Engine of Lies by Barbara Howe

Author:Barbara Howe
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Historical Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Fantasy
Publisher: IFWG Publishing International
Published: 2018-07-16T12:21:12+00:00

Lord Edmund and a servant rode into the yard of a small croft. The sweating servant said, “Ain’t nobody there, milord. Ought we ride on?”

Lord Edmund said, “There is somebody here, or nearby. Look at the smoke from the chimney.”

He dismounted and walked into the croft, which appeared deserted. He yanked a cloth off the table, sending crockery smashing on the floor, and revealing a young woman hiding underneath. He pulled her up by her hair and dragged her toward the bed. She screamed and fought, but he twisted her arm behind her and forced her down on the bed. I screamed with her, my body accepting what my conscious mind refused to acknowledge.

She clawed at his face. He beat her with his fists until she lay stunned, unable to fight back. As stunned as the girl, I watched as he yanked at her skirt, ripping it, and had his way with her.

I waved away the vision and vomited onto the hearth. After I got my stomach under control and cleaned up the mess, I curled into a ball on the guest bed, and lay there, trembling, while my disbelieving intellect reeled.

Only criminals and fugitives whose lives were already forfeit would dare take a woman, any woman, by force. For a man of wealth and position to commit rape? Unthinkable. That happened in less civilized countries, which didn’t have the Fire Warlock protecting their women and children.

What a lie that was.

But Frankland didn’t need the Fire Warlock for this. The Water Office handed out swift and severe penalties for rape, in one of the few times it sided with commoners. Everyone knew the tales from Frankland’s early days where the Frost Maiden castrated noblemen, even dukes and princes, who had raped innocent young women. The penalties were less extreme for raping married women and widows, a fact that annoyed me, but even those were harsh enough to discourage all but the insane and desperate.

Why was Lord Edmund still aggressive enough to be groping the Archer girl?

I dragged myself back to the fire, certain there was more about Lord Edmund I needed to know.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.