Page 22 of Dead Crown
Lumi's gut twisted while he tried to brace the pieces of his mind. The metal slipped lower.
Prince Jaki’s face came closer. “I’ll give you whatever you want. Anything.”
“We can’t. I can’t.”
“Fuck what everyone else thinks. Come back with me, and I’ll make sure you’re safe. No one will touch you.”
How he’d hoped for someone to rescue him before. He’d never wanted anything more in years than that and the man before him. Lumi pressed his cheek into Jaki’s hand and tried to memorize the feel of his touch. It would be the last time. The only hands that would touch him again werehis, and they’d never be so kind or gentle.
Lumi had no choice even though he wanted the gentle side of Jaki forever. Ifhegot a hold of Lumi…
Jaki’s lips brushed his before he made a strange sound. Lumi yanked the dagger out from between his lower ribs and rammed the heel of his hand into his nose. It was such a simple move, but it worked. Jaki grunted, and Lumi turned to run.
“Wait-”
Lumi slipped on the snowy slope, and his cloak tightened around his neck as the Prince clung to it. Lumi started to drag him, so he undid the clasp.
The pressure eased, and he tumbled down. As soon as he hit the bottom which was only a few feet from the frozen edge of the river, he started running. Rocks threatened to trip him as he summoned his fire to one fist and waved.
A figure with a lantern at the railing shouted. Other men came closer with something to lower over the side. Lumi had no choice but to brave the ice, and it crunched like glass under his boots. He didn’t stop even when a piece gave out.
His stomach lurched for a second at the sensation of falling, and he barely managed to stay upright, but the water wasn’tdeep. Its iciness immediately soaked through his trousers up to his knee and poured into his boots as he splashed toward the lowered rope ladder. He grasped a rung and started to climb as his breathing turned ragged.
He had no idea if he’d killed the Prince or not. A sob threatened to break free.
Elira forgive him if he’d killed Jaki. He’d tried not to and only intended to hurt him enough to keep him at bay, but if he bled out despite the cold…
The men seemed to believe Lumi when he said someone had tried to rob him. The man must have followed him and thought he’d be an easy target. People were desperate enough to take such chances, and out in the woods, who would see him or hear his screams? It explained his panic and why his slim, long knife was bloody when they took it away.
Lumi was stripped and left chained in a room below deck. A lirek collar had been placed around his neck to suppress his magic. The men probably had instructions to beat him or do whatever was necessary if he acted up. They must have been told to not use his ass since they left him be.
They didn’t allow him clothes and free roam about the ship so he could pretend his freedom had been extended. All he saw was the dark, dank room while the ship made its way along the river for days. When he closed his eyes, he saw Jaki dead in the woods, and the image made him sick.
Elira didn’t care about Lumi, and even she couldn’t save him. Maybe she’d protect Jaki. Maybe the Prince would live. He wasn’t weak, and if he got to a healer in time, he’d be fine. Lumi hadn't stabbed his heart.
The chains on Lumi’s wrists let him reach the privy pot and the food and water he received. His bed was a cot with a blanket that wasn’t thick enough to keep away the cold.
He might as well get used to chains and nudity again. At least the swaying of the ship didn’t make him sick.
Rinder’s River was named after the first King who supposedly sailed along it after he received Elira’s gift. It was swift, and a trip that would take days by horse was much faster since the terrain and snow weren’t a problem. Ice chunks floated about, but they usually weren’t too big, and any man who knew a few things about sailing would stay away from the edges where the ice could get quite thick.
It went through no-man’s land which was on the border. The guards from either side didn’t mess with lone fishing boats for the most part.
Lumi didn’t get to see any of it as it carried them farther south and west. When he was finally allowed out of the room, it was only so he could be removed from the ship and put into a covered cart. He was now in West Iceland.
Even though the cart was covered, he was cold, and the men didn’t give a fuck. They had no clue who he actually was, and their only goal was to fetch and bring him to the one who paid them. They probably thought Lumi had displeasedhimin some terrible way to warrant the cruel treatment.
“Can I at least have a c-cloak?” he dared to ask as he huddled in the corner of the cart with his knees drawn up and his tail wrapped around himself in a laughable attempt to warm his bare legs.
“You’re to come back with nothing,” grunted one. “Those are our orders. If you don’t like it, you can complain to him after we bring you there.”
“Yeah, complain to the one you pissed off.”
“That’ll go well.”
“What’d you do, huh? You owe him money or somethin’?”
Lumi didn’t answer. His wrists had been shackled behind him for this trip, and his ankles had heavy cuffs and a length ofchain between them. When the men stopped to dig the cart out of slushy mud, running wasn’t an option even though he was left alone in the back. If he tried, he’d be punished, and the men would surely say something which would lead to further punishment. Besides, he had a new act to play now.
