Page 8 of Daughter of the Ninth Line: Part One

“Theft? Surprisingly cliché for a Lower Six conscript.” The Heir’s tone was filled with disdainful boredom, and it might have been because my blood was already pulsing with adrenaline, or maybe because he was so dismissive of the struggles of the people of Ebrus, but it made me irrational.

Sneering at him, I picked up the knife again and turned my back to the powerful Heir. “Willfully blind to the suffering of his people. Surprisingly cliché for an Upper Six Heir,” I snarked back, rushing through finishing up my sandwich while keeping my actions even and slow. He’d never know that I was halving my toppings. Maybe I just liked ham and cheese.

He sniffed. “I could have you thrown from Boellium for insulting me.”

I rolled my eyes, but thankfully, he couldn’t see me. “That’s your prerogative,my liege.” I used the title with my own disdainfully bored tone. Fuck, I needed to reel back in my tongue before I ended up hanging by my feet from the rafters, bleeding out from my nose. “I’ll inform the kitchen staff of obtaining my own food tomorrow morning. I was… otherwise engaged during the mealtime service.” Let him think I was actually doing something important, and not passed out from exhaustion.

He raised an eyebrow. “With Taeme from the Third? Don’t think you’re special. He’s had every female recruit on their back at one point or another. Some of the staff too,” he informed me with an irritated sniff.

Don’t say it. Don’t say it.

“I’m sure he’d have you on your back too, if you asked nicely.” My tongue was in control now, leaving my good sense behind in the dust. I was a fool. A dead and buried fool. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to bed, if I’m to be a stellar student in this fine institution.”

I went to move past him, but suddenly, it was like moving through quicksand. Bands of air tightened around my body, holding me still.Oh fuck.I’d lasted one whole day at Boellium before dying. It wasn’t a record, I knew that, but even so, it was a record for our Line.

Vox leaned in, his lips so close to my face, he could probably bite off my nose. His eyes sparkled with anger. “If you think Hayle Taeme would be on top, you know very little about me, Low Class.”

That’s what his issue is?

He leaned forward and took a bite of my sandwich, still suspended in front of me. Then he plucked it from my fingers and threw it on the ground, striding with a confident swagger from the kitchen.

I struggled against the invisible bonds, but it was futile. I was here, at the mercy of anyone who walked in. Despite logically knowing it was useless, I pushed and strained until I was making a wounded animal noise, tears leaking from the corners of my eyes.

I was trapped as easily as a mouse by a barn cat.

A soft noise had me straining to look over my shoulder. I saw the hound first. The same one from today during training, I thought. It had a purple stolt in its mouth, and I recognized itstiny white socks as my stolt. Or the stolt that lived on my floor. Not mine. I wasn’t attached to the rodent.

“Drop it,” I hissed, and both the hound and the stolt cocked their heads at me.

But the hound indeed dropped the tiny creature. Unlike with the war cat, the stolt didn’t run away. It sat on its haunches and indignantly smoothed all the canine slobber from its coat.

I glared at the stupid creature. “You must have been the dullest stolt in your whole litter.”

On the stars, I swear the hound grinned back at me, like it thought my comments were hilarious. The hound—which was a she, I thought—shuffled closer to me and sniffed the magic surrounding me. One of her lips peeled back from her canines, and I knew I was about to die. It was the surprise of my life when she let out a giant sneeze, shaking her head in disgust at the scent of magic and covering me in hound snot.

“Agreed. It does stink.” I stopped struggling and let my body slump against the bindings. If Vox wanted to waste his energy keeping me suspended all night, I could sleep like this.Dick.

Footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door, and I froze. I was fully aware of how very vulnerable I was right now. What if Vox had sent someone down to beat the shit out of me—or worse—while I was incapacitated? What if it was someone completely unrelated, and they took advantage anyway?

Sensing the spike in my anxiety, the hound wrapped herself comfortingly around my legs, while the stolt stood by, cleaning its butthole.

I was almost relieved when Hayle Taeme appeared around the corner. He looked dishevelled, like he’d been asleep, or if Vox was to be believed, mid-fuck. The grin he gave me made me believe it was probably the latter. A man as handsome as Hayle wouldn’t sleep alone.

“We have to stop meeting like this,” he murmured, coming closer to poke at my invisible bindings. “You pissed off Vox, I see.”

Straightening, he pulled out his necklace. There were two chains, one empty and one laden with talisman charms. There must have been twenty charms on the second necklace, each attached by a tiny silver clasp. Without looking down, he slipped the empty chain over his head, then moved his fingers along the chain remaining around his neck until he found the charm he wanted. With deft fingers, he unclasped it and hooked it onto the empty chain.

That manytalsmust have cost his family a small fortune, but I guess the Third Line had a lot of wealth, so why not deck out your favorite son with enough talismans to ward off the hand of death itself?

He reached toward me, and I flinched away. I didn’t know if they were offensive or defensive talismans, and in the dim lighting, I couldn’t make out the details on the swinging charm.

Noting my flinch, Hayle raised his hands. “It’s an elementaltal. It nulls the effects of bindings that use one of mother nature’s elements.” Easing toward me, he slipped the necklace gently over my head. “Earth. Fire. Water.” The talisman fell against my chest, and the binding broke immediately. I would have dropped to my knees if Hayle hadn’t been there to catch me. “And air, of course.” Steadying me back on my feet, he gave me a once-over. “What did you do to annoy everyone’s least favorite Ice Prince?”

Well, I couldn’t exactly tell Hayle that I’d insinuated that Vox wanted to fuck him, so instead, I flushed and went with the next closest truth. “I may not have shown the proper respect that an Heir to the First Line feels is due. I might’ve suggested he was willfully blind to the state of his people.”

Hayle raised a brow, but didn’t say anything else. “I would avoid pissing off Vox Vylan. You are playing outside your league, Avalon Halhed.” He grinned at me. “But I find it kind of hot.” He gave a soft whistle, and I realized the stolt and Hayle’s hound companions—I hadn’t even noticed the other one appear—were all eating my sandwich.

I glared at the stolt. “Seriously?” Sighing, I let them have it. I had my nut squares still in my pocket; that would have to tide me over tonight.

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