Taken by the Enemy (6 page)

“Have it your way.” Mathias’ hand was faster than she expected as he grabbed the braid at the back of her head and hauled her bodily out of the chair, immediately dragging her outside as the door banged open.

“Stop!” she screamed, but he didn’t even slow. Emmie stumbled, half bent over with the way he held her hair in his fist. It was a short but painful walk to the center of the village, and Mathias took a sharp left towards the side of the common area. “Let me go!”

He shoved her to the ground, and she caught herself, immediately turning around to glare up at him. “Strip,” he ordered.

“What? No!” Emmie moved to stand, but Mathias was in front of her again, wrenching her head back by her hair.

“Listen, girl, you can either strip yourself, or I can tie you up clothed and then cut them off you. But then you’ve lost the clothes and you’ll have to earn more.” He released her hair and stood tall. “Your choice.”

Tears burned the edges of her eyes as she caught the movement of the raiders walking through the village. He was going to tie her up… naked? “Please, don’t do this.”

“You’ve earned the punishment already, but if you tell me who you were in the city then I may cut it short.” Mathias crossed his arms, and Emmie clenched her jaw tight. “Fine then, strip now or I’m going with option two.”

“Every one of you is going to hell,” Emmie muttered as she shoved herself off the ground.

“Aren’t we all? Get on with it.”

She started with the long sleeved overshirt, yanking it over her head to throw it to the ground. Her sleeveless undershirt went next. Then she opened her pants, pushing them down, before ripping off her shoes and socks so she could kick the pants away from her. It only left the cloth around her breasts and the thin panties. “Please, may I keep the rest on?” Her voice was pleading, and she hated the sound of it.

“What kind of punishment is that? I’m getting impatient, girl, you have ten seconds.” Mathias reached down and drew a knife from his boot and Emmie swallowed.

It was quick work to divest herself of the rest, but she went from feeling naked to being completely exposed, which only grew worse as Mathias pressed her back against the rough bark of the tree with a hand in the center of her chest.

“Hands up,” he ordered and she raised her eyes to see the loops of rope that seemed to have been placed there expressly for this purpose. “That’s right. You’re not the first one to need correction. Now, wrists.”

Emmie held her arms above her head, keeping her eyes screwed tight even as she felt him tighten the rope around her wrists. Matching loops went around each ankle, but when he was done wrapping rope around her and the tree, her legs stayed closed – and for that she was grateful, although she’d never voice it to him. “I hate all of you,” she whispered when he straightened up again.

“Just remember this the next time you think about being defiant.” He tugged on the ropes one last time, and then picked up her clothes and shoes in his arms. “Use this time to think about whether or not the information you’re keeping to yourself is worth it. I’ll come back later.”

As soon as he was out of sight, she tested the ropes, worrying her wrists and her feet until her skin felt raw again, breaking the barely healed skin. His words dug at her, and she hated that there was nothing to do
but
think about what had put her in this position. Naked, in full view of anyone passing through the village center. The tree above her provided some shade, but dappled sunlight still danced over her skin, and the chill of the air was already biting at her with no clothing to break it.

You just had to mention you could write
, her mind mocked and she smacked her head back against the tree as if it would halt her own thoughts.

They wanted to know the truth about her, but she didn’t even want to think about who she really was. Or who she
had been
before she ran. Emeline Anne Daniau. Second daughter to Jules Daniau,
bastard
.

What would they do if they found out the truth? Would they even listen to the reasons why she had left the city voluntarily, or would they mindlessly hate her?

It’s not like she didn’t have a sob story. Every one of them had a sob story, and she’d listened to several over the last week. The only difference was that none of their sob stories started on a beautiful estate, where food was abundant, where in simpler times the most stressful decision she’d had to make had been about what to wear to a dinner party, or how to do her hair.

They’ll hate you
, an inner voice whispered at her, and she couldn’t help but agree. Alice knew about her, and she was still kind, but it was clear that Alice’s particular level of generosity and kindness was unique.

No, she couldn’t tell them.

She was surrounded by the enemies of the city, the very people she had been raised to fear. They were the bogeymen of her childhood, the threats posed whenever she was disobedient.

Eat your vegetables, or the raiders will take you in the night!

Obey your father, or you’ll end up like the exiles!

Well, look where she was. Even after all the vegetables she had eaten, even after all the times she had born her father’s rage as he’d shouted at her to
behave
, after all the fun she had refused to participate in because it might upset him – with one broken promise she found herself amidst them anyway.

Mathias could rot in hell. Lucian could too. The whole damned village of exiles could be swallowed by the earth for all she cared.

Emmie wrapped her rage around her like a blanket and did her best to tune out everyone, focusing instead on the wind in the trees, the chirping of birds, and the buzzing of insects. That was how she passed the hours, occasionally opening her eyes to mark the movement of the sun, before returning to her focused meditation. The chill had long since settled into her skin, and shivers rippled through her muscles causing her teeth to chatter for minutes at a time before fading, only to return again.

Shouts and cheers broke into her reverie and she lifted her head to see people gathering off in the distance. Their voices grew louder until snippets started to drift towards her.

“Deer! Five Deer!” a young man’s voice shouted.

“They’re back, they’re back!”

“Victor is going to be pissed when he returns, his group will never beat this haul!”

The crowd parted as they moved into the village center, uncomfortably close to her, and then Lucian appeared with a narrow log over one shoulder. Another man held the other end and between them hung a deer. They were laughing, talking, as the others filed in to place the other deer on the ground. His face was brightened by a broad smile, and he caught the excited hug of a woman with one arm before she ran off into the crowd.

