by Terina Adams
“I’ve got a more pressing engagement, otherwise I would enjoy seeing you trundle away into the distance.” He rode up to one of the soldiers. “She doesn’t make it on that cart and I’ll have your head.” Then he jabbed at his horse and galloped away, back toward the palace.
A soldier waited at the gate with a small cart and two scraggily-looking horses. It seemed the king would not bother to even supply us with some healthy animals to see us there. At some point along the way, I expected us to walk just to give the animals a rest.
One of the soldiers yanked on my chains and sent me tumbling toward him. I crashed into his body, which made him laugh. “You wanting to get into my breeches, luv? You think if you make me smile, I’ll show you some favor?”
His sour breath gushed out onto my face as he laughed at his stupid joke that wasn’t a joke at all but wasted talk that showed him to be the imbecile he was. Spitting in his face would earn me a punch and I wasn’t ready for one of those, so I kept my mouth shut and waited for more taunts.
“What do you say, luv, shall we waste a few minutes before we depart?”
“A few minutes would be all it takes for you.” Another solider burst into raucous laughter.
“It’s not the length of time it takes, it’s the amount of times you can get it. A short shoot and that leaves me the rest of the night for plenty more.”
All the soldiers joined in the laughter this time. This seemed to make the solider forget about his lurid suggestions. He produced a key and undid the links, then pushed me to the back of the cart.
“The prince suggested you should be taken all the way in chains, but I’m not interested in stopping this cart all the times you fall off ’cause you can’t stay on.”
I was made to climb on the back of the cart, squeezed in next to one of the prisoners, who kept his eyes averted. The soldier gave the command to move forward and the two horses trundled us out the gate. I stared behind at the receding city, believing I would never see Cerac again.
23
I’d nothing to eat or drink since yesterday morning, and after spending the day in the sun on the back of the cart, my mouth was dry and my stomach ached with the pain of hunger. The prisoners next to me would know the grueling bite of starvation. This was what made them sit still and stare at where we’d been and not jump about and fidget as I was, until my strength ebbed. Then not even I could muster the energy to make a fuss.
As we passed through the villages, people were drawn from their homes, but unlike the time when I’d traveled with the captain to Railyon, the children did not run alongside the cart. Instead they stayed away like we carried a plague they feared catching.
We passed through fields of wheat, rye or corn, then on through a forest and out into more cropped fields, but I’d stopped looking at the beauty of the countryside after being starved of the lush green of the forest for so long, and stared vacantly at the tracks the cart made in the dirt as we went.
When the deep color of blue faded from the sky, the soldier pulled the cart to the side of the track. Another soldier appeared at the back and grabbed one of the men by his tattered shirt and hauled him out of the cart. “Get down, you lot. You need to prepare our fire.”
He untied supplies from the side of his horse and rummaged through them until he grabbed a pail, which he threw my way. “Go collect us some water.”
It landed shy of my feet with a twang and rolled to its side. I looked around us for the spot he expected me to find water and saw a thicket of trees where there had to be a stream. What I also saw, which had been hidden from us while we faced the way we came from, was the looming dark of the dead forest, which blanketed the sky to the east like a rolling cloud of night eating up the day. A shiver raced along my skin.
I looked away from our destination and to the thicket of trees where, for the last day, I could pretend I had a future and do something normal like collect water from a stream.
Another soldier blocked my path, shoving a small ball at me.
“Eat this.”
I stared at the brown ball in his fingers. “Why?”
The slap came too quickly for me to dodge.
“Don’t ask questions.”
He hooked the back of my neck with one hand and forced the ball between my now clenched teeth with the other. I shook my head, but his hand at my neck clenched so his chipped nails dug into my skin, forcing my head in place. “Take it, bitch.” His face was close to mine. His teeth gritted with the effort it took to fight me mixed with the hatred he felt.
I relented in the end and opened my mouth. He rammed his hand to the back of my throat, making me gag, but the small brown ball slid down before I had a chance to swill it to the corner of my mouth to prevent swallowing it.
“What you do that for? It’s a day early,” came the voice of a soldier behind.
“She’s not gonna make it anyhow. I’m being kind.” He turned back to me. “Now pick the bucket up and fetch our water.”
I swiped the bucket from the track and backed away. Another soldier had snuck up behind me, grabbed my arm and swung me around to face him. Leering in, he jabbed a finger at my chest. “And don’t go thinking any smart thoughts about running away. That ball you swallowed is poison. Made special for people like you. The poison will work its way through your system over the next four days, slowly killing you. And guess what?” He held up his hand to reveal a vial of black liquid. “I have the antidote, which means if you want to survive, then you got to return to me.”
“That means we have four days to find the flowers and return before we die.”
“Oh, no, sweetheart, by the time we get there, you’ll only have three.” He laughed in my face, spraying saliva onto my lips and cheeks.
I backed away, then turned and hurried for the thicket of trees, his voice chasing after me. “You won’t survive one day against what is in that forest.”
