Page 5 of Bought to Break
She blinked slowly, trying to clear the blur of tears from her eyes. ‘He said I made a fool of him.’
‘That’s all?’ He sounded suspicious.
She felt an odd bubble of laughter rise up from her chest. ‘What else does he need? I’m a slave and he’s a boy who wants to feel like a man.’
Viktor took off his cloak, and she tensed. But he simply settled it over her shoulders, shrouding her body in a thick, fur-lined tent of black. She had never felt so grateful for anything in her short life as this small kindness.
The stable door opened and Dirk stumbled in, looking much the same as when she’d left him drinking the wine she’d brought in last evening.
Before he even had a chance to demand to know what was going on, the other Brother had thrown a bag of coins at his feet. ‘For your slave. Bring us the Writ.’
Viktor swung her up into his arms. What was happening? They were buying her from Dirk? Why?
Just like that, she was handed to the other Brother to sit in front of him on his horse as if she weighed no more than a dormouse, Dirk disappeared and came out a moment later with a paper in his hand – and then they were leaving. She saw Dirk’s stricken face and Ather’s furious one as they left the barn and she was grateful and terrified all at once. Why did they want her? What would they do with her? Should she thank the gods for their mercy or pray to them to save her from these men?
Chapter 4
Sorin
Sorin cursed silently as the girl in front of him squirmed, trying to find a comfortable position in the saddle. She must be in pain from the beating, he mused. She was covered in welts, and he’d seen other bruises on her body as well. She’d been used badly; the lot of a slave sometimes, to be sure. It was the same in the north, of course, but there a girl with her beauty would hold court in the highest brothels, have maids to attend her, choose her clients and, in time, buy herself free – usually so rich by then that she sailed away to the cultured and beautiful islands of the east to live out her life in comfort and security. The south, provincial backwater that it was, didn’t work like that, which was a shame. Slaves like her should be treated well, not abused and worked to death.
Sorin didn’t speak to her, wasn’t sure what to say, so he pretended to ignore her as he manoeuvred his horse, though she was the only thing he could focus on properly. They rode in silence, slowly, away from the village and into the wilds. They would journey all day, not stopping until nightfall.
‘What will you do with me?’ asked a small voice in front of him after a few hours of silence.
He glanced at Viktor, who rode by his side. Neither said anything.
‘Why did you buy me from Dirk?’ she persisted.
This time, Viktor answered and Sorin was surprised when he told the girl half the truth. ‘We didn’t like what we saw.’
There was a moment of silence before she spoke. ‘Aren’t all slaves treated this way?’
‘Not all.’
She turned to look at Viktor, her hair brushing Sorin’s skin. He ached to run his fingers through it, tangled and dirty though it was. He was drawn to her somehow. He’d never felt anything like it before. He knew Viktor was as well, though he was trying to hide it. Though he didn’t understand it, neither of them could have left her to her fate back in that barn.
‘But why–?’
‘Hush, little bird; you’re safe enough with us,’ Viktor said as they neared a fork in the road, brooking no further comment. Instead of taking one or the other direction, they led their horses off the road and into the trees between them. Not far away was a deep thermal pool next to a small clearing. They knew it well. This was where they would make camp for the night.
Viktor helped the girl down from Sorin’s horse and set her on the ground. He walked off with his bow to hunt for their dinner. Sorin dismounted and sorted the horses, unsaddling and feeding them. Though he stayed alert should she try to escape, it was some time before he turned his full attention back to her. She hadn’t moved, just kept glancing at him and the space in the trees where Viktor had disappeared.
Sorin chuckled. ‘Are you going to run, girl?’
She shook her head.
‘Are you not afraid?’
She blinked at him. ‘Less afraid than I was when I woke up this morning.’ She smiled very slightly. ‘Although that’s not saying much.’ She looked back at the forest.
Sorin regarded her while her eyes were elsewhere. She was too well spoken. That was rare for a slave – unless she was a house slave from one of the wealthy families trying to emulate her betters, which she was most assuredly not if her appearance was anything to go by.
‘Where are your parents?’
She didn’t turn back to him. ‘Dead.’
Sorin finished with the horses. ‘Were your parents owned by Dirk as well?’
