I had decided to go back to the dorm through the building. There was a greater chance of discovery this way but I needed to make sure that the route was clear, because there was no way I could carry Sadie out the window, along the roof and down the wall. The best I would have been able to do was shove her out and that would rather defeat the object.
But as I approached the stairs that led back up towards the dorms, I heard a sound. Was one of the Caretakers out and about at this time of night? I peered around the corner to look at the stairs and a chill snaked its way up my spine. Someone was creeping up the stairs. And not just any someone; it was a man. And not just any man; a young one. And a massive one. Maybe all young men were this size and the pictures in the book had simply not done justice to their scale, but the silhouette of this man suggested something carved from rock rather than flesh. The other thing I could not fail to notice about him was that he was armed.
Speculations about the man's impressive size could wait for now. Whatever this hulking figure was doing here, he was not meant to be, and while I didn't feel a great deal of loyalty to this place, I wasn't going to stand back while my comrades were murdered in their beds. There was a sturdy-looking vase on a plinth just behind me and I picked it up, wondering whether saving everyone from certain death would mitigate whatever punishment I might receive for being out of bed at this hour. I crept up behind the man, who had remained stationary on the stairs, apparently waiting for something. I raised the vase, ready to bring it down across his head - or as near to his head as I could reach.
"I wouldn't, woman."
The voice came from behind me and the shock of hearing it made me toss the vase up in the air. I managed to catch it again as the huge figure on the stairs turned to look at me. I whipped around, and from the shadows, a second massive figure emerged, cutting off my retreat.
"What are you doing here?" I asked. Which was pretty ballsy. These men were unlike anything I had ever seen. They looked a completely different species to the elderly Priests who ran the temple. A shaft of moonlight through a window illuminated them, casting the lines of their muscles into deep relief and increasing the impression that they had been sculpted - nothing that perfect could be natural.
But I did not dwell on their perfection for long - longer than perhaps I should have, but not long. I was unquestionably the fittest of the Chosen because I went for a run most mornings and deliberately trained myself, while the most strenuous exercise everyone else did was a spirited session of Pilates. But I was no match for these men - I was like a blade of grass between two massive trees. My best hope was that I was smarter than they were, but right now I was struggling to kick my brain into gear - a lot had happened in the last twenty-four hours and my mind was a little overwhelmed. Escape plans were obviously on hold for tonight, I had to warn everyone that we were under attack. I had to get past them and sound the alarm.
"What are you doing here?" I asked again.
"We're your worst nightmare."
"Not even close." I hurled the vase at the head of the one on the stairs and let out a scream that ought to have been loud enough to wake the dead, let alone the ever-vigilant Caretakers. At the same time, I was on the move, ducking nimbly under the arm of the man on the stairs as he shielded his face from the vase. I heard the snarl of irritation from the other man but knew that he was too big to follow where I had gone and would have to wait until his friend got out of the way.
Just enough to give me a decent head start.
Where the staircase turned, I vaulted up over the banister, saving precious seconds. For the second time that day I was struck with a sensation of enjoying something that I shouldn't - third time if you count me ringing the Devil's Doorbell. I was in mortal danger and so were the rest of the Chosen who, though they did not know it, were now relying on me. Their lives were in my hands. And the result of that was down to a thrilling chase - me with my speed and quick brains, against the hulking brute strength of my pursuers. I knew it was wicked, but I felt a surge of excited elation as I raced up to the top of the stairs, still screaming.
And ran into what felt like a brick wall.
Dazed and off-balance, I began to fall back down the stairs but a hand looped around my waist to save me and I stared up into the face of a third man, his features decorated with grim war paint.
He didn't look friendly.
Chapter 4
I had no idea what this massive man's plans for me were at that point, or what he would have done if noises hadn't started to come from upstairs. Lights were coming on and people moving about, woken by my screaming.
Before I could even wonder about what might happen next, I found myself being lifted bodily up into the air. I squealed involuntarily as the man I had run into on the stairs threw me over his shoulder like I was a sack of potatoes, only lighter. He handled me as if I weighed nothing at all.
"Come on!" hissed one of the men at the bottom of the stairs, and they all ran for the exit, moving with astonishing speed and silence given their size and the fact that one of them was carrying a struggling woman with him.
As we exited the building, I caught a glimpse of lights going on elsewhere in the temple precinct - because when I scream, I seriously scream and no one is sleeping through it. I now regretted it. It had been instinct but what good was it likely to do? There were no warriors here. The Caretakers might have been a bit scary to me and the other girls, but I didn't think that was likely to cut much ice with these men. The bottom line was that if anyone did come to my aid then they would be easily killed and I would be no better off. All my screaming had done was put everyone in danger and, much as I disliked the majority of those who lived in the precinct, I did not wish death on any of them. Maybe Clementine.
I need not have worried. The men were clearly expert at what they did and remaining unseen was a big part of that. They ducked from shadow to shadow, not making a sound as they moved, heads always turning this way and that, on the alert for anyone who might have spotted them. Darting between the buildings with a feral athleticism I might have admired if I hadn't been their unwilling captive.
