Steel Maiden (6 page)

I flinched. No one had ever accused me of
being a witch or of possessing magic. It was absurd. If I weren’t
in so much pain, I would have laughed out loud.

“If I
had
magic, do you think I’d
still be living in the Pit? Don’t you think I would have magicked
myself out of this hell?”

I could see they were thinking…

Baul raised his brows. “She’s got a
point.”

He smiled maliciously. “Unless you’re a
stupid witch.”

Both guards started laughing, and I wished I
could kick the laughter out of them.

I knew I wasn’t a witch. Witches could cast
spells and enchantments, raise the dead, and even shape-shift into
other creatures. I would have found that useful to hide from the
priest, if I were a witch—which I wasn’t.

I knew that witches called their powers out
of the Earth itself. Even if all those tales about witches were
true, I still didn’t understand how
I
managed to get my
hands on the crown.

I knew things would get a lot worse if I
were to do anything stupid. The priest had said I should be
delivered to him
unspoiled
, and yet they had beaten me
unconscious. I wasn’t ready for another beating.

I had already ruined Rose’s life. Perhaps my
dumb luck would grant me another chance to make up for my
impetuousness. If only I could get back to Rose…

Baul laughed under his breath.

“It don’t matter what she is. Magic is
forbidden in the Empire. Magic is treason and is punishable by
death. You steal our high priests’ treasure? It’ll be fire for you.
That’s right. We
know
how to kill witches. I’ll enjoy seeing
you die.”

Before I could protest, Baul grabbed me by
the arm and yanked me hard around. “Tie her up.”

My arms snapped back forcefully as Garth
bound my wrists together with rope.

Baul snapped me around again to face
him.

“You’re going to wish for death before he’s
done with ya.”

He rolled his eyes over every inch of my
body, and as I recoiled he raised his sword and pointed. “Let’s go.
Try anything, and you’ll die.”

We moved in silence. Garth was at the front
while Baul walked behind me. His nearness made my skin crawl.

We made our way deeper into Soul City. The
city was surrounded by a ring of thirty-foot stone walls with
gateways leading out into the rest of Anglia. I had always wondered
why they bothered with the walls. Maybe they feared the other
realms, and the walls would keep them protected in case of a
rebellion. The thought of crumbling walls made me smile.

Soul City lay in the northwest region of
Anglia, the western realm of Arcania, which bordered the West Sea.
The city was the heart of the Temple of the Sun Empire. It was a
new regime, and by the looks of it, it was blossoming.

Traders were busy with carts topped with
fresh meat, vegetables, and rice. The city bustled with sounds of
wagons and merchants organizing the day’s market. A plainly dressed
and weatherworn mother and daughter arranged handmade jewels and
silks scarfs on their small table. When I got closer, I saw that
the material was embroidered with the symbol of the temple, a
brilliant sun etched in gold. They looked up at me curiously as I
passed them, but they quickly looked away in fear when the guards
caught their eyes.

Women dressed in fine silk gowns and men in
refined tailored coats busied the streets. It was common knowledge
that after the priests had come into power, most of the noble and
wealthy families had still been allowed to reside in the six
kingdoms. They kept their lavish villas and their pockets filled
with gold. All they had to do was yield to the priests’ rule and
abolish the monarchy. They got to keep living as if nothing had
changed. They made sure the folk from the Pit stayed in the Pit.
There was no mingling with our kind of people. The noble families
never stood up for us and never cared about us, even though we were
Anglians just like them.

If Soul City was the pride and joy of
Anglia, we were its shame. The rejects, the crippled, the poor, and
the old were relegated to the Pit.

I caught a few vicious glares from some
noble women in ridiculous tall hats. I wondered if they’d ever laid
eyes on someone from the Pit before. Their disdainful expressions
led me to believe that they had not. One gave me a nasty smile like
she was glad I was going to die. Bile rose in my throat. I hated
these people almost as much as I hated the priests.

I heard laughter and turned to see children
playing together. Their fine happy smiles matched their fine happy
clothes. I envied their innocence.

But as I passed the children, a cry caught
my attention. In the middle of the street, in full view, a young
man was tied to a post. His naked body was caked with dried blood,
and red, angry lesions covered his skin. He looked barely human. A
sun symbol was branded on the side of his cheek. He wouldn’t last
the day in the hot sun. Women in long elaborate gowns looked on as
if the poor man disgusted them. Others laughed. He was on show for
the wealthy.

Heat rose to my face. If I had the use of my
arms I would have punched them.

Garth caught me looking, and he smiled.

“That’s nothing to what’s gonna happen to
you, witch.” He laughed.

But I couldn’t look away from the young
man’s sad eyes. What had he done to deserve this? Angry tears
welled in my eyes as Baul hit me in the back and propelled me
forward.

Two men wearing robes tied in the middle
with gold sashes strolled in the street. Their pale skin stood out
against the deep black silk of their robes. I could see intricate
designs in gold trim woven around their sleeves. The backs of their
shaved heads were tattooed with the image of the sun.

Priests of the Temple of the Sun.

But what I saw next made my knees go
weak.

Two young women and a young man wearing only
see-through white tunics walked behind the priests. Their heads
down were, and their nipples and genitals showed through the thin
fabric. They wore thick leather collars around their necks like
tethered dogs. They were young. So young.

I felt ill, but I couldn’t look away. Rose
and my mother had tried to save me from a life of sadistic torment
and sexual slavery, but now I stared unblinking at my future. My
blood chilled. If the high priest didn’t kill me for stealing the
crown, this was the life that awaited me.

