Page 307 of Kingdoms of Night

I cry. That’s all I can do.

“You! Wait.”

I freeze, my heart leaping in my chest. Another half-naked man, this one with red marks on his shoulders and arms, stops the soldier.

“Where are you going with her?” His voice is cautioning, like each word is a veiled threat.

The soldier hesitates. “Taking her to the woods, sir. She needed…” he pauses. “She wanted to take a stroll.”

“I don’t think she did.”

I could have kissed him.

I manage to see past the blur of my tears. This one is as tall as the first marked man, though perhaps broader. He has bright blue eyes, bluer than any sky.

“I asked for the bathroom,” I manage to say. “The other man told him to take me and he…” I croak.

Too fast for my eyes to see a thing, the man moves, and the next instant, the soldier’s head is flying, blood dark as night spouting out everywhere. I scream as the head falls on the snow with a thud, his black blood marring the pure white.

The man laughs. “Screams are as common as laughter and whispers among the folk. You will need to learn better defenses.”

I wipe my eyes, trembling like a leaf. The man eyes me, then he approaches, and I take two steps back. I manage to trip on a branch, and fall on the cold frozen ground.

“My, you’re such a mess. A messy little untrained puppy,” he says.

My distress seems to please him. I stumble to get up. “I just needed to pee!”

He smiles. “Come with me.”

This is an order. He doesn’t even wait to see if I obey, walking away.

What choice do I have, really? Freeze here in the snow until another monster finds me, or follow this one, who at least doesn’t appear to want to harm me right this second.

I trail his long steps, taking two for each of his one.

We reach a tent at least ten times as large as most. Two shirtless soldiers bow their heads as the man passes them, entering it.

It’s warm inside. I could cry again, but I manage not to.

“Here.” He motions to a screened corner. I rush, and find an empty bucket and some water. At least it’s clean. I would have preferred plumbing, but I’m far past fussy. It’s a miracle I haven’t soiled myself yet, given how full my bladder is, and how much fear I’ve endured in the last few moments.

I pee and clean up as best I can before walking back into the warm tent.

There’s a hearth at the center of the circular space, with one single chair at the back. Three great white hounds that weren’t here moments ago lie still on the floor, their watchful eyes on me.

The red-marked stranger who led me here is stroking the smallest of the dogs.

In my terror, I hadn’t noticed, but he’s handsome. More than the demon who directed me out of the carriage. While the golden-marked stranger had seemed rough and dangerous, this creature’s all elegant, refined beauty, so striking I can’t look at him directly without shivering.

“I like this one,” he tells me. It takes me a moment to understand he’s referring to the dog, and not me. “She was wild and willful once. She still is, really, with most people. But she obeys me.”

They look like they all obey him. The hounds and the men we’ve passed.

“The others were born docile. It’s not nearly as satisfying, don’t you think?”

I don’t think I’m required to give an answer.

I take one step closer, dangerous as the action is, because I’m freezing, and the hearth burns hot.

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