Whether the king loved him or not, if Cerac defeated his brother, he would accept Cerac as the crown prince. Cerac would be secure. But I would not. I would become the prince’s whore while he was forced to marry another and she would bear his legitimate heirs.
“You must want a bath? Covered in soot, smelling of smoke, a cut to your face. I would say you’ve been out all night if I could believe it.”
I had so many lies to create and juggle in my head.
“I need to return to the servants’ quarters. I must assure the others I’m safe.”
“I can send someone to inform them.”
Was he suggesting I was to stay with him? Yesterday I would’ve wanted nothing more than to stay with him, to follow him to his bed and lose myself in the pleasure we could create together, but Hunrus had taken that joy away and replaced it with fear. “No, please, I want to tell them myself.”
“If that’s what you wish.” He released me.
I moved out of his embrace and headed down the passage, but made it a few steps before I turned back. “Please think about what you’ll do very carefully. You can never undo a decision once you’ve taken action.”
“I’ve thought of nothing but this for a very long time. Before I even met you.”
I left him before he could remember I owed him answers for my whereabouts last night.
I didn’t know where I was heading, and at this point I didn’t care. All I wanted to do was walk, but I figured if I walked down enough passages, I was bound to come out somewhere I recognized.
In the end, Fednick crashed into me. We both staggered back, then he jumped forward, grabbing hold of my arm, “Lord, it’s you. Where have you been? We thought you had not made it home. Sophren’s cried all night and Helna’s in a right state.”
“What did you tell them about yesterday?”
“That you were wanted by the prince to carry a message to someone.”
Given Cerac’s plan, maybe it didn’t matter now if the truth was known.
He looked behind me in the direction I’d come from. “Where did you stay last night?”
“I found shelter with a commoner in the poor quarter. The old woman was kind enough to let me in.”
The compounding lies were twisting my head. I wasn’t ready for anyone to know I’d faced a wraith because I did not want to run the risk of the king ever finding out. I did not want to be a hero for the people. I did not want to answer the barrage of questions. I did not want to remember how beautiful and entrancing I found the wraith.
“You must go and see Helna. She’s about ready to prepare you a wake feast.”
“I wouldn’t mind a feast right now, so maybe we should wait here in the passage for a while longer.”
Fednick’s cute boy face broke into a smile, and I longed for the simplicity of youth, when love, jealousy, betrayal and hatred were just words and the most important thing in your day was your next meal.
“Come on then, I think I should put them out of their misery and then I can go and clean myself up.”
Fednick’s eyes dipped to my clothes. “Why are you so dirty?”
“I was in such a hurry to run the errand, I fell.”
“You smell like you’ve been roasted on a fire.”
“You’ve never been out on Hallow’s Eve, I bet. You can’t escape the smoke.”
I pushed him in front of me. “Lead the way.” I fell in behind him and he wove us back through the passages until we returned to familiar places. He continued on to the kitchen, and when I stepped inside, the place erupted with Sophren’s screams of joy. She stampeded toward me, knocking Fednick out of the way, and swept me into a hug.
“You rotten girl, where have you been?” She leaned back, crinkling her nose. “You smell awful. You look awful. What’s this in your hair?”
“Give her air to breathe, girl.” Helna bustled her way around the counter and surprised me with a hug of her own. She’d never been known to display affection, but there was plenty of it inside her ample body, and the signs were easy enough to read for anyone who’d been around her long enough. “Come over here,” she commanded, turning to her usual gruff self. “You missed the soup last night and we’re cleaning up the breakfast. You’re lucky you didn’t decide to show a few minutes later or I’d have you waiting until dinner. Sit here.” She heaved me down in one of the stools at the end of the long table that served as her work surface.
Sophren pushed a bowl of soup in front of me before I’d managed to settle. “It could be hotter, but it will taste the same. Now tell us what happened. Why did the prince call on you in person to deliver this note? Who was the note for? I’ve never known such a thing to happen before. Fancy him having you out on Hallow’s Eve. Why didn’t he send one of his own servants? Better still, why didn’t he go himself? He’s a marked after all.”
“Hold your tongue, girl, before you say something that will cost you your head. What if the master were to enter?” Helna said.
“I would not care. We are his servants, not servants to the prince. He should keep to his side of the wall and leave us in peace.”
I scooped spoonfuls of soup into my mouth and attempted to tune out the argument when Millia came rushing into the room. “Rya, you must come quick.”
I slid from my stool, dropping my spoon on the table with a clunk when two soldiers pushed past Millia into the kitchen.
“Which one is the servant girl called Rya?” the soldier on the left demanded.
Ryhan stepped forward and held out his hand. “Please come with us.” He averted his eyes from me as I came toward him.
“’Ey, what is this about? You can’t just take her.”
The soldier threw a scroll at Helna. It bounced off the table and unrolled across the floor. Fednick scooped it up, but Sophren snatched it out of his hands and handed it to Helna, whose eyes zigzagged back and forth before she barked out, “Stealing? What is she supposed to have stolen?”
