Page 42 of Cold Hearted
Dawn
Three days. Three days passed and I was bruised and bloody from trying to escape nearly every day. That first day I spotted my sunstone dagger sheathed at the hip of one of the guards. The fi rst beating I took was when I tried to steal it back. After that, I marked that guard for death. Every morning the guards tethered our ankles together with steel cuffs on a metal chain and held swords to our throats if we protested. We worked long hours in the dirt with blunted scraps of metal that were an excuse for a tool. Every evening, fi ngers bloody and swollen, we were permitted to wash in the deep river while the guards went into the water with us. If one woman tried to swim away, it would yank the chain of all of our legs and pull us all in with her. I’d thought about a hundred versions of escaping, but the only one that went well in my mind was the one where we worked together. So today, during one of our very brief water breaks from digging, I pulled Sabine and Alexandria aside.
“Tonight, when we bathe in the water, if we all swim away at the same time, we can escape,” I muttered.
Alexandria shot a worried glance over her shoulder at the guards. They were more than twenty paces away, chatting easily with each other with their hands on their bows ready to put an arrow into our chest if we ran.
“You know Claudette and Moira can’t swim,” Sabine told me, seeming to appraise my idea with more seriousness then Alexandria.
I did know about Claudette and Moira. They shook in fear at every wash and clung to the very edge of the shore, only going as deep as their knees.
I nodded. “I’ll have Moira hook her arms around my neck and carry her on my back. I’m a great swimmer. Can you carry Claudette?” I asked Sabine, since that was the order we were usually chained. She might be older than the rest of us but was in no way feeble.
Sabine blew air through her lips. “And if they get an arrow into us before we can get away?”
I winced. “You’re right. I shouldn’t push this on everyone.”
My desire to flee this place seemed to be greater than the others’. They were much more complacent in their lives here. Sure, they complained and fantasized about leaving, but they hadn’t tried anything since I’d arrived. Not like I had. I reached up and rubbed the bruise on my jaw that I’d been given last night for trying to run as the guard was unhooking my ankles to put me in the cave for the night.
But I had to try. Every day I would try. My people were counting on me. The mere thought of the black rain destroying my childhood home in Faerie made tears spring up in the backs of my eyes.
And then there was Zander.
I couldn’t even think of the Northern lord without feeling a tugging in my chest. Something outside of me pulled me to him. It was unnerving and left my heart feeling as bloodied and bruised as my body, so I did my best to block him from my mind completely.
“We should vote,” Sabine finally said. “If it’s unanimous, we make a run for it.”
Alexandria’s eyes went wide, and I reached out and put both hands on her shoulders. “Do you want to get sold to some creepy old fae’s house to be a slave for the rest of your life doing who knows what?” I asked her seriously.
She swallowed hard and shook her head.
“Then let’s vote, because buyers are coming whether we like it or not, and I don’t plan on being here when they arrive,” I told her.
I’d overheard the guards talking about the upcoming auction and it made my skin crawl.
Sabine casually walked over to where the other ladies were getting water by the giant bucket. We weren’t chained until we were released from our cell to start working for the day. That’s how I tried to break free on day one. I’d made a run for it before they tethered me to the other fae—an arrow had whizzed past my ear, nearly taking a chunk out. The guard assured me he’d missed on purpose so that he wouldn’t lose a strong digger but next time he’d take my heart.
Sabine whispered to one of the girls and her eyes went wide.Then the whispering spread, my plan of escape, and one by one the girls went over to speak to the next and peered at me with wide eyes.
I tilted my head high, trying to show them just how strong I was. We could do this. I could lead them out of this. When Claudette and Moira were told, they began to shake their heads in fear, and I stepped over to them, eyeing the guards to make sure they were still distracted and far enough away not to hear our conversation.
“Sabine and I will swim with you on our backs. I will drown before I let anything happen to you,” I assured them. “I’m an excellent swimmer.”
“Me too.” Sabine stepped up next to me and nodded. “I’m a healer. Protecting lives is what I do.”
“Let’s find another way. I hate the water,” Moira said. She was a small, childlike-looking fae with the furry face of a fawn complete with spots and small horns. The urge to protect her was strong within me, and I hoped I wasn’t making a mistake in my plan.
“Moira, when the auctioneers come we will all be sold off and separated. Is that what you want? To go to a permanent unknown location with some slimy old fae?”
Her little brown deer eyes widened as she shook her head rapidly. Reaching for her hands, I took them in mine. “Trust me, okay? I’ve got you. When I give the signal, you jump on my back and hold your breath. I’ll do the rest.”
Tears filled her eyes, but she nodded.
“Time to vote, then,” Sabine whispered as the girls gathered around, getting one last swig of water before we went back out to digging.
I looked at Alexandria and I saw respect and trust mirrored in her gaze. She nodded.
Sabine: a confident nod yes.
