Chapter 5

Leiyn roused to the grinding of the great doors.

Hurrying from her alcove, she appeared in the central chamber in time to watch the retinue of Catedrál devotees march into the Crypt of the Six. Leiyn found herself searching for food and water first. Only a few days into their imprisonment and her instincts of self-preservation overrode any sense of dignity.

She kept her watch from the empty tomb’s corridor. The acolytes cast her and the others nervous glances while swiftly going about their duties. Leiyn wished she could taunt them with more than stares. Her strength had waxed over the three days, but only marginally. Walking remained difficult, if less treacherous. Even standing up straight was beyond her, the bone bindings rounding her shoulders in a perpetual slouch.

With the candles added and lit, food, water, and clean waste buckets delivered, and the pearls and jet freshly imbued, the acolytes scurried back to the waiting guards and priestess. Sister Adelina cast Leiyn once last subtle sneer before turning to lead her retinue back up the stairs.

The huntress reared in Leiyn. She had not planned to take action that day, but as she started forward, she could not stop herself. Lengthening her stride almost to a run, she was panting by half a dozen strides, but she did not slow, crossing the chamber and making straight for the group.

The nearest paladin glanced over, eyes widening. As he shouted and raised his shield, his fellow soldiers did the same. Steel hissed as swords sprang into hands.

Leiyn stuttered to a halt and wheezed a laugh. Her amusement was more at herself than them, though part of her delighted in being able to rouse their vigilance.

But she was not worthy of it. The best she could have done was throw herself at their shields. She had no weapon, no strength. No mahia and no titan.

The loss of Clouded Fang welled up in her again, dousing the feeble flame of resistance.

“Stay back, witch.” Sister Adelina practically spat the command. She did not hide her vicious delight, nostrils flaring as she smiled.

Leiyn forced herself to meet that stare. Even with grief of her titan filling her, something else flared up at that sight, a coal sparking back into flame. Though she knew it to be rash, Leiyn challenged the priestess with her eyes. Daring her to strike.

Sister Adelina’s smile broadened. “Thank the Saints for your sinful pride.” She turned to an acolyte and held out her hand. “The switch.”

The girl was tall, yet she could not have been older than fourteen. Her hand trembled as she withdrew a long, slender length of wood and handed it to her superior.

Dread pooled in Leiyn’s belly. Almost, she backed away from the priestess’s advance. Between the switch and pair of paladins at her shoulders, no good could come of staying. But pride kept her in place, chin held up, gaze never wavering.

She knew what awaited her. For all his faults, Leiyn’s father had only ever spanked her, and then lightly. But during her stay at the children’s shelter in Southport, she had suffered the switch more times than she could count. Even those punishments were not as cruel as they could have been.

Adelina would not be so kind.

As the priestess came within reach, Leiyn lunged. Even slow and clumsy, she hoped surprise would allow her to wrap her chain around the woman’s neck and suffocate her before the paladins could drag her off.

A shield put a swift end to her hopes.

Leiyn crashed into the stone floor. Stars flooded her vision; bruises announced themselves up her body. But she was not wholly beaten. The furious flame within was spreading rather than extinguishing.

“Leave her to me!” Adelina snapped as Leiyn climbed back to her feet. She had barely gained them when the comely priestess whipped the switch forward.

Fire lanced through her legs, too severe to remain standing. Leiyn crashed to her knees, fresh agony washing up at the impact. She raised her arms and ducked her head as prey instincts reared.

Another lash came to her forearms—but this time, Adelina doubled it with a strike from her mahia. Leiyn’s lifefire cringed under the assault, but she did not yet fall.

The third lash was also compounded with magic as it fell across her shoulders. Leiyn hunched down, tears leaking from her eyes, snot dripping from her nose. She had suffered worse wounds, but weakened and weaponless, her spirit felt one strike away from breaking.

Adelina delivered a fourth blow with vicious delight, then gave her more.

“Think you could kidnap me and escape?” the priestess hissed as she struck again and again, unrelenting. “Slay my sisters and the servants of the Catedrál? I would kill you for your sins, witch—and, San Carmen save my soul, I would enjoy it!”