That was when he saw her.

Lucian’s face changed instantly, the joy wiped from it as a cloud of anger replaced it. Another round of shivers shook Emmie then, and she dropped her eyes from him. His voice roared, “BEN! Ben, where the hell are you?”

He was getting closer to her, she could hear the furious crunching of his boots over the leaves, but then another shout to the side stopped him. “Lucian! Let’s talk.”

Mathias
.

Emmie forced her head up again, and found herself staring across the distance directly into Lucian’s gray eyes. He kept his eyes on her for a moment longer, his fists tightening, but then Mathias called his name again and he turned away from her to follow the older man.

Ridiculously, Emmie felt relief as he left even though it meant more time bound to the tree. The gathered crowd assisting with the deer was looking at her, but she just closed her eyes against them and dropped her head. Time had little meaning anymore, measured only by the reprieve she had from her shivering, and then Lucian’s voice snapped off to her right.

“Get her down from there and bring her to Mathias’ now!”

It was Evan who stood in front of her a moment later, still dirty from the hunt, but he gently lifted her chin and looked her in the eyes. His were honey brown, and suddenly Emmie was thinking about whether his child would have his eyes or Lucie’s blue ones. “Are you all right?” he asked softly as he started to work at the rope around her waist.

“Fine.”

“You have a talent for getting under their skins.” Evan glanced at her as he threw the rope around the tree, gathering it in loops as he freed her.

“I’m sure your child will be a lot better behaved.” The words left her before she could catch herself, and he froze. Emmie sighed, rolling her ankles as he began moving again to let her loose. “Lucie told me, she was teaching me to make baskets this morning. I was terrible at it.”

“Bad basket weaving got you tied to a tree? Exactly how bad
were
you?” Evan laughed a little, but sobered as he stood to free her wrists.

“It wasn’t the basket weaving.”

“I figured. I, uh, haven’t seen her yet. How is she doing?” The tremble in his voice made the father-to-be’s nerves clear.

“Good. She’s very nice.” Emmie spoke quietly, wincing as her wrists were freed and she started to work the stiffness out of her fingers. The rush of blood back to her arms made her dizzy for a moment, but he reached out to steady her before she lost her balance.

“Thanks, I think so too. Do you need to sit down for a minute?”

“I’m fine.” She brushed his touch from her shoulder and he backed away, giving her space and turning his eyes everywhere but her. “Let’s just go,” she muttered.

Evan nodded and lightly grabbed her arm to lead her back to Mathias’ house, even though there was no chance she’d run completely naked off into the woods. As they approached the door, shouts came from within.

“You
asked
me to lead them, Mathias! You told me you’d follow me, and when I left, I said no one was to touch her!” Lucian’s voice was strained.

“That girl is hiding something,” Mathias answered, much more calmly.

“It didn’t look like she was hiding
anything
tied to that damn tree!”

“Lucian!” Evan called out and then he knocked on the door, ending their eavesdropping. The door was yanked open and Lucian stared at her, his anger radiating off him in waves.

“Thank you, Evan. Why don’t you go clean up and see to Lucie.”

“Sure, um —” he stuttered to a stop, giving her another sad look before finally turning to leave. “Okay.”

They stared at each other for a long minute, hazel eyes into heather gray, but neither of them were backing down and that seemed to push Lucian’s anger even further. “Get on your knees.”

Emmie huffed out a laugh. “You want me to suck you right out here in the open?”

“No, I want you to crawl inside and stay on your knees while we clear up exactly what the fuck happened today.” Lucian’s fists were so tight that she half expected to hear his knuckles crack. Mathias’ brooding temper lurked just behind him, and Emmie decided not to tempt fate any further – so she obeyed, slipping to her knees and crawling into the room so that Lucian could shut the door tight.

“Ready to answer me now, girl?” Mathias asked, sitting in his chair once again. Lucian settled into the chair opposite him, the same one she’d sat in earlier in the day.

“What
exactly
are you wanting her to tell you?” Lucian asked.

“Who she is,” Mathias answered and glanced over at Lucian with a sigh. “Like I said before, the girl can read and write like some kind of aristocrat. Haven’t you noticed how well spoken she is when she isn’t cursing us or damning us to hell?”

“Not really.” Lucian shrugged, and Mathias grumbled.

“If you spent time paying attention to
her
instead of thinking with your cock, it would be damn obvious.”

“Shut it, Mathias.” He turned towards her then, leaning on his knees, and Emmie became even more aware of her nakedness. It was the most he’d seen of her, and the entire village had seen it first. “All right, out with it. How do you know how to read and write?”

“I wrote letters for people —”

“Not this shit again!” Mathias interrupted her and growled, “What did I tell you, girl?”

“Let her answer!” Lucian snapped.

“I
did
write letters for people,” Emmie mumbled. “Transcribed them. Hard to do that without knowing how to read or write.”

“And where did you learn to read and write?” Lucian asked, and she clenched her warming hands into fists, grateful for the insulated shelter of Mathias’ home even though her situation wasn’t a good one. Her mind spun, but it was hard to be clever when she was cold, so she went with the truth.

“At home.”

“And where the fuck did you call home? Tell us your
name
, girl!” Mathias shouted, and she flinched.

“Emmie,” she answered and he threw something across the room.

“Calm down!” Lucian growled, but his own voice made it clear he was losing his temper as well. “Just tell us where you lived, the street name. Tell us who your parents were. That’s all he wants to know.”