Bound in Darkness

by Jacquelyn Frank

  “Later,” she said grimly. “We have work to do…and a friend to bury.”

  They removed the creature from on top of the trunk with a great deal of effort. When the body finally rolled free, Maxum held Kilon back from opening it. He did the honors himself a moment later. Inside the enormous crate was a small box, a sword, and a crown.

  “That’s it? That’s what we almost got killed for?”

  “It must be a very special sword and crown,” Maxum surmised. He opened the box and saw the ring inside of it. He took a breath and exhaled it slowly.

  “Another ring? Is that what we’re here for? What’s this one do?” Kilon went to snatch it from the box but Maxum was quicker. He palmed the ring then slid it on his finger where it would be safest. “This is my share,” he said. “The rest is for the party.”

  Kilon’s eyes narrowed. “You’ll give us all the rest of it…just for that ring?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well then, I call ownership of the crown.”

  “I’d take the sword if I could wield it,” Doisy said, “but I can’t so it seems to me we’ll do what we’ve always done. We pool it all, Kilon. Sell what we can and divvy up the gold.”

  “But I want the crown,” Kilon said stubbornly.

  “If your share can cover the cost of it you can have it. But we share out first!” Doisy was adamant.

  “Doisy has it right. If you can afford the crown with your share you can have it. Otherwise it gets split. Now, let’s take these and go bury our friend. It’s almost sunset and I want to start getting out of this maze as soon as possible.”

  “It should be faster going on the way out, now that we have markings to follow. Let’s just hope there aren’t any more surprises,” Doisy said.

  Stepping out of the fountain a short while later, Doisy and Kilon stopped to pry as many stones out of the floor of the fountain as they could carry, and by that time the sun was setting.

  “We’ll camp here. Go get some of those torches from below and we’ll have a fire,” Maxum said.

  “You know something…that makes me wonder…a ten-headed monster can’t light and tend torches. How did they get lit and stay lit?” Airi asked.

  “Only the gods might know. They set that thing here to guard a treasure,” Maxum said.

  “Yes but…who fed that thing? Who—”

  “Will you shut up about it? Who cares? As long as we don’t run into whoever or whatever it is, I don’t care who,” Kilon said.

  “Leave it to you to look on the short side of things,” Airi said.

  “Leave it to you to be a smart-mouthed bit—”

  “Enough! I’m tired of you two bickering!” Maxum snapped.

  “Bickering! That’s what you call the way he treats me?” she said, completely aghast that Maxum didn’t see the truth of the matter.

  “I am just trying to keep the peace,” Maxum said through his teeth at her.

  “Fine! Go off and do your thing,” she said, shooing him away. “I’ll keep watch over things here.”

  “And I’ll help,” Doisy said quickly before Kilon could react to that.

  Maxum stalled a moment, looking unsure of the situation. But he had no choice but to go so he chose an exit out of the center of the maze and walked a safe distance away from the group.

  Back at the campsite they had built a small fire. There had been no birds flying overhead this deep into the maze, another thing that gave her the creeps, so they had no fresh meat for dinner. They made do with their dried staples. Doisy laid out their bedrolls, putting as much distance between Kilon and Airi as was possible.

  “Someone should keep watch all night tonight. Who knows what else this place has in store for us,” Airi said.

  “I think the worst of it is over,” Kilon drawled as he sat back against the fountain. He had filled his bags with precious stones and was content to wait for daybreak and their eventual escape from the maze.

  Airi had yet to pry a single stone from the fountain. She should. She should carry her weight. She should earn enough to help Kyno’s mother live a secure life and to secure her own future. But somehow it was the furthest thing from her mind. They had left Kyno down in that oubliette, in a shallow grave dug in the earthen floor by swords and daggers. In a way it was a warrior’s burial. She didn’t know how she would find Kyno’s mother, but she would find her. He had said he had moved her to a big city. Maybe one of the others knew which. She would find her and tell her what a fine warrior and man her son was. She would hear of her son’s death from a stranger and a friend.

  She was keeping watch when Maxum returned, the cold seeping into her bones. She had been leaning toward the fire, but now that he had returned, she leaned toward Maxum. She sat up with him, tucked up under his arm like they were sweethearts. She should have protested the sentimentality of the thought, but she was simply too tired. She fell asleep under the protective wing of his arm.

  —

  They made their way out of the maze in record time. They practically ran the whole way out, racing from marking to marking until they found themselves faced with the wall of bramble trees and ivy. They began to climb and she was so elated she began to call out, “Dru! We’ve made it! Dru!”

  They topped the wall and looked over. There, sitting in a makeshift camp, sat Dru. He was stunned and elated to see them, hurrying up to meet them.

  “I feared the worst! Oh, thank the gods!”

  “We made it. Now let’s get out of this forest!” Airi said.

  “It’s almost sunset,” Maxum said quietly.

  “Oh. Well…we’ll make camp with Dru then. Maybe Kilon can get some game. I’m starving.”

  “Maybe Kilon can’t,” Kilon said contrarily. “I don’t answer to you.”

  “No, but you answer to me,” Maxum said. “Go. Hunt. Maybe it’ll improve your mood. Airi, you cook what he gets, right?”

