Chapter 46 Dae
Dae
Afist of dread struck my gut at the sight before me.
Several of The Eleven, those that had been accepted by the Black Pool, stood in their routinely uniform line, a formidable wall.
The air around them felt suffocating. They were walking threats to whomever crossed their paths. And they were here for Ro.
I froze, my body rigid and tense. Ro kneeled beside me, something I hadn’t expected, but gods above was it clever. A tingle grew beneath my skin, my baser animal instincts challenging to be released.
Marvoe chuckled, and my blood instantly ran cold at the sound. “Well, isn’t this a sight.” The inky lines that’d infected his body…writhed. I’d never seen them move before. They wriggled in a way that revealed more of his skin, like he needed to clear them to see her better.
I barely breathed, and Ro remained kneeling, head bowed as if before a great predator—which she was. Gods I wanted to get her out of here. Wanted to wipe all of their memories so they could never know of her existence.
“Rise, child,” he said.
Ro did just that, keeping her eyes fixed on the ground.
“So, Dae reports that you’re a hunter.” Marvoe lifted his chin.
“Yes, sir.”
“Dae is not usually in the habit of bringing us strays. Tell me how you found her.” His voice dropped lethally low, diverting his attention to me.
I drew my hands behind my back even though I couldn’t clasp them since they still held dishes, but I took a soldier’s stance regardless. “We had to travel down to the quarry during our hunt. With a single shot, she took down a boar, the only game that’d been spotted in weeks.”
“Judging by the looks of your bandage, you were injured?” The question held the cadence of concern, but I knew better. A snake does not suddenly sprout legs and begin walking. It slithers, poised to attack at all times.
“I had been tracking the animal, about to strike, when her arrow speared it, and then me. I found her skills worthy to benefit our camp.” I refrained from casting my gaze to any onlookers.
If Val or Dalin heard me, they wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice me to gain favor.
I waited, but no opposing voices rang out.
“My child, what brings you so far north?”
“I’ve heard rumor of a people who believe magic shouldn’t be suppressed.
Who are strong enough to stand up for what is right.
That’s the kind of world I want to fight for,” she said, finally raising her eyes to meet his.
She didn’t balk, didn’t tremble, didn’t falter under his intimidating presence.
Her strong stance backed up every word out of her mouth.
“And what magic skills do you bless us with?”
I fought the rising urge to yell for not reveal it. His question served one purpose: to decide if he would drain her or not.
“I’m afraid my skills with a bow are more impressive than the magic I wield. My mind connects with animals.” Her chin drifted upward slightly.
Marvoe and Carmin exchanged a brief glance before his eyes returned to Ro, sparkling with something I would label on any other person as interest. “Do they submit to you? Do you control them?”
Perhaps that would increase her value in his eyes if she were able to use her magic to feed the camp. Have animals walk right to their slaughter.
“No, I do not. Only the ability to hold conversation.”
That spark winked out in his eyes. “Terrance,” Marvoe shouted without tearing his insidious gaze from her. A man tending a fire pit twenty feet away scrambled to respond.
“Yes, dark one?” He pressed his extended pointer finger to his forehead in supplication.
Without acknowledging the man further, Marvoe said, “Go stand by the fire and hold a rock flat on your outstretched palm.” He still didn’t break eye contact with Ro.
“Let’s see your skills, hunter.” Marvoe stepped aside, his minions following suit, giving Ro an open path toward the man who plucked a rock from the soil, unaware of the purpose but following orders.
Ro set her sights upon her target, drawing her bow and reaching for the arrow. She lined it up, not a moment’s hesitation.
“Face forward, Terrance, hand held out to the side,” Marvoe called. Terrance stopped his wiggling and remained still. “Not the stone,” he whispered to Ro. “Center of his hand.”
A flattened hand was a thin target, even from twenty feet away.
This was a challenge, one she could not fail.
Ro released her arrow the moment the instruction left his lips.
Terrance recoiled and screamed, grasping at the bloody wound where the arrow had skewered his hand, most likely leaving several fingers paralyzed.
Eyes from all around looked upon the scene, but no one reacted.
“Hm,” Marvoe hummed. He tore his gaze from a still hollering Terrance to Ro with the briefest glance at me that let me know if she had failed, I would have paid the price.
“Miss Ro, I require a certain level of skill for my initiates. You’ll spar with one of our most elite.
Dae, show our guest the fighting pit at sunset. ”
I had to sink my heels into the soil to keep from recoiling at the thought of Ro being officially inducted into this hellhole. Ingrained survival had me bowing and placing my finger to my forehead in an act of respect.
No further words were given before the few from The Eleven walked away. I took my first full breath since stepping out of that tent.
“So?” Ro asked, peering at me over her shoulder. “Did that go well?”
“If it didn’t, we’d both be dead.”