Kwin Read online

  “I have to,” he said gently and slipped his hand under the blanket. She screamed when it came into contact with her most private area.

  He held it in place, gently cupping her, but not moving it in any way.

  “Make this quick,” he said to Kwin. “The sooner this is over the better.”

  “I will have to give her some internal bruising as well, just in case.”

  The girl screamed and screamed. Anyone who was listening in would believe she was actually being raped.

  Gareth withdrew his hand as soon as Kwin said he could. “It’s over,” he said as he gently moved the girl’s hair away from her face.

  “Thank you,” he said to Kwin, then turned his attention back to the girl.

  He explained to her that nobody knew that he could speak their language and she could never let anyone know. He also told her that she had to pretend he had attacked her. If anyone found out that was not the case, she risked someone actually carrying out the attack.

  She nodded her head, confirming she would keep the secret.

  “Can you do one more thing for me?” he asked Kwin.

  “Anything.”

  “Can you put her to sleep for a while. If someone is going to examine her, I would rather she didn’t know about it.”

  “Of course. Put you hand on her head.”

  Gareth felt power flow through him and the girl’s eyes closed. He kissed her on the forehead, then stood up. He moved the table back into its original position and opened the door. Two guards stood outside.

  One grinned at him. “Did you have fun?” he asked. Gareth pretended not to understand.

  He made his way directly to Ofar’s suite and was not surprised to find her there, discussing something with her brother. The door was open so he went in without knocking.

  Ofar glanced up at him, but didn’t stop her conversation to acknowledge him, believing that he couldn’t understand what she was saying.

  Raina was telling her that he had been listening in outside Gareth’s room and seemed delighted that Gareth had made the girl scream. Ofar looked appalled at her brother’s glee. Gareth kept his anger under control as he waited for Ofar to turn her attention to him.

  “I hear you followed your orders,” she finally said, via her translator, who looked as disgusted at the conversation he had been forced to listen to as Gareth was.

  Gareth just grunted.

  “Did you enjoy having her in your own bed?”

  “I thought it was a nice touch,” he said sarcastically. Ofar glared at him. She must have understood his tone, if not his words, until they had been translated for her.

  Ofar opened her mouth to say more, but closed it again when there was a knock on the door, which Gareth hadn’t bothered to close behind him when he entered the room.

  Ofar and Raina both looked over to see who was trying to get their attention. Gareth didn’t; he didn’t care.

  “Enter,” Ofar said.

  Gareth refused to turn his head to see who was walking into the room. When the man spoke, he recognised his voice. It was the guard who had asked him if he had fun.

  “Well,” Ofar asked impatiently when the guard did not deliver his report. Gareth understood why the man didn’t speak. Many a time Ofar had made it clear that slaves and guards were not to speak unless spoken to, a rule Gareth enjoyed breaking. So far, he had not been punished for doing so. Maybe Ofar enjoyed his body too much to risk damaging it. Then again, maybe not, he amended as he thought back to his night in the well.

  “The girl is unconscious,” the guard said, without emotion. He either didn’t care that a young girl had just been violated, or he had learned to bury his feelings. “She has marks on her wrists and ankles where she struggled against the ropes holding her in place. There’s bruising to her thighs and where he held her down. There’s a little blood on the sheet and when I inserted my fingers into her, she cried out in pain, despite not being awake.”

  It took all of Gareth’s self-control to not react. He was glad that the girl didn’t know that the guard had violated her; she had been through enough. Instead, he concentrated on contacting Kwin.

  “She has been examined. You did a good job,” he silently said. “The blood was a nice touch.”

  “I thought it might be necessary so I caused her to bleed, just a little. It won’t have harmed her in any way. What’s going to happen to the girl now?”

  “I don’t know, but I think I am about to find out. I want to see her family at some point, so I can explain to her parents what happened to her. Unfortunately I am rarely allowed off the estate, and never alone.”

  “We will do it once we escape,” Kwin said.

  Throughout the conversation, Gareth managed to keep a bored expression on his face. Both Ofar and Raina seemed to be delighted by the guard’s report. They dismissed him when he had told them all they wanted to know, then returned their attention to Gareth.

  “Well done,” Ofar said. “It sounds like you completed your task well, despite your opposition to it.”

  Raina laughed. “He probably loved every minute of it.”

  The translator wisely chose not to translate that comment. Gareth would not have been able to stop himself attacking Raina if he had done so.

  “You know sister dear,” he continued. “Though he has obeyed you now, he should have done so in the first place. I don’t think he has been adequately punished for that. I think he should be the one to return the girl to her family and explain what he did to her and why.”

  Gareth couldn’t believe his luck. Raina thought he was going to be torturing him, but in reality he was giving Gareth exactly what he wanted. He silently prayed to Hellan that Ofar would agree.

  She appeared reluctant, but eventually agreed to her brother’s suggestion. The translator looked ill as he told Gareth what had been said. Gareth felt sorry for the man.

  “She is a sick evil bitch who deserves to be burned alive,” Gareth said calmly.

  The translator’s mouth dropped open. “There’s no way I am going to say that to her,” he told Gareth.

