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Chapters (61)
  1. Dedication
  2. Prologue
  3. Ashyn: One
  4. Two
  5. Three
  6. Four
  7. Five
  8. Six
  9. Seven
  10. Eight
  11. Moria: Nine
  12. Ten
  13. Eleven
  14. Twelve
  15. Thirteen
  16. Ashyn: Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Moria: Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-one
  24. Twenty-two
  25. Ashyn: Twenty-three
  26. Twenty-four
  27. Twenty-five
  28. Twenty-six
  29. Twenty-seven
  30. Twenty-eight
  31. Twenty-nine
  32. Thirty
  33. Moria: Thirty-one
  34. Thirty-two
  35. Thirty-three
  36. Thirty-four
  37. Thirty-five
  38. Thirty-six
  39. Thirty-seven
  40. Ashyn: Thirty-eight
  41. Thirty-nine
  42. Forty
  43. Forty-one
  44. Forty-two
  45. Forty-three
  46. Forty-four
  47. Forty-five
  48. Forty-six
  49. Forty-seven
  50. Forty-eight
  51. Forty-nine
  52. Moria: Fifty
  53. Fifty-one
  54. Fifty-two
  55. Fifty-three
  56. Fifty-four
  57. Fifty-five
  58. About the Author
  59. Back Ad
  60. Credits
  61. About the Publisher

Belaset shook her bald head. “It sounds as if the other men have left to fetch your sister, but there is still an armed warrior outside our door. To escape, we would need—”

Ashyn pulled her dagger from beneath her cloak. “It seems they did not think to search a mere girl.”

“A blade? And you can use it?”

“Adequately.”

Belaset nodded slowly. “Yes, then. We can call the guard in. I will create a distraction, and you will slit his throat.”

“S-slit—?”

Belaset’s eyes flashed with impatience. “You said you can use it, did you not?”

“Yes, but I have never killed a man.” I’ve never stabbed anything more than a pig carcass. “Perhaps we could just disable him.”

“So he can cry for help? No, child, he must be killed. I’ll do it while you create the distraction. When the guard brought you in, he clearly found your looks pleasing. I caught him stroking your hair as he laid you on the mat. That’s how you’ll distract him. Use your wiles.”

“Wiles?”

Ashyn was sure she looked almost as shocked as she had when Belaset suggested she slit the man’s throat. I truly am a child. I can’t even save myself.

Ashyn took a deep breath. “I can distract him.”

Forty-five

Forty-five

As they prepared, Ashyn got a better sense of the situation from Belaset. They were in a wagon from one of the trains they’d passed earlier that day. Apparently, the slave trader had spotted the girls and realized they were alike—in his profession, he would have a much keener eye than the average traveler.

He’d cut Belaset’s wagon from the train and returned with a few mercenaries, planning to take the girls at night. That’s why Ronan seemed to be asleep at his post—he’d been unconscious from a dart. They’d likely planned to use darts on the others as they slept, but then Ashyn and Tova woke. They’d brought them back and returned for Moria and Daigo.

Now Belaset had Ashyn remove her cloak, pull her hair over her shoulders, and undo the top button on her tunic. Ashyn would have been fine with all that, but then Belaset insisted on a second button and tugged her tunic down until Ashyn was certain if she leaned over, her breasts would be on full display. That was, she supposed, the idea, but her cheeks still blazed at the thought.

“How do you do that?” Belaset said.

“Do what?”

“Redden your cheeks.”

Belaset reached over and pinched them hard with her scaly fingers. Ashyn tried not to shrink at her touch.

“There,” Belaset said. “You look very sweet and shy. Men like that. I worked at a brothel doing chores for the women, and men were always asking for virgins.”

“Brothel?” Ashyn said. “Is that like a courtesan house?”