“You questioning the king’s command?” the soldier asked.
“Of course not,” Helna spat. “She is a servant in my kitchen. I am low on help as it is, so I have a right to at least know what she is accused of stealing.”
“What does it matter, old woman? A cart leaves for the dead forest tomorrow and she’s going to be on it.”
The collective gasp in the room rang through my ears as background noise to the reverberation of the soldier’s words.
Sophren ran forward, blocking Ryhan’s path, tears welling in her eyes. “No, you cannot do this. The king has never sent a woman to gather before.”
Ryhan calmly pulled Sophren’s hands from his arms. “It is done. There is naught we can do about it.”
I swept Sophren to me. “Stop, please, Sophren. He’s right. There is nothing you can do.”
“But they cannot send you to the dead forest. You’ll not survive.”
I pressed Sophren’s palms together, then kissed the sides of her hands. “I thought I would die when I was taken from my village. But I found you and Helna and Fednick.”
“But that was different.”
I wiped the tears from her cheek. “Not really. It’s moving one place to another.”
“It’s the dead forest, Rya.”
“I’ll just have to let you know what’s over there.”
Ryhan tugged gently on my elbow. I let her go and followed the other soldier out of the kitchen.
22
Footsteps echoed down the dark passage. Two sets of shoes smacked along the stone floor of the dungeon. One was heavy, moving with a soli
d gait, the other lighter and more fluid. A flickering torch grew close. Next I saw shadows dancing on the walls, elongating the men’s forms into weird, distorted shapes. I shielded my eyes from the light as the torch bearer came to my cell, jangling his brass circle of keys as he fingered for the right one, then he clanked them into the lock, which released with a heavy clunk.
“I shall have a word first. Leave the torch.”
“As you wish, Your Highness.”
The hinges groaned and creaked on opening, and I pushed up from the bare floor of my cell and shuffled so my back was to the wall and faced Hunrus as he entered. “No need to shut the gate. This one won’t be going anywhere.”
The guard deposited the torch in its bracket, then bowed to Hunrus. “I’ll be waiting for your call, Your Highness.” He gave another bow as he left the cell, but Hunrus didn’t even acknowledge him as he departed. His eyes were trained on me. I thought of the ragool from the other night, the way its eyes followed my every move without it shifting its head.
Hunrus had been the one with the light footsteps, like his brother, although I’m sure the two would loathe the comparison. In every way, Hunrus was the opposite of Cerac, except in looks, but there were enough differences between their features and build to save me from looking into the face of the man I loathed and seeing the face of the man I…could I dare say loved?
I’d felt powerful things with Cerac I’d never felt with Morick. After my experience with the wraith, I now wasn’t sure if my hunger stemmed from my own craving or a strange connection the two of us had developed driven by his mark. And having known love, I wasn’t going to confuse lust for something that resided deeper in one’s soul. If I had a future, I was sure I would grow to love Cerac just as much as I did Morick.
I watched as Hunrus paced over to lean against the wall with a sickness twisting in my stomach.
“I’m curious to know how you survived the other night.” As was his way, every word was drawn out, making him sound bored with the conversation.
“A woman let me into her home.”
“After the sun went down?”
“She was generous and kind of heart.”
He snorted a laugh. “You must tell me who this person was so that I can witness for myself this generosity, for I was unaware such a virtue existed in man’s heart.”
“I said it was a woman.”
He huffed a laugh to himself. “You have quite the way about you, gathering witless people to your side.” He pushed off the wall. “I sense you’re lying. How was it you were with my brother so early this morning? Did he come for you in the night?”
“Cerac did not know until this morning.”
“You have turned him into a lamb bleating for his feed. Tell me, does he suckle from your nipples when he’s hungry?”
I turned away to shut his crassness out. But Hunrus was not finished. He crouched down in front of me, forcing my face back toward him by digging his fingers into my chin. “Do you like it when he does that? Do you like him on his knees begging for your favors?”
I spat in his face. Hunrus froze, his expression delayed in registering the shock of what I’d done. I saw his fist coming in my periphery while I kept my eyes on his face. As he’d released my chin seconds ago, I swept to the side and his fist collided with the wall.
He howled in pain and, with his other hand, wrenched me toward him with a vise grip around my neck. “You whore.” His handsome face distorted with rage. “You survived Hallow’s Eve but do not think you will survive this.” His face was so close to mine, his nose tickled my cheek. “When it is all over, I will send men in to drag your carcass out and then I will parade it through the streets.”
He threw me back and my head cracked against the wall. He shook out his fist, then flexed his fingers. A second light now shone in my cell, the flame from the torch and the mark of Hunrus’s arm. When he caught me looking, he laughed a wicked sneering sound. “That’s right, my little whore.” He shoved his glowing mark into my face. “I could do so many bad things to you right now, and I wouldn’t need to touch you. But there would be no fun in that.”