CHAPTER 6

E
VERY STEP FORWARD SENT a jarring
pain through me. My legs were cement blocks, too heavy, and I
dragged them along, taking my time. We were moving too fast towards
whatever torment and misery awaited me. I didn’t dare look at the
guards. The misery and tears in my own puffed-up face were a dead
giveaway that I was already miserable. No doubt the guards were
smiling.

I felt detached from my body like I was
having a waking dream. I tried not to think of the bleak sadness I
saw in the faces of the concubines we had passed. I couldn’t
imagine what it would be like to be paraded around town naked and
with a collar around my neck, to be a sexual pet.

Mad Jack’s betrayal still hurt more than I
expected. I didn’t want to admit it, but I had thought that he’d
been sweet on me. His dark eyes stared at me for a little too long
and a little too often when I saw him in the Pit or traded with him
for food or for another book for Rose. I’d picked up on it years
ago. And I had welcomed it. But now I realized how wrong I’d been.
I had fooled myself into thinking he cared.

It wasn’t the first time I’d been wrong
about men. I’d had my adolescent heart broken a few times. I’d had
a few casual lovers, but I’d always been careful not to let my
guard down, not to let myself care, or give my heart away. Once you
did, you couldn’t get it back. Affairs usually ended up hurting
anyway, but for some reason, Mad Jack’s betrayal ached more than I
cared to admit.

The puzzled look on Mad Jack’s face still
haunted me. I couldn’t figure out why he had looked so sorry, when
he had basically handed me over to the guards.

I was so caught up in my own anger that I
hadn’t noticed the temple until it was right in front of me.

It was a pyramidal structure, approximately
forty-five meters in height and was surrounded by smaller
pyramids that looked like pointy hats. It was made of gold, to
represent the sun, but it also represented wealth and power. I was
amazed at its size and beauty. The wealth of the temple was
obvious, but this went beyond anything I could have imagined. It
was wrong.

“Move!”

I hadn’t realized I had stopped to admire
the temple. But I wasn’t really admiring it. I feared it, and the
fear choked me. My legs stiffened, and I couldn’t move. I took a
long shuddering breath.

“I said move!”

Something rock hard hit me in the back
again, and I stumbled forward, surprised that I actually caught
myself before I fell on the stone path.

“We don’t have all day. We’ve got more
important things to do than to parade a witch around the
grounds.”

Baul shoved me through an archway, and I
could see the grand entrance to the golden temple. Garth ran
forward and threw open two massive walnut doors. I tensed as I
walked through the doorway and into a foyer that was two stories
tall and emptied into a large hallway. My heart thudded
painfully.

It was a plush space. Walls of gold
surrounded plate glass windows that looked out over the city. The
white and gold banners of the Temple of the Sun hung from the
walls. Our feet echoed on the black marble floors. And somewhere
within the temple I could hear the distant sound of voices
chanting. Gold columns lined the grand hall on each side and
supported the second floor above.

Priests scurried around the temple in a blur
of ebony robes that billowed behind them as they moved about with
important expressions on their faces. I had never seen so many
priests at once. I saw the unmistakable look of lust in the eyes of
those who stared at me, but most of them ignored me completely.

Adolescent boys followed some of the priests
like eager puppies. Their dreary, linen robes stood out against the
silky black robes of the priests. Apprentices, I realized. I also
spotted temple servants in brown tunics. Everyone was male. All
boys. All men.

I broke into a cold sweat. Was I the only
female in the entire temple?

As I made my way forward, I caught glimpses
of rooms on each side of the hall. The hall eventually opened up
into a large chamber with an altar in the middle. I frowned at the
altar. This was where they performed their temple ceremonies, where
they intimidated and converted unbelievers.

I committed the interior of the temple to
memory, just in case I survived. I would need to know the layout if
I were to escape.

We walked around the altar and came to a
chamber on the left where a man sat behind a large mahogany desk
with a stack of documents in front of him. He scribbled in a large
ledger and did not look up. He wore a heavy-looking
white robe made of silk. It was embroidered with jewels and
golden thread around the cuffs and neck, and a large sun symbol was
stitched in lavish jewels on the front. He wore a pyramid-shaped
white hat, and I suspected he was the high priest.

A shadow appeared behind
him, but as I tried to get a better look,
Baul grabbed me
and held me steady in front of the desk. Garth looked nervous,
which only made me feel worse. Blood pounded in my ears as I tried
to steady my breathing. I looked around the chamber for a means of
escape if things turned sour.

Baul cleared his throat. “I beg your pardon,
Your Grace, but as you requested we have a brought you the
thief.”

“Which thief?” said the high priest without
looking up from his ledger. I saw a shadow behind the high priest
again but it disappeared before I could get a good look.

“The thief who stole the Anglian crown, Your
Grace.” Baul stepped forward, placed the golden crown on the desk,
stepped back, and folded his arms behind his back.

The high priest dropped his pen and looked
up. The dark purple shadow under his eyes made his pale gray eyes
stand out. With a stone-cold expression on his thin face, the high
priest took the crown and inspected it as though he was making sure
it was the real Anglian crown. As he placed it back on the desk,
his eyes found me, and my breath caught in my throat. I shuddered
under his unnatural stare.

The high priest looked particularly
interested in me. “
She
passed
through
the sorcerer’s
fire?”

I cringed under the priest’s piercing stare.
There was something wrong with the way he looked at me. It was
almost like he was
happy
to see me, thrilled that I’d
survived
the fire. But why would he be?