Page 49 of Dragon Eternal (Dragon Kings 4)
CHAPTERTWENTY
“It was a soldier priest.”
Shaw forced himself to remain still as Nia’s softly spoken words reached him. With five words, he knew exactly what had happened to her. The anxiety he had seen the first night he’d met her had been all too real. He hadn’t liked the priests before.
Now, he loathed them.
Nia smiled, but there was no humor there. “He said it was my beauty that’d caught his attention. He couldn’t help himself after that.”
Shaw wasn’t sure he could hear details and not take it out on the priests and the Divine. But he wouldn’t stop Nia, either.
“The entire time, he kept telling me that it was my fault,” Nia continued. “I still remember how his fingers dug into my arm as he grabbed me and shoved me into a room. I wasn’t stupid. I knew what he wanted, what he planned to do.”
Shaw saw the shiver go through her. His hands itched to pull her to him and offer comfort, but he wasn’t sure it was what she wanted or needed. Nia was a survivor—she was strong mentally and emotionally. Her standing before him now proved that after everything she had endured.
She walked to a tree that grew alongside the road and leaned back against it. Her palms flattened against the bark as she looked up through the limbs and leaves to the sky above. “I didn’t fight him, even though I wanted to. The priests are revered. You are to submit if one chooses you. Inside, I screamed for help. No one would’ve come if I had yelled.”
“Are your priests celibate?”
Nia’s soft laugh danced around him. “No. Fortunately for me, one of the citadel soldiers happened to walk in. For some reason, that made the priest release me before he could finish. But the damage had already been done. The priest withdrew from my body, told me once more that what had happened was my fault, and left.”
“He wasn’t punished?”
She shot him a dry look and curled her fingers against the bark. “You did hear the part where I said the priests get whatever they want, right? I knew he wouldn’t be punished. The priests get away with whatever they want, especially against those on the lower levels. I wasn’t the first one raped by a priest, and I wasn’t the last. The soldier who found us ordered me to clean myself up. The next morning, as I was doing my chores, a woman came for me. She was dressed as finely as the wealthy. I thought perhaps the Divine had sold me. In fact, I was simply being given another vocation—that of courtesan. I began my training that very day.”
Shock ran through Shaw. “They didna give you time to deal with your assault?”
“I’m a slave. My feelings don’t matter,” she said as she looked at him. Her eyes sharpened. “I didn’t dwell on what had been done to me. If I had, I would’ve died there, and I refused to let that happen. Instead, I used the opportunity that I’d been given to my advantage. I’ve done very well for myself. I’m the one the Divine turns to for important matters because I never fail. I always get whatever is needed, be it secrets, items, or…people.”
Shaw still had so many questions about her assault, but it was obvious that she didn’t want to dwell on it. She had done what she needed to move past it enough to keep living. She hadn’t addressed it, though, and she would have to, sooner or later.
“All right,” he replied.
Her shoulders rose as she inhaled. On the exhale, she released the tree but didn’t move away from it. “All right, what?”
“We’ll go in front of the Divine. You’ll win your freedom, and I’ll get the face-to-face I want.”
“Did you hit your head recently?” she asked, her brow furrowed. “Because that’s the only reason anyone would say that.”
“It’s a win-win for both of us. You said you never fail. And since you willna take the opportunity I’m giving you for freedom, what other choice do I have?”
She turned her attention forward and looked through the thick forest. “If I leave, the Divine will go after Merrill.”
“Trust me, Merrill can take care of himself. Just as I can.”
Nia snorted as she shook her head. “You might have magic, but the last thing you should do is underestimate an opponent. The Divine has been ruling for a long time.”
Those were wise words, ones he would heed. “He must be an old man then. He detests magic, but he doesna mind using it to his advantage.”
Her head snapped to him.
“He knew about Merrill and me, Nia. How could he unless he had someone with the ability to locate those in Stonemore with magic?”
She pushed away from the tree to face him. “It has to be something new. Otherwise, the city would know of it. The priests would be rounding up all the children with magic instead of waiting for the parents to report them.”
“What happens if the parents don’t inform the priests?”
“They’re killed along with the one they’re hiding.”
Shaw really wanted to meet the Divine so he could toss him over the side of the mountain. “Which proves my point. He willna tolerate magic being used unless it’s for himself. Talk about a hypocrite.”
“I’ve heard that some parents don’t mind magic, and as long as the children keep it hidden, they won’t report it. It’s just a rumor, mind you, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some in Stonemore do that.”
“How does everyone react when the children are murdered?”
She shrugged and looked away. “It’s a part of life. No one says or does anything because it’s simply the way things are.”
“Do you like it?”
Her fury was instant as she met his gaze. “Of course, not,” she snapped.
“Then help me stop it.”
She cut him a look before she gave a bark of laughter. “That will never happen.”
“Several have been lately.”
Nia shook her head. “Impossible.”
“A fellow Dragon King stumbled upon a Banshee who had been sneaking into Stonemore to save the children about to die after hearing their screams. The last time Cullen was here, he and Tamlyn saved seven.”
Her lips parted as the truth dawned on her. “That’s why the dragon was here.”
“Aye. That was Cullen. If he had wanted to destroy the city, he could have. All he did was provide a diversion so Tamlyn could get away with the bairns.”
“Nothing was ever said,” she murmured. “The priests informed the city that the ceremony had been done the night after the dragon was here.”
He saw that she was absorbing everything and trying to come to terms with it. “I could take you to see Tamlyn. Have you ever met a Banshee?”
“I don’t even know what that is.”
