An Oath Of The Kings by Valerie Zambito

Author:Valerie Zambito [Zambito, Valerie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy
Published: 2014-10-09T23:00:00+00:00

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Kiernan spoke to no one for the rest of the day, and no one spoke to her. Although, it was clear from the looks of the women that they blamed her for Cael’s whipping. As do I.

Every time the door opened, she feared it would be one of the Duke’s soldiers there to drag her out for her own punishment—and it would have nothing to do with a whip. Mostly, though, she was alone with everyone off to work in the mines, including Tilly. The women who looked after the very small children came and went, but otherwise the barracks remained empty.

She lay on her small cot and plotted her revenge on the Duke. She couldn’t do it alone, that much was certain. She needed the townspeople to desire their freedom as much as she wanted to give it to them.

Late in the afternoon, Marian came into the barracks and brought her bread, cheese and water, which Kiernan accepted gratefully. The matron did not speak to her and it infuriated her. She stood to confront her. “Why, Marian? Why don’t you fight?”

To Kiernan’s surprise, the matron laughed. “To what purpose?”

“For freedom! For a life free of terror! For better living conditions!”

“Like Cael? He brought a new wife to town to make his living conditions better and what did he get for it?”

“You can’t possibly—”

“Have you seen the guards?” Marian asked. “Have you seen the walls? Have you seen how families are separated? These are all tactics to keep the people of this town focused on one thing.”

“Mining.”

“Exactly.”

“But, you must—”

The matron cocked her hand back and slapped her in the face. Hard. “Stop it! Just stop your nonsense! If you continue with your heresy against the Duke, you’ll get worse than a whipping. You’ll be dead! And, you’ll probably take a few of us along with you.”

Kiernan brought a hand up to her stinging cheek. “I’m just trying to help.”

“Bloody noble,” Marian grumbled, shaking her head.

“I’m a maid,” Kiernan told her.

“And, I’m the Princess of Men.”

Kiernan had to bite into her lip to keep from smiling.

“It’s easy to fight back when you’re a lion, isn’t it, my lady?” Marian said, jabbing a finger into her chest. “You’re used to people doing your bidding and bowing down to you, I can see that by the way you act. Well, for whatever reason you’re here, you’re in with the sheep now and we don’t want your bleating to attract the wolf. Do you hear me?”

Is she right? Am I doing more harm than good? Are my perceptions colored by privilege?

“There is no help for us in Lewstin,” Marian continued as though reading her thoughts. “This is our lot and we’ve accepted it. You will have to, too, if you want to survive.”

Kiernan reluctantly nodded, deciding to give it up for now. “How is Cael doing?”

“I haven’t seen him.”

“Take me to him.”

Marian gave her a furious look. “You really won’t be satisfied until I’m the next one strung to a pole, will you?”

“Just point me in the right direction.

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