By Moonrise

by Jackie Dana

  “What?” Kate asked with surprise, yanking her hand back and recoiling from his touch. “I don’t think so.”

  The Dosedra grabbed her wrist and this time, clenched it tightly. “Do not fight me,” he commanded, in a hint of a whisper. Then, loudly, he added, as he cupped his other palm under her breast, “I think I’m in for quite a treat, don’t you?”

  From the grin on Fantion’s face, she worried that they had the wrong idea about her. With a sick knot in her stomach, she wondered if they thought she was a prostitute. Panicking, she wanted to call out for help, but words froze in her throat, doubting that anyone in the room would be sympathetic.

  Meanwhile, the Dosedra’s grip on her arm was like a manacle, and he held her firmly as he forced her towards the stairs. “The girl is quite spirited, isn’t she?” he said, speaking up above the din of the common room, but keeping his face turned away from the others. “I will get my gold’s worth with this one.”

  “Aye, my good man, she is indeed a lively one,” Fantion responded, also quite loudly. “Enjoy yourself,” he added in a suggestive tone of voice. “Not too much, though—save a little for the rest of us!”

  A combination of anger and fear swelled in her throat. Was their earlier kindness just a prelude to this? Although she knew of men who treated women in this way, never had she been on the receiving end. She started to kick at him, but with her soft shoes, it did little good. “Stop!” she shouted. “What are you doing?”

  “Look at her,” Fantion pointed to the others. “She’s a fighter, isn’t she? With a girl like that...” he began in a robust voice, but finished with a whistle. “She’s some prize. Hurry back, so we can all get a turn with her!”

  The soldiers appeared to enjoy the drama, and their own shouts and whistles proved none would come to her aid—in fact, they seemed to approve of the Dosedra’s actions. Arric transferred his arm to her shoulder, and then his hand slipped to her backside—much as his brother had done, Kate recalled, though this was much rougher—and he pulled her close. This brought a new chorus of hoots from the soldiers. Then he grabbed her face and kissed her, his touch rough and sloppy, summoning loud laughter and calls of approval from below.

  Frightened and outraged by the assault, she continued to resist. When she struggled, he compensated by gripping her arms tightly so she couldn’t pull away. When he finally stepped back, she took a deep breath in order to scream, but as soon as she opened her mouth, he kissed her a second time. Then he shoved her up the stairs, and out of sight.

  Chapter 17

  As soon as the door closed behind them, the Dosedra released her, and then and fell against the door with a sigh.

  “What the hell are you doing? How dare you!” She scrubbed her mouth with her sleeve and tried to put distance between them. Her eyes were wide with a delicate combination of anger and fear, and her trembling had returned. “I’m not a, a—” she attempted, but couldn’t force out the words. “Don’t you dare touch me!” Retreating rapidly in the dimly-lit room, she stumbled against the bed and fell backwards, and it took her a moment to regain her footing and stand back up. “Who the hell do you think you are, anyway?”

  He tipped his head away from the door and stared at her, as if shocked by her response. When he recovered from his surprise, he replied, “I am Dosedra.” Then, as mindlessly as she would have switched on a light switch, he knelt down to stick a reed in the coals, and then lit the candles on the table. “I meant nothing by it,” he added, in a surly voice. “It was the best thing I could think to do under the circumstances.”

  “The best thing?” she repeated, her voice elevated. “So was that all—” she scrambled for words—was it all just an act?” As he shrugged his shoulders, she was relieved that he wasn’t about to force himself on her, but that left her appalled by the callousness of his actions. She again wiped at her mouth, wanting to make sure he understood her disgust. “I can’t believe this—did you really think it would be all right? Or did you just not care how I might feel about it?”

  “Bhara, on my honor, I assure you that it was necessary,” he said, his words harshly spoken. He demonstrated no sympathy for her position, and in fact, as if to validate her own fears, he added, “That is enough explanation for you.”

