Page 33 of Condemned

Chapter Fourteen

For three days theyrode, with Takk and Timin venturing into a town to purchase food, as well as clothes for her, boots, and a set of lockable manacles for her wrists. Of course, with the right tools she could undo these. Each night she considered escape. There were factors to take into account.

The distance from the border.

The alertness of each mauleon.

The chance of stealing a florse and/or of somehow slowing down the remaining ones.

The size of Zo’s cock as it entered her.

Yeah, that was not supposed to be on her list, but she spent a good part of those nights staring up at the stars from her muddle of blankets, alone. The ground was hard, harder and colder than it would be if she snuggled close to one of the males who fenced her in.

She’d have to step over one of them to leave. That alone had become a huge problem. Females didn’t have wet dreams, did they? She never had. Yet each night she’d woken to find herself... ugh... leaking wetness and her pussy lips horribly swollen and throbbing. The slightest touch of a finger on her entrance made her gasp and conjured up tendrils of, call it what it was, lust.

Masturbating around these males was both tempting and horrifying due to her wondering what she’d do if they caught her at it. She’d learned to pad her underwear and wash out the cloth daily. And so stepping over Zo, or any of them, seemed fraught with more than the danger of being penetrated by a metal sword.

Daytime, thank the gods, she had less problems in the downstairs department—as her aunt had called it.

Zo himself? He snored and ignored her.

On the fourth evening, she listened to their chat and learned they had one last town to stop at for provisions before going through the mountain pass on the way to Omage and home. The lowest pass of the three available was still open. She could do it without winter clothes, maybe even dressed in the ones she wore?

Avalon plucked at the light pink overtunic they’d given her. This would stand out in moonlight. The dark gray leggings and boots were fine. It would be wise to wait for them to give her warmer clothes before fleeing.

Dusk was approaching. It would not be this night. Not yet.

Decision made, she sat on a fallen log beside Kondio and ate the stew of smoked meat and fire-roasted vegetables from a metal pan, using a spoon. The chain from the manacles kept falling into the food. They hadn’t made her cook, yet. Maybe they knew she sucked at it, but she suspected they worried she’d steal a knife, or poison them somehow. The plants here, the bark of this log, might be deadly but truth be told she was no gardener.

The spray of red berries at her foot might be concentrated death or medicinal.

The bowing stalks in the far meadow that hung silhouetted against the waning light—their yellow seed-heads were as likely a cereal crop as they were an assassin’s choice of vegetable.

“What are you thinking?” Zo stalked over and perched his large butt on the opposite side of her from Kondio. The two mauleons eclipsed the last of the sun and made her spot prematurely darker. She’d swear the log had sunk into the damp ground when he sat.

“Ohhh, umm. What am I thinking?”

“Yes.”

The scythefox had followed Kondio, limping, and she frowned at it as she scurried for something sane to say to Zo. The animal collapsed nearby and began licking its paw. Her paw. Girl. She was late pregnant according to Kon. The coat of these creatures was prettier than she’d known, but she’d never seen one up close. The reason for their name must be the coat pattern, what with all the long red hook shapes among the gray fur.

He nudged her.

“Um. That I’m a bad cook?”

“Ahh.” Zo nodded as if she’d said something wise. “You know, I’m surprised you—”

“What is she doing?” Avalon pointed at the scythefox. “Is something stuck in her paw?”

“Oh?” Kondio leaned forward off the log, dropping to his knees and placing his plate on the ground. He gently examined the creature’s front left paw. Her ears flicked back and forth while she waited patiently for the mauleon to be done. Clearly, she trusted him. “Yes. I do see something. A thorn. Let me get a flashlight and a pair of tweezers, Gia. I will be back.”

He rose, walking past Timin, where he was carefully setting out weapons on a blanket, to the packs piled in the middle of the camp. Only the three mauleons and her were left in camp. After a quick supper Takk had ridden off toward a farm, or so he’d said. With the chillier night falling he was determined to find them a warmer place to bed down.

She shivered, rubbed her hands together. She’d be glad of that.

Looking around at them all, she was struck by how homely this was. A bunch of males who knew each other well enough to trade dire insults yet take no or little offense. It made her pine for the same. Yet it was impossible. Ridiculous to think it.

Her bound hands, locked into manacles, showed her true status—prisoner.