The Duke's Handmaid (Book 1 of the Ascendancy Trilogy)

by Caprice Hokstad

  Terzak was thankful for her guidance. He knew nothing when it came to babies. The first thing he noticed was the hair. How could it be overlooked—bright red and screaming “Itzi” to the world? Yes, the ears were properly pointed, but who would ever see past the flaming mane?

  “He has your eyes,” kee said.

  “Mmmmn,” he muttered. A child changed things considerably. An heir would not sit well with the baroness. A living bastard son was also a much different secret to expect kee to keep than the natural death of a worthless Itzi slave. “You are dismissed, kee. Make me some supper,” he grunted. He needed time to think.

  “Yes, Master Terzak.” She left father and son in the easy chair and unpacked the supplies he’d brought.

  Terzak barely moved the whole time kee cooked. Of all the features to look so Itzi, hair was the easiest to change. There were dyes. Natural baldness was rare among Byntarians, but head shaving was an accepted religious practice as well as a frequent delineation of loyalty to a liege. The question was whether this half-breed should be allowed to live at all. If not, who would kill him and what story could he give kee?

  Maybe he should sell kee in xassa’s place. With her tongue cut out, she could never testify against him and she was valuable enough he could replace her with the proceeds. willow and fawna needed help at Mors Manor, and he thought again of his tavern. Once this nuisance of weekly trips to Ganluc was ended, he could return attention to his ambitions.

  Time passed so quickly Terzak thought kee was jesting when she announced the food was ready. He glanced around for a place to leave the baby, but before he had a chance to consider, kee was at his feet with outstretched arms to relieve him of the burden. She took him to another room. Terzak stood and moved to the spartan table where she’d left the meal.

  kee returned and knelt at his side. Terzak gave her a few token bites for show, but she couldn’t have obtained poison.

  Halfway through the meal, the baby cried. It suddenly occurred to him there were no bottles nor any milk. How long had his son been without food? The fact he was disturbed over it bothered him further. He couldn’t afford an emotional attachment.

  “May kee be excused to care for him, Master?”

  “Yes, go see to him.” The crying grated on his nerves and having her close as he plotted her fate made him nervous.

  She settled to nurse, stopping the cries instantly. Terzak was surprised she was physically able to feed his son, but he would be first to admit his ignorance on the entire subject. Ignorance—that was what got him into this whole mess—assuming he could do as he pleased with Itzi females without consequence.

  After he finished eating and the baby was again asleep, he beckoned kee to kneel at his feet. “kee, you realize this boy cannot be my heir since he was born to a slave, right?” She nodded. “Yet, he is my son. I cannot say I don’t care about him. Baroness Livronia would never understand. I think it would be best if I took him to be raised by my aunt and uncle. They live in a remote village nearby. They could keep him hidden and safe. To do this I would have to trust you.” He grabbed her right hand and slid the band to reveal the scar on her wrist. “Do you remember what you swore to me six months ago?” It had actually been closer to seven months, but he had to lie to cover his Jubilee story.

  “Yes, Master Terzak, kee remembers. kee would not reveal the secret.”

  “Very well. I will take him now and return for you later. There’s no need for you to stay here any longer. Pack your things and be ready to come home.” He studied her face. She gave a weak smile. He smiled back. This would work.

  “Are you sure you don’t want kee to go with you, Master Terzak? To hold him on the journey, feed him, and keep him from crying?”

  Terzak frowned. She had a point. Unfortunately, he couldn’t risk her discovering his lie. “No, kee. It’s too dangerous for you to come. If you will give me some milk in a jar, I think I can find a bottle for him. And I need something to carry him in.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  While kee was distracted carrying out his orders, Terzak took the opportunity to remove xassa’s rotting corpse from the lair. He threw the body into a swampy marsh, watching in the moons’ light to be sure it sank. It was fortunate on all counts xassa was an orphan. No one would come asking about her.

