“Theo!” a man cheered, moving towards him with a broad grin showing through his beard. “Looks like you finally joined us! I’d heard we had a new one…”
“Sure, you watch her. I haven’t eaten yet.” Theo let go of her and walked towards a low flat piece of wood that seemed to be serving as a table. A few small piles of meat were left, and Emmie’s mouth watered as she looked at it.
“Hello,” the man spoke and she pulled her eyes away from the food to look at him. “I’m Evan. Who brought you in?”
“Lucian,” she mumbled, and he laughed quietly.
“All right, then let’s take you to him and see what he wants.” Evan gently grabbed her arm and led her through the groups. She saw families, flirting couples that kissed with abandon, and individuals who sat with their small meals on narrow pieces of wood. Her world spun as she tried to keep track of the voices that filled the air, drifting up into the clear night, moving among the stars as the moon crested the tree tops.
Emeline had watched the moon trace a path across the inky black many nights as she struggled to sleep, but out here, away from the city, it seemed brighter, bolder. It was the crescent of the moon that distracted her as they first approached the sound of Lucian’s voice, but then his words made their way into her consciousness.
“ – no idea, I just couldn’t help it. She’s different, you’ll know what I mean when you see —” Lucian stopped mid-sentence. “Emmie,” he finished, turning away from Ben and another man she didn’t recognize. She tried to pull back, but Evan pulled her even closer to them.
“So, this is the virgin?” The unknown man laughed, and Lucian hit him in the chest. He knocked Lucian’s hand away and shouted, “Shit! What’s up with you, Lucian? She’s just a newbie.”
“She’s got quite an attitude though, I can see why the others are calling her a hawk.” Ben laughed.
“Hawk?” Evan asked, his hand releasing the loose grip he had on her arm.
“According to one of the guys, they found this little bird treed by a boar, and when Lucian brought her to the ground, she hit him, bloodied his nose, and took off into the woods.” Ben grinned. “Sounds to me like training a hawk!”
“Could both of you just go away?” Lucian growled, and the others only laughed harder.
“So, we’ve got a virgin hawk on our hands.” Evan looked over at her.
She bared her teeth in a vicious version of a smile. “I’m not a virgin.”
The men laughed harder, cheering, and the unknown man slapped Lucian on the back. “I guess not! Well, you’re not my problem, that’s for sure. I’m going to find my mate. Good night.” He wandered off into the crowd, his chuckling lingering amidst the others, but Lucian’s hard gray eyes found hers quickly.
“Are you trying to attract attention?” he hissed as he leaned towards her, but she leaned away from him.
“Let me go and I won’t be attracting anyone’s attention.” Emmie raised her voice a little, confidence building with the presence of so many others nearby. “And where is my pack anyway? You stole it from me.”
“I didn’t steal anything from you. You’re in our forest, which means anything that’s yours belongs to all of us. That’s how this works.”
“I never agreed to that,” Emmie spoke softly.
“You probably didn’t consent to being exiled either, but how well did that work out for you?” Lucian asked in a cocky voice, but she just wanted to slap him and scream the truth in his face.
If only her hands were free.
“You don’t know a thing about me.”
“I know what you feel like when you come under me,” he whispered dangerously close to her, and her rage boiled over. She wanted to hurt him, to make him feel the pain and the shame that filled her – but instead she turned and walked away from him. No one even gave her a second glance, people parted to let her pass, and she moved steadily away from the bright light of the fires and off into the darkness of the forest.
“Stop!” His voice sounded from behind her in a clear command, but she didn’t falter. Keeping her gaze low, she stepped carefully through the underbrush, listening to the fading clamor of voices and the rising noise of the leaves crunching beneath each step. “Emmie!” he called, and his use of her nickname just drove her forward.
It was foolish. She was still tied too tightly, unable to loosen the rope around her wrists in the hours since he’d left her, and her skin was raw from her efforts – but she wouldn’t let him treat her like some poor wretch he’d rescued from the wilderness. She had been doing just fine, just fucking fine until he had found her.
“Stop!” he called again from behind her, but she blocked him out. There was enough light from the moon to see the shadows on the ground, and although the leaves were an ever-treacherous cover, she’d rather trip than voluntarily turn back.
Her eyes adjusted to the moonlight as she walked, and she felt pride surge through her. She could just walk away from the raiders, from their insane little commune, and continue like she’d planned. There would be water somewhere, she could find shelter –
Lucian tackled her hard, sending her to the ground in a twist of limbs, and she screamed. Her voice echoed off the trees, and she fought him, kicking and twisting as he struggled against her until finally she was on her back with her bound wrists pinned painfully underneath her. His weight was over her hips, his strong hands pressing her shoulders as he shouted down at her, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Emmie kicked, futilely driving her heels into the ground to try and buck him off, but he remained, dropping his weight until she collapsed against the ground and her wrists ached from the pressure. “GET OFF OF ME!”