“To hurt me, you need to go beyond my flesh.”
He ran a finger down my cheek. “I can go very deep. In fact, I can get right up in here.” He burrowed his finger into my temple, and I had to press my lips together to keep from making a noise.
The sting of his slap was nothing compared to my hatred, which burned brighter than his mark.
“And don’t think Cerac will come for you this time. He’s been sent away. When he returns, I will give him your bones.”
He stood and yelled to the guard, who came shuffling into the cell. Given how rapidly he appeared, he couldn’t have been far away.
“Chain her behind the others,” Hunrus said as he left my cell.
“Get on your feet,” the guard said, but kept his distance.
I walked out of the cell with the guard following. There was only one way to go; he didn’t need to lead me. I drew enough stares from the forgotten men and women as I passed the other cells. Some had been here long enough they no longer looked human, just shrunken, leathered skin stretched taut against bone, sharing their cells with vermin and their own excrement. Without windows, the air thickened with the smells of death and decay. I’d been blessed, staying only one night. I’d rather face the horrors of the dead forest than rot in these dungeons for any longer.
We climbed the broad stone stairs, rising closer to the day, and I had to stop myself from racing the rest of the way. At the top, the guard caught up with me and grabbed my elbow, drawing me into a dim alcove at the side.
“Shhh,” he hissed in my ear. “Wait here.” And then he was gone.
I peered around the stone wall of the alcove as a soldier came bustling in, pushing me back out of the light coming from the exit to the dungeons.
“Ryhan.” I’d never expected to see him again.
“His Highness is waiting.”
Ryhan pulled something from under his jacket as he crouched in front of me. “Lift your pants leg,” he commanded.
I did as he instructed without asking why, sensing the risk he was taking in doing what he was doing for me. He wrapped leather straps around my calf, then smoothed the leather pouch around so it would not obstruct my walking and risk the blade being knocked from its bed.
“It will be of limited use, but it is small and easily concealed.”
He shook my pants leg down, then stood. “The gatherers are given a modest amount of food and a blanket to last them the few nights they are expected to find the flower, but no weapons to defend themselves with. I hope you find it of some use.”
“You’ve taken a risk giving me this. I appreciate it. Thank you.”
“Sending a woman is not right.” He shook his head.
“Sending anyone is not right.”
He would not look at me as he said, “The guard will take you outside now.”
I took his hand. “Ryhan, thank you. You did not have to do this. Your debt, as you saw it, was paid and yet you have chosen to help me. It means a lot to me.”
I let him go and walked my own way out of the dungeon, not wanting Ryhan to see my fear. I would’ve clung tight to his hand and begged him to help me escape, but he had little reason to risk so much for me, and I did not want him to do anything else that could incite the prince’s anger.
There were three other prisoners waiting, along with the prince on his black charger and three soldiers. The guard in front of the prince made a show of rough handling me toward the back of the line of prisoners. Another soldier waited with metal links he slipped over my wrists and around my ankles. Both were joined by chains. The soldier straightened from clasping the links around my ankles and grabbed the end of the chain, then walked toward the prince, who held out his hand. I was the only one of us four to be chained and the prince would lead me through the streets like a pet.
The other prisoners were so thoroughly broken they hunched forw
ard, swaying where they stood.
“It is such a shame my brother is not here to see your grand departure.”
I stared ahead. He wasn’t worthy of my attention.
“But his servants will be. I’m sure they will give him a fitting description.”
He yanked on the chains, and I stumbled forward. He dug his heels into the sides of his horse and it leaped into a trot, forcing me to run beside him.
“I will not make it to the dead forest if you force me to run beside you the whole way.”
“That is the point,” Hunrus said, leering down at me from atop his horse.
“I thought you wanted to collect my carcass from the dead forest.”
He slowed his horse to a walk. “You have a point. I think the wraiths’ pets, the ragool, would do a better job than me.”
The other prisoners had been forced to also run and they were in far worse shape than I was, having been fattened up by Helna these past two moons. When I looked behind, the first glared at me as if this was all my fault. The other two were trying to keep on their feet. It was a wonder the king managed to get any of his precious flowers by using pitiable men such as these.
We wound through the streets lined with the city people, all gathered from the homes and their jobs by the prince’s soldiers to watch us go by. When we wound our way back toward the arena, I refused to look at the crowd and kept my face watching the street in front, head up and my shoulders back. Sophren, Helna and Fednick would see I was unbroken, at least for now. I wanted that to be my parting memory for them, not the look of the desolate men who followed me.
I’d walked as far as the gate a handful of times now with errands for Helna, but never had the walk felt so long. Even when I’d run the length of the city to reach the fires the other night, I’d not felt the distance like I did now. Maybe it was shame that increased my perception of the time. I hated seeing eyes of pity trained on me. I would rather eyes of venom. At least it gave me something to rally against.
At some point, as we neared the gate and the number of onlookers thinned, the prince lost interest in leading me and dropped the chains, halting the procession.