To Defend A Bride (Entangled with the Enduar #3)

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

RA’SA

“ W hen I finally cut down my first branch, I thought I was going to die. The tree shoved to the left, and one of the splinters cut my arm,” Nicolás, the climber on my cutting team, says animatedly.

I smirk at his excitement, shaking the sweat out of my hair. He’s got all the youthful hope that Tirin had. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I see bits of my late brother in this young man. From how he grins despite the generally gloomy mood of everyone around him, to how he makes wide gestures with his arms without taking into account those next to him.

“We’ll fell two trees tomorrow!” Nicolás continues, hand crashing into my forearm.“They’ll give us each a leg of lamb.”

I have the strangest urge to reach out, grab his shoulder, and remind him to temper his enthusiasm.

Abet, another cutter, does it for me. “Quiet, boy.”

We continue to trudge along the trail, and Nicolás' head tilts further and further down. His blond hair falls in his eyes, and I feel bad for Nicolás. He’s just proud of himself, as he should be. It was a job well done.

To help him feel better, I pat him on the back.

I glance at Abet and ask him with the lowest voice I can muster. “Why is everyone so quiet?”

He looks up at me. “They execute the ones they think are conspiring to rebel.”

I blink.

A rebellion?

Deep gray plumes of smoke return to my mind, as does the sight of slaves throwing poisoned food under patches of snow to rot. The situation here is worse than I expected. But King Teo wanted me to help the humans, and I keep my word.

"In my last yard, they started burning dens without warning. What caused all of this?" I lie.

Abet bites his flaking lips and looks at me sideways. Our pace remains steady as we pass through the gates leading us back to the slave pens. Abet spits on the ground and then coughs.

"An entire breeding pen full of women escaped."

Obviously, I knew this. I open my mouth to find out more—anything that I could send back to Enduvida—but I am quickly silenced by another look from Abet. He jerks his head to the right, directly toward a line of giant guards waiting for us to arrive.

After giving them a long, appraising look, Nicolás—who stands on my other side—leans over.

"Standing at attention like that, they almost look like uncooked sausages. Some days, I can’t believe they’ve got skin so pale and ruddy," he says.

Thank the gods, his voice was low this time, but I can't help but grin. To hide the emotion, I pull on the shirt I'd sloughed off hours ago. As I do, I feel eyes on me from somewhere nearby and gaze out into the woods.

A small hooded figure stands just behind a tree. Dull red skirts peek out from the heavy black fabric, and slender, umber fingers are splayed across a tree trunk.

Melisa.

She turns and hurries away, and the urge to follow her ripples through my entire body.

I almost do.

Somehow, the ghost of her scent comes over to me, and I… ache.

“Did you see the whore sneaking around?” someone behind me says, almost too low for me to hear.

I grit my teeth.

“Wonder who she came to fuck this time,” another says. Low laughter swells through their group.

Heat prickles on my neck. When I look back, I find the man who threatened me this morning. What the hell is wrong with him?

I ignore the rest of the group as the guards lead us to the eating station. A fire is lit this time, but most people disappear into their houses after getting their food.

The grainy, gray slop is still just as unappetizing as before, but thankfully, the sickly sweet smell of poison isn’t present. I shovel some into my mouth. The taste of tree bark and meat mashed together is disgusting, but at least it’s something after a long day.

“You were quick to eat that,” the crude man from before remarks as I head over to the large den where the men sleep.

My fists tighten while I think of what he said about Melisa. His head is cocked to the side as a bald man trails just a short ways behind him.

They were the ones who spoke poorly of Melisa.

I nod once, keeping the sneer of my face, and bring another spoonful past my lips. “It doesn’t smell off.”

“You can smell that?” His brown eyes seem to glitter.

I raise an eyebrow. I’d definitely seen other slaves throw the mash away. “You can’t?”

His intrigued expression melts into a glare.

“If we could, there probably wouldn't be so many dead." He steps forward, away from the trees. "I wonder where you picked up such a skill. Where did you say you were from again?”

The bald man from his cutting team stares at me through narrowed eyes, and a third joins them.

“The northwestern lumber yards,” I say.

His eyes narrow. “It was a massacre over there. Hundreds were slaughtered in one day between the fires and food. And yet you, a halfblood, survived... and came here. Interesting.”

Others start to pay attention. Not just his cutting team but old crones, young children, and shadowy faces of other men and women.

“I survived because I worked hard,” I say at last.

The man in front of me smirks. “We all work hard, and most of us still die. Who, exactly, do you work for?"

My teeth grind together. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Do you work for the giants or the humans?”

I purse my lips. Well, shit. I’m too tall, too strong, too suspicious.

“I came here because I found the foreman’s comfort woman and brought her back to him. I wanted out of my old area. Too much death.”

The man’s gaze shift, and he lets out one huff. “You brought back the whore?”

My fists tighten. “Don’t call her that. It’s disrespectful.”

His eyebrows raise. “Did you rut her, too? Be careful. Can’t trust the ones who work with the giants.”

More than anything, I want to smash the asshole's face. But I'm already standing on dangerous ground—ice so thin that if I don't tread carefully, I'll be plunged into the dangerous, frozen depths.

“No.”

The slave’s smirk grows wider.

