“I haven’t seen him.”
“Take me to him.”
Marian gave her a furious look. “You really won’t be satisfied until I’m the next one strung to a pole, will you?”
“Just point me in the right direction. No one will know.”
“Go to the Netherworld,” she spat and walked away.
Chapter 24
Deadly Threat
Kiernan waited until all of the women had been in bed for a full hour before slipping out of the back door of the barracks. She followed Tilly’s directions and took a left up a small hill into a copse of trees. A well-worn path cut through the middle of the woods told her she wasn’t the only one in the town of Lewstin to have ever defied curfew. It gave her hope.
She hurried over the path, and Cael’s small house came into view through the thinning trees a few moments later. She stuck her head out of the woods to peer up and down both sides of the street, but yanked it back at sight of two of the Duke’s soldiers. She took a deep breath and held it, hoping they wouldn’t look too closely into the trees. The soft conversation between the two men continued unabated, and she waited until they passed before letting the air out.
With one last hard look down both sides of the street, she ran across the road to the house and darted inside without knocking.
She shut the door softly and leaned against it. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, and what she saw made her want to weep. This was not a home. This was four walls and a few pieces of shabby furniture. There were no toys here for Tilly to play with. No flowers or carpets or curtains that would have added a modicum of color to the drab surroundings. No, this was not a home. This was a place for Cael to lay his head at night. The Duke of Lewstin had seen to that.
“Cael?” she whispered.
When she received no answer, she pushed away from the door and walked through the kitchen into a narrow corridor with only the dim light from the windows to guide her.
“Cael?”
A pain-filled grunt came from a back room. “I’m in here.”
Relief flooded through her at the sound of his voice. She hurried to the only room at the back of the house. A lantern hanging just inside the door provided enough illumination for her to see Cael, lying on his stomach on a small bed. She covered her mouth in horror. Strips of his skin hung from his back, leaving bloody, weeping welts exposed to the air.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said hoarsely, his face turned away from her. “If the Duke finds out, he’ll—”
“Shush,” she told him and sat carefully on the bed next to him. “How bad is it?”
“It burns,” he ground out through gritted teeth. “Terrible.”
Kiernan remembered Miss Belle once treating a stab wound for one of the Scarlet Sabers. “Do you have any poppyvine here? And, goat’s milk?”
He nodded. “In the kitchen.”
Kiernan rushed out of the room. It took her some time to find a kettle and heat the medicinal plant over the embers in Cael’s fireplace. She added the goat’s milk slowly, in small drops, until she had the right consistency for a poultice.
With her mixture in hand, she returned to Cael’s room and set the kettle on the floor next to the bed. With as much care as possible, she used her knife to spread the warm poultice over his welts. At first, he moaned in pain, but soon murmured in anesthetic relief.
When she finished and he remained silent, she assumed he had fallen asleep and couldn’t resist the urge to stroke his damp blonde hair. “Why, Cael?” she asked softly.
“Why what?” he whispered back, startling her. She jerked her hand away.
“No…don’t stop.”
With a sad smile, she reached out and ran her hand tenderly along his hair once again. “Why did you bring me here?”
“Didn’t have much of a choice, as I recall. I told you what it would be like here.”
“It’s not for me I ask, but you. You must have known you would be punished.”
“Yes, I did, but…there’s something about you, Larkin, that’s hard to resist. Somehow, out on the road, you convinced me that all might not be lost. That maybe…just maybe, there’s hope for us here.”
Is there? The matron’s words back at the barracks had started to plague her with doubt and almost persuaded her to give up the struggle. But, Cael’s words had the opposite effect. She realized now that not everyone had the will to fight back. Through no fault of their own, years of oppression had shaped the people of Lewstin into docility. Fortunately for them, she had been shaped into steel.
“Help me up,” he said.
With some effort and a few groans, she helped him into a sitting position at the edge of the bed. They sat side by side, their legs pressed together. He glanced over at her. “Being able to see your face again is worth every bit of the pain.”
She turned away and ran a self-conscious hand over her short hair.
With two fingers, he pulled her chin back toward him until she had no choice but to look at him. “You’re the most incredible woman I know, Larkin, and I mean it.”
His warm brown eyes, so sincere and full of compassion, tugged at her heart. Without thinking, she reached out to tenderly stroke his jaw as though it were the most natural thing to do. What more could a woman want than the man who sat in front of her? He might not be highborn, but she never put much stock in the idea that she would forsake love for politics. In any case, it hardly mattered now with the death of her father as she didn’t have an army at her disposal to fight for the Crown.
Yet, a burning question remained. Had there been another man in her life before her mind went blank?
Her hand slowly trailed down along Cael’s neck and shoulder and the hard muscles in his arm willing herself to remember another in his place. Did I love? Was I loved in return? As much as she tried to force it, the overwhelming rush of remembered emotion she felt with Tilly was missing here. There was nothing.
Perhaps there never had been.
Cael’s hand came around her waist and pulled her close. He leaned in to place a soft kiss on her lips.