  “Oh sure, your ‘honor’.” She had crossed her arms, and now she tightened her body and clenched her fists. “I’ve heard lots on that topic.”

  “Indeed?” he said, turning his head slightly, as if seeking clarification.

  Fuming, she ignored his query, and instead asked her own question. “So, is this how you always treat women, then—as objects that serve no purpose but to do your bidding?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “What are you suggesting?”

  Memories of the argument at the quantrill, and of everything she had heard about him, reinforced her complaints. Again refusing to respond to his question, and keeping her arms tightly folded, she said nothing, but gave him a venomous stare.

  He squinted at her, as if unaccustomed to having a woman speak to him in such a manner. “Bhara, it didn’t seem like such a great matter at the time.” He made a sour face as he spit out his words. “And rest assured, I didn’t enjoy it.”

  “Well, that’s good, because the feeling’s mutual.” She glared at him with absolute disgust, and when she next spoke she couldn’t help herself. To hell with caution. “You had no right to do that to me.” She tried to keep her anger in check but it just spilled out. “You know, I was kind of hoping everyone was wrong about you, but now...” She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Damn, you’re just revolting.”

  As if she had slapped him, he jerked his chin in response to the insult, but said nothing in response. Instead, he cracked open the door to peer outside, but after a moment pushed it shut again, muttering to himself as he shook his head. Then he snapped his head back to face her, clenching his teeth. “Bhara, I do not know who you are, but again let me remind you that I am Dosedra.” Now he glared at her. “You need to learn some respect.”

  Her eyes nearly popped from their sockets when she heard that. She craned her head in his direction, her jaw open, disbelief washing over her face, and she dropped her arms. “Respect? After all that, you think I owe you respect? You’ve got to be kidding.” Had she been in striking range, Kate would have slapped him, but instead she held her fists tightly at her sides. Then, after several shaky inhaled breaths, she flopped in an un-ladylike manner onto the mattress—which, filled with old straw, was low to the floor, and not particularly soft—and crossed her arms again defensively. “You’re really a piece of work.”

  He remained against the door, but turned his head away to avoid looking at her. Several minutes passed without either saying a word. Finally, after again looking outside, he broke the silence with a sigh. “The hallway is clear,” he reported dispassionately. As an afterthought, he asked, politely but with appreciable bitterness, “Bhara, is there anything else?”

  She nodded. “Yeah.” She lifted the cloak from her mattress, where she had left it earlier. “Thank your friend Lysander for this—at least he knows how to be a gentleman. As for this room—” she said, gesturing with a snap of her hand, “I think it’s best not to be in your debt, no matter what your friends say.” She gathered up her soggy dress that was hanging over the back of a chair. “I’ll look for somewhere else to sleep.”

  He snorted at the suggestion. “Where in Kerthal’s name would you go on a night like this?”

  “I have no idea, but I imagine that even the stables would be better than being beholden to you.”

  He opened his mouth to reply, but a knock at the door forestalled his words. No longer cautious, he yanked open the door to Nyvas standing outside. “What is it?” he snapped.

  The young man stared with wide eyes, and seemed surprised by the tone. “Uh, is there something wrong?” he asked, attempting to appear more innocent than he likely was. “When I went to our room, you weren’t there.”

  “Nay,” the Dosed
ra said, his voice low. He gave her a surly glance, adding, “the lady and I were just having a bit of a disagreement about my handling of the situation downstairs.”

  “Oh yeah, that’s what it is, a ‘disagreement’,” she replied sarcastically. “Apparently he thinks he can assault women whenever he pleases regardless of how we might feel about it.”

  “Assault? What in Kerthal’s name—” the Dosedra began, but then he rolled his eyes and grunted, a sardonic smile curling his lips. With a flip of his hand, he announced, “Bhara, I’m finished with this. If you need anything else, Nyvas will assist you.” He tossed the boy Lysander’s cape and stormed out of the room.

  Nyvas remained in the doorway. “My lady, pardon me for intruding. May I come in?”

