Sold to Serve: The Dark Brothers Book 1

by Kyra Alessy

  With nothing to lose, she lunged and clutched the knife still sticking out of his leg. She used her own momentum to twist it before dragging it out and was gratified by the scream that was forced from his lungs. She drew back, keeping both him and the beast in her sights, dripping knife at the ready intending to stab anyone or thing that came close.

  Without warning, a sword erupted from the middle of Blackhale’s chest. His eyes bulged and his mouth widened in a silent scream as blood began to pour out of it. The blade was withdrawn. He jerked and choked, looking incredulous, before falling to his knees and slumping to the side. Blackhale was dead and behind him stood Mace, his face consumed by such fury and bloodlust that she took a step back in concern.

  She caught sight of Lucian outside the circle, finishing the rest of Blackhale’s men with a brutal precision that gave her a funny sense of pride despite the confusing feelings she had for him. But where was Kade, she worried.

  She struggled to her feet and practically fell into Mace’s arms. ‘How did you find me?’

  ‘Luck. Very good luck,’ he replied, pulling her close before turning her this way and that for his inspection. He pulled a bandage from the pouch at his belt and pressed the square of muslin to her neck where Blackhale’s knife had cut her. ‘Are you hurt anywhere else?’

  ‘I don’t think so, but … that beast is killing everyone and the salt only seemed to keep the lightning strikes away.’

  The creature in question stepped into the circle at that moment and she scuttled back towards Mace with her knife out in front of her. The monster was enormous and even more terrifying now that it had set its sights on her. She’d never seen anything so completely black. It was covered in scales that seem to suck in any light that touched them. It resembled a dog or wolf and yet was as similar to one as a goat was to a horse. Its tail was barbed and that too dripped blood. It prowled towards her and it was all she could do not to turn and flee. She was frightened; terrified out of her wits. She glanced at Mace who was looking strangely calm considering the thing was stalking them.

  ‘Don’t frighten her,’ Mace said warningly.

  Her eyes widened and flew back to the beast. Its eyes were as dark as the rest of it and oddly … familiar. She gasped as she stared, disbelievingly. ‘This isn’t Kade …’

  ‘He wanted to tell you, but he was afraid.’

  ‘Afraid?’ she breathed.

  ‘Of your reaction. His relationship with the beast is … complex.’

  ‘You speak as if the beast is separate,’ she breathed. ‘Where does it come from?’ She had so many questions. She turned to Mace with a sudden realisation. ‘Was this why he kept making me wear his clothes? Why he smells me when he thinks I don’t notice?

  Mace made a face. ‘He likes his scent on you. You can question him later. I’m sure he’ll tell you anything you’d like to know.’

  Kade slinked closer, his unblinking eyes never leaving hers. She tensed as he sniffed her and Mace put a steadying hand on her shoulder as Lucian looked on from the circle’s edge.

  Kade licked her hand. His tongue was as black as the rest of him but it felt no different than a dog’s. He lay at her feet and promptly fell asleep.

  ‘The beast likes you,’ Mace informed her.

  ‘It doesn’t like everyone?’ she teased.

  ‘Only Lucian and I and even we sometimes get a nip or two.’

  Kora reached down and stroked her fingers along the scales of his back and he made a satisfied sound that made her grin.

  ‘What happens now?’

  ‘You tell us what Blackhale was doing.’ Mace ordered, still very much the leader. His dominance made her shiver, not unpleasantly.

  ‘He was trying to re-open his portal and he was told my blood would do it,’ she said simply, not really wanting to go into the details with him out here in the forest. ‘Can we go back to the keep now?’

  ‘Yes,’ Mace said, wiping Blackhale’s blood from his sword. ‘If they’re all dead?’ he called to Lucian.

  Lucian slipped his blade under a fallen man’s ribs and nodded. ‘Now they are’, he stated cheerfully. His eyes narrowed on her and he looked furious. ‘In case Mace hasn’t told you, you’ve earned yourself a punishment, girl.’

  ‘What have I done?’

  ‘You gave no regard to your own safety.’