Her first instinct to push him away quickly receded as her body reacted to their closeness and she moaned against his mouth. In response, Cael kissed her deeper, more fervently. All rational thought flew from her mind. No one existed in this moment except her and Cael. He was the only solid thing in her life and she clung to him.
Slowly, he lowered her back onto the bed.
****
The front door to Cael’s house banged open. Cael rolled off her and cursed when his sore back hit the bed. Kiernan jumped up just as the Duke’s soldiers burst into the bedroom.
“Mistress Malley, you are in violation of Lewstin law by being out after curfew. You’ll need to come with us.”
Cael struggled to stand, his face ashen from the pain. “Where are you taking her?”
Kiernan put her hands on his shoulders and gently eased him back down. “Cael, listen to me. You don’t need any more trouble. I’ll see you soon.”
“Don’t ask me to be the coward my father is, Larkin,” he begged, catching her hand in a tight grip.
“I would never do that, but this is something I need to handle.” She bent and placed a kiss on his lips. “Trust me.”
“It’s the Duke I don’t trust.”
“I’ll be fine.” She leaned down to whisper in his ear. “I’ll be back tomorrow to apply another poultice.”
He nodded, but looked around her at the soldiers. “If you harm one hair on her head, I’ll kill you. Do you hear me?”
“We’re not going to harm her, Cael, relax.”
Kiernan allowed herself to be ushered out of the house. She stalked ahead along the muddy road and, to her surprise, the soldiers kept a respectable distance behind. She headed toward the barracks hoping that would be the extent of it, but after her outburst earlier, she doubted she would get off that easy.
As she feared, the soldiers hurried ahead to block her way and
guided her toward the Duke’s residence on the hill.
Kiernan sighed, knowing she had little choice in the matter. Another confrontation had been inevitable. Better now, late at night, than with innocent people around.
When they arrived at the estate, the two soldiers waited outside and a servant in gray livery ushered her into the same library where she’d met the Duke yesterday. She stepped inside and froze at the sight in front of her. The Duke sat behind his desk dressed in a silk night cloak and casually ran his hand down the hair of the little girl in his lap.
Tilly.
She looked terrified.
“Ah, Mistress Malley, whatever am I to do with you?”
For Tilly’s sake, she remained silent, not wishing to cause the girl any harm.
“I run a very orderly town here, Mistress Malley. People follow my rules or they suffer the punishment of their defiance. I have a graveyard full of rule-breakers. Would you care to join them?”
Tilly whimpered.
Kiernan glared at the Duke. “Let her go.”
“I will allow you this last pass, but you will not speak out against me again and you will not break curfew. Am I understood?”
“Yes, now let her go.”
He laughed and lifted Tilly off his lap. “Very well, it’s back to the barracks for you, young lady. If Mistress Malley cooperates, I will not have to summon you here again.”
Tilly scooted around the desk and ran to Kiernan, hugging her around the waist.
“It’s all right, darling. We’ll go now,” Kiernan told her.
“Oh, no, you will stay, Mistress Malley.”
Kiernan felt her stomach drop. “Go on, Tilly. I’ll be along shortly.”
The little girl nodded and darted from the library like a spooked animal.
The Duke steepled his hands under his chin. “Who are you? That is the question.”
“No one,” she replied flatly.
“Oh, you’re someone. I’m certain of that.”
“No.”
“Are you a spy for Bartlett? Or Hamilton? Did one of those bastards find out about my diamond mines and send you here to try and take my town from me?”
“No.”
He came around his desk and stood in front of her. “I don’t believe you.”
“It’s the truth.”
“You’ll need to convince me,” he said with a leer.
She grimaced in disgust. “And, how would I do that, my Lord Duke?”
“Stop playing games, Larkin. You know what I want.” He pressed in close to her and covered one of her breasts with his hand. “One way or another, you will submit to me.”
Her lip lifted in a feral smile. Wrong move, Duke. Gritting her teeth, she slapped his hand away and slammed a mindshifted thought through the air between them. One that would have him running out of this estate to jump in the Illian River. Naked.
Her smile faded.
Nothing happened.
The Duke just stared at her with a stupid grin on his face, roughly groping at both of her breasts now.
It didn’t work! My magic is gone along with my memory!
She stumbled back away from him in stunned disbelief and pulled Cael’s knife from the sleeve of her dress.
The Duke clutched her wrist in a painful grip catching her by surprise. She hadn’t expected him to be that fast or strong. “No weapon can keep me from the feel of your body under mine. When I tell you to bend over my desk with your arse in the air, that’s exactly what you’ll do!”
“No.”
He twisted her arm until the knife fell from her fingers. “It’s you or Cael’s daughter. Your choice.”
“Don’t you dare touch her!”
“That, my dear, is entirely up to you. Now get out of my sight and think on what I said. When I call for you, you will come willingly and prepared to pleasure.” He shrugged. “Just like they all do sooner or later.”
Chapter 25
Digging Out
A hand on Kiernan’s shoulder shook her awake.
“Mistress Malley, it’s time to work,” Tilly whispered.
