36. Prison Break
Prison Break
T hat evening, Mila inspected the small amount of rubane she’d been infusing in the oil since she’d returned from Traders Bay. She tasted a tiny drop of it for potency and shook her head at the bitterness. It was only a very small bottle of oil, perhaps just enough to coat Natalee’s face? Rubane was not a hugely potent weed, and when she’d smoked it back in her home in Bori, she’d required bushels of the stuff to really silence the outside world. For Natalee to have a chance at surviving direct skin contact with Midas’s touch, it’d have to be an incredibly strong mix. This was a strong enough infusion, but only just.
Fates, this was all wrong. There had to be another way. Something else she could do to save Natalee. She weighed her options and realised there was one thing she hadn’t thought of yet.
Breaking her out.
Her heart beat faster in her chest as she considered it .
Yes. It could be done. But only before Culis increased security, which he would almost certainly do now that he knew how angry she was about this plan.
She had no time to waste. If this was going to be successful, then she had to break Natalee out immediately.
Mila left her room and began her hunt for the imprisoned demon. It wasn’t difficult to find her. She was being held in the only lock-up that existed in the basement of the manor, and when Mila arrived, she found her guarded only by Baird, who greeted her with a sorrowful, close-lipped smile.
She felt a twinge of guilt for what she was about to do to him. Of all the guards and staff of Culis’s household, Baird was easily the friendliest, but at this point, she had run out of options, especially when he followed her inside and made no signs of leaving, denying her and Natalee any privacy.
The raven-haired Natalee did not look up from the parchment she had been painting on, and didn’t miss a beat at the sound of approaching footsteps.
“Hello, Natalee, you stubborn cow,” Mila said, spitting the words with vehemence as she approached the bars. She needed to start this fight quickly and she did not have a lot of time.
Natalee looked up, clearly shocked at Mila’s presence and her unexpected tone.
Mila didn’t hesitate. “Look at the mess you’ve made of this. If you had just trusted me at the start, then all of this could have been avoided. Now you’ll be sacrificed at the Dusk Ball in a few days, and I’ll have to start all over again, trudging through the Highlands, trying to find a new demon who’s not as pigheaded as you. ”
Natalee’s face went pale, and Mila realised she hadn’t been told about her upcoming fate yet. She felt terrible that this was how the news was being broken to her, but it was too late to stop.
“Just as well that I won’t have to waste any more time talking to Culis about your unappreciative – ”
“Don’t talk to me about being unappreciative.” Natalee broke her staunch silence and threw herself against the bars, sneering at Mila, her face only inches away. “This is how you treat me? After all I’ve done for you – ”
Mila scoffed with indignation. “I’ve been trying to help our people. If you weren’t so blind, or so damn self-righteous – ”
“Hey now!” Baird called out and started to walk over. He was completely ignored by both women.
Mila reached through the bars and snatched at Natalee’s hair, yanking it forcefully.
Natalee yelped at the unexpected violence, and then her rage blossomed, and she reached for Mila’s clothes, in the same instant Baird put his hand on Mila’s shoulder, trying to break up the fight.
Mila did not hesitate. She released Natalee, and in the same breath, threw her hands over her right shoulder, grasping Baird’s head from behind her. In one swift movement, she drew down her elbows and smashed his head forward into the bars, driving her right shoulder down into his abdomen. She heard the air fly out of him at the force of the simultaneous impact on both his head and stomach.
Despite the surprise of the assault, Baird was well-trained, and a huge man. He was stunned for only an instant, and it quickly became apparent that Mila’s slight weight pulling his head into the bars, no matter her determination, wasn’t forceful enough to knock him unconscious .
He reared back, trying to gain distance from her, when suddenly, Natalee’s hands snaked through the bars, joining Mila’s behind the unfortunate man’s head and yanking it forward into the bars again.
She’d figured out what Mila was trying to do, and now she was helping, driving Baird’s head forward and smashing it into the bars again and again. And again.
“I’m sure my son would rather you didn’t kill his best man, if it’s all the same to you.” A bored drawl from behind them interrupted the beating.
Mila’s heart instantly sank with recognition when she heard it, not even needing to look up to know the owner.
Frank.
