Page 36 of Beholden
Nonetheless, surely Gabriella didn’t think she could face a berserker with a simple knife and be able to kill him. I’d been a young boy when my father captured the last of the berserkers in Scania. It had taken a dozen of the strongest and fiercest knights to suppress the madman. Even then, after securing him within the confines of the stiffest chain-mail nets, several of the knights had lost their lives holding him down, and others had been wounded.
Against so fierce a foe, Gabriella wouldn’t have the slightest chance of even getting near the berserker. He’d tear her asunder before she could take one swing of any weapon she somehow managed to conceal.
“Tell me what’s wrong.” Curly spoke more adamantly. “Has something happened to Gabi?”
“Yes. I have to go.” Without wasting another second, I stepped out of line and started down the path. I didn’t know how I’d overcome the guards standing at the bridge. All I knew was that I had to escape from the mine pits and be at the Choosing Ball so I could stop Gabriella from making a deadly mistake.
The crunch of Curly’s footsteps chased me. I picked up my pace, but he yanked on my arm and wrenched it behind my back. The pain ripped through me and forced me to my knees.
“Let me go!” I struggled against Curly’s hold.
He twisted my arm tighter and then bent and spoke low near my ear. “If ye try to escape now, ye will be caught and thrown over the bridge down into the ravine. Then what good will ye be to Gabi?”
I paused in my thrashing. He was right. The tower guards were armed with bows and arrows. They’d shoot anyone who tried to cross the bridge and would let them fall to the rocks far below. Though it hadn’t happened during my time in the mine, I’d heard the stories of men who’d attempted to escape. None had ever lived to return.
Yet as far as I knew, none of them had a weapon to aid their efforts like I did. I jerked against Curly’s hold. “I can make it,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Nay, ye won’t make it.” His voice was as steely as his unwavering grip.
My desperation pulsed harder. “I have to try!”
“Ye will be dead before ye can reach a dozen slats.”
Through the panic, I forced myself to remember everything I’d ever learned about hand-to-hand combat. With a swift jab of my free elbow, I took Curly off guard. At the slight weakening in his hold, I bent and flipped him over my body.
He lost his grip on me and landed on the hard, rocky ground in front of me. In the next second, I was on my feet and ready to flee. What I hadn’t counted on was the other slaves who’d been watching our interaction and now surrounded us.
“Grab him,” Curly growled to his friends.
For the first time since arriving at the mine, I was desperate enough to reveal my true identity as a prince and command them to stop. But the men were already upon me, leaving me with no choice but to swing and kick with all the techniques I’d learned during my years of warrior training. Though I was skilled, I was outnumbered, and moments later, several men locked my arms behind my back again and held me in place.
Curly stood and wiped the blood from a gash in his cheek. I was sorry for hurting him, but he was out of line in attempting to impede me.
Our altercation had drawn the attention of several guards and overseers.
“Take him to my place.” Curly’s whisper was urgent. As he straightened, he gave a curt nod toward the guard standing in the tower next to the bridge.
Only then did I notice the guard had trained an arrow upon us. I ceased my struggling, having no wish to bring harm upon anyone. I didn’t want them riddled with arrows on account of my disorderliness.
They dragged me to Curly’s hut. Ty had joined the throng. No doubt he’d heard the commotion and come out to observe my newest escapade. I was indeed giving him much fodder for his journal. Last night, in spite of his injuries, he’d scribbled away furiously, likely detailing the account of our time trapped in the tunnel and revealing my kiss with Gabriella. Tonight, he’d relay my desire to escape the mine and go after her.
Though I’d vowed to focus more fully on my Testing now that Gabriella was gone, I couldn’t keep from picturing her surrounded by dozens of sheep, goats, and cows as she waited for Grendel’s approach. In light of her peril, the Testing no longer mattered. I didn’t care about my future or about anything Ty might write down. All I cared about was getting to Gabriella before the berserker did.
The men forced me to the ground in front of the hearth fire but didn’t release me. Ty stood tensely close by. Someone tossed fuel onto the low flames, bringing light to the barren dwelling and illuminating Curly’s face. I expected to see anger, but his features reflected worry and determination.
When he lowered himself to the dirt floor across the fire from me, he finally gave me his full attention. “If Gabi’s in trouble, then it’s time ye be telling us all ye know.”
My body protested being held. And yet now that I was sitting, a warning in the back of my mind shouted that I couldn’t just rush off without coming up with a plan. Maybe Curly and these other slaves would even be willing to aid in my escape from the mine. Was it possible I needed them more than they needed me?
With the hazy smoke of the fire filling the hut, I told Curly everything I knew about Gabriella’s plans. He’d already seen my knife, so it was no news to him that I had one. However, he hadn’t realized I’d been using my time alone with Gabriella to train her how to wield the weapon.
I shared what Gabriella had told me about her father’s discovery of the priests taking the young maiden’s heart to be used as an alchemy ingredient and how the jewels began to surface once the priests descended into the mines and performed their yearly blessing, which involved sprinkling the concoction they’d made from the maiden’s heart and the white stone.
The men listened intently, their unwavering gazes upon me. When I finished my tale, they were silent. No one moved. And surprisingly, no one ridiculed me.
“I suspect she intends to end the ritual once and for all,” I said more urgently. “And perhaps she even hopes by doing so to stop the jewel production and the need for slavery in the mines.”
Curly gave a grave nod.