The one who was carrying me whispered, "I probably don't have to tell you this; but if you say a word, if you make a sound, if you breathe too heavily, you're in for a world of pain."
I wanted to snap back a clever response, but from long experience with the Caretakers, I could hear in a person's voice whether a threat was serious or not, and this man meant every word he said.
At high speed we raced across the assembly ground, where rhythmic dance was taught. For a moment, it occurred to me that I might never see this place again, might never have another rhythmic dance lesson or hear Caretaker May's cracked voice telling me that I had all the grace of a dead frog. Even in the direst of situations, it's usually possible to find some silver lining.
The temple precinct was surrounded by a massive wall that cleaved through the jungle itself. At its southern end it met sheer cliffs, which ought to have been enough to stop any invading force, but the wall still climbed up and across them, taking nothing for granted.
I sometimes wondered if that wall was there to stop others getting in or to stop us getting out. I had tried to cross it more than once - not necessarily planning to escape, but just wanting to see what lay on the other side - but I had always failed. The wall was insurmountable, curving inwards so you could not climb it, topped with sharpened metal spines. There was no crossing the wall. Which had always struck me as odd, because there were also no gates in the wall, no doors, no way through at all. The Caretakers encouraged us to believe that the precinct was all there was - there was no path through the wall because there was nothing beyond it. Not even naive Sadie really believed that.
But how did one get through the wall? I had come to the conclusion that there had to be a secret entrance somewhere and had spent long hours looking for it when no one was watching me.
It turned out that I was right. We reached a part of the wall that seeme
d no different from any other and the two men who were not carrying me both put their shoulders to it. A section of the stonework turned on its axis, revealing a tunnel beyond, leading through the thick foundations of the perimeter wall. A strange thrill, combining fear and excitement passed through me; I was about to leave the temple precinct. I had dreamed of this moment. Admittedly, in those dreams I was not being kidnapped by large men but I would take it. As we ran through the tunnel, my breath came sharp and fast, I was going to find out what was beyond the wall.
What was beyond the wall was another wall. This one was smaller, stood about twenty feet from the main one and seemed to encircle it completely. Where was the point of that? Why two walls?
Then I saw the reasons standing on the wall. The outer wall was manned. The main one could not have guards on it because then we girls within would get a glimpse of what men looked like, and that would never do. So, the guards were stationed on the small outer wall. They had clearly heard the commotion from within and were now starting to turn around and look back towards the temple precinct.
I observed all this, from my vantage point, slung over the man's back, as we crouched in the shadow of the tunnel, waiting. Three men could not have overpowered all the guards on the wall so these three must have somehow stolen past that outer wall to get access to the inner one, killing or otherwise incapacitating the tunnel guards on their way through. But how was it possible that three people had gotten past without anyone noticing?
The guards on the wall seemed to be debating what to do next. Their duty, the job they had been hired for, was to stop people getting past this outer wall and reaching the inner one. If anyone did get past then those people would be stepping over the corpses of guards who had laid down their lives to protect the temple precinct. But now there were troubling noises coming from behind them.
Technically, it wasn't their job and if someone had gotten in then they were almost certainly going to be in trouble. One thing that had been made very clear to them when they got the job was that they did not, under any circumstances, go into the temple. The temple was sacred and what lay within its precinct was not for the eyes of men. If they did sneak in then surely the volcano god would visit upon them a terrible revenge, which would be nothing compared to the revenge that their commanding officer would visit upon them. No one had foreseen a situation like this one.
As their discussion on how to proceed continued, I noticed one guard on the wall who seemed to stand apart from the rest. As I watched him, he waved his arm urgently in our direction and my three captors made a break for the outer wall. That was how they had gotten in without the alarm being raised; they had taken out a single guard when no one was watching and one of their number had taken his place. It was the only way past the temple's impressive fortifications.
I took a moment to consider just how much work had been put into keeping me and the rest of the Chosen safe. Hundreds of people, vast walls, fierce fortifications, and all of it just to make sure that we died at the right time. How very flattering.
Reaching the outer wall without being spotted, the inside man ushered us through the gate that he 'defended', before joining us in a breakneck run for the jungle. I looked back, for the first time seeing the place in which I had spent my entire life from the outside. It looked small. Well... it looked massive, and yet somehow small at the same time. From the inside it had seemed like the whole world, but from out here it seemed like someone trying to parcel off part of the world. It was an ugly monument to exclusion. The precinct had always felt like a prison to me, now it looked like one as well.
"Good work everyone," I heard one of the men say as we passed the tree line.
A little further in and we came upon four horses tied to trees. They were the best-behaved horses I had ever seen, standing waiting for us like soldiers at attention. They did not skit about or neigh distractedly like normal horses. These horses were as well trained as the men. Whatever I had disturbed tonight, it had been a very serious military operation.