  Gareth smiled at him. “I know, but saying it made me feel good.”

  Gareth glared at Ofar as the man informed her that he was not prepared to tell her what Gareth had said. The comment seemed to amuse her.

  “Be a good boy and run along. If you hurry, you may get her back to her family before she wakes up so you can lie to them.”

  “Do I get to take the translator with me?” Gareth asked as soon as the man had finished telling him what Ofar had said. He was always referred to as ‘the translator’. None of the other slaves knew his name and for some reason he refused to tell them when asked.

  “You won’t need him,” Raina said. “Her father speaks your language. It means we can send slaves to him instead of having to go ourselves.”

  Gareth was glad of this; he didn’t want anyone else around when he explained to the girl’s family what had happened to her.

  “One more thing,” Raina said as Gareth turned his back on him. “Tell the man that next time he refuses my business his daughter will be given to my guards, all of them.”

  Gareth pictured his hands around Raina’s throat, slowly choking the life out of him. It was just a fantasy, nothing more, and would have to remain so for a while longer.

  He made no attempt to hide his contempt for Raina as he looked him in the eye and said, “When I escape, I am going to kill you.”

  Chapter 19

  When Gareth left Ofar’s suite, he slammed the door behind him. Instead of heading straight to his room, he went for a walk, trying to calm himself down. A short while later, the translator found him and provided him with directions and a permission note for him to be out without his owner.

  Gareth glanced at the paper in his hand. He didn’t trust Raina to not have written something that would get him into serious trouble, but a quick scan showed that it stated what the translator had said. He still raised a questioning eyebrow at the man.


  “It’s all above board,” he said. “I wrote it myself and just had Ofar sign it. She didn’t even bother looking at it. It could have been release papers for all she knew.”

  “Any chance you can write those for me?” Gareth was only partially joking.

  “No way. My life would be made even more of a living hell if I did.”

  “Don’t worry,” Gareth assured him. “I wasn’t serious. I would never put another slave in a position like that.”

  “Can I ask you a question?” the translator asked. He looked nervous. Gareth nodded. “How did you manage to bring yourself to attack the girl?”

  Gareth couldn’t risk telling him the truth. Though he was a slave, there was no way of telling if he would repeat everything he said back to Ofar to gain her favour.

  “I just kept reminding myself that I was saving her from Raina.”

  “That,” the translator said, “I can understand.” He slapped Gareth on the back in a friendly manner. “Good luck with the family. You’re going to need it.”

  ‘Hopefully not as much as you think,’ Gareth thought to himself.

  The conversation with the translator had calmed him down, so he decided to start his journey.

  The girl was still sleeping when Gareth entered his room, so he picked her up, blanket and all, and cradled her against his chest. She weighed next to nothing. He could have taken a horse from the stables and ridden into the town, but he wanted to walk. It meant spending more time away from Ofar.

  It was a warm day and Gareth enjoyed the feel of the sun beating down on him as he walked. He breathed in deeply, savouring the fresh air. The girl in his arms stirred, but didn’t wake.

  His thoughts went to Shona and he couldn’t help wondering what horrors she was being subjected to. Kwin’s idea had been a good one; enter the country, be captured, then use magic to escape. Only, somehow, the enemy knew about their magical abilities and found a way to render them ineffective. Gareth was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to get the opportunity to accomplish their mission. Or what state Shona would be in if they did manage to find her.

  From his conversations with Kwin, it sounded like his friend had landed on his feet and his owner was a good person who wanted to help. It gave Gareth a small glimmer of hope and that was all he needed.

  All too soon he came to the town. He had been walking for hours, but his muscles barely felt it. Since his capture, he had managed to keep himself fit.

  The translator’s instructions were good and he had no trouble finding the shop he was looking for. The door was open, so he entered, feeling magic wash over him as he did so. There was nobody in sight, but as he approached the counter, a small man materialised from the back.

  “How can I...” he started to say, stopping when his eyes fell on the wrapped up bundle in Gareth’s arms.

  “She’s alright,” Gareth quickly said. “Just sleeping.”

  “What have you done to her?” The man sounded scared rather than angry.

  “Please, may I come into your home. I have a lot to explain.”

  The shopkeeper looked unsure of what to do, so Gareth held out his arms, indicating that the man should take his daughter. Tentatively, he stepped forward, backing away the moment he had his child.

  “Follow me,” he said and turned his back on Gareth.

  Before doing so, Gareth went over to the door and attempted to close it. He didn’t want a customer entering and disturbing them until he had told the family all they needed to know.

  His attempts were in vain, however. As soon as he placed his hands on the door, he felt power flow over him and he was unable to move it.

  He gave up, making a mental note to speak to the shopkeeper about it.

  He glanced around the shop before going after the man. Shoes of all varieties were on the shelves; men’s, women’s, children’s, some so small he would hardly have been able to get his fingers in them.

  He went behind the counter and opened a curtain, through which he had seen the shopkeeper go. There was equipment of some sort to one side and it took Gareth a moment to realise that it was for making the shoes.

