The Eden Series: The Complete Collection (16 page)

“Thank you.” She smiled, backing away. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” He nodded his head, and she got up just as silently as she had come, leaving him alone again with his overwhelming feelings. I’m never going to fall asleep now, he moaned, covering his face with the blankets.

CHAPTER EIGHT

The men ran rapidly through the village, throwing people to the ground and smashing in doors. Residents were dragged out of their homes, almost all still in their sleepers, their faces frozen in fear. The homes were set on fire, the night sky lit up with the multiple burning buildings. Screams filled every crevice of the small village, children yelling for their parents, and women screaming for help as the soldiers took advantage of them.

She had been hiding under her bed, having heard the men in the houses next to theirs. It wasn’t long before the sounds of boots filled the lower floor of her home, and she could hear her father yelling something at the men. It didn’t matter what he said: the men laughed, and before long she could no longer hear his voice. She wanted to cry out, but covered her mouth instead, trying as hard as she could to control her tears. They ran down her face from fear and despair for her people. The chiefs of the village had known that it wouldn’t be much longer before the army from the north would come down, but they hadn’t expected them this soon. There had also been some hope that they would pass by the smaller villages, so they didn’t waste time.
Obviously, that wasn’t the case,
she thought bitterly.

“Let go!” her mother screamed. Her body began to shake, desperately wanting to go out and save her family, but knowing that she would just be dead alongside them if she did. Her father had given her strict instructions to hide, and stay hidden. The sounds of boots climbed the stairs and went down the hall slowly, stopping in the doorway of each room. Their house was a small wood cabin like the rest of the ones in the village. The main floor consisted of one room, with a small kitchen and a small sitting area. The top floor had three bedrooms on it. One was her parents’, one was hers, and one had been her brother Felix’s before he had left. She could hear the person stop at his room; hers was the last. Tightening her hand over her mouth, she tried to calm her breathing down so he wouldn’t hear her. Tears still streamed down her cheeks, blurring her vision as she saw the boots appear in the doorway.

He stopped momentarily before turning to leave. She breathed a sigh of relief. Then she watched in horror as he stopped again, his boots turning back to her room and walking in this time. He stood in the middle of the room, listening. She shut her eyes, praying he would not look under the bed. The boots were large, black leather boots, and he wore the dark black pants of the army. She knew what they did to women, especially young girls like her. He started to turn again, when suddenly the bed flew off the floor, exposing her hiding place. She screamed out, jumping up and heading toward the bedroom door. He was too quick, blocking her path and causing her to crash into his large chest. He must have been almost six and a half feet tall, his chest solid like a rock. His dark beard was cut short to his face, framing two perfectly shaped lips. Shaking, she looked up into his eyes, and almost screamed. They were black, like a demon’s. His hair was also black as night, tied back into a ponytail. His face was a mask of intimidation. He looked down at her without saying a word, seeming to look over every detail of her face.

Rose was only sixteen that year. She had grown up in the village her whole life, alongside her brother, Felix, who had gone to join the King’s army. She was taller than most of the girls in the village, standing five foot seven. The other girls her age were smaller, and often made fun of her for being tall. She had long red hair, reaching down to her lower back, and emerald eyes that everyone said popped out of her porcelain face. The men in the village constantly asked for her hand in marriage, but her father said he wasn’t ready to lose her yet. Their father was the village’s blacksmith, a well-respected man—
or had been,
she thought heavily. Her heart hurt at the thought of her parents. Felix wouldn’t even know for days that they were gone. She wished then that he was there with them. Maybe he would have been able to protect them.

“Please let me go,” she pleaded, fresh tears building in her eyes. “Please …”

The man still hadn’t spoken, not even a smirk, or a mocking laugh like the rest of them. He continued to stare down at her, holding each wrist in a firm grasp. Her legs began to feel weak, and buckled under her. He held her up, however, keeping his hold on her. Without saying a word, he began dragging her out of the room by one arm. She screamed, reaching out with the free one to hold onto the door jamb. He pulled on her, ripping her grip from the frame, and dragging her farther out into the hall. As they neared the stairs, she reached for the handrail, anything to stop him. Growing impatient, he threw her over his shoulder, walking her down the stairs while she screamed and kicked wildly. Another man was standing outside their home when they emerged into the night air. The smoke was so thick that Rose began to cough as soon as she took a breath.