  Kora frowned. ‘I was trying to save you and your keep from a powerful and ruthless madman! Perhaps you three should be punished for your most trusted man turning out to be Blackhale’s spy,’ she retorted, then blanched, her eyes starting to prickle.

  They both turned sombre immediately and Kora grimaced as she forced back the tears. Whatever pangs she felt at Davas’ betrayal, it must be much worse for them. She’d only known the man a matter of weeks, but they had since they’d been with the Army. ‘I’m sorry – ’ she began, but Mace hushed her.

  ‘Never put yourself in such danger again’, he warned. ‘Davas was my fault. I failed you.’

  ‘You couldn’t have known,’ she argued, unwilling to let Mace take all of this upon his shoulders. ‘Blackhale told him he had his daughter, you see? He was just trying to save his girl.’

  Lucian rolled his eyes. ‘You are far too forgiving.’ His face turned bleak. ‘We’ll see if you still are after my confession.’

  ‘Now?’ Mace asked. ‘Let’s get back to the keep – ’

  ‘No, I want her to know what I’ve done.’ Lucian said, his eyes not leaving her. ‘I bound you to me. I began a ritual; a blood rite that cannot be undone once it’s started. I tasted your blood when I bit your lip and I gave you mine when I kissed you.’

  ‘What does that mean?’ Kora asked.

  ‘When the others do the same, the binding will be complete and you will be our Fourth. It means you’re ours and we are yours. Irreversibly.’

  ‘Your slave forever?’ she asked in a small voice, wanting to curl into a ball and weep bitter tears at the thought and knowing she’d have to plan yet another escape because she couldn’t allow that to be her fate.

  ‘No, not as a slave. A Fourth is an equal part of the unit, though,’ Lucian’s eyes rolled yet again, ‘Kade’s beast will probably call you its mate.’

  Kora let out a breath. How could he have done such a thing without telling her – asking her? ‘Why did you do it?’ she demanded, tears threatening again, ‘So you can play your tricks, be cruel to me – for the rest of my days?’

  ‘No,’ he looked angry again, but she could see it was directed at himself. ‘I hadn’t planned to do it …’

  ‘No, after all your deceits and games you schemed to fuck me when I was helpless to resist you. To see if I was as good as the others told you I was. That’s what you said, wasn’t it?’

  ‘That was a jest in bad taste. Please, Kora, don’t – ’ He looked heartbroken, but she steeled herself to his lies.

  ‘Can we please go now,’ she asked Mace again, ignoring Lucian entirely.

  ‘Aye.’

  They journeyed back to the keep, her home now, she supposed, in silence. She rode Kade’s horse while he ran alongside them until they were at the main gate. There he left them, returning a few moments later having changed back into the man and gotten dressed.

  She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that at first she didn’t see that the men in the yard were all kneeling by the wall, their hands on their heads. But the Brothers did, drawing their swords as they entered the keep and shuttering their expressions. She stayed behind them, seeing soldiers she didn’t recognise and another three men in black who could only be another unit of Dark Army. A carriage pulled by four dappled horses waited in the middle of the yard and her brow furrowed. On the side of it was her family’s crest.

  ‘Kora? Kora!’

  She knew that voice.

  ‘Uncle Royce?’ She swung her leg over the saddle and slid down from the tall horse’s back. ‘Uncle? Is that you?’

  He ran down the kitchen steps and across the yard, arms outstretched. He wa
s well-dressed and looked much more a lord than the sea captain she remembered, but she’d know his scarred face and bushy red beard anywhere. He reminded her of Davas, she thought, or perhaps it had been the other way around.

  ‘I’ve searched for you, lass.’

  She ran into his arms with a cry. ‘I never thought I’d see you again,’ she said, finally giving in to the tears she’d been wanting to cry.

  He held her tightly, whispering that he’d almost given up hope. He drew back. ‘Come with me now. I’ll take you somewhere safe.’

  ‘But the Brothers …’

  He cut Mace, Lucian and Kade a hard look. ‘I have my own unit of Dark Brothers in my employ. These ones don’t have the numbers to keep you. We’ll sort out the Writ of Ownership as soon as you take your rightful place.’

