Sold to Serve by Kyra Alessy

Chapter 3

The cock crowed at dawn and the cook was kicking her awake not long after. She stood and rubbed her eyes, her feet aching but better than the day before.

‘Light the fire,’ he ordered and began getting ingredients together. ‘You shouldn’t have let it go out,’ he admonished. ‘Breakfast will be late now and, mark my words, I’ll make sure everyone knows they have you to thank for it.’

She stared at the hearth, her stomach sinking. She hadn’t known to keep the fire going and she had no idea how to light it now. She saw some sticks in a basket and scattered them in the grate haphazardly, wondering what to do next.

‘The flint’s on the top of the mantle there,’ he called.

Of course.She grabbed the stones and looked at them. She’d seen this done a hundred times. Surely it wasn’t hard. Kneeling down, she thrust the stones together again and again. They didn’t spark even once. She made a sound of impatience.

‘Did you not hear me, girl?’ he asked from just behind her.

She turned. ‘It won’t light.’ Ugh, she sounded like a fool even to her own ears.

He gave her a hard look and took the stones. ‘Not that way it won’t.’

He grabbed some dried moss from the basket, bent down, cracked the two stones together and it lit immediately.

The day proceeded in much the same way. The cook would tell her to do something and she wouldn’t have the slightest idea how to do the thing he asked. Scouring the pewter, baking the bread, making porridge; she could do none of these things. By the afternoon, he was at his wits’ end.

‘Did you not work when you were a house slave?’ he yelled at her, frustrated. ‘I’ve heard your kind are indulged, as slaves go, but I never thought … you can’t even make gruel, girl.’

She cringed at his words. ‘I-I’m sorry,’ she said lamely.

‘I can see why they wanted to be rid of you,’ he finally said quietly, standing with a heavy sigh. ‘I’m going to tell one of the Brothers.’

Mace and Lucian are brothers?

She grabbed his arm with a gasp. ‘Please don’t,’ she pleaded. ‘I will try harder, I promise. I’m sorry I don’t know these things. I was … coddled.’ Not a lie. ‘But I am a quick study. If you show me how to do things, I will learn them in haste.’ He hesitated and she fell to her knees. ‘I beg you.’

He swore as he often did. ‘Ach! Fine, but you learn quickly. I won’t show you anything more than once.’

That night she was too tired to think of anything except sleep. She hadn’t been let out of the kitchen even once since she’d been brought here. She was asleep as soon as she closed her eyes.

The next day started much the same, but this time she’d fed the fire during the night. When the cook woke her, he glanced at the hearth and grunted his approval. She almost grinned and was surprised to find that his praise made her feel better.

They made the breakfast porridge and he even gave her a bowl. She did smile at him then, and for a moment his customary frown melted away.

‘What is your name?’ she asked him suddenly.

‘Davas.’

‘Davas,’ she repeated. ‘I’m Kora.’ She bit her lip and looked back up at him. ‘May I call you Davas?’

He didn’t answer immediately. She thought he would tell her off for asking, but finally he shrugged. ‘I suppose.’

He ladled out three more bowls.

‘Who are those for?’

He gave her a funny look. He was thinking her a simpleton again. ‘Lucian, Mace and Kade, of course.’

‘There’s a third?’

He gave her another look. ‘There are always three,’ he said slowly as if she were an idiot.

She didn’t have a chance to ask him anymore because someone entered the kitchen. She felt rather than saw him, but she knew it was Lucian. She shot to her feet and busied herself with chores, ignoring him completely. Apparently that was the wrong thing to do.

‘Girl!’ he barked.

She turned to face him, staring at the floor. ‘Yes, my lord?’, she ground out.

Having snared her attention, he now ignored her, instead addressing Davas. ‘Mace is upstairs trying to make sense of the account books again. He’ll take his breakfast there.’

The cook nodded. ‘Aye, sir. I’ll just take this to – ’

‘Let the slave take Kade’s,’ he interjected.

The cook frowned. ‘Wouldn’t it be better if I – ’

‘No, it wouldn’t.’ Lucian’s tone was hard.

Davas sighed. ‘Aye, sir.’ He picked up both bowls and thrust one into her hands. ‘Take this to the other side of the square. You’ll find a door into the smithy. Put it on the workbench on the other side of the room quietly and then come straight back here.’

