Sold to Serve: The Dark Brothers Book 1

by Kyra Alessy

  ‘He bound me to him with blood,’ she said again, reciting Mace’s words.

  She watched Davas’ reaction and was reassured when he looked shocked. ‘But-but,’ he stammered. ‘You’re just …’ He swore and got to his feet just as she heard heavy footsteps resonating through the cave. Blackhale loomed at the entrance to the small cavity they’d dumped her in.

  Davas hardly spared him a glance. ‘She says they’ve started the binding ritual with her. She’s worth much more to them than we thought. I need to take her back!’

  ‘You aren’t taking her anywhere,’ Blackhale said smoothly, ‘Not when I’m so close. She’s likely lying to you anyway.’

  Davas whirled around. ‘Don’t you understand? The binding ritual is blood magick, ancient and powerful as the Army itself. It’s not something to be taken lightly! They will come for her.’ He looked back at Kora with a mixture of horror and awe. ‘Gods,’ he breathed, ‘what if they can tell exactly where she is?’ He turned back to Blackhale, urgency making his tone louder. ‘I’m finished. I’m no more use to you now. Let my girl go and we’ll disa – ’

  Davas suddenly let out a gurgling moan and fell to his knees. Kora craned her neck to see what was happening, but he was turned away from her and the light was too dim.

  Blackhale stepped forward and tore a small throwing knife from Davas’ chest. He wiped the bloody blade on the dead man’s tunic. ‘Well, he was right. His usefulness was definitely at an end.’ He looked over at Kora. ‘You’d better hope you prove yourself to be more valuable to me.’

  ‘What about h-his daughter?’ Kora asked, bile rising in her stomach.

  ‘Who? Oh! Davas’ girl.’ Blackhale scratched his head as if he’d mislaid her. ‘I think she died in one of my brothels or something,’ he shrugged. ‘I don’t know. It was ages ago whatever it was that killed her.’

  ‘But Davas said – ’

  Blackhale toed the corpse with a roll of his eyes. ‘Davas was a fool.’

  Kora’s stomach revolted at that moment and she retched on the ground next to her. She wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her gown and looked back up at her captor who was staring at her in revulsion.

  ‘You disgust me,’ he snapped. ‘Thank the gods I don’t have to marry you to get what I need from you now.’

  He wasn’t going to force her to marry him? Kora caught herself before she visibly sighed with relief. But why then was she here at all?

  ‘Have you dissolved the contract then?’ she prodded.

  Blackhale seemed distracted. ‘The what?’ he said impatiently.

  ‘The marriage contract. Are we not to be married?’

  He looked at her in confusion and then he began to laugh, ‘Oh, you stupid girl! All this time you really thought this was about a betrothal‽’ He guffawed loudly. ‘There are a hundred girls I could marry, thousands I could fuck. Why would I need you for that?’

  Kora was taken aback. What was it about if not her sizeable dowry? She gawked at him, utterly perplexed. Why had she been running for so long? Why did he want her? It wasn’t for her body, it wasn’t for her hand …

  ‘I don’t understand,’ she murmured and he just laughed harder.

  ‘I can see you don’t,’ he chuckled. ‘I just – I really thought you knew. I thought someone would have told you despite your father’s orders or at least you would have noticed something amiss.’

  At her blank expression he continued. ‘Your mother’s infidelity? The reason she was simple? Her magick? You really don’t know anything?’

  Kora shook her head, unable to grasp what he was saying. What was he talking about? Her mother had simply fallen ill when she was with child, hadn’t she? And magick? Surely not. But a wisp of a memory came to the forefront of her mind. Her mother’s rooms. She’d been young, only a little girl playing. No one else was there, which was a rare occurrence indeed. She’d looked up at her mother, always sitting in that chair by the window. She was glowing, her skin shining ethereally. Then the door opened and Kora turned away. When she’d looked back, the light was gone. She’d never told anyone. She’d convinced herself she’d imagined it and then she’d forgotten. Could it be true? If it was, Kora certainly hadn’t inherited her power. ‘No one could have hidden such things,’ she muttered.