  Throwing her hands in the air as a sign of defeat, she said, “sure, whatever.” She dropped back down on the bed, her dress still folded over one arm. “Do whatever you want.”

  He nodded appreciatively, and, after closing the door, approached, and knelt down beside the bed. “It’s not my place to do so, you understand, but I’d like to apologize for what just happened.”

  “Thanks, but it’s a little late for that.”

  He smiled. “Please understand—the Dosedra had to act quickly, before one of the Senvosra decided to cause trouble for us.” He blinked, and she was taken aback by how long his eyelashes were. His genial disposition offered such a contrast to his companion that she struggled to imagine how the two men could get along. “Believe it or not, he’d hate to think he had offended you.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure he would.” She didn’t believe a word of it. “From what I’ve heard, I’m probably lucky that he didn’t go farther with his little game.” She shook her head, and sighed, rapidly losing her composure. “Oh god, I really can’t deal with this right now.” She took a deep breath to try to calm down.

  Her words made him frown. He smoothed the blanket on the bed and then sat beside her. “Is there something else wrong? If you’re in trouble, I’d like to try to help you if I can.”

  She dropped her arms, allowing the wet dress to fall to her lap. “I don’t know, maybe. I’m not even sure I know what’s going on. So much has happened in the past few days that I don’t think I’d even know if I was in trouble.” She looked towards the door. “He definitely didn’t make things any easier, that’s for sure.”

  Nyvas listened to her carefully, his blue eyes never straying from her face. “My lady, believe me, despite what just happened, our Dosedra would never harm you. I don’t know what you’ve heard about him, but on my life, I promise that he’s a good man. While I hate to make excuses for him, I know he’s had to deal with some difficult matters of late, and it may be that the strain has affected him.”

  She considered his words. “Well, he’s not the only one.”

  “Indeed?” Nyvas leaned back on his hands. “What really brings you out to Bhoren, Kate?”

  His informal pronouncement of her name softened her mood. Here was someone who was trying to show her a bit of kindness, and just in time, for she needed a friend right now. She knew she couldn’t tell him the truth, but maybe she could get out of the situation gracefully. “It really doesn’t matter now. I just need to get back to Loraden.” She really wanted to return to Altopon, where she felt safest, but knowing that the Sarnoc were not universally appreciated, she decided to hold her tongue where they were concerned.

  “Well, I believe that can be arranged.” He said it confidently, as if there was no question of his assistance.

  “Really?”

  “Oh, aye, I shall speak to the others about it. You have my word on that.” With a hand that was calloused from physical labor, he reached for her own, which was balled up in a loose fist on top of the clothing. “You are new to Sarducia?”

  “How did you know?”

  “It’s not so hard to see that you are different—though,” he continued quickly, “that’s not a bad thing. You need to have faith, Kate, and believe that there is good to be found here in our land.” Squeezing her palm lightly, he added, “and even in our Dosedra.”

  “I don’t know about that. From what I’ve heard about him, and from what he did tonight, it’s hard to believe he has any redeeming qualities.”

  “Then perhaps you should not believe all that you hear.” He sought her eyes, and smiled, causing her to grin ever so slightly. “I noticed that you didn’t have a chance to eat much. Shall I bring you some of the food we have left?”

  Though the recent incident had distracted her, now she realized that what she had eaten hadn’t taken the edge off her hunger. “I’d rather you didn’t go to any extra effort...”

  “It’s no bother. I’d be happy to fetch something for you.”

  Before he could open the door, though, she had to say one more thing. “It was stupid of me to yell at the Dosedra, wasn’t it?”

  The young man shrugged. “You had every right to be angry—he was rough with you, and never sought your permission before he acted. But besides that, you responded honestly, without pretense, and that’s an admirable trait. So in my opinion, you shouldn’t have to change who you are, just because of who he is.” He smiled, as if amused by his own comment. “I’ll be back in a moment.” Quietly he slipped out of the room and pulled the door shut behind him.

