That dreadful moan cut through my shock, and I spun to my left. An old man lay on his side, surrounded by blood that still seeped from wounds in his arms and legs. I went to him, crouching near his face as his blood soaked into my boots. His eyes were closed. Something drove me to place my hand on his cheek.
He moaned again, though his eyes didn’t open.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, wishing there was something, anything,I could do. Bloody deaths weren’t something I saw often. Starvation, disease, old age—those were the killers that took lives in my village, not swords and axes. But even I knew there was too much blood for this man to survive.
His head turned into my hand, seeking comfort I didn’t know how to provide. I was never a soft-hearted caretaker, and for the first time in my life, I wished I was. Cracked lips parted, a sigh escaped, and then his chest stopped its desperate struggle to move.
Not a breath later, the unmistakable sounds of hooves had me jolting to my feet. Horses and men galloped through the village’s center, their path set on me.
If I’d thought the strange-eyed woman was bad, this was…well, this was probably the end. It wasn’t because of the hard set of their mouths or the way their cold, beady eyes locked on me like a target, but because of the dark crimson splattering their clothes.
These men had done this to these people.
Chapter 3
Ididn’t bother running. There was no monstrous river here to whisk me away, and running on foot would be pointless against horses. Instead, I watched them bear down on me, wondering why they’d come back. Their horses stomped on fallen bodies as they surrounded me, and I cringed at the soft, wet sounds they made.
The circle around me parted, and an enormous white horse sliced through the crowd. Its rider wore a vibrant blue cloak lined with white spotted furs, and heavy gold chains hung around his thin neck. The same gold sat in a woven ring on short white-blonde hair. His pomp and posture told me all I needed to know. When the men dipped their heads, I was certain.
This man was a Princeps.
And the Princeps of Third Territory was Koerlyn. The heartless, terrible Koerlyn.
Fear finally seized my chest, and I struggled to hide my shallow breaths.
As if seeing right through my efforts, his smooth alabaster skin shifted, making way for a smile that was all cruelty. “Well, it appears the rumors are correct.” His tenor oozed vanity as he took his time pronouncing every syllable.
It was the voice of power and pretentiousness, not gritty work. Itwas the voice of someone who committed thoughtless atrocities on a whim by merely ordering others to do it. His smile widened as he let the mystery of his statement hang in the air.
He wanted me to ask what he meant. I wouldn’t, if only because my voice would shake like a child’s.
Finally, he relented. “I will admit, it was quite an inconvenience when I was informed of your possible presence in the area, and I had to turn back to this hideous village mere hours after we left.” His horse began to circle me.
I stood still as I processed his words. He had come here looking for me. APrinceps. Someone, maybe the tree men, had told him that I trespassed onto his land, and he couldn’t let that go unpunished.
“But it was well, well worth it,” he said, completing his circle and stopping before me. Pale blue eyes shined with excitement as they met mine. “Those violet and gold eyes are lovely, darling.”
Violet and gold eyes.
This was not about trespassing, then, but what that woman had done to me. He was here for the same reason those men tried to capture me. Dread replaced the fear. These eyeswere notmine, but a temporary side effect of whatever had happened in those woods.
“They aren’t my eyes,” I heard myself whisper like an idiot.
Koerlyn threw his head back and laughed, the sound delicate and feminine, as the men remained quiet.
Abruptly, he stopped. The temperature plummeted. “Are you calling me a liar?” It was not a question, but a sharp weapon that told me speaking at all had been a horrible mistake.
Of course it was. He’s a Princeps.My throat filled with cotton.
I dipped my head, choosing my next words carefully. One misstep, and I would experience something worse than death. Skies, I was so far out of my depths. I’d only ever seen a Princeps once in my life, never mind learned the proper way to address one. “No. I mean that,until yesterday, my eyes were brown. The purple did not originally belong to me,” I said.
Pain erupted on my shoulder, and my head snapped up as I recoiled. I found the whip in Koerlyn’s hand, its wicked tassels swaying. Frantically, I felt along the cloak that covered my stinging skin, finding tears in the fabric but no blood.
I met his eyes again, stunned by the frigidity I found.
“You forgot to use my title, darling. I let it slip the first time, but I could not stand such disrespect the second,” he explained, shrugging flippantly. “You will learn soon enough, considering all the time we are about to spend together.”
Please, no,I wanted to beg, but I didn’t want to meet his whip again. Logic told me pleading to the man who’d thoughtlessly slain an entire village of men, women, and children would accomplish nothing good. They were going to take me. There was nothing I could do.
