Page 169 of The King's Man
I unbuckled her and as the straps fell to the floor in the shadow of my room, I turned her to face me. “Don’t hide from me, if that hurt you—”
“No, no. It doesn’thurtto lose control of the shadows, but we would have been revealed if I’d lost my grip. I was only worried about keeping us out of sight.”
I opened my mouth to answer her, to makecertainshe was being honest, when a shadow to my left moved and instinct kicked in.
With a roar, I whipped Diadre to the right and turned my body, placing myself between her and the shadow, drawing myspear from my back and snarling a warning to whoever had been stupid enough—
“No, no, Jann… it’s me. It’s only me.”
I froze, swallowing hard as the shadow separated from the darkness in the alcove near the door, a small form, shrouded in a deeply hooded cloak.
I stared, still on guard. But to my relief, the hands that lifted to push the hood back were small and pale, and the face that was revealed from beneath it—though doubly pale—was the wide-eyed, half-smiling face of my slave, Caelan.
“Caelan!” I gasped, rushing to embrace her and lift her from her feet. “You’re alive!”
She gave a nervous laugh and squeezed me, then stepped back when I placed her back on her feet.
“What are you doing here?” I asked her in a hushed whisper. “I didn’t tell anyone we were—”
“You said if danger ever came, to hide here. So… I have. For the past three days,” she said, her brow furrowed.
“Hiding from what? Who’s—”
“The King, Jann. He’s… he’s hunting.”
My head jerked back. “Yes, but… you didn’t volunteer, did you?”
To my surprise, Caelan, who’d learned very quickly that she was free to speak her mind with me, dropped her chin and looked aside as if she was nervous. When I pressed, she shook her head.
“The hunts are… notonlyvoluntary,” she said finally.
I blinked. “What? But—”
“You’ve been gone a great while, Jann. A few days ago, after this hunt was announced, they began to round up everyone aligned with Melek or those believed to support him. No one has come for me, but… I wasn’t sure.” She looked up at me, her expression pinched with worry and unease. “I was warned byone of the King’s butlers. No one knows where you stand, Jann. He was concerned they’d take me. I decided not to take the risk.”
“But…why?”I asked urgently.
She swallowed. “I think… I think he’scullingus.”
58.Civil War
~ JANN ~
“Culling?!”
I’d hadn’t seen Caelan this uncertain or hesitant since the first months I’d taken her from her former master. She’d learned over the years that she held value in my house, and I’d given her a great deal of freedom. She knew her worth—or at least, she had when I left. Why did she flinch now as if my gasp of surprise were disapproval?
“Caelan, what’s happened? Even as my slave you have no reason to hide, no reason to be afraid—”
“The new King…” she murmured, and her gaze lifted to look past me to Diadre behind me. “He… Jann, it isn’t as it was when you left. Hell, it isn’t as it was before Gall returned. I’ve been safe while you’ve been gone until Gall came. Last week he declaredanyfemale in Ebonreach now a slave to her household. And if she held her own home, she became the possession of the merchant she served. We can no longer own a business or trade,and we cannot leave the city walls without the master’s express permission. I couldn’t come when I received your message—I’m so sorry!”
Tears made her eyes shine and I rushed to reassure her, but she shook her head. She wasn’t done.
“The new King, he says he’ll offer the hunts every month and any who do not wish to live under the new rules may enter. But if a female is caught she becomes the property of the male who caught her—whether she was of his house or not. And the males are… thirsty to build their houses.”
God, I wanted to snap my teeth, but Caelan was so on edge. I hadn’t seen her this nervous and twitchy for almost a decade. “Neph arealwaysthirsty to build their lines,” I muttered for Diadre’s benefit.
But Caelan shook her head. “No, Jann. You don’t understand. Gall is… changing things.”
