“I do not believe they are. Every place has their own name for things. What you call the Solosas, the Hatwar tribe of Aleota call their side of them the Utanet.”
“How odd.” Aida hummed, taking a slice of apple from Maruk when he held it out to her. “What of the thing pulling us? What is it called?”
“A type of cow, Lady. Raised on the Em’cha Steppes where it grows so cold, they need such fur to keep them alive.”
“Not a cow,” the boy guiding the cart said with a snort, shaking his head full of dark curls. “And you can find them as low as the Darusk Valley.”
“Forgive me for not being knowledgeable on beasts of burden in the mountains,” Maruk said with a dry laugh, sending his gaze towards the sky before turning his smile to Aida.
“No reason to give bad information,” the boy muttered, flicking the whip in a gentle arc over the beast’s head when its steps slowed.
“What are they then?” Aida turned towards the front of the cart, looping her arms over the edge to peer at the creature. Wide as the cart it pulled, its coarse hair hung in matted strands down to its hooves, dragging through the dirt. Blunt horns remained tight down the side of its head before curving out and up.
“Bull ox, though they’re calledmagallasin the Valley. They are a bit different there, like Lir here. Thinner coats, not as big, but twice as mean and hard working.”
“He’s yours?”
“Lir is a female,” the boy said with a smirk, flicking the whip in a lazy arc off to the side to push Lir back onto the sturdy path they followed. “And she’s as much mine as one of these monsters can be.”
“She… she’s not truly a monster is she?” Aida eased back, eyeing the shaggy bull ox with trepidation.
“Just ornery when she isn’t having her way. You just come out from under a rock?” The boy turned in his seat, trusting Lir to keep them to the path for the moment as he raised a single brow at Aida and gave her a speculating look over.
“Zaec, keep your eyes forward!” Ath’asho pitched his voice low, but it was enough to startle all three of the cart’s occupants. Zaec grunting as Ath’asho reached out and slapped the back of his head.
“She was talking to me, sir!”
“I don’t care if she was singing you love songs, boy. You want His Majesty’s wrath on your head?”
“No, sir.”
“Then eyes forward. And you,” Ath’asho added, shifting his bulk on his horse’s back to glare at Maruk. “You keep her quiet and stop endangering everyone else.”
“No, nothing at all like Otaso,” Aida mumbled, burying herself deep into the furs.
Aida screamed as a brand of iron locked around her legs, pulling her free of the pelts. Lifting her high, tossing her about into the air with an ease that defied logic until she came down hard with a pained grunt belly down over Er’it’s thighs. She knew it was him before the world had stopped spinning, smelled him a bare breath after he grabbed her.
Her shrill sounds still echoing through the forest, he punctuated them with a cracking blow against her backside. Before Aida could even drag in a breath to scream her pain, he landed another. Raining blow after blow upon the rounded cheeks, the back of her thighs, her skin was aflame and shrieking in agony. Tears poured from her eyes as she yelled at him to stop though her back arched and slick spread across her thighs. Kal’s hooves danced over the soft littering of dry needles, making her feel ill as the ground lunged and faded.
Sounds savage, he swung Aida around until she perched on his spread thighs. Wrapping his fist around her throat, he squeezed. Snarled in her face as she pummeled her fists against his chest and shoulders. Uncertain if she was trying to get closer or be free as she squirmed.
Other hands grabbed her. Dragging her away from Er’it despite his hold, Ath’asho getting as close as he dared to pry Er’it’s fingers away. Shouting orders at the others to stay back.
Freed, Aida fell to the cart bed, gasping and choking. Limbs watery as she struggled to push up to her elbows, baring her teeth at Er’it when he remained firm upon Kal’s back.
“I told you to never speak that name again,” Er’it shouted. Boot connecting with the side of the cart, he startled all of the animals. Kicking his heels into Kal’s sides and making him bellow, Er’it raced ahead, going deep into the woods where Aida could no longer discern the golden fawn color of his coat between the spindly trunks of the trees.
Chapter 13
Aida
The forest became thick,the prickling bristles of the trees casting deep shadows that did nothing to cool Aida’s flushed skin as she huddled deep in the furs. Arranging the rolling hills of gray, gold, and deep red-orange again and again, they could not satisfy her with their construction.
Maruk had turned away, back stiff as the cart jostled them. Dark gaze darting to the warriors who flanked the cart, widening with stark terror if Aida dared to open her mouth for anything more than the shallowest of breaths. Their driver Zaec stooped low over his reins, the only sounds he made low murmurs to prod Lir onward. Even the horses and warriors surrounding them were silent. None of the easy talk amongst themselves. An eerie wake of accusations and fear leaving the rich forest dead.
Er’it was somewhere far up the dwindling line, a mere glimpse of golden colors in the distance that disappeared as soon as Aida caught sight. The tree trunks were thicker, underbrush dense. Little beyond their winding trail was visible for long, and even that often obfuscated with narrow switchbacks.
She was of two minds and hated it. Part of her yearning for his closeness, even if it was at the hands of his cruelty, the other wanting nothing to do with the man who intended to murder her. Trying to lose herself in the vast expanse of wilderness around her, Aida could only feel lost and strange. Neck prickling as her skin drew tight, the sense of ever watchful eyes upon her. So similar to the sensation that plagued her within the tower, she kept searching the narrow gaps and cool shadows for some hint of her guardian. Not finding any, she turned back to adjusting the furs.