Work? And, then the nightmare that had become her life pushed through the murky layers of sleep. As she sat up, the events of the previous evening flashed through her mind and chipped away at the purpose she so recently crafted and the words of optimism she had given to Cael. Because it had all been a lie. She wouldn’t be able to help the people of Lewstin after all. Not when everything that made her who she was—her memories, her family and now her magic—were lost to her. She had become scullery maid, Larkin Malley, in truth.
But, she could save Tilly.
And, it would cost another piece of her.
Slowly, she got out of bed and dressed. In an apathetic daze, she joined the line with the others heading to the mines and someone pressed a piece of bread in her hands as she walked out the door. She took it listlessly and ate.
The sun had dried the mud to a manageable slush making it a little easier to plod along. The townsfolk ignored her as she walked among them. The soldiers ignored the townsfolk as they passed by. Both groups heavily burdened with a constant state of unease.
A hand grabbed hers and she spun around, terrified that she would find the leering grin of the Duke.
It was Cael.
“What are you doing here?” she gasped.
He shrugged and then winced at the pain the movement caused. “I wasn’t going to let you go to your first day at the mines without me.”
She scowled at him and ducked under his arm to help support his weight. Leaning on each other, they made their way to the top of the hill where Kiernan got a firsthand look at the Lewstin mines.
Shovels, hammers and picks littered the ground. Men, attached like animals to harnesses connected to a pulley system, lumbered in a continuous slow loop around the top of the hill as they hauled ore out of the mines in buckets one small load at a time. Sonorous discharges sounded from inside the mines followed by a series of shouted orders that impelled the human chain faster.
Children collected the ore from the buckets and carried their precious crystalline rock down another hill to the riverbank of the Illian where women waited with wash plans to extract, clean and polish the diamonds.
Everyone seemed to know their part. Except me.
Cael sensed her uncertainty and squeezed her hand. “Go down by the river. The women will instruct you from there.”
Just then, a louder explosion rocked the air.
“Demon’s breath!” Cael swore. “Flood! Go down by the river now!”
“Where are you going?” she asked nervously.
“Inside to fix this! Go quickly!”
Kiernan did as she was told, picking up her skirt to run down the hill just in time to avoid the gush of water that blasted through the entrance of the mine and sent people and equipment spinning to the ground. She watched in dismay as the water flowed back down toward the town to soak the drying roads once again.
Why don’t they just divert the excess water to the river? The question stayed on Kiernan’s mind as she joined the women down by the river. She picked out Marian’s gray head among the others and asked her.
“Still asking questions that don’t need answers, my lady?” she questioned irritably.
“Stop calling me that,” Kiernan hissed. “It just seems like it would be fairly easy to dig a trench down this way toward the river.”
“The Duke won’t spare the men to do it, you little twit! He needs them all mining during the day.” Marian shoved a pan in her hands. “Watch, learn and do.”
Kiernan snatched the pan from the matron’s hands and sat with another group as far away from Marian as possible. But, even as she worked, she chewed on the problem like a dog with a bone. The tedious work gave her an opportunity to observe the guards and their positions up on the hill.
When Tilly came down to the river to deliver more ore, Kiernan asked her if the guards ever came down off the hill.
“Oh, no, the
y prefer to stay out of the muck.”
The answer formed an idea in Kiernan’s mind. She might not be able to mindshift, but by the Highworld, she could dig.
An eagerness to see her plan through and the knowledge that she would finally get that much longed-for bath this evening slowed the remaining hours to an excruciating pace. A lifetime later, Marian signaled an end to the workday, and she raced back to the barracks without waiting for Cael or Tilly.
At her little cot, she undressed and hurried naked and riddled with goose pimples to the short line of women in front of a sectioned off area at the back of the building.
None of them spoke to her. She knew they saw her as a rebellious outsider and it would take time to change that perception. But, right now, all she could think about was a nice, hot bath.
At last, the privacy curtain was pulled aside and Kiernan was waved in along with the young girl behind her by one of the redheaded twin sisters named Serah and Salie who tended to the baths most nights.
Kiernan waited patiently while the twins poured water into a pair of large copper tubs. She couldn’t help but notice that one of the sisters held a kettle with hot steaming water and the other a bucket from the well. She was disappointed, but not surprised when she was led to the cold tub. She sighed, stepped over the rim and sank down into the icy water. Despite the temperature, Kiernan wanted to cry in relief as the mud slid away from her submerged body.
One of the twins picked up a brush and silently scrubbed Kiernan’s back. The woman used her free hand to work her fingers into Kiernan’s hair and massage soap into her scalp with vigorous strokes. Kiernan moaned in pleasure even as the clear water turned to a mucky brown. She barely had time to hold her breath as her head was pushed under the water to rinse away the lather. When she was hauled upright once again and a large comb scraped through her clean short hair, she thought she had died and gone to the Highworld.
Sadly, it ended all too soon and she was prodded out of the tub so it could be readied for the next in line.
An Oath Of The Kings (Book 4) Page 15