CAPTIVE
PART ONE OF THE AKELDAMA CHRONICLES
F.N. HAMMACK
© 2017 F.N. Hammack
COPYRIGHT
Hammack Publishing
© 2017 F.N. Hammack
All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher and author, at the addresses below.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Ebook Edition
Editing by Debbie’s Editing & Proofreading Services.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge all the people who helped me complete this journey: my sister, Cristina, and my Mom. Thanks, and I love you two. xoxoxo
I would like to acknowledge all the lovely ladies from my writing group. I raise my hat to you all…let’s pretend I am wearing one. You guys rock so hard. You helped with all the ins and outs, the technicalities, writer’s block, formatting (hell), etc… You guys are amazing; without you, this process would have been far less smooth. Thank you.
Furthermore, I would like to thank all my beta and ARC readers. Your feedback and constructive criticism was greatly appreciated. You helped me find and fix all the little flaws; making my story far more kick-ass than it would have been otherwise. Thank you.
I want to acknowledge all the lovely people who are reading my book. Thank you so much for supporting my work. I hope you love it as much as I do.
Lastly, I want to thank the people who told me I was wasting my time and I would never be as good as other authors. Thank you, because, you guys gave me the kick in the ass I needed simply to prove you wrong. Cheers!
With love,
F.N. Hammack
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE:
COPYRIGHT:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
EXTRA:
PROLOGUE: Cassius Na’Dar
CHAPTER 1: Joaquin Gagnon
CHAPTER 2: Aramis Morgan
CHAPTER 3: Sienna Akeldama
CHAPTER 4: Joaquin Gagnon
CHAPTER 5: Sienna Akeldama
CHAPTER 6: Joaquin Gagnon
CHAPTER 7: Sienna Akeldama
SNEAK PEEK:
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
AUTHOR BIO:
EXTRA
GLOSSARY OF UNUSUAL TERMS:
Akeldama:
It is both the name of the royal family and the kingdom in which they rule. You will learn more about it as the story progresses. In Aramaic, it means, “field of blood”. Ominous, no?
Amulet of Vitae:
It was once an ancient mystical amulet with life giving energy; often used to heal people on the brink of death. Until now…
CHARACTER ROLL-CALL
Sienna Akeldama:
Princess Sienna is the last remaining heir to the Akeldama throne. She is twenty years old and married to both Soren Kuznetsov and Aramis Morgan.
Joaquin Gagnon:
Also known as the “King Killer”, Joaquin is a man with a horrifying past. He and Sienna cross paths when they both wind up in the same dungeon.
Aramis Morgan:
A twenty-one-year-old thief with a past even more horrifying than Joaquin. He is not a good man but the one person safe from all his “games” is Sienna—for she is the only one that he adores.
Soren Kuznetsov:
Soren has led a good life. He migrated to Akeldama from the North and became a highly coveted blacksmith. Hell, he even married the princess. Life was good...
Rhys Thierry:
He is the one true friend that Sienna had growing up.
Cassius Na’Dar:
He used to be one of the king’s advisors; then he killed him and usurped his throne.
PROLOGUE
PRODITIONE
(n.) Latin: disloyalty by virtue or subversive behavior; acts of dishonesty.
CASSIUS NA’DAR
Two Years Ago...
“My King, I beg you to reconsider,” I said, bowing low before King Julian Akeldama; the most powerful man alive.
With a heavy sigh, the king laid his hand upon my shoulder and squeezed softly. “As much as I agree with you, Lord Cassius, my queen has spoken. It would take a man much more fearless than I to contravene her wishes,” King Akeldama said, attempting to placate me in front of the judging eyes of the court.
I grunted softly in derision and rose to my feet, taking care not to meet the king’s wise green eyes; because he would surely be able to identify the feelings of knavery churning in my gut. “It’s scandalous!” I pressed my lips into a firm line and lowered my gaze. Our kingdom would become a laughing stock! Did the king have no pride? Was he so lacking that he was unable to control the women in his family? Such a man was unfit to rule!
The king rolled his eyes dismissively and walked back to his golden throne, “We’re royalty. Everything we do gets turned into a scandal by sunset.” He threw his head back with a loud laugh that echoed throughout the room. The court twittered in response to the king’s amusement; everyone laughing with him in an attempt to gain his notice.
I took a deep breath and wrestled control of myself before I yelled at the king in front of so many witnesses—blatant disrespect that would have me hanged. “Your Highness, this is a serious matter.”
The faux smile slipped from his face. “I am fully aware of how serious this is, Lord Cassius,” he warned. “Even so, I have already given my blessing on the union and I am not a man that reneges on his word.”
I bowed my head, showing the expected deference, “forgive me, My King, I am only concerned.”
