She nearly choked on her disbelief that he would speak to her like this. It was no surprise that this was how he truly felt, as she’d overheard his soldiers repeat similar vile things he’d say previously, but she didn’t think he’d dare speak so bluntly directly to her.
He dug his hands into her thighs, trying to force her legs apart. She scooted as far back as she could on the bench seat, lifting a foot to try to kick him. But her skirt got in the way, and he captured her leg, dragging it up over his lap.
His other hand gripped her wrist to pull her in for another kiss.
She shrieked and fought against him. The driver must have heard her distress, but he didn’t stop the carriage, loyal to Captain Carr even when he was performing a crime.
She flashed a glance outside, trying to place where they were. She recognized a group of boulders flanking the path.
We’re getting close. I just have to hold him off a few more minutes . . .
He grabbed her by the back of the head, pulling her skull back so he could slide his tongue between her lips. She bucked her hips, but this only seemed to excite him.
She slapped at his shoulder, trying to push away. Her fingers twisted in his shirt, and she heard the fabric rip at the shoulder seam.
As she struggled, she glimpsed his bare shoulder in the moonlight through his torn shirt.
A hexmark was scarred into his skin.
She sucked in a breath and held it, frozen. “You have magic,” she finally gasped in accusation.
He leveled her with a cold smile.
Captain Carr, along with her parents and the other advisors, had been the staunchest critics of the Outland kingdoms for their use of magic. They’d called magic sinful. They’d derided it as nothing more than parlor tricks. They said it was backward, against science.
Fresh rage curdled in her chest. She made a fist and pounded it against his arm. “You have magic! Such hypocrisy from what you preach!”
He caught her wrists, giving her a dangerous look. Clearly, he’d never wanted her nor anyone to find out about this. Now it made sense why he always wore such heavy shirts even in summer.
“You’d do better to keep your mouth shut and your legs open, Lady Bryn. I’m growing impatient with it being the other way around.”
He lunged for her again.
Chapter
Forty
THE BATTLE OF SAINT SERREL . . . a parent's lies . . . a spark and fire . . . brothers at war . . . fallen friends
Of all the hypocritical, disgraceful sins that Bryn knew Captain Carr to be guilty of, it had never once entered her mind that he might have magic.
It was one thing for a witch like Illiana to work for the Mir common folk, but for someone as high ranking as Captain Carr to be fully versed in hexes was inconceivable. Didallthe Mirien’s advisors have the ability to cast spells, she wondered?
“My parents?” she murmured.
Captain Carr gave a snide laugh, her wrists still trapped in his fists.
“They both cast magic. A mage from Ruma came once a year to the High Sun Gathering to train them in new spells and carve fresh hexmarks.”
Now, everything began to make sense. This was how her parents were able to stay in power for so long despite their poor leadership, why their trade deals with the other kingdomsalways worked in their favor, how Mir crops were always so prosperous, and the army nearly undefeated.
My parents had magic.
Shock gave way to anger. Her whole life, Bryn’s mother and father had preached the benefits of science, hard work, and innovation to the common folk, discouraging magic as backward. They rooted out any evidence of magic, making an example of anyone caught using hexes by imprisoning them in a pillory in Mir Town square. And all of that, Bryn realized now, was to cover their own use of magic. If the common folk had magic, then they’d have more control over their own lives—as Bryn had witnesses in the Baersladen—and less need for a king and queen.
Captain Carr’s hands tightened on her wrists. “Had we more time, I wouldn’t mind your struggles. The look of fear in a woman’s eyes can be exciting, in fact. But I want you now, before we reach Saint Serrel’s shrine. You’ve seen that I have hexmarks—I won’t hesitate to use them to fill your body with pain unless you make it easy for me. It’s up to you.”
The carriage was slowing. They were close to the shrine—it was just around the next bend.