She took the bowl and nodded, wondering at these very specific instructions. Lucian had a nasty, mischievous gleam in his eye and Davas was very nervous. Something wasn’t right. She was being tricked, but she couldn’t see how. And there was nothing she could do. She had to obey or face punishment. She turned to go, knowing that Lucian’s eyes followed.

‘Well, at least you found her some clothes though she looks ridiculous in them,’ he said loudly.

Kora had to stop herself from turning around and demanding to know why he was such an insufferable arse. She tried not to let his words bother her and was angry that on some level they did. It was better not to look tempting in her current position anyway, she told herself.

She walked from the keep, noting that the portcullis was open again. They must have it raised all day and only shut it at night. So day was the best time to leave, but with so many men milling about, it would be nigh on impossible to get through the gate without being noticed. She made her way through the yard, head held high, ignoring the lewd comments she heard and trying not to remember that every man had seen her all but naked the day before.

She opened the door to the smithy and walked inside. The door swung to gently behind her and she looked around. It was so dark compared with the bright sunshine outside that it took her a moment to locate the table Davas had spoken of. It was hot in here as well. She couldn’t see the fire, but she could hear the roar of it under her feet. She wiped her brow, already slick with sweat, and crossed the room. She put the bowl on the table next to some objects she assumed were for intricate metalworking. Unable to help herself, her finger traced one of the small metal tools.

Suddenly she found herself pressed hard against the warm stone wall, a massive hand wrapped around her throat.

* * *

‘Who the fuck are you?’ he roared.

He squeezed the boy’s throat just enough to scare him shitless. Little bastard thought to come in here and see the beast of the keep, did he? He’d give him a fucking monster to tell the other village lads about. He snarled at the boy when no answer was forthcoming. He was breathing fast; short little pants that made Kade grin evilly. He hadn’t had this good a diversion in a good long while. Not since they’d come to this place to begin their new life now that their old one was closed to them – or at least his was.

He sighed despondently at the familiar thought, terrorising the small boy no longer such an entertaining prospect.

He knew what was said about him, the beast from a dark realm with the melted face and body. The stories the locals told in the tavern while in their cups usually had him chuckling quietly in the corner, hiding behind his tankard with his hood pulled well up. He’d heard that one of his legs was gone, his fingers were fused together into a claw that he killed with and his cock had been burnt away; that he wandered the woods late at night and would snatch unruly children from their beds to feast upon during the dark moon. The stories were what they were, but he wasn’t going to be gawked at in his own smithy. Everyone knew not to come in here. The trespass couldn’t go unpunished.

His fingers flexed and a low cry erupted from the boy; a very feminine cry. In the darkness he froze, listening for more, but none was forthcoming. He sniffed the air. Yes, she was definitely a female. His other hand reached out slowly and touched her. Long hair. Lower. A gasp as his fingers brushed over a rather bountiful breast and a nipple that beaded at his touch.

Suddenly he was furious. So she thought she’d come to ogle the monster without a weapon between his legs, did she? His eyes narrowed to slits in the darkness. He’d teach her how wrong the stories were.

* * *

She gagged,her hands trying to pry the thick fingers away from her neck. She couldn’t breathe! Blackness invaded her vision and she felt her legs give out. She awoke a moment later. He hadn’t moved his hand from her throat, but she could take in air, barely.

‘Who the fuck are you?’ he demanded again even more angrily, punctuating each word by shaking her.

‘Slave,’ she gasped out, afraid he wouldn’t hear her feeble voice.

‘What slave?’

She pulled at his hand. ‘Please.’ She was getting dizzy again. He let her go and she slumped against the rough wall, gasping. ‘Mace bought me in Kingway,’ she wheezed. His fists moved to the wall on either side of her, caging her in. She felt his hot breath as he leaned down towards her, but she still couldn’t see his face.

‘You?’ he sniffed. ‘What are you doing snooping in here?’ His voice was still low, but it wasn’t nearly as menacing now.

‘I wasn’t snooping,’ she said, realising as the words came out that she sounded as arrogant as Lucian. ‘I wasn’t snooping,’ she said again, meekly as she could. ‘I was bringing your breakfast.’

‘Davas does that.’

She shuddered. She couldn’t help it. ‘Lucian wanted him for something else, so he sent me.’

