Page 1 of Mastering their Maiden

CHAPTER 1

Aria

It had been over a hundred days since I’d seen a deer.

They were skittish creatures regardless, but with the Kavari tramping to and from our village and the Skepna making camps in forest meadows, I thought they’d all been run off.

But here one stood, ears perked up and twitching, nose lifted in the air. Probably sniffing me out, which meant I had to hurry.

There was part of me that wanted to let it run free, but I thought of the scraps today at the market stalls. Bruised vegetables and fruit, slightly moldy bread. The Elders shrugged about it, claiming there was no more food to be had.

The women in my village needed this deer more than the forest did.

I drew the string on my handmade bow back, listening to the flimsy branch creak under the strain of being bent. Don’t break now. I held my breath as I aimed. Throat would be the best spot. It wouldn’t run far if I hit it there. Frayne’s cabin was about a half mile back, and I didn’t want to drag it any farther than I had to.

The arrow whipped through the air, and I closed my eyes like it would block out the animal’s screams. The deer toppled over, meaning I’d hit the mark, but it kept bleating, which was only going to draw attention. The sun was coming up, and I had to get back to the village before anyone knew I was gone. Getting caught wasn’t the only threat. There were things out here that could easily kill me, or worse.

And right now, the soft grunts of one of those things were growing closer.

I peered out from the bush I’d hidden myself in, narrowing my eyes when the Skepna stalked to the deer. The creature’s grayish-green skin looked sickly in the dim light, dark beady eyes scanning the kill it hadn’t earned. I watched it pull out a knife and end the deer’s misery, taking one task out of my hands.

Then it hoisted the animal up and I raised my bow, firing another shot then tossing the bow aside to pull out the dagger on my hip. The Skepna bellowed, tugging at the arrow in its neck, distracted enough that I was able to jump on its back and finish the job with a quick slash before the monster knew what had happened. The beast dropped, its eyes rolling upward as thick black blood began to mix with the brown earth at my feet. I stepped around the growing puddle and grabbed the deer by the legs, dragging it away from the Skepna’s lifeless body.

Not many knew that their blood was poisonous. Within hours, the plants that cradled its corpse would be dead, choked out by whatever evil the gods created the monsters with.

I risked injury despite this, carefully collecting the weapons off the beast’s body. I’d rinse them in the stream, then stash them by the fence. The bows I made often broke. Knives and daggers I managed to find dulled. I always carried at least one with me, trying not to think about the reasons why. Why instead of sleeping, I was out on a hunt. Why instead of family to come back to I was alone, taking care of everyone else. Why I never wanted to be unarmed like my sister was when they took her.

I swallowed, shoving the daggers into the bag around my shoulder and grabbing the deer by the legs again, dragging it behind me as I headed for Frayne’s. It was heavy, but I’d make it before dawn if I just kept walking. Just keep walking.

I repeated that mantra in my head, over and over, only relaxing when his hut appeared on the horizon. I moved into the shadow of the small building as though it might hide me from dawn’s light and any trouble I’d come up against when I arrived back to the village. Frayne stepped out onto the porch when he heard me struggling with the deer, his eyes wide as he helped heft the animal onto a table for examination.

“It’s been at least four moons since I’ve seen a deer.”

Frayne looked at the creature like it held magical properties. I looked at it and saw survival. Fur for clothing, hide for leather, food for the children and their mothers since the Elders gave us only crumbs and the Kavari were too busy fighting with each other to notice. No one cared for us now. We were all on our own.

I was all on my own.

“How long will it take to clean it?” I asked, rinsing my hands in the basin Frayne kept outside his hut. For so long I’d thought he was a myth, until that first night I snuck out of the fence, hungry and cold and weeping because my sister Esme had been taken and I was terrified about what would happen to her. The thought still terrified me if I let it. I didn’t want to picture her like she probably was now. Imprisoned. Ravished mercilessly over and over. Held captive by those brutes who claimed to be saviors when they only came to take.

The Kavari.

“Give me three days, then I should have it ready for you. For now, you can take this back. I made trades with some merchants while I was away and set aside a basket for you.”

He slid the basket across the table, and my eyes widened. Inside were long stems of grain ready to be ground up and baked or cooked as they were, fresh fruits and vegetables, packages of salted meat. I grasped the heavy basket, hefting the straps onto my back. “Frayne, thank you. Please keep whatever you need from the deer for—”

“I don’t need anything from it. I hunt on my own.” He examined me, hooded eyes narrowed, a slightly disapproving smile on his thin lips. Wisps of graying black hair hung over his forehead, the rest pulled back in a short ponytail at the nape of his neck.

Frayne had lived out in these woods since the Elders banished him and all the other men from our village. It was their attempt at controlling the population. Some men who left were rumored to have traveled to cities along the coast, while others were taken by the Skepna. Others still were killed and left for their daughters to find. Like my father and my mother.

But Frayne stayed. Hunting and growing crops in secret. At least until I came along. Now he shared his supplies, and I shared my skills. When he would let me.

“You best get going, girl. I know what happened the last time they caught you.”

I hid my wince, feeling the muscles in my back tense in response to his cautioning statement. Last time I’d gotten caught sneaking out, Elder Micah put me in the stocks for a whole day, leaving me out even when a thunderstorm rolled through and rain soaked me clear to the bone. He’d taken over punishments for a few months after giving his own daughter away like chattel, and as much as I hated the Kavari, I was glad when they took control back a few moons ago. They used their hands, a belt, or a paddle to deliver punishments, and each time they’d dragged me to the square for a spanking it only incensed the other women. I was their protector. I was their provider. And those bastards hadn’t done themselves any favors by punishing me in public.

But I didn’t give a damn about them, and if I could make their life more difficult by sowing hatred among the women they wanted to claim, I’d take every spanking they had to dole out. They took my sister from me. When harvest time came, they’d hold another procurement. I knew they planned to claim me during that ceremony. Give me to some pack of soldiers to ride whenever they needed release.

They were in for a surprise if they thought I could be mastered so easily.

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