Page 61 of Bought to Break
‘A few, but not many. Flesh wounds, mostly.’
‘What does this mean?’
Greygor smiled coldly. ‘It means the gods were smiling upon us. We must find the artefact and deliver it to its rightful place or their wrath will, doubtlessly, be swift.’
Nods of assent were mirrored in the expressions of many of the men. Some, her unit included, were giving each other pointed looks instead.
‘Kane, take your unit to the east gate and ensure all is well. There have been reports of a skirmish.’
Kane, Viktor and Sorin didn’t look happy, but they left quickly without grumbling through a smaller door on the other side of the room. The Commander was getting on in years, but Lana could see that his power over the Brothers was still absolute where most things were concerned. She got the impression that her unit butting heads with him as they had over her was an exceedingly rare occurrence. But why, then, did Kane treat her so cruelly when he had clearly risked so much to champion her? The man didn’t make sense; none of this did, really. What was the army even doing here if not to pillage, rape, kill and do whatever else the Brothers did?
Lana shook her head and focused on what was in front of her. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop. She’d assumed someone would notice her and she could slip into the crowd without ceremony, but now that the others were gone, she was left in a vague sort of panic. She shouldn’t be here. Escaping the confines of the room was her first priority, and then she could either find the others or go back to the ship and wait for them there.
She backed towards the far wall slowly, intending to go back the way she’d come, but just before she reached the door, she heard someone on the other side of it. She retreated quickly, further into the dark periphery of the hall, glad of the missing wall sconces here and her dark clothes as she pulled up the hood of her cloak to conceal herself more thoroughly.
The door opened and three Brothers came through, a smallish, thin man in black robes with tied hands in the centre of them. The Brothers passed without seeing her, but their prisoner looked up as they went by and seemed to stare directly at her. She darted even further back silently and turned her face away. But when she peered at him a moment later, he was no longer looking in her direction, and she let out a slow breath. He must not have noticed her after all. Greygor ignored them as he spoke with another of his men, and the three Brothers, along with their quarry, stood in silence as they awaited his address.
‘Sir, there’s talk among the men.’
Greygor rolled his eyes. ‘Let me guess, Gorran. Whispers of witches and other irrational nonsense.’ He gave a hard laugh. ‘Next you’ll be telling me they won’t return to the mainland for fear of sea dragons!’
‘Sir, I–’
‘I have real work to do here that will make us wealthy beyond our dreams. I’m not playing nursemaid to an army of men scared of their own fucking shadows. Gods, we are Dark Brothers! Quash this nonsense and let it be known that any talk of witches will earn a man fifty lashes. Now, fuck off.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Gorran practically ran for one of the other doors and was gone before another word could be uttered.
Greygor glanced at the unit who’d arrived with, Lana assumed, the priest they’d spoken of before. ‘Well?’
The prisoner was pushed forward. Lana could see that he’d been beaten already. His face was bruised and bleeding and he favoured his right side even as he held his left arm close to him with his other hand.
Greygor looked at him only to give the vaguest sneer. ‘You know why we’re here, priest. We can search the citadel and the others in the Islands. We will find it eventually, but until we do, we will occupy your shores. We will plunder. We will reside in your houses and walk your streets. We will slake our thirst in your famed wine cellars and fill our bellies with your people’s fayre. Your women and girls will be raped in the streets and taken for our pleasure tents. And …’ He picked up a large book that had been resting on the table and weighed it in his hand. He finally looked the priest in the eyes as he casually threw it into the fire that burned in the centre of the hall. ‘You can be sure our search will take its toll on your many irreplaceable pieces.’
The priest gaped at him and then at the fire, where the book was quickly being consumed, his mouth opening and closing like a landed herring. Lana saw the instant that his anger and disbelief won out over fear.
‘That tome was over six thousand years old and the only one in existence!’ he cried, his face turning the veriest shade of purple.
Greygor shrugged. ‘Now it’s ash. And I speak from experience when I say that the older they are, the faster they burn. Tell me where the Vessel is and we leave with the tide.’ He shrugged. ‘Or don’t and we destroy the citadels and the histories one piece at a time. The choice is yours.’
It wasn’t a bluff. The Commander really didn’t care one way or the other. He would win in the end no matter what the priest did, and he knew it – everyone did.
He bowed his head in defeat. ‘I know who paid you to come here.’
‘Then you know he always gets what he wants no matter the cost. Where is it?’
The priest let out a slow breath and closed his eyes, his shoulders hunching with the weight of what he was about to do. ‘In the cellar behind the very last door at the back is a wall under the east wing. Knock through it and you will find it,’ he whispered.
Greygor nodded to the men. ‘Chain him and take two units to the cellars. Find it and bring it to me.’
They nodded and did as their Commander bid. The priest didn’t struggle as a manacle was fitted around his ankle with a short, thick chain attached to the stone wall.
And suddenly she was alone with the priest. She didn’t move, unsure if she should try to assist him. The stable girl in her was shocked that she was even contemplating not helping, but she was a Dark Brother now, after all. If she set him free, wouldn’t it be treason against the Army? She cast her eyes back to the shackled man. She couldn’t leave him. Once they found this Vessel, Greygor would kill him as soon as look at him. But if the man had disappeared by then, surely they wouldn’t think much of it, nor waste time trying to find him.
She stood still as she deliberated, finally deciding to try to help him escape. She hadn’t yet moved when he turned his head and stared at her as if he could see into her very soul.
‘I know you’re there. I felt you as soon as you set foot on our shores.’
