Chapter 23 #3
Harthon’s forehead crinkled in bland surprise. “How impressive it is that you were able to not only recover from a poison, but also catch up to someone half your age who had a healthy start on you. I don’t know if that’s possible for any ordinary man. You caught her on foot?”
The man bowed his head in feigned humility. “I used my horse to run her down, Princeps.”
Harthon grunted as I held my breath. “And what city do you live in?”
“Falsgard, Princeps.”
“And you ran her down on horseback?”
“Yes. I raced from my home as quickly as I could. She was no match for my horse’s speed.”
“How…impressive,” Harthon commented, and again, the man beamed.
Then Harthon continued. “It’s impressive because Falsgard is surrounded by woods that are impossible to navigate any faster than a slow trot, thanks to their geography.
And even then, only the most skilled riders are able to remain on horseback through the first stretch outside of the city. ”
Despite all he did to preserve it, the pride slowly drained from the man’s face. “You are not wrong, Princeps. Having lived there for so long, I have become particularly skilled at navigating those woods,” he said, smiling too brightly.
Harthon regarded him for a breath before turning to his right. “Callen, care to check his hands?”
“I-I’m sorry?” the man stuttered, rearing a step as Callen descended to the floor and approached him.
Callen snatched his hands, ignored the man’s outraged gasp, and turned them so their palms were up.
My own fingers twitched as I recalled the blisters that marked my palms and fingers from my riding lessons. Jac had told me they’d turn to calluses soon, and as long as I kept riding regularly, the calluses would protect my skin.
Callen released the man and turned back to us. “These hands are far too smooth and clean to have touched a horse’s reins often, if at all,” he reported before returning to his station.
The liar’s mouth opened and closed as realization dawned, but he didn’t manage a word before Harthon said, “Chain him.”
Then he found his voice. “I don’t understand! I took a criminal off the streets.” He was wrestled onto his knees, his struggles weak against the strength of Harthon’s men. “This is outrageous—I have done nothing wrong—”
“Shut up or lose your tongue.”
That was a bloodshed I wouldn’t mind witnessing.
Unfortunately, his mouth snapped shut as shackles secured his wrists together. The woman beside him, still on her feet, stared at him and then at us with an unhinged jaw, shock slackening her features.
“He clearly holds something over you. Considering he’s in chains, he no longer has that power,” Harthon told her. “This will be your only opportunity to share your story.”
She blinked several times. “He…I…he’ll kill my brother if…” She trailed off, clearly at war with herself.
“He can’t kill anyone at the moment. Tell us,” I said softly, offering the compassion that Harthon couldn’t.
It was enough for her to begin. “Our parents died of starvation four years ago. My brother was only five, and I was only fifteen. We were too young to care for ourselves, and so when he offered me payment and housing in exchange for servantry, I took the offer. It was the worst mistake of my life.”
Beside her, the man’s face became the color of beets, his body shaking with the need to speak as his eyes shot arrows at her.
But she was looking at me, not him. “He became violent quickly, but I decided I could bear it for the sake of my brother. There were no other servantry options available unless we traveled somewhere new, and even then, it was no guarantee I would find something. This past year, though, he…he began to demand of me things that went beyond normal, um, work. When I refused or fought him, he’d punish me. ”
It took no imagination to know what she referred to. I stiffened, my breaths becoming thin.
She was almost my age.
If not for Merelda taking me in, I could very well be her.
All this, because of the Domus. Her parents had died from this dreadful land, from the waste it had become ever since those damned walls came up. Just as my parents had died from the violence that was bred from the disorder, starvation, and desperation that came from the changes the Domus caused.
And she wasn’t the only one today to suffer because of it.
I could change that. I could help stop this from happening. I would help stop this from happening. I would keep climbing that tower until I knew where in the south I was supposed to go, because I was so damned lucky to have lived the life I had. Others weren’t as fortunate.
“When I tried to leave, he cut my hair, beat me, and locked my brother away, holding him captive to make sure I cooperated. I had no choice but to try to kill him and leave. That day, I managed to free my brother, and we nearly escaped. But I’d gotten the dosage wrong, and he took my brother back.
He swore that if I told you this story he would kill him. ”
The man exploded, launching to his feet and lunging at the girl, screaming a slew of profanities as he was caught and thrown back to the ground. “You fucking bitch. I will kill you! You’re dead, and so is that little brat—”
Someone kicked him in the head, brutally cutting his tantrum short.
“Release her,” Harthon ordered, sending a rush of tears to the young woman’s eyes. Then he grinned, white teeth glinting with sharp intent as he settled his eyes on the man.
“Now, I believe I told you what would happen if you opened your mouth again. We’ll begin with your tongue, and then we’ll decide what goes from there.”