  Blackhale ignored her. ‘Let me be the one to tell you the story then.’ He drew closer. ‘Your mother took another man to her bed after she married your father. She got with child and your cuckholded sire couldn’t prove the child wasn’t his so he kept it. But he couldn’t let her betrayal stand so, after she birthed you, he beat her. Badly. It was no illness that made her the way she was,’ he scoffed, ‘he just hit her too many times.’

  Kora felt frozen in grief. ‘It can’t be true,’ she whispered.

  ‘There’s more,’ he promised. ‘Your dear mama was rumoured to have Dark Realm blood. Not powerful enough to save herself it seems, but there were whispers she could conjure, spell cast, even speak to beasts or some such.’

  Speak to beasts? Kora didn’t react to his words, but they rang true. Animals had always loved being near her mother and a crow used to sit on her chair. It would watch her, cocking its head to one side as if listening. No matter how many times the servants shooed it out, it had always returned to her until her father had had one of the men shoot an arrow through it.

  But Kora shook her head at him. ‘Someone has tricked you. I’m her daughter and I have no magick to speak of.’

  Blackhale turned away, dismissing her for the more pleasurable sound of his own voice. ‘Did you know that seven portals have failed within the past three winters?’

  Lucian had told her about this, she recalled. ‘Yes,’ she said warily.

  He continued on. ‘Did you know that there was one located outside this very cave? It was the third to collapse.’ He clenched his fists. ‘And when it did, I lost all trade to the realm beyond. Do you understand, girl? Prosperity that makes your dowry look like coppers in a beggar’s cup. All that wealth was cut away from me in an instant.’

  ‘What does that have to do with me?’ she asked.

  He turned back to her and pulled her up roughly. ‘You’re going to mend my bridge.’

  KADE

  Kade itched. His skin felt like it didn’t fit him, like it was stretched unnaturally around him. He breathed deeply, willing the anger and the fear away. He’d not been so out of control since he was a young boy. Sitting atop his horse felt alien. He wanted to be running along beside it. He could go faster that way. He pushed the tempting thoughts away, willing the beast back.

  ‘We’ve been going around in fucking circles all night,’ he growled, his voice not sounding his own.

  The other two glanced at each other and he gave a roar. ‘Gods, stop looking like that. I’m not going to change!’

  ‘You already are, Brother,’ Lucian drawled. He seemed unmoved, but Kade noticed his Brother’s knuckles were white as he gripped his reins. The conceited bastard wasn’t as relaxed as he appeared.

  Then Kade looked down and his self-righteous opinions vanished. He muttered a swear in his own language as he saw that in place of his own hands were two black claws. The tiny scales glittered even in the dim light. He took what he hoped was a calming breath. He wasn’t in control of the beast at all, he thought, it just wasn’t pushing as hard as it could to get out.

  ‘We will find her, Brother.’ Mace said, trying to placate him.

  ‘We can’t even find Davas’ trail!’ snapped Lucian suddenly. ‘Stop whispering lover’s platitudes. We have nothing. The village is close. I say we go there and see what we can find.’

  ‘Fine,’ came Mace’s clipped response, ‘but keep those fucking claws out of sight and don’t fucking change!’ he hissed at Kade.

  They never made it to the village. Out of the forest, a boy darted into the road. He skidded to a halt in front of them, fearful eyes darting around, searching for something in the undergrowth.

  ‘What’s chasing you, boy?’
Mace asked.

  ‘We don’t have time for this,’ muttered Lucian.

  The boy finally looked at them as if only just noticing they were there. ‘I-I was foraging for mushrooms before sunrise. But the trees, they were ...’ He went silent, staring at the forest around him, panic evident on his face.

  Lucian rolled his eyes. ‘We’re in a forest, boy. There are trees.’ His horse pawed at the dirt, sensing his master’s need for haste. ‘Let’s get to the village.’

  Mace came forward. ‘We’re looking for a man. His name is Blackhale.’

  The child seemed to shake himself out of his fear and really looked at them. ‘You’re the lords from the keep,’ he murmured in awe.

  ‘Aye.’

