Sold to Serve by Kyra Alessy

Chapter 16

In the darkness, time meant nothing, but whatever Blackhale was going to do with her to ‘mend his bridge’, Kora knew it was going to be soon.

She began to rub the rope across the jagged wall with more urgency. She’d been at it for ages. The thick bindings were almost worn through if she could only – the rope fell from her hands and she thanked the gods as she quickly began to untie the one around her ankles. She made short work of it – even in the dark as Blackhale had taken the torch with him – and rose on stiff limbs.

Making her way slowly to the other side of the cavern, she remembered to skirt around Davas, whose corpse Blackhale had simply left in the dirt. Poor Davas. Despite what he’d done, he hadn’t deserved his fate. Her lip quivered in the darkness and she forced the sadness back. She could grieve later. She had to escape. She walked carefully and found the entrance Blackhale had used.

Kora moved down it, running her fingers over the walls as she went. It was a tunnel. She could hear water flowing not far away and she could feel a cold draft.

For the first time, she was glad she’d lost her sight. As much as she hated to admit it, it had put her in good stead. She wasn’t frightened of the darkness. She could navigate it, albeit slowly, and she had a newfound trust in her other senses. She might just survive this.

She kept going, listening to voices echoing and hoping that she didn’t stumble upon anyone without warning. She suddenly saw a faint light and stopped in her tracks, panicking. Should she run back to the cavern though it was a dead end? The light got closer, illuminating the tunnel ahead and giving her just enough to see there was a hole in the wall close by. She darted inside and hid in the darkness, waiting.

Two men passed without incident, but as their lantern illuminated the cavern she was in, she could see crates and crates of foodstuffs lining the walls; the very same that had been delivered to the keep in the supply wagons from the village that Kora had helped Davas put away. Were Blackhale’s men the ones the Brothers had been looking for all this time?

Kora slipped back into the passage and continued on. Just as she began speculating how much further it could be, the ground beneath her feet began to slope upwards slightly. Sensing she was close, she moved faster, keeping her hand on the wall. Finally she found the entrance that, thankfully, seemed to have been left unguarded – just as she heard yelling from deep inside. They’d found her missing.

Kora stepped from a rough crack in the side of a boulder so massive it might as well be a cliff. Beside it was a fast-moving spring and she tried to get her bearings. There was a morning mist and the sun was just peeking over the trees. She must have been in that cave for a night. There was a large clearing around the rocks and beyond were trees, looking foreboding as the mist floated around the forest floor and curled around the thick trunks. She could hear the sounds of a soldier’s camp to the right, so she went left, keeping to the base of the great stone until she was nearer the treeline. She looked around and made a break for the trees just as she heard the two men immerge from the cave, shouting.

Not looking back, she ran through the forest as fast as her legs could carry her. It was going well. She couldn’t hear anything behind her. And then she tripped. With a low cry she went sprawling, the autumn leaves on the ground not much of a cushion for her fall.

‘So eager to help, dear Kora.’

She froze at Blackhale’s voice, wondering if it was too late and at the same time knowing it was. She’d stupidly run straight to him. Looking up slowly, her eye caught those of another man. He was dressed in robes, but not the black of the priests. His were blood red and he carried a large tome of a similar colour. Blackhale stood next to him. She scrambled up, but as she backed away, she collided with a solid chest. She didn’t have time to turn to look before her shoulders were seized, but by the looks of his hands, he was very large.

‘Are you ready to begin?’ Blackhale asked the priest in red.

‘Aye. Stay within the safety of the salt as I recite the rites or you’ll be struck. Don’t spill her blood until I say. There’s only one chance.’

Kora struggled in the man’s grip as he took her to her enemy. Blackhale grabbed her by her hair and dragged her to the middle of a large circle lined thickly with what looked like salt, the red priest carefully pouring more where the line had been broken by her heels as they passed through it. Blackhale put a blade to her neck and used that to keep her in place while they waited.

