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“Talkative now. Does Selene allow you to speak freely?” he asked me. I shrugged.
“Why should I be scared to speak when you’ll probably kill me anyway,” I asked and was surprised by the lump in my throat.
I’d never honestly thought I might die before. Not really. Not like how Valen made me feel in the darkness of the grove. Not scared. A part of me had always felt safe with Selene, even when she threatened me. But no part of me felt safe with Valen and his goons.
“If you push your luck, you might die sooner,” he said smiling.
“You’ll kill me, no matter what the Princess does?” I asked.
“We all die; blood slaves sooner than most. You’ve had a long run. Maybe you’ll have a little longer. That all depends on Selene, and you. She’s kept you all to herself, no doubt hidden her true nature from you. If she had not, you would not be so confident; you’d know to fear your master. And I’m your master now. We will arrive at House Vouna soon,” he told me.
I didn’t belong to him. I’d never belong to him. I was hers.
And I knew Selene. She didn’t hide from me. But his words made me doubt what I knew to be true. She wasn’t a monster. But hadn’t I thought she was once? Hadn’t I seen her snap a girl’s neck without any hesitation, without the slightest hint of remorse?
She didn’t hide herself from me.
I knew her.
“House Vouna?” I asked him once I realised where he said we were going.
“I wouldn’t be foolish enough to keep you in Ardens. It’s the first place Selene would look.” He laughed. “I’m no idiot like my father. We shared ambition, but he moved too fast. He was incapable of planning more than a few moves ahead and his most fatal flaw was not considering his allies carefully. I have not embarked on my endeavours on a whim, a half-baked plan. I have been carefully crafting my future,” he told me.
“House Vouna, is your ally?”
“Yes,” he said and sounded exasperated with me.
“I thought Clara was a friend of the Princess?”
He laughed loudly, his slimy hand reaching out and gripping my knee. There was nowhere to move.
“Selene has no friends, only a stream of worshipers desperate to be in her favour. Everyone wants power and House Vouna know where power flows,” he said, pausing. “Look at me, telling you so much. Maybe you aren’t as naive as you seem, hmm?” he asked me, his hand moving up my thigh and pulling my dress higher.
“Don’t touch me,” I told him, gripping his hand as tightly as I could to stop its progress.
“Don’t touch you? I can do whatever I want with you. I’m sure my cousin has already had you every which way,” he sneered, leaning closer to me.
I was frozen in fear.
“She’ll kill you,” I told him, my voice low but sure.
He laughed loudly, manically, and he reminded me of Orion on his knees in the café in front of Selene.
“I think not,” he answered, but his hand left my thigh. “We will arrive shortly, and you will learn what it means to be a blood slave,” he told me ominously.
I didn’t respond. I didn’t want to provoke him further. I should have been terrified but I was numb. I couldn’t seem to think of a way to help myself, no matter how hard I tried.
After a while, we began to travel through populated areas, small villages with bumpy roads. I knew we must be getting close to House Vouna as we had travelled all night and morning.
Through the windscreen, I could see as we approached battlements. A large steel gate opened before we arrived, and we drove past armed men in dark grey armour and through a stoned courtyard.
When we stopped, the door I leaned heavily against was unexpectedly opened and I fell sideways out onto the ground, failing to catch myself. My head still ached, and my arms and legs were groggy and slow to respond.
A grey armoured guard pulled me by my upper arm, roughly to my feet.
Valen stepped out of the car behind me.
“Baron and Baroness of Vouna, I am delighted to be back in your company and experience your hospitality,” he greeted an older, well-dressed man and woman who approached us.