  He stood up straighter, squaring his shoulders. ‘I know Blackhale’s face and some of his men’s as well,’ he said importantly. ‘They used to come to the village before his portal was lost. I seen them in the forest lots lately too, but they ain’t seen me.’

  ‘His portal?’

  ‘Aye, used to be down in the vale.’

  Kade made an effort to sound human. ‘Why have we never heard of this portal?’

  The boy shrugged. ‘It closed before you came here.’

  The Brothers looked at each other, all thinking the same thing. Blackhale was connected to the raids somehow. It was too much of a coincidence. He and his men clearly knew the area well enough to hide their trails and conceal themselves easily.

  Mace made a sound of frustration. ‘No one in the village would have told us of Blackhale so as not to incur his wrath. Were there caves near this portal, boy?’

  ‘Aye, one or two.’ He looked uncomfortable. ‘You aren’t gonna tell my da I said, are you?’

  Kade didn’t stay to hear anymore. He turned his horse and began to ride. The vale was in the opposite direction, but if they hurried they could be there before midmorning.

  Chapter 16

  In the darkness, time meant nothing, but whatever Blackhale was going to do with her to ‘mend his bridge’, Kora knew it was going to be soon.

  She began to rub the rope across the jagged wall with more urgency. She’d been at it for ages. The thick bindings were almost worn through if she could only – the rope fell from her hands and she thanked the gods as she quickly began to untie the one around her ankles. She made short work of it – even in the dark as Blackhale had taken the torch with him – and rose on stiff limbs.

  Making her way slowly to the other side of the cavern, she remembered to skirt around Davas, whose corpse Blackhale had simply left in the dirt. Poor Davas. Despite what he’d done, he hadn’t deserved his fate. Her lip quivered in the darkness and she forced the sadness back. She could grieve later. She had to escape. She walked carefully and found the entrance Blackhale had used.

  Kora moved down it, running her fingers over the walls as she went. It was a tunnel. She could hear water flowing not far away and she could feel a cold draft.

  For the first time, she was glad she’d lost her sight. As much as she hated to admit it, it had put her in good stead. She wasn’t frightened of the darkness. She could navigate it, albeit slowly, and she had a newfound trust in her other senses. She might just survive this.

  She kept going, listening to voices echoing and hoping that she didn’t stumble upon anyone without warning. She suddenly saw a faint light and stopped in her tracks, panicking. Should she run back to the cavern though it was a dead end? The light got closer, illuminating the tunnel ahead and giving her just enough to see there was a hole in the wall close by. She darted inside and hid in the darkness, waiting.

  Two men passed without incident, but as their lantern illuminated the cavern she was in, she could see crates and crates of foodstuffs lining the walls; the very same that had been delivered to the keep in the supply wagons from the village that Kora had helped Davas put away. Were Blackhale’s men the ones the Brothers had been looking for all this time?

  Kora slipped back into the passage and continued on. Just as she began speculating how much further it could be, the ground beneath her feet began to slope upwards slightly. Sensing she was close, she moved faster, keeping her hand on the wall. Finally she found the entrance that, thankfully, seemed to have been left unguarded – just as she heard yelling from deep inside. They’d found her missing.

  Kora stepped from a rough crack in the side of a boulder so massive it might as well be a cliff. Beside it was a fast-moving spring and she tried to get her bearings. There was a morning mist and the sun was just peeking over the trees. She must have been in that cave for a night. There was a large clearing around the rocks and beyond were trees, looking foreboding as the mist floated around the forest floor and curled around the thick trunks. She could hear the sounds of a soldier’s camp to the right, so she went left, keeping to the base of the great stone until she was nearer the treeline. She looked around and made a break for the trees just as she heard the two men immerge from the cave, shouting.

  Not looking back, she ran through the forest as fast as her legs could carry her. It was going well. She couldn’t hear anything behind her. And then she tripped. With a low cry she went sprawling, the autumn leaves on the ground not much of a cushion for her fall.

  ‘So eager to help, dear Kora.’