The other man laughed when he looked at her. “Well, well, what have we got here? A treat?” he joked. Her body started to convulse at the thought of what they would do to her. The man was just as large as the one who carried her, but his face had the mocking look like most of them wore, and a large scar covered his left cheek. His hair was blonde, braided down his back, and his beard was also braided down to his collarbone. She could see the excitement in his eyes as he approached them.

“No one is to touch this one,” the one who carried her commanded. She saw the blonde one react immediately. His mannerism gave the impression that the one who held her had seniority over the blonde.

“Yes, sir,” he replied obediently.

“Take her to the camp,” he instructed, dropping Rose to the ground. She landed with a thump, pushing herself up instantly to run away. They were too quick for her, each grabbing an arm and forcing her down.

“Where you going, sweetheart?” The blonde one smiled. He pulled a rope out of somewhere Rose couldn’t see and tied her hands behind her back. She screamed for help, but no one was there to aid her. Bodies lay on the streets, some with cuts in their throats so bad their heads were almost severed. Other women were being thrown into a wagon, each crying for mercy. The blonde man pulled her toward the wagon, throwing her in with the rest of them. She frantically looked for her mother, but the only girls there were the younger ones. Tears still ran fresh down her face; her mind and body were frozen in shock.

“Rose?” she heard someone say softly. She turned to see a young girl named Shauna; she was only thirteen that year, and Rose could see her clothes were torn everywhere. She had a black eye, and cuts along her arm. Rose shuddered at the thought of what had happened to the young girl that night.

“Come here,” she said in a hoarse voice. She held her arms open, and the girl scooted over to her, resting her head on Rose’s shoulder. Rose embraced her, and they stayed like that in silence for the whole ride.

“Fresh meat!” a man yelled as they entered the camp. It was a makeshift camp of small tents, men were everywhere around multiple fires. They glared at the girls with hungry eyes. She felt sick, and closed her eyes to say a silent prayer to the Goddess for protection. Surely, after all the deaths and destruction that night, surely someone would help them. They couldn’t be left to these men and their perverse desires. The wagon suddenly stopped, and another man came around to the back, opening the door.

“Let’s go,” he barked. Rose kept her head down, and her arm around Shauna. The poor girl was trembling violently. She whispered encouraging words in her ear, telling her everything would be all right. It was a lie—she knew it. It already wasn’t all right, but Rose felt an obligation to be the strong one now. She couldn’t let herself fall apart, or everything that was left of her would be lost. Her parents would be watching her now, alongside the God and Goddess, and her father would certainly be telling her to be brave. Right away, the women were separated into two tents. Thankfully, Rose and Shauna were able to stay together. They sat at the back of the tent in two small balls. Rose kept her arms around Shauna, creating whatever shield she could from the horrors that awaited them.

“We have to get out of here,” Shauna whispered. Rose looked down in shock. It was impossible. There were too many men, all trained by Brutus the Red, and therefore the best of the best. It was impossible, she thought again. Shauna sat up to look at her better; her eyes were wild, causing Rose to flinch backward. She looked simply mad—her hair was wild, and her nose flared. “We need to escape, Rose, or we’ll never survive,” she said urgently.

“You try to escape, and you’ll most definitely not survive,” another girl said, overhearing their conversation.

“I wasn’t talking to you!” she snapped.

Rose placed a reassuring hand on the girl’s arm, keeping her voice low and calm. “Shauna, she’s right. It can’t be done. There are too many men. We’ll be seen, and they wouldn’t hesitate to kill us on the spot, or worse …” The words hung in the air. Rose knew deep in her heart that worse had already happened to the girl. The idea of an escape was all she had left, but it couldn’t be done. “Let us rest now, and see what the morning brings,” she suggested, opening her arms again. Shauna sat up, her eyes still wild with panic, but as the seconds passed, Rose could see the realization hit her that Rose was right. An understanding hit her, causing the poor young thing to break down in tears, burying her face in Rose’s shoulder. She hushed her softly, stroking her tangled hair.

