Page 14

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The storm Rohan had feared looked to be headed straight for them. He had kept an eye on it all day. Dusk had swallowed the clouds, preventing him from seeing its approach, but he felt it in the wind. Anyone living on the shore for long enough would sense it. He didn’t worry about Kalyani preparing.

He looked over his shoulder at the elf. She sat on the ground, staring off to the side, seemingly lost in thought. They hadn’t gone as far as he had hoped, but made it farther than he had anticipated after their rocky start. She hadn’t walked sluggishly in an effort to hinder him or tried to use her leg as an excuse to slow them down.

They hadn’t exchanged words in hours, either. He had envisioned endless dialogues about how he had been wrong to force her into his plan, or how he would never find his people or his sister. He had even predicted she might attempt to escape. There had been none of that. Not a single word in an attempt to change his mind. Which meant he hadn’t had to use her secret against her yet.

Rohan walked over to her and sat. She was so lost in her head that she didn’t seem to notice him. He wondered what she pondered so diligently. Yet her pensiveness allowed him to assess her at will.

She had surprised him. He didn’t like being caught off guard by others. He had evaluated her and determined her behavior. His mistake was measuring her against the other elves he had interacted with. Was that because she was a Wood Elf , a trained spy, or was it just her nature? He might never know, and he didn’t really care. She was a means to an end. Nothing more.

She lifted her head to look where he had been standing. When she didn’t see him, her gaze darted about, almost as if she were afraid to be left alone, though he knew that to be false. Her brows snapped together when she found him sitting diagonally to her. Then she smoothed her expression and turned her head away.

Rohan stretched out on his side, straightening his legs to cross them at the ankles, propping himself up on a forearm. “ What’s your plan?”

“ Excuse me?” she asked with a confused expression.

“ Did you really think I wouldn’t notice that you’ve not attempted to escape or thwart me in any way? You’ve not even tried to talk me out of my plan. Haven’t even told me there was no way I’d find my people.”

“ Would any of it have done any good?”

He shook his head once.

“ Then there’s your answer. A fire would be nice.”

“ It will draw attention.”

She absently rubbed her hand over her left thigh. “ What about animals? Shouldn’t we have a fire to keep them away?”

“ My guess is you’ll placate me until we reach Mortham . Once we’re inside, you’ll turn me over to the guards and wash your hands of me.”

“ It’s not a bad plan. I’ve been mulling that one over.”

She surprised him again by admitting it. “ I won’t let that happen,” he said.

“ You wouldn’t be able to stop me.”

He grinned. Let her think that.

“ Even you realize that.” Farah moved her braid over her shoulder. “ You should return to your sister and save what’s left of your village.”

“ Not an option.”

Farah shook her head and huffed. “ You have no idea what you’re getting into. Do you know how large the compound is? It’s eight stories high and twice that in length. Guards are everywhere. They are always watching. The sheer number of rooms where they keep the prisoners would boggle your mind. Even if you were able to look into each of them, you wouldn’t want to. Not to mention opening those doors. They’re locked by magic, and only certain people can open them.”

“ Why wouldn’t I want to look inside?”

She gaped at him. “ That’s what you took away from what I said?”

“ Why ?” he pressed.

“ What do you think happens to those who are taken?”

The last bit of light was vanishing quickly, leaving her face in shadow. Soon , he would only be able to make out her silhouette. “ They’re taken and sold.”

“ Much more happens.”

“ Like ?”

There was a pause before she spoke, almost making him believe she didn’t want to tell him the rest. “ Had the explosion not happened, your group would’ve been split up. My job was to look for anyone who believed they could escape. The defiant ones—and there is always at least one—are brought in front of the group and…”

“ And ?” he urged.

Another stretch of silence fell between them. She drew in a deep breath. “ They inevitably try to make their escape. Either by attacking one of us or running for the door. Either way, they’re dragged back and tortured with fists, magic, and anything else that can be found. Then they’re hauled away to another area, where the beating continues. The goal is to immediately remove any insolence and rebelliousness.”

“ You need them meek.”

“ The show works. Whatever fight is left in them, it’s abruptly and utterly squashed. They all assume the same posture. Heads down, eyes on the floor, and shoulders stooped. We lead them to rooms, where they await their turn. Until then, they’re fed, bathed, and cared for.”