From the exposed fields and my enslavement, burrowing into the trees was like a refuge. The temperature cooled and the smell of pine refreshed the air. I felt so wretched and alone I wanted to collapse to the forest floor and cry. I bit my lip and dug my nails into my skin until it hurt to remind myself that, if I lost my courage, I might as well take a stick and stab it into my heart right now, for I would surely be lost.
Everything looked bleak, from the horizon to the brown ball releasing its poison into my body as I stood here pitying myself. But I was not dead yet, and if I refused to accept this as my fate, I stood a chance of making it through the dead forest alive.
Thirst spurred me farther into the trees, looking for water. I did not have to go far before I came across a small river, meandering its way through the forest. It was wide enough to make it impassible on foot and deep enough for a wash.
I scooped a small portion into the bucket and took a drink. The wet, cool liquid soothed my raw throat, but in my stomach, it churned and sloshed with no food to keep it steady. I would have to be careful how much I had to start with. After a few more mouthfuls, I looked out over the river, then at my dirty hands. I ran my palm over my cheek, rolling grit all the way down to my chin.
I tested the edge of the river and found I could walk out a ways before it reached mid-thigh. Since I’d never learned to swim, I was cautious about how deep I went.
The cold snapped my breath, but I was keen to rid my body of the filth of the dungeons, and by now I’d lost all care of the soldiers’ threats. If they wanted their water, they would have to come and drag me out by my hair. And if I was going to be dead from their poison in four days, I was going to take my time and make a choice for myself.
I eased myself down until the water hit the apex of my thighs, and my breath hitched. The small bumps on my skin puckered as did my nipples when I knelt down with a gasp so the water flowed over my breasts. I splashed water on my face and over my hair and my head ached with a feeling of ice spiking into my scalp. In no time, I was shivering, my teeth chattering, but I felt exhilarated. When I ran my hand over
my skin, it tingled from the touch. I rolled my head on my shoulders, easing the creaks, when something came crashing through the bushes.
I spun as Cerac rushed to the side of the river.
“Rya.” He came splashing through the water toward me. I ran to him, slowed by the weight of the water tugging on my legs. We crashed together and I lost my feet on the muddy bottom and fell. Cerac tried to support me but the slippery surface upended him as well so that we both splashed into the water.
Cerac grabbed for me and pulled me toward him, joining our bodies. His lips felt warm over mine, and when he parted my mouth with his tongue, I was warmed all over from the fire igniting deep inside.
Despite there being so many questions we both had to say, we stayed melded together, unwilling to part. From his kiss, I felt a burning desire to live. The need racked my body until it shook. I clung to him and demanded more, because at this moment, he felt like my salvation. Even if he could not stop the poison from claiming me, spending this one moment with him was a rescue from my torment.
It was Cerac who found his head enough to part us. “Thank the stars I reached you.”
“How did you know?”
“I knew something was wrong in my gut. The reason for my sudden errand did not add up, so I abandoned it and galloped home and went looking for you. Helna told me what happened.”
“I thought our time in the passage was the last time I would see you again.”
“The last time we see each other will be on our death bed when we are old.”
With hands splayed on either side of my face, he kissed me softly, reverently on the lips. “This is the second time I thought I lost you. There will not be a third.”
I was sucked into his dark brown eyes, feeling like I had no ground and that his touch was the only thing that kept me here. I captured the softening of his features that love gave, committing it to memory before I said, “They gave me the poison.”
The swift change of his face was like a fast-rolling gale. “What? Already? But we are still a night away.”
“They did it so I wouldn’t run when I came to the river for water.”
Cerac grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me through the water. His anger fueled his pace, which left me stumbling on the muddy bottom.
“Wait, Cerac.” He slowed long enough to scoop me into his arms, then strode the rest of the way to the bank before he set me down.
Without waiting for me to gather my senses, he was off, pounding through the trees, leaving me to race after him with my boots squelching water as I went.
We cleared the forest and Cerac did not slow his pace. I saw his mare grazing off to the side of the wagon and the prisoners busy building a fire. The soldiers were gathered around in a circle, perhaps discussing what this sudden turn of events meant for their end journey and the money they would be paid or the punishment they would receive.
Instead of heading for them, Cerac detoured to his horse and unsheathed his sword. I’d barely time to catch up with him before he was striding across to the group of huddled soldiers. So intent on their conversation, none saw him coming until he wrenched the closest soldier around, sending him to the ground.
Blade jabbing into the soldier’s neck, dripping water onto the soldier’s face, he said, “Give me the antidote.” His voice was hard as a stone.
“You are not my master, my lord. I serve the prince. His instructions were to make sure she entered the dead forest.”
Cerac’s top lip curled back in a snarl as he pushed the sword farther into the soldier’s neck, piercing the skin. The mark on his arm glowed from under his dripping jacket. “Wrong answer. I’ll give you one more try.”
“You can kill me, or any of the others, but do that and you will not find the antidote. Don’t you think I would’ve hidden it when you arrived to ensure your cooperation? And part of your cooperation includes allowing the prisoner to enter the dead forest alone. That means without your help.”