Leiyn jerked as the wood lashed her back, her feet, her hands. Every part the priestess could reach, she struck. As the lashes drew blood, her clothes became spattered with it. Her spirit darkened as if stained.

She could endure no more.

Leiyn huddled into a ball on the floor, cursing her rashness, cursing the priestess. She even cursed her fellow prisoners who remained silent as she suffered.

Agony ratcheted through her head. Leiyn felt her body slacken, her grip on consciousness slipping. Darkness clawed at the edges of her vision as she pried open her eyes. Bile crawled up her throat, threatening to choke her were she not lying on her side.

“Sister Adelina.”

A paladin spoke, a warning note in his voice. The priestess panted from her exertions. With her dimming vision, Leiyn could only see Adelina’s prim taupe shoes, now spotted red with Leiyn’s blood.

“Let that be a lesson to you, witch,” the priestess snapped. “Do not foster such behavior in the future, lest I be forced to repeat this lesson.”

Leiyn was not sure she could have spoken had she been so inclined. Open her mouth, and she was certain only vomit would come out. The best she could do was stare dully at Adelina’s feet until the priestess turned and walked away, the boots of the paladins striding to either side.

She lay there, listening to the faithful process up the stairs. The doors boomed closed after them, the drawbar clanking in place after.

Leiyn wished darkness would sweep her away. It was her only escape from this place. She would never overpower their captors while confined by these bone chains. And how could she escape them?

We’re doomed. All of us.

Unable to rise, Leiyn continued to lie there. Her body felt one mass of wounds. They throbbed and bled and pushed their aches deeper with each moment. She wondered if anything had broken or if the wounds remained surface level. Sister Adelina had hit her hard enough in sensitive places she would not have been surprised by more permanent injuries.

All of them brought on herself.

Well after the echoes of the closing doors had faded, Leiyn heard approaching footsteps. Cracking open her eyes, Leiyn glimpsed broad, tan feet before her.

Zaki kneeled into view a moment later. They ran a hand over her, gingerly probing for wounds.

“What hurts worst?” the Eteman asked, their pink eyes roving her battered body.

Leiyn tried to speak, but as she feared, her stomach heaved. She spat bile onto the stone instead.

Zaki hopped back a step, nearly tumbling over in the process. Leiyn closed her eyes, too exhausted for embarrassment.

“Let us return you to your alcove. I will bring your food and water.” Zaki did not move yet, however, but seemed to be studying her, judging by the pregnant silence. The throb of blood in her ears filled in the lull.

“That was foolish,” they said, softer. “Among my people, we have a saying: Selbu abatu et akkil sagah. ‘The fox flees when the jaguar roars.’ You must not goad them, Leiyn. If you are to survive, you cannot let your pride speak. It must remain silent, as must you, when our captors come.”

Leiyn did not try to answer this time. How well she knew the truth of Zaki’s words. Yet in that moment, the fox in her, the sly animal that knew when it needed to hide, had been overcome by a greater beast. One filled with more wrath and fire than Leiyn could leash.

She wondered if a part of Clouded Fang lived in her still. Or if this fury worthy of a dragon was all her own.

Saints know I’ve enough anger.

But there was more. She had never lost her will for defiance. Even trapped in the oubliette, starving and living off of rats, she had not lost it.

But now, she felt it slipping away. Resignation sapped her will. Futility dulled her edges.

How long before she lost herself?

After several breaths, Leiyn heard the scuffle of Zaki’s feet on the stone, then felt their broad hands wrap around her arms. The Eteman’s bone chains fell against her tender flesh, elicting an unwitting groan from Leiyn.

“I am sorry,” the Eteman said. “But this will only hurt worse.”

Zaki dragged her across the stone tiles. Leiyn felt her eyes roll up into her head, darkness smothering her. A sudden slap across the cheek raised her from its depths.

“You cannot sleep, Leiyn,” Zaki gasped between breaths. “Not with your injury.”

She longed for nothing more than to lose herself into the gloom. To never rise again. But how many would suffer for that, Zaki among them? How many would she betray?

“Awake,” Leiyn muttered, then tried to keep true to it.