“No!” Lucian shouted right back into her face, and she tried to twist away from him ineffectively.
“Let me go! Just let me go, I don’t want to be here! Please!” she screamed, surprised by her own pleading, but he just released the pressure he had on her shoulders and sat back on her hips.
“You were about to walk right into the river, and I doubt you’d survive the drop, or swim very well with your hands bound if you did.” His level voice made the low rush of the water more apparent when he went silent, and Emmie groaned inwardly as she looked to the side and saw the very clear edge that signified a drop-off.
How had she missed that?
He had distracted her, that’s how.
“Maybe I wanted to drown, anything is better than being under you again.” Her words were meant to be harsh, but the expression that passed over his face surprised her – he actually looked wounded for a moment, but it didn’t last long.
“Is that right?” Lucian leaned close, his light brown hair catching in the moonlight as it fell over his forehead. “You don’t care if you drown, if you die, as long as you’re not with me?” One of his hands moved to wrap around her throat, slowly squeezing off her air, but she shook her head defiantly even though the words themselves wouldn’t come.
His grip tightened across her throat and immediately all she wanted was to breathe, but her stubbornness pushed back the urge. Tightening her hands into fists, she dug her nails into her palms and did her best to glare up into those heather gray eyes. Lucian looked beyond furious and she wanted him to see that she wouldn’t just collapse under his threats, under the threats of letting her risk her life in the forest around them.
There were so much worse things to fear.
“Lucian?” a voice echoed off to their left, and he broke their stare off first.
“What!” he snapped, and a man broke through the branches to stop short. It was Ben, and he froze in place as soon as he took them in.
“I—” he cleared his throat, and Emmie wished for just a fraction of space to breathe. Jerking against the ground, and twisting her wrists beneath her to try and loosen his grip. “I saw you come after her, and I just wanted to see if you needed help, but it’s clear you have it under control. I’ll —”
Lucian released her throat and
she choked, gasping in air like someone starving. His voice was disturbingly calm as he spoke. “I was just about to bring my little bird back to the feast, I don’t think she’s eaten yet. Are you hungry?” His eyes landed on her again.
“Fuck. Off.” The words were broken, and her voice sounded weak, but the message was received and Ben pulled back a little.
“You’ve clearly got this.” Ben started to back away, but Lucian raised his hand.
“No, we’ll return together. Won’t we, little bird?”
Emmie glared up at him as he began to lift himself from her. As soon as he’d cleared enough space, she did her best to knee him hard, but he was watching and blocked it. He held her leg until he was able to step to the side out of her reach. She screamed in frustration, letting loose a tirade of expletives that made Ben’s eyes go wide, but Lucian just smiled a little.
“Such fight, maybe you are more of a hawk than a little bird,” he muttered before reaching down to grab the beautiful braid that Alice had made of her hair and used it to haul her painfully to her feet. “But here’s the thing, Emmie, whether you’re a hawk or a bird – both need training to be useful.”
She tried to pull away from him, but only rewarded herself with pain. “You’ll never train me,” she hissed.
“We’ll see, won’t we?” Lucian threw her forward, and Ben caught her against his chest. “Make sure she eats, then return her to the stable. No one touches her without my permission.”
“What?” Ben steadied her on her feet, but didn’t remove his hand from her arm.
“No one touches her,” Lucian confirmed.
“Right, okay. I’ll make sure.” Ben nodded and then Lucian moved away towards the firelight, and they seemed to both take a deep breath as he left. “You’re sure under his skin, little bird.”
“Hawk.” Emmie corrected him, and he laughed, but she liked that term. If they were going to mock her, they were going to mock her with a word that suited who she was – and she’d never been weak, she’d never gone easily. Lucian may be their leader, he may be a powerful force inside this forest, but she’d gone up against forces much more powerful than him.
And ran, a voice inside her added.
Escaped, she answered, and it quieted.
No matter what, she had always been true to herself, and this strange little community of wayward exiles was not going to deter her. She wasn’t a criminal, she hadn’t betrayed their city.
Not really.
Doubt echoed wordlessly inside her and she flinched. Too many truths threatened in the shadowy, flickering light of the woods, but the bright light of the makeshift village didn’t promise safety. No, Lucian just wanted her to submit in a different way – and she refused to submit.
He’d learn that soon enough.
“Sit down, and don’t run again. Please.” Ben sighed and left her by a small fire on the periphery of the quieting celebrations. He returned a moment later with a thin piece of wood that held a tiny pile of meat, two berries, and some kind of chopped root vegetable. “There’s not much left, but here you go.”
He held out the plate to her for a second before she lifted her eyes to glare at him. “If you’re waiting for me to take that from you, you’re going to need to untie me.”
“Damn, I forgot. Here.” Ben sat down next to her and lifted a piece of greasy meat towards her mouth with his fingers. Emmie grimaced. His hands were dirty, and the boar itself looked to be the last dregs off the animal.
“I’m not hungry.” She turned away from the food, trying to ignore the tightness in her belly.