‘Lucian sent you. I should have known. Fucking prick. Unless … perhaps he sent you as a gift.’

‘A gift?’ she squeaked.

Without warning, his lips descended on hers, hard and demanding something she didn’t know enough to give. He drew away. ‘Too good to kiss me back, slave? Shall I tell Lucian?’

‘No!’ she said quickly, remembering Lucian’s threats. His lips found hers again and she tried desperately to do as he wanted.

He pulled back again. ‘I can take what I want, you know. Or do you believe the stories?’

He ground his pelvis into her, a hardness pressing against her stomach. ‘Perhaps you only ventured in here because you thought I wasn’t a threat,’ he murmured. ‘You shouldn’t listen to rumours, girl.’

‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she rasped, but he ignored her.

He gripped her hair and bared her neck to him, kissing and licking her skin with a fervour she didn’t understand. He smelled like smoke and metal and there was something about it she liked. She moaned and then gasped in embarrassment, pushing at him.

‘Please, stop,’ she begged hoarsely.

‘Why? You’re mine as well if you aren’t a freewoman. I have a right to you if I choose. Those are your laws, aren’t they?’

Her lip quivered in the dark. He was right. That was the law. She had to stop thinking of herself as a freewoman. She had no property now, no rights. They could do anything they wanted with her and no one would gainsay them. Dread pooled in her gut.

‘You’re scaring me,’ she whispered, wishing she could unsay the words as soon as they were uttered. She sounded so pitiful.

‘I am large,’ he confessed, with little humility. ‘It might hurt at first, but I have a feeling you’ll enjoy it.’

His words didn’t make sense to her. A tear slipped down her cheek. ‘I don’t understand.’

He gave a low laugh. ‘Never had a good, hard fuck, eh?’

Horrified, she choked back a sob but said nothing.

A coarse finger trailed down her cheek. ‘Tears?’ He was silent and unmoving for a moment. ‘You’ve never had a fuck at all.’ It wasn’t a question.

Again, she didn’t reply.

Then he a made a noise that sounded like a beast, a growl from deep in his chest. ‘There’s a first time for everything, lass,’ he murmured, and then his lips were on hers again. She whimpered as she felt him bunching up her skirt, moving up her thigh. His fingers were in her smallclothes in an instant and then delving into the slit between her legs. She cried out in shock and he made a surprised sound.

‘You’re so wet,’ he growled. ‘You like this.’ He sounded incredulous. ‘You like this,’ he said again, sounding much more determined than he had before.

She was saved as the door was thrown open. It was too bright to see who it was, but Mace’s voice thundered through the room. ‘Kade,’ he warned.

‘Fuck,’ sighed the large man holding her, sounding very much like a boy caught doing something he oughtn’t.

Kade let go of her and her eyes widened as he put one of the fingers that had just been playing with her into his mouth. He gave a deep, almost animalistic sound of contentment.

Mace beckoned her. ‘Come.’

‘Saved for now, little slave,’ he mocked as she walked slowly to where Mace stood and out into the sun.

The door closed behind her and she took a breath and fell against it, covering her face with her hands.

‘Why were you in there?’ Mace sounded very angry indeed.

She looked up at him, shielding her eyes from the sun. Should she tell him the truth?

‘I was taking him his morning meal,’ she said at last.

‘Who put you up to it? Was it Davas or Lucian?’

She didn’t say anything, not sure which would get her into more trouble. He grabbed her arm.

‘Where are you taking me?’

Mace dragged her into the keep without an explanation, his strides so long that she had to scurry to keep from tripping. They began to ascend a spiral staircase so worn away that it looked more like a jagged chute than a set of steps. He was taking three at a time and she couldn’t. Her legs just weren’t long enough. Her foot slipped and she half fell. He hoisted her up, not saying a word, though it seemed like his pace slowed a fraction.

On the first-floor landing, he marched her to an imposing door and thrust it open. It rebounded loudly off the wall as he pushed her into the small library. The room was in complete disarray. Some books were on shelves, but most of them lay in haphazard piles or were stacked in wonky towers that threatened to fall should even a faint breeze blow through the casements.

Lucian sat in a tall chair in front of the unlit fire, a book in one hand and a goblet of wine in the other, looking every inch the proud lord of the manor.

‘You’re starting early today,’ Mace commented, gesturing at the wine, his tone just a bit disapproving.