Natalee paused and glanced up. Whatever she saw over Mila’s shoulder was enough to make her release Baird’s head and sigh with resignation.
Baird’s limp body slid with a solid thud to the floor, and Mila winced in pity. She didn’t want to turn around and look Frank in the eye.
Instead, she stared intently at Natalee and used the opportunity to whisper, “I promise I will fix this,” then she stepped away from both Baird and the cage and threw her arms up to show she was unarmed.
She was seized roughly by a guard, who spun her around to face Frank, forcing her painfully onto her knees. Another guard pushed past her to check on Baird.
Culis also chose that moment to appear.
“What’s going on?” he demanded, surveying the scene before him in confusion.
“He’ll live,” the guard pronounced from behind her, “just out cold. ”
Culis’s eyes widened when he realised who the casualty was. He turned a hard glare onto Mila, as he put two and two together.
“Well, well,” he said in a cool, disgusted voice. “Who’d have thought you’d have such a violent little streak in you, after all?” He knelt and inspected Baird’s battered face. “After all I’ve done to try and keep you safe, this is what you do to a member of my household?”
“Guess you don’t know your property as well as you thought you did,” Mila shot back.
Culis stood up, looking at her in anger. “Take him to the infirmary, Gus. Quickly.”
There was a bustle of movement as he was instantly obeyed by the other guards in the room. They propped Baird’s limp body up between them, and Mila could sense their seething anger directed towards her.
She realised then, that in her panic to make haste and rescue Natalee, she’d made a real mistake. If she’d just taken a few more hours to plan this out a little better, then perhaps she could have come up with something more effective and less violent, a sleeping draught in Baird’s cup perhaps? She liked Baird, and he was evidently held in high esteem by all other members of the household. This plan had failed, and it had earned her no allies.
Mila watched guiltily as they gently moved the unconscious man’s body past her.
“Wait,” Culis suddenly ordered.
The men carrying him paused.
Culis stalked over, reached into Baird’s shirt, drawing out a key on a chain. The key to Natalee’s cage – the object of Mila’s failed rescue attempt.
Culis placed the chain over his own head, then nodded for the guards to continue on.
Finally, it was just the two Culis men, Mila and Natalee left in the basement. She wondered what would happen next. Would she be placed in a cell herself?
Culis seemed to be considering the same thing and came to that very conclusion. He opened the door to the other cell and gave her a mockingly low bow. “Your new chambers.”
Mila went in without argument and flinched as the door clanged violently behind her. Culis was obviously deeply hurt by her actions, and she hated that it bothered her. She didn’t want to waste another second of her life caring about a man who, an hour ago, had told her in no uncertain terms what she was to him.
His slave. Nothing more.
“So,” Natalee said softly after everyone finally left. “I’m to be sacrificed at the Dusk Ball, is it? Not really the way I thought it would go, but at least it sounds like there might be some dancing involved.”
Mila couldn’t even bring herself to look at the woman. “I begged him,” she said, hating that a small sob escaped her. “Begged him to let me take your place. It shouldn’t be you.”
“Shouldn’t it?” Natalee asked unexpectedly.
“Of course not! It’s my fault you’re here at all! I exposed you in Brewich, and you were taken against your will. Without my interference, you’d still be safe.”
“Perhaps. Still skulking in shadows and eating refuse from garbage piles to stay inconspicuous. Or perhaps I’d have been found anyway. Perhaps I’d be in a different dungeon, waiting for the Sacrament this winter.”
“You can’t know any of that for sure.”
“Just as you couldn’t have known that Culis was not going to keep his word when you came to find me,” Natalee said firmly. “Look. I was furious with you when it happened, but going on that voyage with Baird was…the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I was able to use my power to help people. I saw more of the world than I ever believed possible. It’s huge, Mila! It’s an enormous place, with endless seas, and many, many hundreds of different nations. My only regret is that I could only experience it for a few weeks before I was dragged rather unceremoniously back here by the Divine command. But my point is it made me realise that you were right to come find me and try to convince me to seek out something more, something different for demons. There’s so much more for us out there than a life of hiding in Artor, trying to avoid detection. I am…grateful that I was able to experience it. Even if it led to this outcome.”