"What are you going to do with me?" They were the first words I had said. I wanted to know where I fit into all this.
"What did I say about talking?" the man carrying me snapped.
"But we're outside the..."
"World. Of. Pain," the man enunciated. He then, clambered up onto one of the horses and dumped me across his lap.
The other men mounted up and we were off, riding through the forest. It might have been my imagination, but it seemed to me that these horses even galloped more quietly than the average untrained animal. But I had other things on my mind right then.
"Excuse me?"
"What did I tell you? What did I say? Can't you understand basic instructions?"
"I'm sorry," I begged, "but I think I'm going to be sick and I didn't want to throw up all over you."
"Don't be sick. You hear me? If you're sick on me then you're in for a..."
"World of pain," I interrupted. "I know. But if you just let me sit up, in front or behind you. I swear, I won't try to escape. Otherwise, I can't be held responsible for what my body does."
Without a word, but with a fair bit of gruff muttering, the man yanked me up from across his lap and plonked me down in front of him, straddling the horse's neck uncomfortably.
"Better? Good. Now keep that mouth shut. And if you try to get away or to hurt me, then you will not be in for a world of pain. You will be beyond pain. You will be in for a world of dead. Do I make myself clear?"
I nodded vigorously, afraid to speak.
"Good. I don't want to kill you. I'm not that kind of guy. But I will if I have to."
I had no doubt that he would.
As we rode on through the night, the exhaustion, physical and mental, began to hit me. I started to lean forward, finally lying along the horse's neck, its mane forming an unexpectedly comfortable pillow beneath me. I closed my eyes. I'm not sure if I actually slept, but I drifted into a half-sleeping state, remaining aware of the thunder to the horse's hooves, and the movement of its body beneath me, but gratefully relieved from the stress of my current situation.
I woke when we finally came to a stop. I started up and looked around. We were in a clearing, and it occurred to me that I had traveled farther in one night than in the rest of my life put together. It ought to have been an exciting thought, but I had little room for anything but fear now and would have given anything to be back in the safety of the temple precinct. Even though I knew that they were planning to sacrifice me in nine days’ time, it was still the only home I had ever known and so I yearned for it.
My captor swung off his horse. "Get down."
I did as I was told, wincing painfully as I did so. Horseback riding was not considered an appropriate pastime for the Chosen and the few times I had been allowed on a horse I had ridden sidesaddle - as good girls should. I was definitely not used to the rigors of normal riding, and was wondering if my Devil's Doorbell would ever ring again.
"Sit. Don't move," said my ever-friendly captor. "You try to escape, you know what happens."
"Gage, would you try to be nicer?"
"She's a Sudder," the man named Gage snapped, before looking back at me. "Sit."
I sat down on the ground and looked around me. For my first venture out into the big wide world, the scenery was very disappointing as it was nothing but forest. A large swathe of forest was captured within the temple precinct and forest looks like forest. The company, however, was very different.
Gage, the man who had carried me and threatened me and given me such explicit instructions was the biggest. A huge, dark-skinned man with a thick, black beard and permanently scowling face. His muscles put to shame those I had seen on the men in the history book. He moved quickly and aggressively, and every other moment he looked back at me, checking to make sure I wasn't trying to run. It struck me, rightly or wrongly, that this was more than the mistrust of an enemy - Gage hated me for some reason.
"Ignore him," said the man who had sugg
ested Gage should be nicer. "He gets cranky when he's up late."
"Shut up, Adrien!"
Though he was still a big man, Adrien was built on less expansive lines than his comrade. There was an almost elegance to the way he moved, light on his feet, purposeful in his manner. As one of the others started a fire in the middle of the clearing, I got a better look at Adrien's face and was surprised by what I saw. I didn't have a word to describe it but... his features pleased me. If he had been a woman, I would have said he was beautiful, but that felt the wrong word. I didn't know what the right one was, but Adrien was it.
"There's no harm in treating her decently," said one of the others, who was taking care of the horses, whispering into their ears.
"You think they'd treat our women decently? This is a war. And stop screwing around with the horses. It's weird."
A war. If it had not been for the overwhelming panic then I would have worked it out sooner, but it was only now that it occurred to me that these men were from the other nation on the far side of the island that I had read about in the book. What had they been called?
"You're Norren?" I asked.
All eyes turned to me.
"Who said you could speak?" That was Gage, of course.
"Who else would we be?" That was the man lighting the fire. He looked up at me now with blue grey eyes in which there was something that I could not read.
"We don't get told much," I replied. "I only learned the word Norren yesterday." It now seemed like a lifetime ago. "And I'm sure the Caretakers would punish me for knowing it."
"You expect us to believe that?" The man at the fire was the oldest of the four - though still couldn't have been more than thirty - he spoke quietly and evenly, but there was a hardness in his voice, as well.
"I don't know. But it's true."
For a long time, the man stared at me, then seemed to come to a decision. "Well, perhaps it is."
Her Warrior Harem Page 3