  When he returned, kee had the baby nestled in a basket with towels and sheets insulating him on all sides. She had a canning jar of expressed milk waiting. He told her he had placed xassa on the wagon and would bury her at his relative’s. kee shed a few tears and whispered goodbye to the baby, kissing his cheek as he slept peacefully. Though Terzak nearly scolded her for emotionalism, he refrained from comment.

  He set down a leather parchment holder and a few other personal articles, telling kee he had to remove them to have space for xassa and the basket. In reality, they were sensitive documents he didn’t want accidentally seen by the slaver he intended to rendezvous with. The vaulted lair was the safest place to leave them. He picked the basket up and headed down the winding passageway.

  Chapter 85

  kee heard the resounding thud of the hatch as Master Terzak left and locked her in. This time, she was alone. She did as Master Terzak ordered and packed. She rolled up xassa’s old bedroll. As stingy as he was, Master would want to reuse the old thing. kee hoped she’d have the opportunity to wash it before another girl was left with it.

  After everything was packed, she picked over the leftover food until her stomach was full. The food was noticeably different—more like what Master Terzak would eat himself if he were ever to use the lair. She didn’t know whether to be fearful or thankful over the change. But it was pointless to speculate. Whatever was to occur, she would likely have no choice.

  She washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen, followed by the rest of the lair, then she knelt to thank the Nymphs. She could hardly believe she would see the suns and return to usefulness. The baby was taken care of and though xassa’s death was regrettable, it was past. Life could only get better.

  Why then, as she prayed, did she feel so uneasy? Why did every “thank you” send shivers down her spine? A heavy blanket of indefinable fear gripped her. Thoughts of return made her stomach churn. Something was wrong but she couldn’t imagine what. She got up from her knees and paced. Streams of incoherent ideas flowed in and out of her mind.

  Was Master Terzak really coming back for her? Would he take her out of the lair only to kill her as xassa predicted? If it was supposedly too dangerous for her to feed little Blod, how did Master intend to get her home? Questions nagged at her mind for which there were no answers. Hadn’t she been contemplating suicide a few days ago? Death wouldn’t be so bad. She could see her mother, sisters, and xassa again. Oddly, even acceptance of probable death didn’t quiet the gnawing uneasiness which besot her.

  She was so edgy she couldn’t sit still. kee paced continuously for what seemed hours, though she had no way to measure the time. She lay down. Her nerves were shattered. No more than thirty seconds after lying down, the irritation of crawling skin was so intense she returned to pacing. She wondered if she was losing air and going insane. A pass by the ventilation shafts confuted that theory.

  It occurred to her she was dead. Far too many months had she spent confined to the dark underground. She was exhausted and malnourished. Maybe she never awoke that morning. Master Terzak’s arrival was a figment of her imagination. He said only what she wished to hear. She decided to test it. If she were no longer alive, why stop at hoping to return to Mors Manor? She closed her eyes and concentrated with all her might. kee wishes she were at Rebono Keep. There. Shouldn’t Master Vahn appear and say he was taking her home?

  He didn’t. kee wept. She was losing her mind and even demented hypotheses were beginning to appeal to her more than the growing discomfiture. Incorporeal haunting of Rebono Keep sounded downright inviting. She tested her body by slamming it against the stone walls—definitely not incorporeal. Did she really want death so badly?
If so, what could possibly be vexing her?

  The twisted tangents which dragged her thoughts around only exacerbated the problem. She was normally sensible and calm. She had found her mother and sisters murdered and watched her home burn down, all in the same night, yet nothing like this had happened. While she wouldn’t say she wanted to repeat the experience, she had kept her head. Never in her life did she feel as strange as she felt right now.

  What had started this insanity? She closed her eyes and struggled to quiet her mind. Prayer. She reviewed it three times and she was sure. What had she prayed? Only thanks for deliverance from the underground prison. Were the Nymphs trying to speak to her somehow? That idea brought a wave of comfort. Were the woodland deities controlling her nerves to a purpose? She returned to her knees. “If you are trying to teach kee something, kee is listening,” she whispered.