A tense silence filled the throne room as the court waited for the king’s reaction. I kept my head down and braced myself. Then, I let out a shaky sigh of relief when the King let out another boisterous laugh. “You’re a good friend; however, your concern isn’t necessary. Those men make my daughter happy. Who am I to stand in the way of young love? Besides, polyamorous unions are fairly common in the northern kingdoms. Queen Ravenna herself has fourteen consorts, Queen Lilia has seven and King Draven has a harem of over a hundred. The notion isn’t that outlandish. Besides, my lovely Sienna only wishes to marry two men.” The king said with a smile as he motioned to his page boy who was standing nearby.
The boy rushed up the steps and onto the dais that held the thrones. He knelt before the king as the king whispered something into his ear. Nodding, the boy scurried off on whatever errand he had been assigned. A muscle began to tick in my jaw as I watched the king blatantly ignore me, but I held quiet and made sure my annoyance didn’t show on my face. It wouldn’t do to have the king become suspicious.
I shook my head, as my thoughts turned to Princess Sienna. She was marrying those two urchins; neither one of which possessed a noble pedigree, yet once wed to the princess they would become king. Or rather…they would divide the responsibilities between them. Still, the idea was preposterous. Neither one of them were worth the dirt on my boots.
At least the northerner queens only had consorts. Neither of those two coldhearted witches were willing to give up the slightest modicum of their power; hoarding it all to themselves.
Thoug
h, there was an unlikely chance that the king would crown the princess as his heir. But, Akeldama hadn’t had a reigning queen in ages and for good reason. Women were too weak-willed to do what was necessary to rule a bloody kingdom. They were led by their hearts not their heads.
Anyway, that I looked at it, all I could see was the coming ruin of Akeldama.
Once the boy was outside the throne room, King Akeldama glanced at me inquiringly, “Was there anything else you needed to discuss, Lord Cassius?”
I locked my jaw and said, “No, My Liege.” It would be a waste of my time to beat against the bush any longer. The King was a lost cause.
King Akeldama raised a brow and looked pointedly towards the lengthy line of people waiting for their turn to air their grievances. I nodded at his silent dismissal and stepped away, marching stiffly from the throne room. I waited until I was out of sight of the royal guards before I let out all the curses that I had been holding in.
The king was a bloody fool for letting those street rats anywhere near the princess. They should have been executed for their audacity. I would be damned if I was going to bow before those two heathens.
I absently walked down the hallways, trying to think of some way to sabotage the wedding. Lost in thought, I never saw the woman running around the corner and grunted as she collided into me, knocking us both to the ground.
Irritated, I snarled, “You should watch where you’re going!” Hurriedly getting to my feet, I stepped away, leaving the woman on the ground— she could get her own self up. I straightened the lapels of my coat and cursed.
“I apologize for my impertinence, Lord Cassius, I will be more careful from now on,” a soft lyrical voice said demurely.
Stiffening at the woman’s first word, I pivoted with widened eyes and stared with my jaw slackened. Her head was lowered but I would know that captivating voice anywhere. There was only one woman in the entire kingdom with a tone of voice like that; a peculiar mix of culture and defiance. Snapping out of my daze, I rushed forward and helped her to her feet. “Princess, please forgive me. I never should have spoken to you in such a horrid manner.”
Her eyes twinkled with mirth as she smirked, “There was no harm done, Lord Cassius. You don’t need to be so fearful; I’m not going to have you punished for telling me to watch where I’m going. Besides, I was the one who ran into you. The fault is mine,” she said, grinning widely and offering me a pat on the arm.
I opened my mouth to absolve her of guilt when I noticed what she wore. Gaping, I ran my gaze over her scandalously clad form. “Princess,” I couldn’t hide the horror from my voice, “why are you wearing men’s clothing?”
The corner of her mouth quirked up in unveiled amusement; mint colored eyes gleaming. She deadpanned, “It’s harder to fight in a dress.”
I reared back. “What?!”
She dissolved into giggles and wrapped her arms over her stomach. Shaking her head, she pushed her long, unbound, auburn tresses over her shoulder and laughingly said, “I’m kidding, Lord Cassius.”
My eyebrows snapped together, and I cleared my throat. “Of course, I knew that. I was simply playing along.” No way would the princess be caught in the midst of a fight. I laughed at the very idea of it.
She gave me a tight grin and glanced away, saying “Well, I must be off. I am meeting my fiancés at the village market.” She whirled around without waiting for me to respond and sped down the brightly lit hallway, throwing a farewell over her shoulder.
I clenched my fist and watched her pert bottom wiggle with her rushed pace, unable to tear my eyes away. Those trousers were obscene, hiding nothing from sight. They outlined every line and curve of her bottom and legs. And, the shirt wasn’t much better.
At least she had found a way to finagle a corset into that getup. Though, it wasn’t used in the purpose that it was meant for. Instead of wearing a corset that actually fit her and held her breasts in place as was proper, she had a smaller one and used it to cinch in her waist as if it was a bloody belt.
I groaned and dragged a hand over my gaping mouth, glancing towards the heavens. For the first time in years, I thanked the gods for something. I thanked them for creating that unpredictable mess of gorgeous chaos.