She swallowed hard. He meant to kill her to open his gateway. ‘You don’t have to do this,’ she began, ‘we could find another way – ’

He gave her hair a vicious pull that made her yelp. ‘Silence.’

She tried again. ‘I have no Dark Realm blood. None. This isn’t going to – ’

Blackhale dug the blade into her throat, making her whimper. ‘Shut your mouth, whore.’

The red priest, now encircled in his own smaller salt ring she noticed, opened his book and began to read in a language Kora had never heard before. Blackhale’s soldiers – a hundred men at least – slowly gathered in the trees around them a short distance away, watching as if her death was going to be entertaining. If the portal reopened, it probably would be, she mused.

At first there were just the sounds of the man’s incantation. There were no other noises at all. Even the ever-twittering birds were silent. There was a small spark in the air outside the circle. Kora’s skin began to prickle and her hair began to stand on end as if a lightning storm raged around them though there was nothing visible.

And then there was.

It crackled through the clearing outside the circle like a whip, hitting a tree with a resounding crash. Another bolt followed it and another and another. The space around them was full of bright flashes.

Blackhale’s men turned fearful, backing away from the clearing. One of them was struck in the back. He screamed, falling to the ground a smoking corpse and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air. Some began to run, others were frozen in place.

Kora struggled against Blackhale’s grip, trying to pull the knife away from her neck. ‘Let me go!’ she screamed just as the priest yelled over the thunderous crashes, ‘Do it! Now!’

The dagger cut into her and she gave one final pull on his arm, putting all the strength she had left into it. She felt his body shudder and the knife left her skin, falling to the ground.

She looked back and saw an arrow sticking out of Blackhale’s shoulder. He swore and, grabbing her by her hair once more before she could run, he broke the arrow off at the skin, bellowing loudly in pain.

In the woods around them, chaos reigned. Men ran and fell over each other. Arrows flew from the trees beyond them, not letting them escape the kill-zone. She could hear screaming over the din of the lightning strikes and there were limbs scattered around as if some of the men had been ripped apart.

She realised the red priest had stopped reading from the book. He’d gone very still and watched something in the trees, mouth wide in horror. A coal-black animal was prowling towards him, bigger than a wolf and sleek as a cat. Blood dripped from its maw in a trail that led to several of said limbs.

The air stopped crackling and the lightning ceased. Behind her, Blackhale was trying to toe the knife he’d dropped closer to him so that he could grab it.

‘Don’t kill her,’ the priest warned, his voice only just carrying to them. ‘The chant was broken. We have to begin aga – ’ He screamed as the black creature leapt at him, his little salt circle doing nothing to protect him from the flesh and blood beast. Its massive jaws ripped out his throat in one swift movement, spraying his blood all over the ground.

Blackhale suddenly pushed her to her knees, shouting at his remaining men to kill it and that was when she noticed how close to her his now-forgotten knife was. She glanced up. His eyes were on the monster. She reached for it slowly, keeping her body still. Her fingers brushed the metal and she grabbed it, swinging it in an arc right into Blackhale’s thigh. He roared, striking her down so hard she rolled halfway across the circle with the force of his blow. She clutched her cheek and looked up just in time to see him looming over her. He was so enraged she knew he was going to kill her now even though without her he couldn’t open his precious portal.

With nothing to lose, she lunged and clutched the knife still sticking out of his leg. She used her own momentum to twist it before dragging it out and was gratified by the scream that was forced from his lungs. She drew back, keeping both him and the beast in her sights, dripping knife at the ready intending to stab anyone or thing that came close.

Without warning, a sword erupted from the middle of Blackhale’s chest. His eyes bulged and his mouth widened in a silent scream as blood began to pour out of it. The blade was withdrawn. He jerked and choked, looking incredulous, before falling to his knees and slumping to the side. Blackhale was dead and behind him stood Mace, his face consumed by such fury and bloodlust that she took a step back in concern.

She caught sight of Lucian outside the circle, finishing the rest of Blackhale’s men with a brutal precision that gave her a funny sense of pride despite the confusing feelings she had for him. But where was Kade, she worried.