  A sudden downdraft from the fireplace whooshed through. Master Terzak’s binder opened. Loose parchments flew about the room. kee blinked in surprise. Was it coincidence that the gust happened as she prayed, or were the Nymphs proving their powers? She closed her eyes and prayed more fervently. She felt calm again. Her skin stopped crawling and her stomach stopped rumbling. She didn’t feel the intense need to pace. Kneeling was comfortable. For fifteen minutes, she remained still. Perhaps the Nymphs would speak. Silence followed—peaceful, blissful silence.

  Whatever had provoked her brush with insanity, it was over. Perhaps she had insulted the Nymphs and they had simply wished to reinforce their divinity. Likely, she would never know. Back in her right mind, it didn’t matter. She shrugged it off as an effect of poor diet.

  kee got up and gathered the scattered parchments from about the room. It had been so long since she had the opportunity to read. She was curious whether she had forgotten how. She was not supposed to be able to learn in the first place. She glanced over the documents as she collected them—perhaps they were in an order she could restore. Her jaw dropped as her eyes were drawn to a familiar name: Vahn.

  She read it five times to be certain: ...no longer a viable ally…getting too close...eliminate him... She gathered all the papers and read them all. If she was not mistaken, Master Terzak planned to assassinate the duke, followed shortly by the king and queen. Several of the documents made no sense—movements of royal troops in distant cities, notations on gold owed to noblemen, records of payments dated three and five years back. Yet clearly, it delineated a plan to lure Duke Vahn into a trap.

  Fear gripped kee again. She swore her life to find some way to warn her True Master. If it was indeed Queen’s Jubilee, she had 26 days to stop this. However, if Terzak was capable of murdering his own kin, how could she trust anything he had ever told her? Something had not been right ever since leaving Mors Manor. She had assumed it was the horrible tedium and underground confinement, but now she was sure it was more.

  For the first time, she searched for an escape route. Solid stone was everywhere. The chimney and ventilation shafts were too narrow for her, even in her gaunt condition. Could she ever reach the duke from here even if she did escape? She had no idea where she was or which direction to go.

  The copper bands might come off with effort, but there was no hope of removing the steel Ringed band on her ankle. Besides that, without a shawl or long sleeves, her branded forearm would betray her if she asked directions. If she could find a way out, she would risk the journey.

  She couldn’t sit still with this knowledge. However, try as she might to find it, there was simply no passage from the lair. For the first time in many months, she felt trapped and claustrophobic. She had to hope Terzak would return for her. At least from Mors Manor, she knew the general direction to Rebono Keep. She comforted herself with the knowledge that if she was indeed in the Barbarian Wasteland, she probably couldn’t get to Ny in 26 days anyhow.

  kee knelt again and thanked the Nymphs for bringing this to her attention. She implored them for further guidance. She didn’t know how she would escape, but why else would they go to such lengths to share this? She prayed for insight to take advantage of any opportunity and for fortune on her mission. Sincerely, she swore she would give her life if only she could warn Duke Vahn in time. She arose from her knees in peace.

  kee stared at the most damning parchment and weighed the chances of Terzak catching her if she took it. Would the missing paper alert him and get her killed before she even started? No excuse would save her if he found it in her possession.

  She folded it thrice, opened a seam on her bedroll, and hid it inside crushed straw. kee sewed the seam back together with black thread. It didn’t match the brown burlap covering, but neither did the seven other repairs made in various colored threads. One more re-sewn seam was insignificant on the tattered old thing.

  As long as Terzak didn’t suddenly feel generous enough to replace her bed, she felt confident it was safe. Why would a non-reading animal go to such lengths to hide something so intrinsically worthless, right? Rather than trying to return order to the papers, she re-scattered them about the room.

  Terzak was gone an eternity before she heard the indicatory sounds at the hatch. She offered a silent prayer of thanks and a plea for help in her acting skills. She was not used to lying to anyone, much less the man who held the power of life and death over her. Her life was too important now. Until she warned the duke, her performance had to be flawless.