There were twenty of them in that tent. She wasn’t sure how many had been brought to the other, but no one else came for them. Eventually, they all fell asleep, the events of the night finally catching up with them. It wasn’t until a few hours later that Rose jolted awake. Sitting up, she looked around slowly, letting the reality hit her again. She turned to look beside her, and saw that Shauna was no longer there. She was nowhere inside the tent. Cursing, Rose got up, stepping over the other bodies that lay around the tent floor, and pulled back the flaps of the tent just enough for her to see outside. Shauna was two tents down, hiding behind the corner as three men passed by. Rose wanted to yell out, but it would bring attention not only to Shauna, but to her as well.

As the men disappeared, Shauna took off around the corner, disappearing from her view. Rose fought with herself, before deciding on the right course of action. Creeping out into the darkness, she kept close to the tents, looking each way before crossing the lanes between them. She reached the spot where Shauna had been in seconds. She was breathing heavily now, adrenaline coursing through her body. Looking around the corner, she couldn’t see the girl anywhere. A group of men sat around a fire only about twenty feet away, clearly drunk. Their voices were loud, and they sung battle songs repeatedly. Making sure they weren’t looking, she began to crouch along the other side of the tent, knowing if one of them should happen to look her way, she would be easy enough to see. The light from the campfire illuminated the area she was in perfectly. She prayed the whole time that none of them would look as she moved as quickly as she could. When she reached the outside tents of the camp, she could see a river not far off, and a small figure running toward it. By the shadow of the wild hair, she knew it was Shauna. Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked around quickly before running after her, keeping low in the tall grass that surrounded the river. They were actually going to do it, she thought, laughing. They would actually escape whatever lay behind them, and would have each other to find help with.

“Shauna!” she whispered. The girl stopped before the river, turning to look at Rose. The moon shone off her white teeth as she smiled at Rose’s approach. Throughout her journey, Rose had been so focused on Shauna’s figure, she had failed to notice the other shadow that grew nearer to her. Before she could yell out a warning, a man stood behind the young girl, slicing quickly across her neck. A gurgling sound filled the air as Shauna fell to the ground. Rose let out a horrified scream, dropping to the ground where she stood. The man slowly approached her, his blade hanging by his side. She could still see the body lying by the river, and tears began to flow again. Death would come to her next. At that point she welcomed it. Everything was too much for her. So many people she had known and loved were gone—she couldn’t save any of them, not even poor Shauna.

“Please, just kill me,” she sobbed, keeping her eyes on the body by the river, avoiding the man who stood in front of her. “Please …” she pleaded. The man was silent. Looking up, she recognized him right away. He wore the same detached look he had when he took her from her home. “I can’t handle this,” she spoke directly to him. “She was only thirteen, and never hurt a soul.” She began to cry harder, feeling a hole in her chest where everyone she had known had once been.

Crouching down in front of her, the man reached out and grabbed her chin. Tilting her head up, she looked at him in his dark eyes. “Trying to escape is an instant punishment of death,” he spoke in a rich voice. It didn’t have the same accent as most of the northern men. The accent was more refined.
This must be the man from the Capital City who’s in league with Brutus,
she thought. The prince who hadn’t won his crown.

“Then kill me,” she spoke back. “I don’t want to live like this.” He didn’t say anything back. Bringing his other hand up, he reached for her face again, drying the tears on her cheeks. She sat still, waiting for the blow that would end it all. It didn’t come. Instead, he lifted her up and walked her back to the camp, keeping a tight hold on her wrists the whole time. A soldier came out to meet them, clearly afraid of the consequences of losing a girl.

“My lord,” he began, his voice shaking. “We didn’t see her leave.”

“Clearly,” the man replied. “Perhaps if you men didn’t cloud your judgement with wine all night, simple girls wouldn’t be able to get past you.” The look the other man gave her was one that could kill. She would certainly be punished for bringing this shame on him. She froze under his look, wishing she could turn around and run. If she died while doing so, she wouldn’t care. The prince who held her noticed as well, understanding the future that awaited her. “Bring this one to my tent. I will deal with her myself.” Disappointment visibly filled the other’s face, but he nodded his head dutifully. Taking her hands, he dragged her to a larger tent that sat on the other side of the encampment.