She struggled to her feet and practically fell into Mace’s arms. ‘How did you find me?’

‘Luck. Very good luck,’ he replied, pulling her close before turning her this way and that for his inspection. He pulled a bandage from the pouch at his belt and pressed the square of muslin to her neck where Blackhale’s knife had cut her. ‘Are you hurt anywhere else?’

‘I don’t think so, but … that beast is killing everyone and the salt only seemed to keep the lightning strikes away.’

The creature in question stepped into the circle at that moment and she scuttled back towards Mace with her knife out in front of her. The monster was enormous and even more terrifying now that it had set its sights on her. She’d never seen anything so completely black. It was covered in scales that seem to suck in any light that touched them. It resembled a dog or wolf and yet was as similar to one as a goat was to a horse. Its tail was barbed and that too dripped blood. It prowled towards her and it was all she could do not to turn and flee. She was frightened; terrified out of her wits. She glanced at Mace who was looking strangely calm considering the thing was stalking them.

‘Don’t frighten her,’ Mace said warningly.

Her eyes widened and flew back to the beast. Its eyes were as dark as the rest of it and oddly … familiar. She gasped as she stared, disbelievingly. ‘This isn’t Kade …’

‘He wanted to tell you, but he was afraid.’

‘Afraid?’ she breathed.

‘Of your reaction. His relationship with the beast is … complex.’

‘You speak as if the beast is separate,’ she breathed. ‘Where does it come from?’ She had so many questions. She turned to Mace with a sudden realisation. ‘Was this why he kept making me wear his clothes? Why he smells me when I thinks I don’t notice?

Mace made a face. ‘He likes his scent on you. You can question him later. I’m sure he’ll tell you anything you’d like to know.’

Kade slinked closer, his unblinking eyes never leaving hers. She tensed as he sniffed her and Mace put a steadying hand on her shoulder as Lucian looked on from the circle’s edge.

Kade licked her hand. His tongue was as black as the rest of him but it felt no different than a dog’s. He lay at her feet and promptly fell asleep.

‘The beast likes you,’ Mace informed her.

‘It doesn’t like everyone?’ she teased.

‘Only Lucian and I and even we sometimes get a nip or two.’

Kora reached down and stroked her fingers along the scales of his back and he made a satisfied sound that made her grin.

‘What happens now?’

‘You tell us what Blackhale was doing.’ Mace ordered, still very much the leader. His dominance made her shiver, not unpleasantly.

‘He was trying to re-open his portal and he was told my blood would do it,’ she said simply, not really wanting to go into the details with him out here in the forest. ‘Can we go back to the keep now?’

‘Yes,’ Mace said, wiping Blackhale’s blood from his sword. ‘If they’re all dead?’ he called to Lucian.

Lucian slipped his blade under a fallen man’s ribs and nodded. ‘Now they are’, he stated cheerfully. His eyes narrowed on her and he looked furious. ‘In case Mace hasn’t told you, you’ve earned yourself a punishment, girl.’

‘What have I done?’

‘You gave no regard to your own safety.’

Kora frowned. ‘I was trying to save you and your keep from a powerful and ruthless madman! Perhaps you three should be punished for your most trusted man turning out to be Blackhale’s spy,’ she retorted, then blanched, her eyes starting to prickle.

They both turned sombre immediately and Kora grimaced as she forced back the tears. Whatever pangs she felt at Davas’ betrayal, it must be much worse for them. She’d only known the man a matter of weeks, but they had since they’d been with the Army. ‘I’m sorry – ’ she began, but Mace hushed her.

‘Never put yourself in such danger again’, he warned. ‘Davas was my fault. I failed you.’

‘You couldn’t have known,’ she argued, unwilling to let Mace take all of this upon his shoulders. ‘Blackhale told him he had his daughter, you see? He was just trying to save his girl.’