  ‘So my father and mother are truly dead.’

  He heaved a long sigh. ‘They are. It was quick, I’m told.’

  In a daze, Kora let her uncle lead her to the carriage. She clutched his arm tightly, afraid all of this wasn’t truly happening.

  She glanced up at the Brothers across the yard. They simply watched, all three of their countenances grim. Kade opened his mouth, but Mace silenced him with a shake of his head.

  Kora wanted to say something, tell them goodbye, wish them well. But she found she couldn’t say anything. Lip quivering, she let her uncle help her into the carriage.

  And then they were moving, the walls of the keep growing smaller behind them. Royce put his burly arm around her and she turned into him, letting the comforting smell of him envelop her.

  After everything that she had been through she was free, or would be very soon. So why was she feeling so adrift? So sad?

  Chapter 17

  Kora stared out of the window of her family home, watching the last of the dead leaves begin their floating descent to the ground from bare boughs. When she’d returned with Royce, she found that although Blackhale hadn’t lied about her family, his reports of the house in ruins had been greatly exaggerated. There had been a fire in her parents’ wing but that was the only part of the house that was damaged. She’d had the servants – servants in truth now, not slaves – close that part of the house until she’d decided whether or not she’d have it rebuilt.

  Royce entered the room, sitting down heavily without preamble and holding a missive. He’d stayed with her the past weeks while they’d dealt with the estate and tried to quietly dissolve the dreaded Writ as she’d tried to move past all the things that had happened since she’d left this place.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘I must soon leave, my dear.’

  Brow furrowing, she sat down in front of him. ‘Do you really have to go?’

  He smiled at her. ‘The sea is in my blood, girl. Besides, you don’t want me staying here forever. I’ll outstay my welcome soon enough.’

  ‘Never.’ She grasped his hand. ‘What about annulling the Writ of Ownership?’

  He sighed heavily. ‘You know many in the south have a stake in slaves and they don’t care where they come from. That a woman from a noble family was taken is unheard of. There’s no precedent for it. I have no doubt it will go in your favour, though it will be a lengthy and expensive battle. But the Brothers who hold the Writ haven’t come here to claim you back either. My advice? Unless you want this dragged out for a very long time, either buy a slave to take your place – ’

  ‘I can’t give them another slave. I can’t do that to a person.’ She sighed heavily.

  Royce gave her a pointed look ‘Or, take the Brothers in my employ and offer payment in exchange for it. Kane, Sorin and Viktor are the highest-ranking unit in the Army. The bought Brothers will be able to protect you even if the Writ-holders try to force you back to them.’

  ‘As long as we keep paying them,’ she muttered. She didn’t like the bought Brothers. The three of them had been respectful of her, but they weren’t like Mace, Kade and Lucian. Their eyes held no emotion, not for anything. They were simply mercenaries. Or perhaps they’re simply not the Brothers you want protecting you, a traitorous voice in her head whispered. She closed it out and stood abruptly.

  ‘I know you miss the sea, Uncle. As you say, the bought Brothers will protect me. Even if someone did try something underhanded, they wouldn’t get past them. Especially the taller one. The servants are sure he has some sort of terrible power.’

  ‘Bah,’ Royce said flippantly with a chuckle. ‘Powers indeed.’ He quieted. ‘I do miss the sea though,’ he admitted. ‘This life was never for me.’ He looked at her. ‘But perhaps you’re the same,’ he continued too perceptively.

  She turned away from him. He always had been shrewd. What would he think of her if she told him what she wanted?

  ‘Kora?’

  ‘I miss them,’ she said simply. ‘I think about them. I may be removed from them, but they still consume my every waking moment. Do you think that my time as a slave has twisted my mind?’

  Her uncle was silent, watching her. ‘No,’ he said finally. ‘I think you’re a woman grown and you need to make a decision. Can you get past all that happened to you as a slave?’ He shrugged. ‘If you want to see them, see them. But if they press the matter, you still owe them a slave, my child. Take my men and buy yourself free from them first. Perhaps then you can begin anew.’