Lucian hadn’t looked up, not even during their noisy entrance. ‘I’ve told you. I don’t like the taste of the water here,’ he said nonchalantly. ‘Have you come to lecture me on the evils of imbibing before midday?’

‘No. I just came from the smithy.’

Lucian looked up then, a cold smile creasing his handsome face. When he saw her, his countenance turned vicious. ‘No worse for wear?’

‘Aye. No thanks to you.’ Mace prowled towards him, leaving her standing in the middle of the room.

Lucian calmly marked the page in his book and set his wine on the table beside him before he stood to meet his friend. ‘Well? Get it done, then.’

Mace struck him hard, so quickly that Kora hardly saw his fist move. Lucian staggered and Kora screeched, her hand covering her mouth in shock. When he righted himself, Lucian wiped his lip and spat some blood onto the stone floor.

‘There. All is right with the world, Brother. Take the slave back to the kitchen on your way to the yard.’

‘We aren’t finished,’ Mace ground out. ‘You know how he is. He could easily have injured her.’

Lucian rolled his eyes. ‘Gods, why do you care? Because she was expensive?’ He sighed at Mace’s still-furious expression. ‘She isn’t dead. She isn’t even hurt. He didn’t lay a finger on her from the looks of things. It was just a bit of entertainment.’

Kora looked down, hoping neither of the men noticed her cheeks aflame. The large smith had done much more than lay a finger on her.

‘Girl.’ Lucian addressed her. ‘Did our Brother hurt you?’

Kora continued to stare at the floor, wishing she could sink into it. ‘No, my lord.’

‘Look at me when you speak!’ he commanded sharply.

Kora raised her head and eyes slowly, trying to compose herself until she was looking at both men.

‘Your games become tedious, Brother,’ Mace grumbled.

Lucian ignored him. ‘And did he lay a finger on you?’

Kora felt her cheeks heating anew. She couldn’t hide it from them. She knew well what her blush looked like, and it wouldn’t be missed. She couldn’t look at them, so she stared past them through the casement that overlooked the hillside.

‘Y-yes, my lord.’

Lucian’s eyes narrowed and he stalked towards her. It took everything in her to face him down. Without warning, a finger lightly brushed her lips. She pulled away with a gasp. ‘Your lips are swollen,’ he muttered sceptically. ‘Did you try to fuck him, slave? I’ve heard about house slaves. Do you seduce all your masters?’

Kora’s eyes focused on him and her lip curled, a wave of anger momentarily eclipsing her fear. She found herself suddenly sick of their disapproving assertions. Who were they to judge her? Mercenaries were no better than thieves and murderers in her book.

‘Of course not!’ she snapped. ‘How would I? I was in there for a few moments, and you sent me to him in the first place.’ She scoffed at him. ‘My lord.’

He raised a brow at her tirade and looked back at Mace. ‘Such a brave little thing, isn’t she?’ His head swivelled back, a look in his eye that she was coming to recognise – and to hate. ‘Do you know what we are?’

She shook her head.

‘Have you really not guessed? I wouldn’t have thought you were simple. Look at me. Look at Mace. What do you see?’

Kora looked from one man to the other. What was his game now? ‘I see two men who call each other brother, my lord.’

‘There are three of us,’ he reminded her. ‘Three men who wear black and call each other Brother. Can you really not see?’

Kora frowned. Three men; brothers who wore black. She gasped and reflexively took a step back. Dark Brothers! It all made sense. The weapons, their men, the Brothers themselves. The stories she had heard were few and far between, but everyone knew Dark Brothers were not to be toyed with. Members of the Dark Army were dangerous and feared, and they’d do anything if the price was right – and she was stuck in a keep with three of them.

‘Yes. You understand now, don’t you, slave? The danger you’re in; all the things that could befall you while you’re completely in our power,’ he murmured in her ear. ‘Now, you’re going to answer every question I have. Aren’t you?’

She shivered under his hard gaze, her fury gone, replaced in an instant by utter terror. ‘Yes, my lord.’

‘Good girl.’ His voice turned low; velvety and smooth. ‘Now, what exactly did my Brother say and do? Tell us everything from the moment you went through the door.’

‘Lucian,’ Mace interjected.

