Page 7 of Vows of Sacrifice

My wife, with her blood-coloured hair falling freely over her shoulders, stormed like a crimson tempest into the castle’s main square.

“What are you doing?!” she growled, rushing toward the group of ragged men.

At first, I decided to observe her, curious as to how she would handle the situation. Clearly, she wanted to save the maid. Besides, I was there if anything went wrong. Ashana of Muvaria belonged to me, and nobody could touch what was mine with impunity. She grabbed a bow from one of the tables, as well as one of the arrows.

“Let her go!” she ordered.

Elendur’s soldiers froze, some with their pants down to their knees, then turned their heads in her direction with a curious synchronicity. I, leaning against a stone pillar, crossed my arms, attentive to the scene unfolding before my eyes. Everything about her posture indicated that she knew how to master the weapon she held in her hands. This only half reassured me.

“What’s going on?”

Paivrin.

“My wife is trying to stop a rape,” I said flatly.

“And you’re not going to help her?” my brother snapped.

I shrugged.

“It’s her decision. Let her make it.”

My tone was casual, but my eyes hadn’t left my wife for a moment.

“In that case . . .” he began, making a move to join her.

I held him back with one hand on his arm.

“No. If she needs help, I’m here. In the meantime, she wants to assert herself and take justice into her own hands. Let her be.”

A flash of anger crossed Paivrin’s eyes.

“It’s one woman against five men!”

I felt a sinister smile tug at the end of my mouth.

“Yes. She’s my wife. So she can do it.”

“How would you know? You’ve only just met her!”

His attitude was starting to seriously irritate me. I opened my mouth to retort but, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted movement. Ashana had just shot one of the maid’s assailants. An arrow to the head. I let out an appreciative whistle. Her companions, stunned, froze for a moment, before rushing toward my wife. She grabbed more arrows and fired at the four remaining soldiers. She hit one in the shoulder, the second in the chest, and the third in the thigh. Only the fourth was still heading straight for her, as Ashana was out of arrows. In the space of a breath, I was at her side, and I grabbed her attacker by the throat. His feet no longer touched the ground, and his eyes bulged with fear.

“Did you intend to lay a hand on my wife?” I asked him sweetly.

Vile gurgles came from between his lips in response.

“No . . . I . . .”

Those were the only two words he managed to utter. There was a deathly silence around us. The other Osacan soldiers watched us, petrified. I tightened my grip on the neck of the fool, then, in a loud voice, warned them: “Lady Ashana of Muvaria is now my wife. Anyone who disrespects her, attacks her, or displeases her in any way will be killed by my hands on the spot. Is that clear?”

The soldiers all stood up as one and shouted back, “Yes, Lord Dovah!”

I smiled with satisfaction before snapping the neck of the idiot writhing at the end of my arm. When I let go, his body fell limply onto the stone with a thud. I turned to my wife. She was confused. I made a mocking curtsy.

“It was a pleasure to see you at work, my lady.”

I was about to enter the castle when my gaze fell on the maid whose breasts had been exposed. I stopped dead in my tracks. She was shaking like a leaf, her eyes red with tears.

“Oh, one more thing,” I said, addressing my men. “Whoever rapes, also dies.”

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