Page 20 of The Seeker

In the past, I would have panicked in this same situation, but as my captors led me from the room, a flicker of hope lit in my chest.

If this wasn’t Friar’s plan . . . maybe it was Otho’s?

We passed through the common area of Leif and my chambers, the captors directing my footsteps through the dark room. The torches had been snuffed out, which was abnormal.

Leif kept the torches in the sitting room lit all night.

A tendril of fear licked down my spine.

The man who tied my wrists together held me back as the man who had gagged me stepped into the hall.

It only took one look at him, in the light of the hall torches, to know this was neither Friar, nor Otho’s, plan.

If it had been, they wouldn’t have had to threaten violence to convince me to go with them. Anyone who knew me, and my plight, would know that.

Pair that with the fact that the men wore dark, tight-fitting clothes in a style I’d never seen before, and I knew.

I should never have allowed them remove me from my room.

But there was no time to dwell. I yanked my hands from the man’s grip—the element of surprise on my side—but that’s as far as I got, because my hands were still tied and a push wasn’t enough to disarm a man with twice my strength.

That didn’t stop me from trying, though. I twisted from side to side, desperate to dislodge either the cloth stuffed in my mouth, or my wrists. But before I could accomplish either, I was tackled from behind, my knees and cheek screaming as they collided with the rought stone floor at the same moment.

“I warned you to come quietly,” the man hissed in my ear.

The panic that had been absent before swelled, and I fought to control my breathing to stop from sucking the cloth further into my mouth.

When the two of them yanked me to my feet, it was much less gentle than before. One walked in front of me, and one behind, his hands on the rope that bound my hands.

But I refused to go with them without a fight.

The first few steps they were apprehensive, their shoulders at their ears and I could feel their distrust. Then we turned a corner, and the man holding my bound hands shifted his weight, the grip on my rope loosening for a blink as he switched hands.

They directed me down the hall, past the servant quarters, which were silent enough for me to know it was very late in the night. When we reached the courtyard, my suspicions were confirmed when I couldn’t find the twin moons in the sky—the first rays of dawn just barely penetrating the darkness.

They had kidnapped me in the final hours of the night, the ones when the body was least close to awareness.

But that still didn’t explain why Leif hadn’t been in bed with me.

I shoved that thought away, knowing time was passing fast and if I was going to act, I would need to do so soon, before we exited the walls of the keep.

The stones of the keep floor had been cold and rough on my feet, but it didn’t prepare me for when they directed me to walk on the ground with no shoes. Every rock and twig was apparently out to stab me in the foot, and I grimaced with each step.

They slowed their pace, seeming to notice my predicament, and I knew I could use that to my benefit.

I took the smallest steps possible, trying to conserve my energy as I waited for my moment to act. An eon passed before I felt the man behind me pause, his weight shifting. The instant his hold dropped, his shoulders relaxing, I bolted.

Again, the element of surprise was on my side, as I ran back toward the keep with surprising speed, despite my bound hands.

But the men were faster, and soon I was on the ground again, unable to breathe from the force of the man tackling me to the ground a second time.

My lungs burned, along with the rest of my body. Just as I was about to give in, to see where these men were taking me, I heard a voice I never thought I’d be happy to hear.

“Hey! What are you doing with my wife!”

Leif.

The sound of weapons being unsheathed tickled my ears, and I pinched my eyes closed.