  She froze at Blackhale’s voice, wondering if it was too late and at the same time knowing it was. She’d stupidly run straight to him. Looking up slowly, her eye caught those of another man. He was dressed in robes, but not the black of the priests. His were blood red and he carried a large tome of a similar colour. Blackhale stood next to him. She scrambled up, but as she backed away, she collided with a solid chest. She didn’t have time to turn to look before her shoulders were seized, but by the looks of his hands, he was very large.

  ‘Are you ready to begin?’ Blackhale asked the priest in red.

  ‘Aye. Stay within the safety of the salt as I recite the rites or you’ll be struck. Don’t spill her blood until I say. There’s only one chance.’

  Kora struggled in the man’s grip as he took her to her enemy. Blackhale grabbed her by her hair and dragged her to the middle of a large circle lined thickly with what looked like salt, the red priest carefully pouring more where the line had been broken by her heels as they passed through it. Blackhale put a blade to her neck and used that to keep her in place while they waited.

  She swallowed hard. He meant to kill her to open his gateway. ‘You don’t have to do this,’ she began, ‘we could find another way – ’

  He gave her hair a vicious pull that made her yelp. ‘Silence.’

  She tried again. ‘I have no Dark Realm blood. None. This isn’t going to – ’

  Blackhale dug the blade into her throat, making her whimper. ‘Shut your mouth, whore.’

  The red priest, now encircled in his own smaller salt ring she noticed, opened his book and began to read in a language Kora had never heard before. Blackhale’s soldiers – a hundred men at least – slowly gathered in the trees around them a short distance away, watching as if her death was going to be entertaining. If the portal reopened, it probably would be, she mused.

  At first there were just the sounds of the man’s incantation. There were no other noises at all. Even the ever-twittering birds were silent. There was a small spark in the air outside the circle. Kora’s skin began to prickle and her hair began to stand on end as if a lightning storm raged around them though there was nothing visible.

  And then there was.

  It crackled through the clearing outside the circle like a whip, hitting a tree with a resounding crash. Another bolt followed it and another and another. The space around them was full of bright flashes.

  Blackhale’s men turned fearful, backing away from the clearing. One of them was struck in the back. He screamed, falling to the ground a smoking corpse and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air. Some began to run, others were frozen in place.

  Kora struggled against Blackhale’s grip, trying to pull the knife away
from her neck. ‘Let me go!’ she screamed just as the priest yelled over the thunderous crashes, ‘Do it! Now!’

  The dagger cut into her and she gave one final pull on his arm, putting all the strength she had left into it. She felt his body shudder and the knife left her skin, falling to the ground.

  She looked back and saw an arrow sticking out of Blackhale’s shoulder. He swore and, grabbing her by her hair once more before she could run, he broke the arrow off at the skin, bellowing loudly in pain.

  In the woods around them, chaos reigned. Men ran and fell over each other. Arrows flew from the trees beyond them, not letting them escape the kill-zone. She could hear screaming over the din of the lightning strikes and there were limbs scattered around as if some of the men had been ripped apart.

  She realised the red priest had stopped reading from the book. He’d gone very still and watched something in the trees, mouth wide in horror. A coal-black animal was prowling towards him, bigger than a wolf and sleek as a cat. Blood dripped from its maw in a trail that led to several of said limbs.

  The air stopped crackling and the lightning ceased. Behind her, Blackhale was trying to toe the knife he’d dropped closer to him so that he could grab it.

  ‘Don’t kill her,’ the priest warned, his voice only just carrying to them. ‘The chant was broken. We have to begin aga – ’ He screamed as the black creature leapt at him, his little salt circle doing nothing to protect him from the flesh and blood beast. Its massive jaws ripped out his throat in one swift movement, spraying his blood all over the ground.

  Blackhale suddenly pushed her to her knees, shouting at his remaining men to kill it and that was when she noticed how close to her his now-forgotten knife was. She glanced up. His eyes were on the monster. She reached for it slowly, keeping her body still. Her fingers brushed the metal and she grabbed it, swinging it in an arc right into Blackhale’s thigh. He roared, striking her down so hard she rolled halfway across the circle with the force of his blow. She clutched her cheek and looked up just in time to see him looming over her. He was so enraged she knew he was going to kill her now even though without her he couldn’t open his precious portal.