  “Right,” she said, not minding “women’s work” in the least if it meant hot food.

  Maxum then took his mount and rode off into the dense woods. He had yet to test the ring and its power and he was eager to do so, but not where others would see. He didn’t mind Airi knowing, couldn’t avoid it actually, but the rest…he didn’t want anyone knowing just what kind of treasure he had acquired. He didn’t want them knowing anything about where all of this was headed.

  When he left his horse and walked a safe distance away, he let the ground have him, let it suck him under. When it spit him back out hours later he moved to the nearest tree, laid his hands upon it, and pushed.

  The massive fwey tree creaked, then moved, then fell over as he ripped the roots right out of the ground. He lifted the tree as if he were lifting a large branch, though there was some effort involved. It wasn’t as if he could do it with a push of a finger. He did break a sweat after holding on to it for several minutes. But the fact was his strength had been multiplied by several times. The ring was doing its job and it would be what he needed in his fight against Sabo. Now there was only one thing left to get and that was located a month away from where they presently were. It would be hard travel on horseback. And winter was coming.

  On the plus side…Airi had finally stopped fighting him. He knew it was only a matter of time now and he looked upon it with relish. He would have her…and soon.

  He wondered at himself, wondered at the power of the pleasure that the idea of having her gave him. He thought he should be worried—that any attachments might serve him ill in the coming future. A man with nothing to lose was what was needed to defeat a god.

  He had to be a man with nothing to lose.

  Or perhaps a man with everything to lose. With a reason to fight that god other than for his own selfish respite from a curse. He had learned to live with this curse…but he would not be worth having if he came burdened with it and so could not give of himself. Not until…not until it was all over.

  He returned to the campsite and, as usual, she had waited up for him, keeping watch over everything
as the others slept. It was wise. They could not relax their guard as long as they were in the Killing Forest. There were too many savage beasts both humanoid and not roaming the woods. It was a miracle Dru was still there, unscathed.

  He went and sat beside her. She quietly set his plate before him and then watched him eat. If something was on her mind she wasn’t sharing it with him just then.

  “Come here,” he said when he had finished and put aside his plate.

  She came without argument and tucked herself up against him under his arm. He touched her face then, tracing the shape of it, the delicate curves that belied the strength within her. She had fought as hard and as bravely as any man would have. More than most would have. She had not cowered.

  He touched the place on her arm where her shirt was torn from the beast’s bite. Doisy had healed her almost to perfection. There was a thin scar as a reminder of what she had done. A battle wound. One she could point to and tell stories about when she was at an inn trading glory stories with the old and hardened men who wouldn’t believe her for a second. Who could believe something so small could help defeat something so big?

  “I’ll have to mend it,” she said, speaking of the shirt.

  “You’re lucky you still have your arm.”

  “We’re all lucky.” She frowned as she no doubt thought of the one who had not been so lucky.

  “Most of us,” he said needlessly.

  “Most of us,” she agreed.

  “Tomorrow we leave this forest behind, find a good inn, take a bit of respite before we make our way to find that cuff.”

  “It’s a long journey.”

  “It is,” he said, suddenly unsure. Did she mean she wasn’t willing to go? Suddenly the idea of it left him cold. No. He had to convince her to come. But before he could open his mouth she said, “Don’t worry. I’m in this until the bitter end.”

  He marveled at her, that she now knew him well enough to predict his thoughts and, perhaps, his emotions. It was a warming sensation. A comforting one, to know that someone knew him. Cared enough to know him. Even if it was a little thief who never wanted to care about anyone but herself. It was easier that way, he realized. When she cared she got hurt. She had cared about Kyno. Now she hurt.

  He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Sleep,” he said. “Tomorrow will come soon enough.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’ll keep watch. Go on. Go to sleep.”

  “I’ll sleep here,” she said, snuggling down deeper against him.

  He didn’t argue with her. It felt too good having her there to argue.

  —

  They made it out of the Killing Forest in one piece and found the nearest road away from it. They traveled every day until sunset and made their way south toward the city of Gorgun. But there were many cities in between and they needed to find one to lighten their load of precious gems.

  The first city they came to was a thriving port city called Corcouhn. Doisy collected the loot from their adventure and went about his job of converting it to gold—all except the crown, which Kilon was bent on keeping for himself. Airi accompanied him as a guard against thieves. It took one to spot one, she said, and he would be traveling with a great deal of gold and gems and needed something to protect him other than a staff. Plus, with her dagger, everyone had to deal with them fairly.

  Once he had finished his trade the amount of gold he had achieved was staggering. This would get her anywhere in the world she wanted to go ten times over and have a rich living besides. There was no longer any reason for her to play the role of a thief. There was no longer any reason to follow Maxum and his men. She no longer had to subject herself to Kilon’s acrid presence.

  So why was she so bent on staying? Why didn’t she leave while the leaving was good? She asked herself this question over and over again. As she locked away her portion of gold in the bank, adding the key to the place where her Calandria bank key lay hidden, she had no good answer. The only answer she had was…Maxum. She had promised to see him through to his goal, whatever insanity it might be, however much she disagreed with it. Perhaps she could convince him not to throw his life away. Yes, he was cursed but at least the rest of the time he could lead a normal life. That was something wasn’t it? Something worth having?