“Well, if you can find a place for yourself here, you’ll be able to eat with the rest of us, when there’s still good meat left. The ones in the stable always eat last.” Ben dropped the meat back onto the makeshift plate, and Emmie’s stomach growled traitorously.
“I don’t want a place here.”
“You’ve made that abundantly clear, but here’s the thing, little hawk – we’re your only option. Based on the look of you, you haven’t been outside the city long. Probably not far from the walls either.” He kicked his legs out in front of him, setting the plate on his thighs to lean back on his hands. “It’s not as easy as you think to find water, and you know what else is near fresh water?”
Emmie glanced at him, and he just raised an eyebrow at her. “What?”
“Animals,” he answered. “Lots of animals, and not cute, cuddly rabbits. Boar, cougars, bears. They need water too, and they’re not very happy about sharing it. See the problem?”
“I didn’t see anything like that when I filled my bottle.”
“You were probably still close to the city. They send out hunting parties occasionally, scare the game farther into the woods, but eventually you’d run into one. Get treed by a boar again, with no one around to save you.” Ben looked over at her and she just glared into the fire until she lost all night vision and spots started to appear. He chuckled, and sighed. “I don’t understand why you’re not at least a little grateful. You have shelter here. Food, water —”
“Lucian attacked me!” Emmie was surprised by her own shout, but Ben only shrugged.
“Nothing is free, little hawk. Especially not outside the walls.” His words settled like a rock in her empty stomach, but this time when he wiped his hand on his pants and offered her a berry, she delicately took it between her teeth. It exploded with sun-ripened sweetness in her mouth and she almost moaned. When he offered her the next one, she took it greedily, and soon she’d eaten all of the slightly hard root vegetable pieces, and even the greasy meat.
“May I have some water?” she asked quietly as she swallowed the last piece, and Ben walked away with the plate. The village center was almost empty, the fires flickering and dying, but the sky looked brighter because of it – and Emmie’s own outlook only looked dimmer.
What she wanted more than anything in that moment was to have the ropes off, to be able to stretch and roll her shoulders, to release the tension in her back. But she apparently had to earn that.
A shudder passed through her as Ben returned with a bowl, lifting it to her lips so she could sip the water. It tasted green, earthy, but she drank it greedily. Her stomach felt full for the first time since she’d left the city and she hated that these raiders had provided her that much – not like they hadn’t taken plenty from her.
“I want my pack.”
“Speaking again, are you?” Ben tilted his head until he caught her eyes.
“It’s mine.”
“Well, you’ll have to discuss that with Lucian.” He stared at her calmly as she fumed, clenching her hands into fists behind her back.
“Then may I please have my hands untied?”
Ben laughed quietly. “So polite all of a sudden! That’s something else Lucian will have to decide.”
“Do you do anything without Lucian’s permission?” Emmie shouted in frustration. “Do you need his permission to go to the bathroom?”
“No, I don’t.” Ben shrugged and gripped her arm to haul her to her feet. “But if you want to go to the bathroom, you might want my assistance before you’re in for the night.”
“Like hell.” She gritted her teeth, but he didn’t reply as he began to push her towards the stable. The walk was short, but the silence made it feel much longer. When they finally reached the animal skin over the doorway, she walked past the new guard and went inside without argument, and with her eyes already adjusted to the darkness, she could see Alice and Clara already laid out on thin fabric on the floor asleep, or at least pretending it.
It was difficult to move to her knees gracefully, and then drop to her side without waking up all of the other aches and pains already present – but she managed. Sleep came with effort as Emmie started to mentally recite an old poem she had memorized as a child:
“If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
…
If you can dream — and not make dreams your master;
If you can think — and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken…”
Her mind stalled, unable to remember the rest and she sighed, rolling to her other shoulder. As much as she struggled, the only line that would come to her was one of the last, “Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it.”
With the sound of the forest outside the shelter, that line made her laugh silently to herself. The Earth would never pay attention to her, but one thing was for sure – all the things she had given her life to were most definitely broken.
Chapter Five
The bells of the town hall were ringing loudly, echoing across the cobblestones, but she was alone in the street. They beckoned her forward, one bare foot in front of the other, and the cool stone bled up through her legs until it chilled her very core.
You promised, a voice whispered on the wind, and Emeline blinked away tears as she continued the climb up the hill towards the old center of the city.
“I can’t,” she cried and stopped. The wind whipped around her furiously, tearing at her hair and the dress she wore.
YOU PROMISED!
The roar made the wind howl, and Emeline could feel the tears chapping her cheeks in the gale, but she couldn’t force herself to move forward.
“I’m sorry!” she shouted into the wind, and she turned – and ran.
Gasping, Emmie awoke and tried to sit up but was yanked back down by the dead weight of her arms. They had fallen asleep as she tried to sleep on her back, and when she forced herself to sit up, the pinpricks of the blood returning was a unique pain.
Taken by the Enemy Page 4