“Ah, but you want to. I respect that. My name is Rodrigo—people look to me as their leader.” He comes over and claps me on the back. “Don’t do anything stupid in our pens.”

I remain unmoving as he turns back around and walks away with his group. The man who was leaning against the beam moments ago gives me one last up-and-down before he lets out a huff and turns around, too.

I’m left standing there, feeling slightly off balance. That sensation follows me as I clean my plate and head back to the men's den.

When I find my bunk, I crash against the wobbly surface, nearly breaking it, and groan.

Today started poorly, but it was interesting to speak with Nicolás. Catching Melisa watching me makes me feel guilty. We hadn't been kind to each other.

“I saw you talking to Rodrigo. Be careful with them,” a voice says from one of the cots.

I look over at Abet. I’d assumed he was already asleep.

“I wouldn’t have gone near them otherwise,” I murmur. "They spoke to me first."

He snorts. “Good instincts. Just leave them be, and they won't bother you too much.”

While I look at him, I think about dinner. He wasn't anywhere near me, and I didn't see him grab a plate.

“Did you eat? This one wasn't... soured,” I say.

He shakes his head. “Not hungry.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Even after all the work we did today?”

"Leave me be, Rasa,” he says, pronouncing my name like some of the other humans.

"I can get you food," I say gently.

He is silent for a long while, and then I hear a snore from him. His lack of response worries me, but I'm reluctant to wake him.

After a few hours of lying awake while the rest of the men drift into sleep, I sneak out.Now would be a good time to check on messages from Melisa.

It would be good to find some real food. I might even share with my cutting team.

The closer I get to Eneko’s cottage, the more my stomach aches.

Is Melisa with Eneko now?

My breath comes in shallow pants. How had I not considered that before leaving?

But when I arrive, I find every light off.

As I creep forward, the windows are as dark as the night sky. No… explicit sounds can be heard anywhere.

That brings me comfort. But I still creep closer and closer to the back room.

Her room.

The lock on her door is open, and my heart skips a beat. I listen at the door. A small hiss sounds without warning, and a warm, yellow light filters out through her small window. The glass is cloudy, nothing like the fine workmanship in Enduvida.

I wait a minute, and then another, to see if a giant's form crosses in front of the slight square opening. Eneko never materializes, and I let out a long breath. My fingers itch to look through the window again to see her beauty.

Instead, I look at the area where I gave her the first message. To my surprise, she left me something.

Meet me at midnight tomorrow.

Warmth spreads through my chest, and I arrange my own message.

Of course. Be well.

I press my hand to the side of the wall that connects to her room. It isn’t the same as touching her skin, but the connection, fleeting as it might be, is satisfying.

The stirring in my gut makes no sense. I have no claim over this woman. Our song did not start the first time I saw her.

But then she let me hold her through her panic. She kissed me. Gods, I’d never tasted anything so sweet. I was surprised when she let me teach her how to fight and bind her wound.

She’d told me that I didn’t know how to care for humans.

I wasn't practiced in matters of the heart, but the thought of drawing her close to me and holding her seemed nice. Even if it was likely she’d reject further advances.

Not wishing to dwell any longer, I get up to hunt. It doesn’t take me long to find a rabbit. It takes even less time to kill and clean it with a conjured stone knife.

When I start walking back to the camp, I try to follow the same hidden path. I assume there are no giant warriors. But as I cross over the fence covered in foliage, I am abruptly pulled back by a large hand.

“Where did you get that?” the growling voice of one of the giant guards demands.

I look up at his towering form. His dark cloak blends in with the shade between the trees, and his dark hair is even harder to spot.

Though Melisa hadn't mentioned hunting as something to avoid, I've obviously made a mistake.

“I got it in the forest,” I swear.

He spits on the meat. “You know that hunting is against the rules. You eat what’s given to you.”

A smart remark sits at the tip of my tongue. Seeing the men today was bittersweet. These people look at death like it would be a merciful escape from life. I should keep my mouth shut, I really should, but...

I'm not good at not voicing my opinion.

"So I can either eat poisoned food or nothing,” I bite back.

That earns me a violent shove to my knees. The gritty snow bites into my flesh, and the knees of my pants tear. Cold dampness soaks through, stinging my cuts.

“Shirt off,” the guard demands and draws out his whip.

It's dark. I could kill him. The hunger for his blood brews under my skin, but Melisa’s face enters my mind. All the strange emotions from earlier return. If I kill him, I’ll be taken away, and then how will I be able to protect her? She would become just another person I couldn't save.

Midnight also draws near. I have one of the glamour stones in my pocket, but I worry it won’t be enough.

Slowly, I take off my shirt and angle my chest away from them so they don’t have any chance of seeing my glamoured Fuegorra.

The first lash comes, but I don’t cry out. Not even when the skin splits, and I feel blood run down my back. Painfully hot. When it’s over, he kicks his dirty boot into my back and pushes me fully into the icy ground.

“Next time, your punishment will be worse," the guard bites out.

My back aches, but I remain there on the cold, hard ground.

My Fuegorra begins to heat my chest, and I worry about what is or isn't visible with this glamour.

The guard leaves, sure to kick me in the ribs one last time.

I want to snarl at him, but instead, I wait until the Fuegorra finishes healing my back and let him walk away.