  Two days later she said goodbye to Royce and climbed into her carriage calmly, her bought Brothers and their men in formation around it. She waved goodbye, knowing that he would leave as soon as she had gone. Her uncle yearned to return to his ship and it was time for her to go back to the keep. Even if it was for the last time.

  Until she had the Writ, she wasn’t truly free. That, she told herself, was the reason she was going in person, but really she ached to see them – even Lucian. In the time since leaving them, she had mulled over the many events that had transpired and she knew that, despite everything, she cared for all three of them.

  But did they feel the same? In the latter days of her time there, they’d looked after her, but had that been because she’d been costly or did she mean something more to them? Lucian had begun their blood binding it was true, but that signified nothing where he was concerned.

  And things were different now. She was a woman of means, and she felt much more herself without the shackles of slavery conflicting with her will.

  But as her carriage neared the keep, her stoic manner started to crack. Her hands shook as they went beneath the portcullis. What if they demanded she return as their slave? What if they refused to let her buy herself free? What if – ? Stop it, she ordered herself. She shifted in her seat, donning a calm demeanour despite her misgivings and readying herself to enter the keep on equal footing with its lords.

  The carriage stopped and the door opened. She stepped out, taking the Brother Sorin’s offered hand. She didn’t spare him a glance. Instead she surveyed the yard. It was cleaner, she realised; less haphazard. The repairs to the walls were finished, the piles of stones had been cleared away, but, more than that, the platform where the X had stood was gone. There appeared to be a small herb garden outside the kitchen from what she could make out as well. There were new faces – servants, it looked like – going about their work. The guards, the Brothers’ men whom she’d known before, were staring warily at her and her men, but no one spoke to her.

  It was colder here too, now that they were slipping into the winter months. Shivering, she picked up her skirts and walked up the main steps to the door, her sentries following closely behind her billowing cloak. The door swung open and she was met by a stout and stern-looking woman.

  ‘I have business with your lords,’ she announced before the woman could say a word.

  She didn’t move, eyeing Kora and her bought Brothers suspiciously.

  A voice she recognised as Kade’s bellowed from the hall. ‘Let her pass.’

  With a snort, she stepped aside and Kora entered. It smelled less dank in the corridor than it had before, and there wa
s more light. She assumed she had this formidable-looking woman to thank for that.

  Kora and her men made their way to the great hall. The door was already open and she eyed the three Brothers as she entered the large room. Lucian was lounging in one of the chairs by the sizable hearth, Mace looked pensive in the other one and Kade stood to the side, eyeing her like prey.

  She watched for a moment, not knowing what to say. Should she apologise for leaving? No. she wasn’t sorry. She’d had to go.

  They stared back, seeming to be as at a loss for words as she was. Mace stood and Lucian followed suit. They were all facing her now. Lucian had gained weight, she noticed. The hollowness of his cheeks had filled out. He looked healthier, but Kade and Mace were unchanged in the weeks that she’d been gone, as far as she could see. The trio watched her in silence and her cheeks began to warm at their scrutiny.

  Suddenly wanting to get this over with, she threw a jingling bag on the table in front of them. ‘Twenty pieces.’

  Lucian spoke first. He sounded livid of course, but, after some time to reflect, she’d realised that much of his anger was to hide his fear and hurt. And, she saw now that he was easily hurt. ‘Is that why you’ve come back; why you’ve brought your own men?’

  Kora wasn’t cowed. ‘As the matter isn’t yet resolved, I was advised to bring my own Brothers with me.’

  ‘Then let’s resolve it,’ Kade growled, producing a paper she recognised from the day she was sold. The Writ of Ownership.

  He handed it to Mace, who, to her surprise, proceeded to light it on the nearest torch. He let it fall to the stone floor and she watched in silence as it burned away to ash. And that was that. No Writ, no slave. So simple.

  Tears of gratitude came to her eyes and she brushed them away. She was free. Now for the rest.

  She turned her head slightly to speak to the men at her back. ‘Wait for me in the yard.’