  They stayed at an inn and Airi said nothing when Maxum put her saddlebags in his room and did not get her a room of her own. She supposed she could have gotten one for herself, but they both knew that wasn’t going to happen. When juquil’s hour came that night, things were going to change. Forever. For better or for worse.

  She didn’t know which…and she didn’t care.

  When Maxum returned to the inn he found Airi in their room waiting for him. He immediately noticed that she had spent some of her gold on a sleeping gown made of the sheerest and shiniest silk he had ever seen. She lay on her side in the bed, her head propped up on one hand, her platinum blond hair spilling free about her shoulders. He could see every soft curve of her body, every swell and every hollow. Her nipples were dark and pointed, as if the room had a chill which, thanks to the fireplace within it, it did not. He could see the shadows beneath her breasts, the tuck of her waist where it led to her hip and the triangle of darker blond curls leading down to her closed thighs.

  He had never seen a more provocative image in his life and he thanked Hella briefly for the fate and fortunes that had led him to that moment. It was not likely to be anything he forgot any time soon. This, he thought, might just be something worth fighting for.

  “You’ve bathed,” she said, taking in his wet hair.

  “Always,” he said. “Well, whenever I can. I take off my clothes whenever possible to keep the dirt out of them, but that doesn’t protect my skin and hair. I—” He broke off, realizing how inane the conversation was. She didn’t really care why he did it. Not right then. And she could figure it out for herself anyway. “You look very clean yourself.” He groaned inwardly. What an asinine thing to say! There she was, laid out like a sensual banquet and all he could say was she looked clean? “I mean, you look amazing. Beautiful. Delicious,” he added for good measure.

  That last got to her and she blushed. The reaction must have made her uncomfortable because she sat up and drew her legs into her chest.

  “Don’t,” he said. “Please. Please don’t cover up.”

  She slowly dropped her knees and smiled, that confident smile he was more used to. The ballsy one that had gotten her this far in life. She then came up on her knees and shuffled to the edge of the bed closest to him. The hem of her gown got caught under her knees so the gown pulled taut against her breasts and belly as she reached out to him. He took her hand and let her draw him in close. The fronts of their bodies touched and she looked up at him with her bottomless jade green eyes that were, ironically, so much like his own. With their fair looks and matching eyes they would make a sickly adorable couple, if they weren’t who they were. No one could look at them and find them adorable.

  He reached up and touched the sun-browned skin of her cheek. She was no pale, sheltered miss. She lived out of doors and took the sun into herself. It made her warm, and smooth, and vibrant. She had freckled a little, but it was mostly a uniform tan. It made the pale pink of her lips stand out and they shone when she licked them nervously.

  “So you like what you see.” She made a statement of it, not a question, giving him no room for rejection or any power to damage what he suspected right then was a very fragile ego. Oh, she was strong, larger than herself, and had the confidence and personality to go with it, but right now she wasn’t showing how strong she could be…she was showing how soft she could be, and she wasn’t used to it.

  “Yes,” he answered her anyway. “Can’t you tell? I can barely move from wanting you.”

  That made her smile and he could see her confidence trebling.

  “Is that why you still have all your clothes on? Because a girl might think other things if she was laid out in a gown like
this and a guy just stood there without—”

  He was out of his vest in a flash, whipping off his shirt a second later, making her chuckle. He sat down on the bed beside her to pull off his boots and she got up to help him. When she bent forward the gown gaped at the neck and gave him a full display of breasts left pale and untouched by the sun, their fullness a thing of beauty. To think she had once been confounded by them, strapping them down and hiding them from the world. He was glad she had taken to the corset. On so many levels.

  Unable to resist, he reached out and took her right breast in his left hand, squeezing to test the fullness of it, loving the way she filled his palm. She drew in a soft breath of surprise, but did not otherwise stop what he was doing. She let him fondle her as she pulled off first one boot, then the other. When she stood straight, his other hand joined the first, taking her free breast in hand and molding her slowly and firmly. Her nipples were so hard. He took them between his fingers and tugged at them, being as gentle as he knew how. He’d figured out a while ago that she wasn’t as experienced as she would like him to think she was. An experienced woman would have found out about potions like the one Doisy had given her a long time ago. Experienced women didn’t blush every time a man touched them intimately like she was doing now.

  But she battled herself because of that lacking experience. She would rather die than confess to him or herself that she didn’t know exactly what she was doing. So he was left to wonder exactly what the sum of her experience was. She wasn’t a virgin…or…oh gods, he hoped he was reading that right. He was the last person in the world who should be allowed to handle a virgin. He didn’t think he’d have the patience to treat her right. Not the way he was feeling right then.

  “I’m going to do so many things to you tonight,” he promised, “that you’ve never even dreamed of.”

  “I have quite an imagination,” she warned him with a smile.

  “I’m wrong. I can’t do it all in one night. I’ll start off slow…and work my way up.”

  “You’re assuming there’s going to be more than one night,” she said with amusement.