Chapter Ten
Mary’s heart pounded in fear as the one named Gryke dragged her deeper and deeper into the belly of Aukrabah.
The walls seemed to close in on her, and the air grew thicker by the minute. “Where are you taking me?”
He didn’t answer, merely tugged her forward, forcing her to jog to keep up with him.
The giant Bracadyte stopped in front of a narrow doorway and took a step downward, pulling her along with him.
Mary dug in her heels. “I-I can’t go down there. Please, if you’re going to kill me, just do it now.”
The corridor ahead appeared damp and dim as if only a low-watt bulb had been used to light the entire area. It smelled of mildew, which told Mary one thing: water trickled in from somewhere.
Her fear turned to terror as Gryke spun around, bent, and threw her over his shoulder.
Mary didn’t care if her towel slipped off, or if the entire Bracadyte race witnessed her barely covered ass in the air. No, she was focused on one thing and one thing alone…the darkened prison cells she’d seen in the distance.
“I can’t be locked in there!” she cried, her fists pummeling the giant’s back. “You don’t understand!”
A deep voice rang out up ahead. “Gryke. I was not made aware of a prisoner being brought down this evening.”
“We were not expecting to bring you one, Maulkryth. But here she is.” Gryke dumped Mary unceremoniously at the other Bracadyte’s feet.
Mary’s towel slipped, and her hands flew up to cover her breasts.
“A human?” Maulkryth’s eyebrows shot up, and interest entered his emerald-green eyes.
Maulkryth reached down and jerked her to her feet. “What is she down here for, and what am I to do with her?”
“Attempted murder. And do with her as you would anyone else accused of such a crime.” Gryke turned to go.
“Wait!” Mary cried, reaching for Gryke’s hand. “I’m begging you. Please don’t leave me down here!”
The smallest spark of sympathy flickered in Gryke’s eyes before he quickly stepped out of reach and strode from the room without looking back.
Gripping her around the waist, Maulkryth lifted Mary off her feet and carried her kicking and screaming into the smallest, darkest cell on the end.
Tears spilled from Mary’s eyes. And not from fear of what Maulkryth would do to her as much as what Jefferies would do to the children.
Panic choked her, coursing through her veins like the poisonous cyanide in the vial she’d brought into Aukrabah.
Maulkryth yanked the cell door open and slammed Mary’s body against a thick wooden cross standing in its center. The breath whooshed from her lungs on impact.
Mary tried to steady herself, but her feet didn’t touch the floor.
Pain traveled up her arm as the guard cuffed her left wrist to the horizontal beam before securing the right one as well.
“Please don’t do this,” Mary begged, not caring how she sounded. “He’ll hurt the children!”
Maulkryth ignored her pleas. “I see that you have been beaten before. Mayhap you have been found guilty of a similar crime from the land walkers.”
“You have to listen to me,” Mary gasped through the pain of hanging by her wrists. “If I don’t return to the surface soon, that monster will begin killing the children.”
The sting of a lash across her back wrung a cry from Mary’s throat. It arced across her shoulder to tear the skin at her collarbone.
Another lash landed closely behind, packing just as much force as the first one.
Mary clenched her teeth together to keep from crying out, the way she’d learned to do as a child when her foster father would beat her.
On and on, the lashing went until Mary’s vision blurred and her head dropped forward into blessed darkness.
* * * *
Voices. The murmuring of voices brought Mary out of her pain-induced sleep.
Agony ripped through her anew. Like the sting of a thousand bees, a throbbing, burning sensation seared her tender back. Her wrists had gone numb, leaving her shoulders to carry the brunt of their torment.
“Rykaur should have known better than to bring her to Aukrabah,” a deep voice growled from somewhere near. “From what I have been told, she is a prostitute and a thief. A female who sells her body for coin before taking their possessions.”
“A thief as well as a murderer,” Maulkryth spat in obvious disdain. “I do not understand why King Klause insists on trusting the land walkers. They have been nothing but trouble since the day they destroyed that oil well that nearly took Hauke’s and Naura’s lives.”
The owner of the unknown voice sighed. “That was nearly three summers past. And in all that time, the humans have brought us nothing but grief. If it were up to me, I would move our entire clan deeper into the gulf. Perhaps even out to sea where we would be safe from land walker encounters.”
They continued to speak, but Mary no longer listened. The pain had become too much. Coupled with the terror she experienced over the thought of the children being at Jefferies mercy, reality was too much for her to take.
She stared down at her dangling feet, spots dancing before her eyes. “Rykaur,” she whispered as the darkness claimed her once again.