Mila didn’t know what to say. She was overwhelmed by the grace Natalee was showing her. She was about to reply, to tell Natalee about the rubane and her plan, when the main door of the basement swung open again, and Frank Culis re-entered.
He said nothing, but simply stalked over, unlocked Mila’s cell, and drew her out roughly by the arm.
“Hey!” she cried out, fighting him. “What are you doing?”
“Where are you taking her?” Natalee demanded.
“Silence.” Frank shook Mila as a dog shakes a rat. With his hand against her skin like this, she could clearly feel his energy. It was cold, proud and pragmatic, as though he believed that whatever was about to happen to her was long overdue.
She’d felt that same combination once before, in a villager determined to drown a sack full of kittens.
“Where are you taking me?” she cried out fearfully.
“You’ve attacked a member of the household. That has consequences.”
Mila was not small, but despite the weight and muscle she’d been starting to recoup since living at Culis Manor, she was hardly a match for the tall and powerful Frank. Still, she fought against him every step of the way until the moment that they were out of the basement and back in the house.
The sun had started to rise, and in the dim, grey light that filtered through the windows, she could see some members of the household waiting, lined up in the corridors Frank was dragging her down. That was when she realised, this wasn’t just Frank’s punishment for her, it was a household punishment. She could read it in their eyes and feel the anger rising from them like steam as she passed between them.
I’m not a terrible person. She wished she could tell them. I was trying to save Natalee.
She scanned their faces as she passed through them, hunting for a sympathetic energy, for someone to help her.
Nothing.
When she saw the kitchen staff in the crowd and felt their fury, especially the cook’s, all hope fled, and she felt real shame. She’d been protected and embraced by that particular group, and she’d repaid their trust and kindness by attacking a member of their family. She also balked when she saw Nemecca and Arran in the crowd. Their furious faces glared silently at her as she was dragged past them. Likewise, Corbyn and Black Berran, who stood further down the line, did not lift a finger to help.
She stopped fighting.
“Christopher Culis passes his judgement on you, demon.” Frank spoke like a judge reading a sentence as he dragged her through the silent tunnel of people.
Culis himself was not present. Clearly, he couldn’t bear to even look at her.
Finally, Frank dragged her out of the manor and away from the silent line of angry staff. He led her to the stables, gave a curt order, and a short minute later, the stable boy brought forward two large horses. Frank mounted one, and Mila did not resist as the stable boy pushed her up onto the other.
If this is what the household wanted, what Culis wanted, then maybe she deserved it.
Frank held her horse’s reins tightly and kicked them both forward.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked fearfully.
He did not reply.
Mila’s horse was in a light-hearted and curious mood and followed willingly in whatever direction Frank nudged him. They rode in uncomfortable silence for hours.
After a while, it occurred to Mila that Culis must have given his father the sister stone. Nothing else would explain the distance they were comfortably putting between themselves and the manor. That knowledge made her even more uncomfortable. Whatever was happening was obviously endorsed by Culis, but why had he not come to enact this punishment himself? Had her actions truly broken any semblance of a relationship between them?
They passed through a bustling town that Mila did not recognise and eventually rode into a field of crops.
This is where Frank finally halted the huffing horses, commanding Mila to dismount hers. Trembling, she obeyed.
“The manor is that direction,” he said coldly, pointing back the way they had come. “Christopher will be travelling to Jeralusah to attend the Dusk Ball in a few days. If you don’t make it back to the manor by then, he won’t wait.”
Mila blinked at him, not understanding.
Frank smiled down at her from his horse, like an vulture looking down at a hare. “It gives me a great deal of satisfaction to know that you’ll spend the majority of your next few days crawling on your hands and knees. And I wouldn’t dally if I were you. I’m not entirely sure what will happen to you if you don’t get back to the manor before Christopher departs but…from here to the Holy City? That’s quite an enormous amount of distance for the vasium. Best not find out.”
Without another word, he kicked his horse and turned it around, riding back the way he had come. Mila’s horse followed without her, and soon they were all out of sight.
She blinked in confusion for a moment, as she stared after them. What was happening?
Then she felt a tug around her neck and realised, with horror, that Frank had the sister stone on him, and he was riding far, far away from her.