Page 7 of Soul Forge

Horthan pushed her hard against the stone when she tried to move past him, a jolt of pain shooting through her back. The shock of his brazen assault in her home froze her in place. Her heart squeezed when she realised how much danger she was in. He was going to claim her. She could feel it in her gut, the certainty that he was going to mark her before the banquet was even over.

“You willstay,” he growled, his nose dipping to the junction between her shoulder and her neck. He inhaled deeply, his lips almost touching her skin where his bite would permanently brand her. Bile rose in her throat, panic bubbling until it boiled over. Her body moved, violently recoiling from him. Her legs flailed uselessly, glancing off his shins without so much as a wince.

“Let go of me!” she gasped, struggling against the iron grip of his large fingers when they wrapped around her thin wrists. His free hand began to rove over her bodice, uncaring when she grimaced and squirmed away. Hot tears pricked the backs of her eyes, a flush creeping across her cheeks.

“Now, Princess,” he continued in that same slippery tone. “You and I both know that Iownyou. I don’t take orders from my property.”

His lips finally touched her. The sensation of his tongue grazing her skin beneath her ear set her panic into a frenzy. Reiner’s voice echoed in her thoughts with startling clarity.

A man’s weak point is his crotch,she’d said.Hit him in the family jewels, and he’ll go down like a lead weight.Elda remembered the smirk on her face when she’d given theinstruction and how Reiner had shown her exactly what to do if she were ever cornered.

She slammed a knee into Horthan’s groin and wrenched her hands out of his grip, taking satisfaction from his pained grunt. Her steps were quick, ducking around him to make a dash for the door when he doubled over.

For a fleeting second, she had hope, but the few metres between her and the banquet hall were too far.

A clawed hand knotted in her hair and yanked, ripping it from its carefully pinned updo. She staggered back when agony seared her scalp, smacking into his solid chest. His other hand wrapped around her upper arm hard enough to bruise, and he shunted her forwards, throwing her into the wall. Her cheek stung when it collided with stone, and then her arms were pinned behind her until her shoulders screamed at the strain. His hands folded around her wrists like manacles, claws extending further from his fingertips to bite into her skin.

“I think I prefer you facing this way,” he snarled in her ear. “I’ll remember that when you’re in my bed.”

Elda’s muscles locked in place. Everything Reiner had taught her about defending herself evaporated from her brain. Her body trembled helplessly, blood welling up around the puncture wounds his claws left behind. She was a mouse caught in a lion’s claws, the cold stone bruising her already injured cheek. He was going to violate her and mark her right there in the hallway. This was her future. This was what the Spirits had planned for her.

Perhaps this is your true punishment for what you did to Yarrow,that cold, cruel voice whispered to her. And she knew in her soul that it was right. There was no escaping this because it was exactly what she deserved. A life for a life. Ruin for ruin.

Horthan’s lengthened fangs grazed her throat, raising goosebumps. Her shivering worsened when he growled, preparing to pierce her flesh and seal his claim before theceremony had even finished. The faintest sound of lips parting set her heart pounding.

She would receive no help, but that didn’t stop her from sending a plea to the Spirits. She begged Aeon for forgiveness, for a chance to make right her wrong. She begged Odessa for safety, for a way out. She begged Irileth for the strength to fight Horthan off. She pleaded with the First and his companions to take her from the nightmare unfolding before her eyes.

Silence echoed back.

And then the Falkrynian lord was yanked away from her, his clawed hands leaving thin scratches along her wrists. But her hands were free.

Elda whirled in time to see a hooded figure hurl the shifter at the opposite wall. He hit the stone and dropped, landing in a heap on the ground with a startled cough. The stranger drew a black sword from the sheath at his back, pointing the wicked blade at Horthan’s jugular.

The door at the end of the hall swung open to let Reiner into the corridor, but Elda was too frozen to do more than stare at her. The captain bared her teeth and curled her fingers around the handle of her mace, dark eyes flicking between Horthan and the sword-wielding stranger. Energy pulsed through her veins, a web of purple light shining through her dark skin and ringing her irises as she prepared for a fight.

“Leave,” the stranger commanded. His voice was smooth and resonant, sliding over Elda’s skin and leaving goosebumps in its wake. It was deep enough that she felt its echoes in her bones. His back was to her, her vision entirely filled by his broad shoulders. A growl rippled through him when the Falkrynian stayed on the ground, confirming that the stranger was neither human nor elf.

“Who are you?” Horthan demanded.

“If you don’t move in the nextthree seconds,” the stranger warned,“I will slit you open from your neck to your groin, you rotten waste of flesh.”

Horthan moved like someone had branded him, scrambling to his feet and retreating without a word. He looked back and shot a meaningful glare at Elda, a promise that he’d make her pay in a much worse way later. He ignored Reiner entirely, even when she shot him a scowl that could melt steel, disappearing through the door.

The stranger sheathed his sword and turned to face Elda, standing more than a full head taller than her. She flinched away from his gloved hand when he reached out to touch her face. Reiner moved closer, her mace clutched in her fist. Her veins had returned to normal, but Elda saw there was still too much violet in her eyes.

The stranger’s head tilted. “You’re hurt. Let me see.” His tone was much softer, almost kind. This time, Elda tried not to pull away, stiffening at the smooth leather of his glove when he turned her face with the lightest of touches, revealing a scratch at her throat and the bruise already blossoming on her cheek.

The shadows beneath his hood were so thick, they could only be magic, his face remaining hidden even when his head dipped to look down at her bleeding wrists. He unfastened one of his gauntlets and removed the glove beneath, revealing a hand covered in strange black markings that swirled across his knuckles and disappeared into his sleeve. Reiner sucked a breath through her teeth at the sight of them, but he didn’t react.

The stranger turned his hand over, so the palm was facing upwards, waiting for Elda to move. She hesitated, but eventually she accepted his help. When his fingers closed around hers, she felt a wave of magic spread through her, reaching right to the tips of her pointed ears. It sought out the source of her pain and swept it away, her wounds closing over.

Its quick retreat left her lightheaded. The stranger let go of her, slipping the glove and gauntlet back on with practiced hands, unmindful of the blood now welling up on his wrists when her injuries reflected back on him. She looked up to the darkness beneath his hood, straining to see any glimpse of his face beneath. The dark armour was familiar, somehow, but his name didn’t come to her.

He'd answered her prayers. This stranger, with his wicked blade and battle-scarred armour, had offered her a lifeline she didn’t deserve. She opened her mouth to thank him.

“Your Grace,” Reiner murmured before she could speak, keeping her voice low. “We should return to the hall. Your father will notice you’re missing if we stay here much longer.”

Elda tore her eyes away from her saviour long enough to look at the captain, remembering that her fate still waited impatiently on the other side of that small wooden door. Panic wrapped around her heart again,

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