Page 21 of Seized to Sacrifice
A long time passed before she heard someone coming down the steps. The outer door clanged open. The door to the little storeroom was unlocked, and there was suddenly light blinding her. When her sight finally adjusted, it was to find the cook, Fen, looking down at her with his hands on his hips.
‘You aren’t meant to be sitting on your arse in there,’ he admonished.
She stood up and opened her mouth, but no words would come out above a whisper. Her voice was too hoarse from screaming.
He didn't seem to notice the dead torch, just started trudging away muttering that the lords were going to hear about her laziness.
She followed quickly, not wanting to be left in the dark any longer. They came up to the main level, and the door to the cellar closed behind her. She wanted to fall to her knees she was so glad to be out. She could see from the casement that the sun was setting. Thorne had left her down there all day.
Why that stung, she didn’t know.
Fen took her back to the kitchen and told her to sit down at a small table by the smoldering hearth. She was given some cheese and bread to eat with some water to wash it down.
He loomed over her while she ate, looking impatient for her to finish.
‘The servants have their own quarters, but you’re not welcome there. Your kind sleeps in the kitchens,’ he said roughly, gesturing to the store cupboard where Eruk had cornered her. ‘You can wash in the scullery.’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘I suggest you do.’
She nodded and made her way over to the storeroom slowly, peering inside though everything in her was screaming not to go in.
‘Don’t you be eating nothing in here,’ he growled, ‘I’ll know if you do.’
Elle nodded again and forced herself to walk to the small pile of blankets someone had thrown in the corner. She heard him leave the kitchens and darted into the scullery, washing quickly in the cold water before going back to the storeroom.
She arranged the thin covers on the stone floor out of sight under one of the shelves. She lay down on them and closed her eyes, exhausted. It was full dark now. The sun hadn’t quite set yet, but clouds had rolled in. She could hear thunder in the distance. The air had turned colder. They’d probably see the last snows of the season tonight.
She wondered how she could know that. Had she spent time here? Did she know this place? This area? Something niggled at her from deep in her mind, something she couldn’t quite grasp onto, a feeling more than a memory. She needed to remember who she was. Something very important depended on it. Her brow furrowed. She wasn’t going to find out anything here. She needed to leave. She was well enough to escape now and that was what she needed to do as soon as she’d rested.
She was almost asleep when she felt a calloused hand scrape across her flesh. She tried to yell for help, but nothing came out but a rasp.
She opened her eyes and Eruk was looming over her, looking pleased with himself.
‘Did you think to hide from me?’ he asked, gesturing to where she’d made her bed. ‘Everyone knows this was where you’re to stay.’ He barked a small laugh. ‘I was even told I should take you to the guards if I found you anywhere you weren’t mean to be.’ bad
Why was he doing this? What did he want from her? Without preamble, his other hand fisted the folds of her chemise, hiking it up.
She shook her head and struggled beneath him.
Mercifully, she heard someone in the kitchen, and the door to the storeroom clicked open, interrupting him again.
Eruk growled a curse and rolled away from her, hiding under one of the other shelves.
A servant entered and Elle recognized the horrid one from the dungeon.
Rosalie.
The woman didn’t even look at her as she put a steaming pie on the side, muttering to herself as she went back into the main kitchen.
Following Rosalie quickly, Elle began to help her. She wiped the surfaces down and swept the floor, not wanting to return to the storeroom where Eruk awaited her. The servant seemed surprised by her assistance, but still disdainful.
Keeping an eye on the storeroom door, Elle wondered if Eruk had slipped away. She hadn't seen him since Rosalie had disturbed him, but that meant nothing. How many other slave girls had he attacked thus before he’d come here? He was too sure of himself not to have done it before. He was a predator, a monster.
He was also wily and quick for such a large man, and he’d been right. Who could she tell about him? No one would believe a slave and Thorne had made sure all the servants hated her. She’d seen their bitter gazes this morning in the kitchen when he’d insinuated that she thought herself better than them. The same expression was on Rosalie’s face now despite Elle’s help.
‘So you think you’re too good for the tasks you’re given,’ she said to Elle, her eyes narrowing.
Elle shook her head, her voice still gone from all the screaming she’d done in the cellars.
‘Prove it,’ she said, pushing Elle towards the scullery. ‘Wash everything not done before you turn in.’
