Beasts and Blades [ON HIATUS]

Chapter 8 - The General Idea

This wasn't the first time she would be led away in chains.

The military officer Kellian, ever so calm and composed, wordlessly shackled her wrists and ankles. And she let him. Didn't fight back, didn't threaten or curse. She let him because she felt lost. Numb. Detached. Her friend - her lover - betrayed and sold her for a chest of gold.

Kellian led her out of the inn her by a chain. On a leash like a gods damned dog.

She just managed to hold her head high. Tipping her chin up defiantly, she wore another mask. A master of deceiving, a talent she now knew Sarras to have mastered as well.

But just because she was chained like an animal didn't mean she would cower like one. She sneered at onlookers, pulling away her lips and baring her teeth. It was...animalistic. But it seemed fitting. They stared, whispering behind hands and drawing back cautiously. A parent held their child close.

She smelled of damp clothes and blood, and her hair was a great tangle atop her head that continued in a mussed braid down her back. Dried blood stuck to her neck, and she brushed it off with hands that felt like they didn't belong to her. Her entire body felt as if it wasn't hers, like she was an outsider, stuffed into a foreign figure.

She thought of how if all of this hadn't happened, at this time she would be riding back to the settlement. With Sarras. That bastard.

She stared at Kellian's back. He led her through the streets, until they reached a local stable, to claim the pair of camels he owned.

The stench of dung and sweaty animals assaulted her nostrils. Horses neighed and whinnied, blowing hot air at her. A camel chewing at some feed watched Maja, while thick strands of saliva dripped from its lips.

A tiny, normal desert scorpion scurried over her boot. She stopped for a moment, watching it disappear under a patch of moulding hay.

A sharp pain stabbed her heart when she remembered Hume, her own scorpion. That stubborn, deadly creature who was not so different from herself. What had Sarras done with him, she thought. Had he taken him back to the settlement? Left him tied to that statue to starve? Claimed Hume as his own? He had always looked upon the scorpion and clearly noted his liking for him.

The flame of rage reignited in her chest. If she ever saw the bastard again, she vowed to tear him to ribbons.

Oblivious to her silent fury, Kellian fastened her chain to his belt, and the leather strap sagged on his hip. "So if you feel like running, you would have to drag me along with you."

She didn't offer him a reply or a retort, only watched as he checked the camels which were already stocked with canisters of water and supplies.

He rummaged through a satchel, producing a simple scarf and tossed it to her. "Tie that around your head. I don't need you dying of dehydration on the journey."

She didn't do what she was told. Because she failed to realize they were leaving, even with the camels in front of her, stocked with rations and supplies for a journey. A long journey.

She swallowed tightly. "Where?"

"So the Wolf speaks," he mused, as if he was expecting her to bark - which actually she could, if she wanted to.

Maja tried not to wince at the name. Wolf. Had Sarras told him about what she was? She wouldn't be able to tell her nickname from the truth. That thought made her stomach roil with discomfort.

"Aubade," he answered finally.

Her gut sank and reeking air turned stale. Aubade, the capital city of Solaria. If any criminal was at least moderately intelligent, they wouldn't come miles within the city's borders. Because that city housed the royal family of Solaria, the most powerful, dangerous individuals the nation ever saw. And the queen, ruthless and heartless, ruled supreme.