‘We need to know. It’s dangerous when he isn’t himself. He’s been spending his days and nights pounding metal in there since last spring. He barely speaks to us. He doesn’t see anyone. He doesn’t seem to care about anything yet he has taken an interest in your little purchase.’

Mace sighed. ‘Very well.’

Lucian stood in front of Kora, his looming presence even more intimidating now that she knew what he was. She clasped her hands in front of her, trying and failing to stop them from shaking. He was enjoying her discomfort immensely. He was breathing more quickly and he had such a look in his eyes. Anticipation.

She took a breath. Just tell them and be done. ‘He took me by the throat and asked me who I was. He knew that I was there because of you. He kissed me and then he …’ She trailed off, mortified that she was having to explain what Kade had done.

Lucian leaned closer to her and she fought the urge to run for the door. Even Mace was looking interested now, albeit reluctantly.

‘He what?’ Lucian probed.

‘He … put his hand under my dress and …’ She looked down, lip quivering. She couldn’t say it. She couldn’t even form the words. She was so far past mortified, she wasn’t sure there was a word for what she felt at this moment. But it was horrid.

Lucian lifted her chin, forcing her to look at them. Mace had drifted closer as well. They were both staring at her intently.

Lucian searched her face, a whisper of an unfriendly smile appearing on his. ‘Did he put his fingers in your cunt, slave?’

Kora’s eyes widened at the term he used. She didn’t answer him, but he took her silence for what it was. He didn’t seem angry. If anything, he looked pensive. Abruptly, he let her go and strolled to his table to polish off the rest of the wine in his cup. When he was finished, he shrugged at Mace.

‘You know he doesn’t tolerate anyone intruding in his lair. Even Davas sometimes gets bruises for his trouble.’

‘He likes her,’ Mace finally said.

‘He likes her,’ Lucian agreed. He surveyed her and shook his head. ‘The gods only know why.’

Kora opened her mouth, intending to say something. She didn’t know what, but there was plenty to say at this moment. The fact that Lucian had sent her to Kade intending that he should – what? Kill her? And no one seemed to care that Kade had accosted an unwilling woman. But it didn’t matter. Slaves didn’t matter. She let out a defeated breath. She didn’t matter.

She looked back out at the impressive view of the hills and tried to rally her spirits. That was what she had always done, even in the darkest days in her father’s house. That was how she had survived. It would be alright. She would escape just like she had before, and she’d never have to see these Dark Brothers again. She would make it back to the cloister in time and she would become a priest and she would finally be safe.

Someone knocked at the door and Lucian answered it, coming back a moment later with such an angry scowl on his face that she wondered what horror he’d subject her to next.

‘There’s been another raid on the local village,’ Lucian muttered to his Brother. ‘We need to talk.’

‘Aye.’

Lucian waved her away. ‘Go.’

Kora didn’t need to be told twice. She spun on her heel and fled, running down the stairs as quickly as she could. She turned towards the kitchen but stopped so abruptly that she almost fell. The portcullis was open. No one was awaiting her. Without a second thought, she made for the main door, making herself walk slowly. She pasted a mask of self-assurance on her face and stepped out into the sun. The men, quickly having become inured to her presence, didn’t take much notice of her. In a burst of inspiration, she grabbed an empty basket from a cart as she walked past and strolled towards the gate. Now she looked like she had a purpose, she thought triumphantly.

As she neared the large archway of the keep, her portal to freedom, a guard stepped into her path.

‘Where do you think you’re going, lass?’

She smiled at him demurely. Guilelessly. Her mask was seamless. She’d perfected it long ago. ‘Davas told me to pick some wolfsbane and feverfew. He said the meadow out by the wood was the best place to forage for it.’ Her heart was hammering in her chest. She didn’t know what wolfsbane and feverfew were for or even if a cook would use them in a kitchen.

The guard frowned. ‘I’m not sure that …’

‘He’s in the library with the Brothers if you’d like to ask him,’ she volunteered helpfully, smiling again. He wouldn’t bother them, she was certain.

He grinned back at her. ‘Go on, then, but don’t be long.’

She gave a mock curtsey and, with gall she had no idea she possessed, she winked at him and went on her way. She ambled across the bridge and down the track slowly, terrified that she’d hear a bellow and they’d give chase. But no one did. Once she was out of sight, she ran into the forest away from the road and due east; the direction of Kingway. From there she knew she could find her way back to the Temple.