Premonition (The Fortress Book 1) by Lisa M. James

Author:Lisa M. James [M. James, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-31T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

“Ezra told me he slipped on a rock at a stream while he was fishing and fell onto a jagged edge, Kiatra, but I don’t believe him. I think someone abused him, but he won’t give me a name.” I shook my head in frustration. Occasionally, Natalie reported suspected abuse on our slaves. Of course, they were too fearful to admit it, lest it subject them to further mistreatment. And rarely would witnesses speak up on a slave’s behalf.

“We need to enforce stronger punishments in such cases. Make the people fear to raise their hands unjustly to a slave. I will designate more guards to the areas where the slaves work.”

“Sometimes I fear it may be the guards themselves. I need to reconsider who I have chosen to watch over the lot.” We reached the clearing where Titus led trainings. Most of the boys were sparring and a few were huddled together watching a line of men shoot arrows at targets. I spotted Isaac, third in line, with his arms crossed around him. He shifted from one foot to the other. I smiled. He was nervous. It was good. Titus had informed me he was progressing well. It seemed if trained properly the man was quick to learn, but it was good he was still nervous and not growing arrogant.

“Isaac.” Titus said sharply, motioning him forward. I watched as Isaac swallowed hard and nodded. There were five targets lined up. He cocked his arrow and stretched the bow. One. Two. Three. Four. The fifth shot high and missed the target slightly. The boys around him groaned in dismay at the last shot but patted him supportively on the back.

“Not bad.” Natalie said softly. “He must have had experience with bows and arrows before?” I nodded as Titus spoke again.

“Again.” Titus said, looking unmoved, handing Isaac a dagger. None of the other boys had daggers, nor did many of our men train with them. Isaac said something we could not hear but Titus responded sternly. Isaac sighed heavily and took position again. The first dagger skimmed the target. The second hit it dead on. The third and fourth missed completely while the fifth bounced off the target and landed to the ground. Isaac raked his fingers through his hair as Titus spoke sharply and commanded him to sit to the side. He did so, putting his head to his knees.

“Chieftess!” One of the boys called out spotting me. The others turned around as I saw Isaac’s head shoot up before being covered by the young men running toward me. I extended my hands out as the boy who came nearest to me kissed both palms as he knelt.

“What are you doing here?” Titus asked with uncommon bluntness.

I looked at him for a moment before addressing the boys. “I wanted to see how our young warriors fared. And how my slave was faring.” Isaac hadn’t gotten up from his spot. He kept his eyes toward the ground as I spoke.

“He is doing quite well, my lady!” Andal responded with usual cheer.

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.