Cerac roared and a blinding flash of light ignited from the hilt of his sword, rode down the blade and shot out the end into the soldier’s neck. He screamed, his body jerking about as he fried within his clothes. I covered my mouth and turned away as the putrid smell of cooked flesh permeated the air.
“Who’s next?” Cerac screamed, sounding manic.
I looked over my shoulder to see him brandishing his sword in front of the other soldiers, who backed away, eyes flaring wide in fear.
“Cerac, stop.” I rushed over to him, touching his arm, “Please, don’t do this.”
“They have the antidote, Rya.” He wouldn’t look at me; instead his eyes bored into the soldiers, flashing with a fury I’d never seen. I swear his eyes turned black. “They will tell me where it is if they don’t want to end up like their friend.” He wrenched his arm from me and raised it as if to strike a blow to the soldiers.
I jumped in front of him and shielded my face with my elbow. “Cerac, don’t become this,” I yelled.
As if waking from a dream, he looked down at me, his features turning from their rage-filled insanity and softening back to what I’d seen in the trees. He’d come back to me.
“Rya”—his voice was now a plea—“the poison will kill you.”
“In four days, yes, and if I return in time with some flowers, then they will cure me.”
He seized my shoulders. “Listen to yourself. You will not make it through the dead lands.”
“Are you doubting my ability?”
Cerac blinked. I’d taken us back to the moment in the alley when he’d stripped through my restraint. He swept me close in a hug so fierce the breath whooshed out of me.
“I don’t want you to kill men like that for me. I don’t want you to do something that makes you so angry you forget that you’re human,” I said.
“I would kill anyone if it kept you safe,” he said into my hair. I hugged him tighter when I heard how shaken his voice sounded.
Even his brother.
I sat surrounded by the thicket of the trees away from the soldiers and the prisoners. The trees offered us some protection from the wind, which had picked up as the sun set. The soldiers had instructed the prisoners to take the sagebrush they’d stored at the bottom of the cart and build a fire for protection. Being this close, no one wanted to take the risk of a visiting ragool, except us. Cerac ignored the safety of the fire and led me away from the party. His mark was enough to assure our protection. He lit a small fire under the pine and aspen and laid out the blanket he’d had the foresight to bring in his saddlebag. We would be given a blanket as part of our survival pack when we entered the dead forest, and tonight Cerac and I would to use that blanket as a cover to make our outdoor bed cozy.
I shuddered with a sudden gust of wind as Cerac returned with more logs in his arms for the fire. “You shouldn’t be wearing those wet things,” he said.
“It is all I have.”
“Take them off and wrap yourself in my cloak. I’ll lay them out in front of the fire.”
I hesitated, watching the muscles in his bare back bunch and flex as he stacked the logs. He’d taken his jacket and shirt off to dry by the fire, which left his pants, fitting low and snug on his hips. My eyes wandered down the bones of his spine as my mind conjured the feeling of his skin. I could already feel it warm and soft under my fingertips. All I could think about was our moment in the alley and how unshackled I’d felt from caring about anything but that single moment. I’d been shocked by my craving for him.
He looked over his shoulder. “You’re still dressed.”
“It is not decent to rush a woman out of her clothes.”
“It is less decent to allow her to freeze herself to death because she is worried about decorum.”
“I have been naked in front of a man before, so don’t think me so naive.”
Cerac stopped stocking the fire and turned on his knees to face me. “Tell me about him.”
Oh my stars, was he serious? “The past is the past. Let it stay
there, someone wise once said to me when I first arrived at Railyon.”
“If it pains you to speak of it, I take my ask back. But I am curious about your other life.”
“My father died some years back, leaving my mother with my sister and me. It was hard but a friend helped us out. And as the years passed, he helped us more and more, until…”
“You both fell in love.”
“Maybe we were always in love with each other. We grew up together. It seemed only natural our friendship should follow to something deeper.”
“What did you love about him?”
“There was little not to love about him, but his kind nature attracted me the most. His uncompromising loyalty was also a positive trait.”
Cerac played with the stick in his hand. “You make me feel inadequate.” He gave a short laugh to cover the awkwardness of his confession.
“You shouldn’t. You’re the first person I’ve known to shoot light from a sword.”
Cerac looked into the fire. “Magic tricks, that’s all.”
“You’re the exact opposite of your brother, which is definitely a positive trait to possess. You’re kind and compassionate when you’ve known nothing but hatred and cruelty. That says a lot about your character.”
Cerac came over and joined me on the blanket. “I did not dream of a future. I learned to live from day to day, waiting and dreading the day when Father or Hunrus would sire another male.”
“Because then your time would be up.”
He leaned over and kissed my shoulder. “I didn’t dream of a future until I met you. Of late I can’t stop thinking of our future.”
Our. Now was not the time to say there might not be a future.
“I will enter the dead forest with you tomorrow.”
“You heard what the soldier said. If you enter with me, they will withhold the antidote.”
“If I don’t enter with you, we won’t need the antidote because you will be dead.”
I placed a hand on his cheek and turned him to face me. “Do you think fate would have brought us together just so it could tear us apart?”