  She listened carefully and timed her actions to Terzak’s arrival in the dim living space. Just as he rounded the last corner, she feigned a surprised gasp and threw a single sheet of parchment out horizontally.

  “Oh no!” she cried, scrambling up from the spot where her clothes and bedroll were. Terzak arrived at the doorway just in time to see the paper flutter to the floor and kee’s back as she scurried after parchments strewn all over the room. He frowned, taking a moment to assess the scene.

  “kee? What in the name of Kilbash—?” Kilbash was an especially wicked spirit whose name was usually only invoked upon enemies.

  “There was a downdraft from the fireplace, Master Terzak,” kee explained meekly. Though she spoke a kernel of truth, the fear in her voice was real. Everything depended on him allowing her exodus from the lair. Terzak looked about the room. He had no reason to suspect a lie, did he? Why would anyone scatter papers only to pick them up?

  He nodded and calmed. “Oh, I see. Bring them straight to me.”

  “Yes, Master Terzak.”

  “And be careful with them. They are important parchments.”

  “kee understands. kee will, Master.” She deliberately crossed her eyes so she wouldn’t accidentally focus on words. Terzak watched her, then picked up the leather binder and readied it for the returning documents. kee knelt and offered up the papers. He accepted them with a nod.

  She pretended to look around for more, but deliberately didn’t move throw pillows. If the stolen parchment was missed later, she would bring up the fact she had neglected that in hopes it would placate him. With any luck, he wouldn’t notice here, where he could check her story.

  Terzak did a visual sweep of the room before he dropped the papers loosely between his hands to line up the edges against the binder. kee watched him only briefly, hoping not to look overly interested. She bit the inside of her lip in worry; he might take inventory or count, but he merely straightened the stack, then placed them inside and closed the binder. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Yes, Master, kee is ready.” It struck her that she was too preoccupied with the terrible secret. What would she be doing and saying if she had not known? “Did everything go well with your son, Master Terzak?” Beyond the fact she was proud of herself for thinking of something outside of the escape and the task ahead, she truly did want to know.

  “It went fine, kee.” Terzak blew out the lamp, leaving only the lantern in his hand to navigate the passageways to the surface. kee carried her few belongings and followed him out. She held her breath a long moment when they reached the hatch. He opened
it and the tunnel flooded with light. kee winced. Her eyes were unaccustomed to such brightness.

  “I’m sorry, kee. I forgot you would be sensitive to light. This isn’t even outdoors. Once we get out, I’ll protect your eyes so they won’t hurt.”

  kee almost objected and requested permission to tough it out, but she caught herself. She would never have gone against her master’s whim if she weren’t planning escape. She had to bide her time. What good would it do to see while she was in his presence? She couldn’t possibly hope to start running as he watched. “Yes, Master Terzak.”

  She debated herself a moment on whether she would have thanked him for such a thing. All this time she had given him extreme latitude because her True Master had said, “Treat him as you would me.” The months of imprisonment and the knowledge she recently gained rendered that rationale unworkable. It seemed impossible to continue as before.

  In the time she thought about it, it became too long a pause to have come naturally. She skipped it with a bit of inner triumph. Thank him for ruining her vision and forcing her to require a blindfold? How utterly ridiculous. She would play the part and submit, but there was no need to overdo it. If he questioned any of her actions, she would apologize profusely and blame it on fatigue.

  Once the entrance to the lair was sealed and hidden, he placed the blindfold on her, then led her out of the decoy cottage. Even with the blindfold, kee felt the brightness penetrate her eyelids and assault her eyes. She was glad she hadn’t fought against it. She would never have been able to keep her eyes open anyway. She turned away from the suns causing her pain.

  Terzak placed his arm over kee’s shoulder and spoke in a soft tone as he guided her along. “We’ll get you in the back of the wagon and cover you good to protect your eyes. Don’t worry, your vision will return. Mining slaves spend years without seeing the suns and they usually bounce back in a week or so.”