Dark Magic (The Chronicles of Arandal)

Chapter Six


The moment he saw her, Devon knew that she was done for.

But she’d dared too much and come too far to give up without a fight. Leaping up, she tore through the bushes, trying to duck through brambles where he might not follow.

But he plunged after her, and he was faster. Behind her, she could hear him puffing behind her and the sound of his friend keeping pace.

The one in the lead caught up with her, grabbing her by the shoulder. When her head whipped around, the cap came off.

As her hair fell loose, he made a startled sound.

“What’s this? A girl!”

She tried to take advantage of his surprise to wiggle free, but his fingers clamped on her arm, holding fast. When she pounded her fists against him, he smacked her across the face so hard that she saw stars.

His mate came running up, grabbing her other arm. One of them had a length of rope around his waist. He untied it and pulled her hands behind her back, securing her wrists. Next he pulled the free end down to her ankles and tied them as well. When she struggled, the rope cut into her flesh.

They stared down at her with satisfaction as she lowered her lids. Not a good idea to look bold or defiant. She was their captive, and she had to figure out how to get away.

One of them had greasy dark hair. The other greasy blond. Up close, they smelled worse than when she’d first spotted them.

Her shoulder bag had dropped to the ground, and the dark-haired one picked it up, poking inside, throwing her clothing on the ground.

She thanked Rivana when he didn’t find the inner compartment where the book and her father’s seal were hidden.

“Where did you come from? Not the castle. Nobody can get out of there.”

“I was hiding in the woods.”

“And going where?”

“Away. There’s nothing good around here.”

He laughed. “Right.”

“Let me go.”

“Uh-uh.” The blond one squatted beside her, feeling her breasts through the rough shirt.

She tried to slide away, but he held her fast with his other hand. “Haven’t had a woman in months,” he said as he continued to play with her.

The other laughed. “Yeah. But we gotta report in.”

“We’re not on duty tonight. We can have supper, then come back and have some fun with her.”

Fear rose in her throat, almost choking off her breath.

They kept her hands and feet tied as they carried her to a tree and secured the rope to the trunk so that she was sitting with her hands pulled painfully in back of her.

“I want to f*ck her now,” the blond one said as he came down beside her.

“We don’t have time.”

“Maybe.” He grabbed her breasts again, and she clenched her teeth to keep from crying out. Then he worked his hand between her legs, pawing at the most vulnerable part of her.

When she gasped, he grinned and reached for the front of his pants, pulling out his swollen cock, stroking his hand up and down the length.

As she turned her head away from the revolting sight, he laughed.

She couldn’t stop herself from saying, “Please, I’m a virgin.”

“Or a liar. We’ll find out which.”

He stuffed his rod back inside his pants. “No need to rush. I’ll come back later and show you how a real man f*cks a woman, not like your Arandal pussies.”

When he pushed himself up and stepped away, she struggled not to let him see her relief.

“Back soon for some sport,” he said in a conversational voice before the two of them turned and tramped back through the woods.

Panic rose inside Galladar as he rushed through the castle. He had stepped into Devon’s room and found it empty, and the old woman who slept in the hall wasn’t at her post. Where were they?

He slipped silently through the building, trying to find out what had happened.

Had Devon taken sick? Had her father sent for her?

He hurried down a stone stairway to the king’s council chamber. Wilfred and some of his men were there, all looking panicked.

“You didn’t find her?” the king asked in a harsh voice.

“She’s not in the castle,” Grantland, the prince, answered. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Perhaps she heard about your plan.”

The king fixed him with a piercing gaze. “How could she? You didn’t tell her, did you?”

“Of course not.”

“What about the boy who jumped into the river? Could that have been her?”

“She’s reckless enough to try it.”

“Then she’s lost to us. The stupid bitch.” The king looked at one of his men. “Bring the nurse back. I want to question her again.”

The man stepped into a side chamber and brought out the old woman, holding her firmly by the arm.

“Tell me again what happened.”

Galladar waited, his heart pounding.

The woman raised her head. “When I went to look in on Princess Devon, she wasn’t in her room.”

“She must have passed by you. That was the only way out of the hallway.”

“I was sleeping, your highness.”

He glared at her. “You sleep soundly.”

“I’m old, sir. Why was there no guard outside her door?”

He raised his hand and struck her across the face, almost knocking her to the floor. “I could have you killed.”

“Ay.”

The king kept his angry gaze on her. “Did she speak to you of her plans?”

The woman licked blood from her lips. “No, your highness.”

“You were always her confidant. Are you lying to me?”

“If she was going to leave the castle, she may have been afraid I would tell you.”

Galladar had heard enough.

Devon was gone, and he had the sick feeling that she was in trouble.

Devon wanted to scream, but there was no one to hear her. If she was going to get away, she must help herself. But how?

They’d been too sure of themselves to search her, so they hadn’t found the knife tucked in the waistband of her britches. But what good would it do her with her hands and feet tied?

Desperately, she yanked on the rope, trying to free her hands, but as before, the rough fibers only sawed into her wrists.

Her feet weren’t staked to the ground. Working them under her, she pushed herself up, inch by inch, until she was standing with her back to the tree. Her arms were still tied, but at least they weren’t in such an aching position. Still, she was in terrible trouble, and it was her own fault. She had thought she could go to the dragon. She hadn’t gotten far from the castle.

They were going to rape her and probably kill her. Or tell their friends where they were hiding her in the woods so more of them could enjoy her. She had to get away—before they came back.

As she moved around the tree, her heart leaped when she found a broken arrow shaft sticking out of the trunk. Maybe it had gone astray in a battle. And maybe she could use it.

The broken end was sharp, and she began to saw the rope against it, desperate to cut through the strands. But the rope was thick, and freeing herself was going to take a while.

The question was, did she have enough time?

She kept working the rope against the wood. One by one, the strands broke. Every so often, she stopped to see if she could pull the rest of them apart, but they were still too strong and she went back to sawing, ignoring the pain.

Finally, she felt the rope start to give and redoubled her efforts. She had just pulled her hands free and was moving them to work out some of the cramps when she heard voices and saw torchlight flickering through the woods.

Great Rivana, the Lubantans were coming back.

All she could do was grab for her knife and clench it in her hand before sliding back down the tree and moving her arms to their original position, making it look as though she was still tied.

They might kill her, but she was going to take at least one of them with her.

The men had brought their horses closer. The dark-haired one tied them up while the blond came toward her, jabbing the torch he carried into the ground near her.

“She claims she’s a virgin,” he called to his friend. “Which one gets her first?”

“The one who can make her scream the loudest.”

“I’ll have a go at it,” the blond one said, as he came down beside her and ripped open the front of her shirt. As he leaned down to paw at her breasts, she whipped her arm from behind the tree, bringing the knife blade down and into his back with as much force as she could manage.

He grunted in surprise and pain, gagging as she pulled the knife free and plunged it in again.

She pulled out the knife and pushed the man off of her as his friend whirled to find out what was happening.

When he saw his friend lying on the ground, he sprang toward her.

He was still above her when she brought the knife up, aiming for his throat. But he dodged aside, grabbing her arm and slamming it against the ground.

“You whore,” he snarled as he reached for her. “You’ll pay for this.”