Rohan had imagined some of it, but it was far worse than he could have presumed. Cold anger slid through him. “ You think taking care of the people you’ve ripped from their homes and families makes up for what you’ve done?”

“ I’m not asking for your forgiveness.”

“ Good , because you’ll never get it. Not from me or anyone else.”

She dug into her bag and took out some of the flat bread and dried fish he’d packed. “ That isn’t even the worst of it.”

There was more? Of course, there was. He didn’t want to hear it, but he had asked. If Lata was enduring it, then he would listen to anything the elf had to say.

“ Those brought in aren’t just stripped of their freedoms, they endure agonizing torture. Not because they did anything, but because they’re simply there. Those deemed unable to be sold because they’ve not learned their place, remain forever in the fort, chained to a wall to be brutalized daily. A few have come off that wall. You’ll see them working at Mortham , a shell of who they once were. With all that suffering, you would think wails and shouts would fill the air, yet there is only silence. Because even that small bit of liberty is stolen from them.”

“ Their tongues are cut out?” he asked.

“ Sometimes . Others are stripped of their identities, their minds broken. They can’t think for themselves. They only obey.”

He clenched his hands into fists, imagining wrapping his fingers around a neck and squeezing the life out of whoever had taken Lata . “ The perfect slaves.”

“ Aye ,” she said, so low he barely heard it.

“ How long are the people held?”

She shrugged. “ Depends . Sometimes , a few days. Other times, months.”

“ And the auctions? Where are they held?”

Farah tore off a piece of the bread and brought it to her mouth. “ I don’t know, but it isn’t at Mortham .”

She could be lying. He wanted to believe she was, but he sensed she wasn’t. She wanted him to know what he was getting into. Possibly to scare him into giving up his plan. All she had done was reinforce his need to get to Mortham . Lata could still be there.

Rohan rolled onto his back and laced his fingers behind his head to gaze up at the night sky. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t search the entire complex on his own. He’d be noticed and caught within moments. If by some miracle he found Lata or any of his people, he wouldn’t be able to get the doors to their rooms open. The only way his plan might work was with Farah .

“ If you continue with this plan,” she said, interrupting his thoughts, “you’ll leave Kalyani alone. You’ll end up inside Mortham . They’ll lock on to your strength and resistance, and they will torture you. Your days will be filled with unending pain until you plead for death.”

“ And I suppose you’ll be the one delivering that torture.”

“ There are specialists for that.”

Specialists . By the gods, these individuals had to be stopped. “ My duty was to protect my village?—”

“ Then return to those who remain and do that. Those taken are beyond your help.”

He turned his head to her, seeing her dark shadow against the night. “ That might be what you would do, but that isn’t me.”

“ I’m trying to help you see the truth.”

“ The only truth I know is that these Masters , whoever they are, must be stopped.”

She turned her head to the side. “ It won’t be by a human.”

“ It has to begin somewhere. If that’s me, then so be it.”

“ All you’re doing is killing yourself and leaving your people defenseless.”

“ If that’s a threat, I’ll take your life right now rather than have you bring others back to Siguk .”

She sighed loudly. “ You couldn’t possibly believe you would be able to manipulate me into doing whatever you wanted. And if you did, you’re no better than the Masters .”

Rohan sat up and glared in her direction. “ Don’t you dare compare me to them. You weren’t beaten or sold.”

“ Your definition of being held against my will and mine are two different things. You didn’t ask for my help, you demanded it. You threatened and intimidated. The very idea of me in your precious village repulses you.”

“ Aye , it does. More than you could possibly know.”

“ If you’re so worried about your people, you wouldn’t have brought me there, nor would you be heading toward Mortham ,” she told him.

He rose to his feet and sent her a scathing look. “ You’ve obviously never had someone you loved taken. If you had, you would know the unrelenting weight of that loss, and the persistent need to bring them back because you didn’t do enough to protect them. You have no concept of such a tragedy. And you never will. You aren’t capable of feeling that kind of anguish.”

“ You know nothing about me,” she bit out.

“ Oh , I know you, elf. I know more than I ever wanted.”

She tossed aside the food and got to her feet. “ What’s that supposed to mean?”

“ You work for the DIA .”