  Now alone, Kate’s anger largely evaporated. Something about the young man’s demeanor, and his kindness, had a calming effect on her. Instead of remaining frustrated at the Dosedra, she began to focus on her situation. The Isa had sent her away… but why here? It was odd that of all places, she had ended up exactly where this prince had turned up, in a backwater of a town if there ever was one. Perhaps she was meant to meet him again. If so, how had she screwed things up so badly, and was there any way to rectify the situation and get out in one piece? There had to be a reason for her ending up here, and the sooner she could figure it out, the better.

  One thing was for sure. Sarducia was a lot different from home, particularly for women, and from now on she needed to be more careful when dealing with the strangers around her. She had been warned about the Dosedra—yet already she had challenged him, putting herself in danger. What a foolish, reckless thing to do. Despite Nyvas’s reassurances, she sensed she had been fortunate that the young man had appeared before the situation deteriorated further.

  Wondering if it still rained, she went to the narrow window and unlatched the shutter. Outside, the wind had once again intensified, and distant flashes in the sky indicated that a new storm might be blowing in from the ocean. Gazing at the ramshackle buildings along the road, she accepted that there wasn’t any other place she could safely go tonight, and despite the threat she had made, she really didn’t want to stay in the stables. The inn was far from comfortable, but it had to be worlds better than that. At the same time, she didn’t want to run the risk of running into the Dosedra again, so she remained torn with indecision.

  She stared at her mother’s ring, tossing it to the mattress. Like before, nothing happened. “Please, get me out of here,” she said in a whisper, trying to coax the magic to happen again. Sebachin said she needed to be in a torrapon, but it had worked at her apartment—why not here?

  Her thoughts were disrupted by another knock at the door, and she quickly slipped the ring back on her finger. Expecting Nyvas, she pulled the door open casually. To her surprise, outside was Dosedra Arric, standing there alone, holding a tin plate piled with bread, meat and cheese in one hand, and an apple wedged under his arm.

  “Nyvas said you were still hungry.” He did not look at her as he stepped past her and placed the food on the table beside the candles.

  Why in the world had he returned? “Thanks, but you shouldn’t have bothered.”

  “Don’t be foolish. I never intended for you to go without your meal.” He reached into his shirt and pulled out a flask. “It’s just water, but it’s all I have handy.” As she reached for it, he placed his free hand on her arm, and before she could jerk it aw
ay, he said, “I must apologize for what I did. You have my word that it will never happen again.” Then he sucked in a breath, and continued quickly, before she could interrupt. “Nyvas said that you were hoping to return to Loraden?”

  When she nodded, utterly speechless at his altered demeanor, he continued. “My companions and I expect to depart for the city in the morning, since our business here is complete. Rather than see you travel alone, we would be pleased to serve as your escort—assuming your companions haven’t reappeared by morning, of course.” The way he spoke the last sentence suggested he had guessed the truth—there was no one looking for her.

  She blinked in surprise. It was neither what she had expected, nor what she would have chosen, but it was the only offer on the table. “That’s very nice of you,” mimicking his polite tone as she spoke, “but I’d rather you not make any special arrangements on my behalf. I’m sure I’ll be fine on my own.”

  He drew in a slow breath. “Bhara, please be reasonable. There are no others traveling in our direction—other than the Senvosra, perhaps, but I cannot imagine you would prefer their company.”

  “Maybe I would.”

  “I do not believe that.” He leaned against the doorframe, and dusted imaginary dirt from his shirt. “Truly, you should join us. It won’t be an easy journey, but I promise that I will personally see you safely back to the city. And while you clearly do not trust me, my companions will make the same pledge. Will that do?”

  She threw her hands up in resignation. “Fine. Since I don’t have any other options, I accept your offer.” As soon as she said the words, she wished she could take them back... but there it was.

  “Good, then it is agreed.” He reached for the door latch. “It has been a long day for us all. Sleep well tonight, and we shall see you at dawn.”