Lucian rolled his eyes. ‘You are far too forgiving.’ His face turned bleak. ‘We’ll see if you still are after my confession.’

‘Now?’ Mace asked. ‘Let’s get back to the keep – ’

‘No, I want her to know what I’ve done.’ Lucian said, his eyes not leaving her. ‘I bound you to me. I began a ritual; a blood rite that cannot be undone once it’s started. I tasted your blood when I bit your lip and I gave you mine when I kissed you.’

‘What does that mean?’ Kora asked.

‘When the others do the same, the binding will be complete and you will be our Fourth. It means you’re ours and we are yours. Irreversibly.’

‘Your slave forever?’ she asked in a small voice, wanting to curl into a ball and weep bitter tears at the thought and knowing she’d have to plan yet another escape because she couldn’t allow that to be her fate.

‘No, not as a slave. A Fourth is an equal part of the unit, though,’ Lucian’s eyes rolled yet again, ‘Kade’s beast will probably call you its mate.’

Kora let out a breath. How could he have done such a thing without telling her – asking her? ‘Why did you do it?’ she demanded, tears threatening again, ‘So you can play your tricks, be cruel to me – for the rest of my days?’

‘No,’ he looked angry again, but she could see it was directed at himself. ‘I hadn’t planned to do it …’

‘No, after all your deceits and games you schemed to fuck me when I was helpless to resist you. To see if I was as good as the others told you I was. That’s what you said, wasn’t it?’

‘That was a jest in bad taste. Please, Kora, don’t – ’ He looked heartbroken, but she steeled herself to his lies.

‘Can we please go now,’ she asked Mace again, ignoring Lucian entirely.

‘Aye.’

They journeyed back to the keep, her home now, she supposed, in silence. She rode Kade’s horse while he ran alongside them until they were at the main gate. There he left them, returning a few moments later having changed back into the man and gotten dressed.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that at first she didn’t see that the men in the yard were all kneeling by the wall, their hands on their heads. But the Brothers did, drawing their swords as they entered the keep and shuttering their expressions. She stayed behind them, seeing soldiers she didn’t recognise and another three men in black who could only be another unit of Dark Army. A carriage pulled by four dappled horses waited in the middle of the yard and her brow furrowed. On the side of it was her family’s crest.

‘Kora? Kora!’

She knew that voice.

‘Uncle Royce?’ She swung her leg over the saddle and slid down from the tall horse’s back. ‘Uncle? Is that you?’

He ran down the kitchen steps and across the yard, arms outstretched. He was well-dressed and looked much more a lord than the sea captain she remembered, but she’d know his scarred face and bushy red beard anywhere. He reminded her of Davas, she thought, or perhaps it had been the other way around.

‘I’ve searched for you, lass.’

She ran into his arms with a cry. ‘I never thought I’d see you again,’ she said, finally giving in to the tears she’d been wanting to cry.

He held her tightly, whispering that he’d almost given up hope. He drew back. ‘Come with me now. I’ll take you somewhere safe.’

‘But the Brothers …’

He cut Mace, Lucian and Kade a hard look. ‘I have my own unit of Dark Brothers in my employ. These ones don’t have the numbers to keep you. We’ll sort out the Writ of Ownership as soon as you take your rightful place.’

‘So my father and mother are truly dead.’

He heaved a long sigh. ‘They are. It was quick, I’m told.’

In a daze, Kora let her uncle lead her to the carriage. She clutched his arm tightly, afraid all of this wasn’t truly happening.

She glanced up at the Brothers across the yard. They simply watched, all three of their countenances grim. Kade opened his mouth, but Mace silenced him with a shake of his head.

Kora wanted to say something, tell them goodbye, wish them well. But she found she couldn’t say anything. Lip quivering, she let her uncle help her into the carriage.

And then they were moving, the walls of the keep growing smaller behind them. Royce put his burly arm around her and she turned into him, letting the comforting smell of him envelop her.

After everything that she had been through she was free, or would be very soon. So why was she feeling so adrift? So sad?