Page 40 of Mastering their Maiden

He’d promised me nothing would happen, and his confidence that he could trust these men to behave in his absence had been unshakeable despite my warnings. He’d said the four of them would always have my back.

But now, they were nowhere to be found.

“This letter tells of plans to meet Kaiden and his soldiers in the village north of here before they march on Magilin. Is this true?”

I bit back a laugh, smothering it under my burning rage. That was the plan as far as I knew, and the thought crossed my mind that if I confessed all, it might spare me some pain.

But I certainly wasn’t a traitor, even if my trust had been betrayed.

The Kavari leader scowled at my silence, then he turned to address his men. “Our king and our city are under imminent threat. Ryne’s own son has betrayed our tribe.”

There was a growl from the men, and they jeered and shouted in agreement while Hoval continued to stare at me, the wicked smile on his face turning my stomach.

“Collect your things,” the Kavari leader barked, “along with the women we planned to procure for his majesty. The dark-haired maiden, the buxom woman with curly brown hair…”

His eyes turned to me again, and he raised his hand and gestured. “And this one. Bring them all to the sept and I will ready them for departure.”

He threw me a final glare, and the sinister smile on Hoval’s face grew wider before he turned and followed the captain out the door. The Kavari soldiers left behind moved as one toward me, and despite the hours I’d spent training with Zander and on my own, my fists didn’t make good weapons. I managed a solid punch to someone’s jaw and one kick to the groin before the soldiers grabbed both my arms and legs and began to carry me out of the barracks. They held fast while I twisted and writhed, thrashing in their hold and screaming so loud I could only hope that Kaiden and the others heard it from where they were in the other village.

But my screams weren’t the only ones echoing across the village square. I turned my head and saw a dark-haired girl being dragged toward the sept, and two more soldiers had Summer by the arms and were carrying her as she flailed just like I was. She was sobbing uncontrollably, pleading for Lucan, and begging them for mercy. Each word was like a knife to the heart. The Kavari leader stormed over and grabbed her by the hair to try to quiet her, and from beside the fence there was a near inhuman roar of anger.

“Gods damn you, Rober! I’ll kill you myself!”

I turned to see Summer’s two Kavari men bound with their hands behind their backs, their faces and shoulders bloody from what had to have been a violent fight. Summer closed her eyes and began sobbing harder at the sound of their voices, and the Kavari captain—Rober—squeezed his fist tighter into her hair while snarling in their direction.

“You have no right to this woman, Ellis. Ryne has not permitted you—”

“That gods-damned bastard is not my king, and you are not—”

“You’ll hang with the other traitors then!”

Angry shouts erupted, and two of the men holding me dropped my legs to rush toward whatever was happening. I dug my heels into the ground, resisting with all my strength as the stone sept grew in size as we approached. All my angry snarls and screams were silenced when they threw me so hard onto the stone floor it knocked the wind out of me. I gasped in agony, and I tried to get to my feet, taking in the stone walls that formed the cell where so many horrors took place. There were chains on the wall, a mattress in the corner, and a single, thin rectangular window that only let in a sliver of light.

Tension weaved its way into my chest, strangling my pounding heart and silencing my voice as a barrage of images flashed in my head. Images I’d tried so hard to forget, but I could see them clearly now.

The walls weren’t stone. They were wood. And the light wasn’t from the sun, it was from the moon. The glow of it filtered in through a rectangular square, casting shadows over Esme’s face as she held me and urged me to be quiet while chaos erupted outside.

Girls, just stay quiet. Stay here and keep each other safe.

Those were the last words my mother ever said to me. A plea she issued before shutting the door to an old shed and leaving Esme and me alone.

Looking around at my current surroundings, I wondered if we never should have left that shed. If both of us would have been better off if we’d perished that night instead of them. Even though Esme was safe now.

And I was here alone.

The agony of that statement, the rage it invoked in me, was almost muted by the terror that came rushing back at the sight of that stupid rectangular window. Even with the door open behind me now, this space was too hot. Too dark. Esme’s invisible arms were locked around me, shaking as I breathed so hard and fast, I swore I might pass out. My heart was racing, and I pressed a hand on my chest like that might slow its pace. Or crush it so it would stop aching. Get up, I all but ordered myself. Get up. You have to get out of this room.

His name slipped past my lips before I could stop it. A desperate grasp on anything that might offer me comfort, however small. Dex’s name followed. Then Umber’s. And Zander.

I heard myself calling for them, but it was useless. They were miles away. An entire village away. It was useless shouting. Wasted words. Wasted breath. Like the wasted tears I’d shed waiting for Esme to come back.

She never did.

She never would.

No one was coming to save me.

My stomach dropped, and the truth of how foolish I’d been sank in. Trust us, the four Kavari men had told me. Trust them.

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