Right then, at that very moment, I vowed that one day she would be mine and mine alone…just as soon as I took care of one pesky little problem.
1
UBUNTU /ʊˈbuːntʊ/
(n.) the belief that we are defined by our compassion and kindness towards others.
JOAQUIN GAGNON
I jerked awake with a choked wheeze and struggled against the chains that bound me to the wall. My actions were purely reflexive. The last thing that I remembered was leaving the Scarlet Tavern with a wench on each arm when someone hit me from behind.
Trying in vain to shrug off the thick, coarse hood that was draped over my head, I cursed up a storm. Whoever put me in here had just signed their death warrant because as soon as I got out of this mess, I was coming for them. I was a vengeful sort of man.
Bloody hell…
I couldn’t see a damn thing.
I rubbed my head against my shoulder; until eventually—inch by inch—the hood rose and fell to the floor. Blinking against the harsh glare caused by the torches dimly lighting up the room, my eyes watered and I had to turn my face away from the flames to give my vision the chance to adjust. Instinctively, I raised my hand to try and shield my face from the harsh light. Though, I paused with a sigh when the distinct clink of metal and my restricted movement reminded me of my plight. Cursing viciously under my breath, I once more struggled against the bloody chains.
“Don’t bother,” a hoarse voice whispered. “I already tried.”
Shocked, I squinted into the darkness outside of the fire’s reach; straining my eyes to the point of pain to locate the owner of that voice. I had assumed that I was alone but...apparently, I was mistaken.
Gradually, my vision adjusted to the dimness and I began to see shadows upon shadows in the endless darkness. A subtle shift of a small, human sized blur—along with a pain filled moan—drew my attention to the far-right corner of the dungeon.
The first thing I noticed was the world’s dirtiest foot peeking out of the darkness. It was a slim, arched foot with dainty, little toes. Clearly, it belonged to a girl and from what I could tell under the layers of caked on dirt, her skin looked to be a pale, white tone.
With narrowed eyes, I studied the shadows for several minutes. Yet... no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t penetrate the darkness any more than I already had. My cellmate remained a mystery and I was not particularly fond of mysteries. They rarely turned out well...
“Who are you?” I asked bluntly; though, more harshly than I had intended.
“Si…”, she broke off abruptly as deep, hacking coughs burst from her lungs and shook the shadows. Eventually, she calmed enough to finish. “Sienna.”
My brows scrunched together in concern. “Are you okay?” I asked, before rolling my eyes at my stupidity. Of course, she wasn’t okay. Neither one of us were. Being locked in a dungeon was no one’s definition of okay.
A low, raspy laugh echoed from her corner, drawing my gaze back to her shadowed silhouette. “I’ve been better…”, she drawled in a tone ripe with sass.
I shook my head and smiled sheepishly, grateful for the cover of darkness that prevented her from seeing the blush I could feel heating up my face—a man with a blush was never a pleasant sight. “Yeah, that was a stupid thing to ask.”
“No, it wasn’t.” I frowned but she continued before I could say anything. “While it may not have been the best timing for such a question…that you asked it points towards the type of person you are. It shows that you care about others; and frankly, I needed a reminder that not all men were monsters.”
The desolation of her tone reminded me of the last woman I had heard sound like that. I could still picture the blood that had pooled around her body as if I were back there...trappe
d in that room with her as she lay dying. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and struggled to wipe the image from my mind.
The complete lack of emotion in Sienna’s voice said she had given up...just like the woman in my memories. She no longer cared; which made me wonder how long she had been here?
What was her story?
Why had she given up?
Only these weren’t the sort of questions that you could just ask outright and expect a response. We were strangers.
Not knowing what to say, I simply stood there—wrapped in chains, as an awkward silence began to suck up all the oxygen in the room; until the tension was so thick that I felt like I was drowning in an ocean of discarded conversation topics.
After a while, soft snores filled the air; letting me know that my cellmate had fallen asleep. I felt my body relax and took a deep breath; steeling my spine with resolve. Sienna might have given up, content to remain in this bloody dungeon.
But, I would never submit so easily.
***********
Hours later, I slumped against the wall; sliding to the floor with utter exhaustion. Sweat dripped into my eyes and I couldn’t even raise my hand high enough to wipe it off, which was beyond pathetic. I don’t know which was more infuriating; that or the itch on the tip of my nose that had been slowly driving me past the edge of sanity.
“I told you it wouldn’t work,” Sienna pointed out.
With a snort, I lazily turned my head in her general direction. “How long have you been awake?”
“Long enough…” she drawled with amusement.
I cringed because there had been more than a few embarrassing moments during which I had been glad that no one could see me as I fought to untangle myself; like the moment when I tried to run full force down the mere feet of chain that allowed me to move around a bit. I had, had this asinine hope that my body weight would snap the chain in two.
Captive: Part One of The Akeldama Chronicles Page 1