Ruins of the Gods by Leah R Cutter

Author:Leah R Cutter
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781644703274
Publisher: Knotted Road Press

Chapter

Twenty-Two

Tanelith froze, standing in the backyard, looking toward the house. The master was there. He’d seen her go outside and stand in the moonlight.

She nearly wailed. She was supposed to escape tonight! Why had she gone outside?

He beckoned for her to come back into the house.

When she didn’t start to move immediately, a small shiver of pain trickled from her collar and down her spine.

Moon take him! When had he gained such control of the magic of the collar?

It must have been on one of his various daylong excursions.

Had he also been visiting the stud farm? Learning his way around one of her kind?

Tanelith lowered her gaze and walked back into the house.

Her escape had been so close.

Master Arryn reached out and touched her chin, lifting her face so that she would look at him. He was still a head shorter than her, though. He had to take a step back so he wasn’t craning his neck in order to look up at her.

“I was told to watch you, you know,” he said conversationally. “All slaves, sooner or later, will disobey the edict of going outside in the moonlight.”

Tanelith wasn’t surprised to hear that. She remembered how the moon had called her that night over a month ago, how her tiny bedroom had lost all of the air.

He shook his head. “The moonlight changes you,” he said softly. “Makes you unearthly. You glow with the light. You remind me of Abeth, how she looked in the full sunlight.”

A leaden waiting took over her, containing the patience of a mountain, willing to endure the wind, the snow, the rain, and the baking sun.

“You know that you can’t do it again,” Master Arryn said, his voice growing harsh. “I hadn’t believed that I would have to punish you this way. But it seems that I must. Remember, this is for your own good,” he added. “Follow me.”

Miserable, Tanelith followed after the master. She couldn’t escape. She couldn’t overpower him. Not even with the magic she felt sparking inside of her. She would only know pain if she reached for it.

It surprised her when he went into his study, and not upstairs to his bedroom.

Or maybe she didn’t rate a bed when he took her.

He closed the door to the study behind her, as always. Tanelith stared hard at the shelves that lined the wall. She didn’t see the Dissolving Blade, though she knew it was close.

It was as far away as her village for all the good that it would do her here and now.

Pain started burning its way around her neck, as if the metal of the collar was starting to heat up. She knew if she reached up to touch it, that it would feel cool to her fingertips.

When she looked at Master Arryn out of the corner of her eye, she saw that he held a pain wand, like Ugmas.

Had he always had such a thing and not used it? Or was this to be something special in terms of control and punishment?

“This is what happens when you disobey me,” Master Arryn said.

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