  “You’re a cobbler,” he stated as soon as he found the man. He was sitting on a chair in the kitchen. There was no sign of his daughter. “Not just a shopkeeper.”

  The man shook his head as he went over to the stove and turned it on. “No. My wife is the one who is good with her hands. Coffee? Tea?”

  Gareth noticed that the man’s hands were trembling. He could hardly blame him. The man must have been terrified. Gareth was, after all, an imposing figure. And the man would have seen his silver shackles, indicating his magical abilities.

  “Tea would be good,” Gareth said and took a seat at the table. The drinks were made in silence. There was a lot that Gareth had to say, but he was happy to wait until the shopkeeper was ready to listen.

  The man placed a steaming cup in front of him, but before he could reach for it, a woman stormed into the room and slapped his face, hard. She was a plump woman and put all of her weight into her attack.

  “What have you done to her you bastard,” she cried out and moved her arm back to hit him again. This time Gareth caught it before it could connect.

  “This isn’t what it looks like,” he said as gently as he could. There were tears in the woman’s eyes, but not from pain. He was holding her wrist firmly, but not enough to cause her anything other than mild discomfort. She must have seen the bruising and burn marks Kwin had been forced to inflict on her daughter. “Please, take a seat and let me explain.”

  The woman glanced at her husband, who nodded.

  Gareth then proceeded to tell them everything; who he was, who owned him, exactly what had happened to their daughter and why. The couple just stared at him as he spoke, their eyes growing wider.

  He gave them the curtesy of speaking in their own language. He had been told that the shopkeeper would be able to understand him, but no mention had been made of the wife.

  “Yes, I hurt her,” Gareth ended up saying. “But I had no choice. It was the only way to save her from something much worse happening to her.”

  “Why should we believe you?” the girl’s mother asked, tears flowing down her face.

  “Ask her yourself when she wakes up.”

  The shopkeeper looked grim. “If you are telling us the truth, then you have my thanks.”

  Gareth nodded his acknowledgement. “What will you do now? If you don’t give in to Raina’s demands, your daughter will be made to suffer much more next time.”

  “I will never give in to that sadistic monster,” the shopkeeper said with determination. “I have a business to run and he needs to learn that he can’t push us around just because he has money and a title.”

  “While I admire your courage,” Gareth said, “what can you actually do about it?”

  The shopkeeper smiled. “I don’t own this shop, I merely run it. I will let the real owner know what has happened. Or should I say, what we are pretending happened. She will take care of it. Feel like coming for a ride?”

  Gareth glanced at a timepiece on the wall and regretfully shook his head. “I wish I could, but I should head back. I have a long walk ahead of me and won’t be back before dark as it is.”

  “Please stay for something to eat,” the man’s wife said. “It’s the least we can do for you helping our daughter.”

  It had been a while since he had eaten, so Gareth accepted the offer.

  While the family ate, conversation flowed. Gareth asked about the magic on the door and the family explained that the shop’s previous owner had been a great magic user and had put a spell on it. Anyone entering the shop triggered the spell, signalling to those in the house that someone was in the shop.

  “When it’s time to close up for the night, I simply tell the door to shut and it does.”

  “Impressive,” Gareth said. Putting the spell on the door would have been easy; maintaining it after leaving the area would
be much more difficult. “You said the previous owner. Who owns the shop now?”

  “His daughter. When her father died, she inherited all of his businesses.”

  The magic user was dead? That made no sense. If he had died, then the spell would have died along with him. It was impossible for magic to stay in place after the spell caster was no longer living. Gareth decided to keep his thoughts to himself. Suddenly, he very much wanted to meet this daughter.

  ————————————-∞————————————-

  The sun was beginning to set when Luka announced that she needed to take a break. Kwin had been relentless in his teaching and she was beginning to pick up his language better than she had been expecting.

  “I’ll go and see how soon food will be ready,” Kwin said and left the room.

  Suddenly, Luka tensed. Someone had entered the grounds. She was not expecting visitors, so she mentally probed who it was. She relaxed when she discovered it was one of her shopkeepers.

  She found Drake in his office and informed him that someone was about to knock on the door and that she would be waiting for him in her own office.

  Kwin returned first and informed her that she had about half an hour before food would be ready to be served. He made to leave when the visitor arrived, but Luka told him to stay. The shopkeeper was agitated and she wanted Kwin to hear what he had to say. Kwin recognised the man as the one Luka had taken him to see to buy shoes.

  “Please, take a seat Anter. Can I offer you any refreshments?”

  Anter shook his head as he sat down, eyeing Kwin nervously.

  “So what can I do for you?” Luka asked once he was settled.

  Anter then proceeded to tell her all that had happened to his daughter. Luka felt her anger boiling inside her, growing closer and closer to the surface as he told her more. Not that anything he said was news to her; she just hadn’t realised that it was the daughter of one of her employees that Gareth was supposed to attack. Anter didn’t mention that the attack had never taken place, so Luka told him she knew the truth, and how.

  “Thank you for coming to me,” she said, somehow managing to keep her voice steady. “I will take care of this. Trust me, Raina will never harm a hair on your daughter’s head again. If he does, I will make sure he will live just long enough to regret it.”