Reign of Shadows by Angel Haze

Author:Angel Haze [Haze, Angel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy
Publisher: Angel Haze
Published: 2022-05-27T16:00:00+00:00

21. Changing the Deal

Ciara awakened to the tip of a dagger against her throat.

“We’re heading into the city,” Gad said. “Not a fucking word. You so much as cough, and I’ll slit her throat myself.”

Ciara swallowed hard. The smell of his filthy hand under her nose was almost enough make her vomit. “You won’t kill her.”

“Try me.” Gad withdrew the dagger, but continued to glare at her as the wagon rumbled down the road.

Towers and tall buildings soon appeared on the horizon, and Yeven draped a hood over Ciara’s head, blocking out the morning sun. The worn and musty cloth bag allowed little light to seep through.

“Lie down and stay down,” Yeven said.

Ciara laid her head on something lumpy. Something thin and rough, a blanket or a tarp, fell over her head, legs, and arms, draping her in deeper darkness. She struggled uselessly against her restraints, wondering if they were also blinding and blanketing her mother. Perhaps, it was so people wouldn’t recognize them when they reached the city. Whatever the case, she didn’t like it. She had never felt so vulnerable, so uncertain and afraid. She wondered how her mother was faring.

It was so dark beneath the covering that she couldn’t even see the vague outline of her mother. Alexis’s fever had subsided, but she knew from experience that it could come roaring back. Her health was extremely precarious and unpredictable. After Seth had helped with the cold cloth, she trusted the men a little more than before, but they really only needed her mother. She hoped they wouldn’t just dump her in a river once they handed over her mother and got their pay.

A short while later, she felt the cart thump from the dirt road onto a cobbled street. She heard merchants calling out their wares, hammering, and smelled the scents of smoke and iron from a blacksmith’s forge. She heard children playing, beggars begging, the rustling of armor and the clip clop of horses passing.

Beneath the cover, the heat was intense. Sweat dripped from her forehead and her breath was hot in her face.

The sounds of the city faded as the horses made a sharp right turn, causing her to roll unsteadily to her left. Soon, the cart jerked to a halt. Someone ripped the blanket or tarp from her. She straightened up and waited.

A rough hand grabbed her forearm so suddenly that she nearly screamed.

“On your feet!” Gad shouted.

Ciara tucked her feet under herself and pushed up as quietly as she could. Defiance would only work against her. She needed to figure out where she was and what she was up against before she could make a plan to get them out of there. The rope around her ankles was tied tighter than she expected, and she nearly tripped just standing up; the bag on her head did little to help her keep her balance. Gad jerked her forward, until she felt the edge of the wagon.

“Jump down.”

She hesitated. She couldn’t see the ground. If she broke an ankle, she would be little help to her mother.

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