Chapter Four: burns and flames

Lily’s Pov

Wakie, Wakie!

Water crashes over my head, piercing through my ear and my body freezes against the cell floor. Shivering violently as I lazily open my eyes. Seraphina glares at me, her face pale. She clutched an empty bucket in her hands.

Zaryth's voice cut through the haze from the corridor.

“Slaves are still sleeping?” She hissed, standing outside the cell’s iron barred door with ten other figures.

Marathiel coughed as though her throat was burning.

The Overseers stood in two neat lines, five on either side of her, some masked, some bare but all devoid of mercy.

“Up,” Seraphina barked.

I tried to rise, but agony tore through my shoulders. The wounds had scabbed over during the night, and now every movement threatened to tear them open again. I bit down hard on my lip to keep from crying out.

 “Out. Line yourselves horizontally in front of your cells,” Zaryth's eyes gleamed like poisoned glass.

I stumbled to my feet, using the wall for support. Each breath sent fresh waves of pain rippling down my spine. Blood seeped through the thin fabric of my slave tunic, warm and sticky against my skin.

Marathiel grabbed my elbow, steadying me. "Lean on me," she whispered.

Zaryth's lips curled. “No more free food, you will be assigned with roles. Bondage free” She paused, “but make no mistake, your freedom belongs to your service. Fail, and the Scourgemasters will put you in your place”.

Murmurs and mumbling as the title struck the air like a whip crack, the words dangle like bait.

“Silent!” One of the figures to her right thundered, the word echoing through the corridor.

“You’ll speak only when commanded,” his tone was rough and dangerous. 

Zaryth's gaze lingered on us as she continued “ Discipline and order” She gestures to the five Overseers at her right. 

“These are the Fang Wardens, Iron Watchers, Bone keepers, Scourge masters and Dread sentinels. They will keep you breathing.”

They grinned.

“And here”, she turned to the five on her left, “ are the Heads of your Roles. Hunters, healers, stone bearers, fire keepers and shadow tenders. You will live and die by the tasks they assign”

The first stepped forward, his Frame tall. “I am Draven, a hunter of the shadow, You thirty” He paused as his finger slashed the air like knives, “With me” 

The thirty forward, head bowed, trembling as they followed swiftly. 

A lady, her presence softer. Her voice held warmth but not safety. “Lyssara is my name, twenty females and ten males follow me. You will be trained in herbs and healing”.

The body can break but it can also be mended. Remember that”

Hope flickered in my chest. I stepped forward, heart pounding.

Veyla’s hand shot out, her fingers clamping around my wrist. “Don’t leave us, Let’s be in the same team,” she whispered urgently, voice cracking.

“You!. Join them” I froze at the voice of Lyssara, pointing to myself for confirmation.

“No. The ant holding your wrist” She snapped, her voice sharp.

Veyla's hand trembles as she lets go of my wrist. I swallowed hard. My throat burned.

One by one, the Heads assigned each slave into factions.

And I? Orien picked Marathiel, Myself and seven other slaves, with fire keepers instructions. 

We emerged into a cavernous chamber, lit by the hungry glow of fire pits. Dozens of furnaces roared along the stone walls.

“This is the Fire Crest,” Orien declared, stepping before us. His skin shone with sweat. He lifted his arms as if in praise.

“Here, the heart of the flame never dies.”

“We will work until our bodies wither or burn” echo mouthed.

“You, Girl! To the central pit. You will feed the fire” A sharp voice spat, his words echoing through the cavernous chamber.

Marathiel’s eyes widened. “Alone?”

“You will obey without question!” The lash cracked against the stone near her feet, sending sparks flying.

“Marathiel!” I reached after her, but Orien’s glare froze me in place.

“She will learn to serve the fire,” His tone was 

cold and loud.

“And you will be trained by Aida” his eyes flicked to me. 

I flinched.

Then she appeared from the shadow barefoot, she had slightly thin arms, almost weightless.

Aida tilted her head, smiling faintly, “My name is Aida,I belong to the flame”. 

Orien cleared his throat. “Although you are too brittle. And soon, with training, you will too”.

“Stand straight,” she screamed at me.

I jolted upright, my knees nearly buckling.

Then she laughed, her expression softened, “ You poor thing, the fire eats more than Woods. It eats dreams. It eats names”.

Silence fell heavy after her words.

Orien’s voice cracked when he spoke, each word lined with smoke. “Go to Kia. Ask what she needs.”

“How do I find my way?” I whispered.

“Go, she doesn't like to wait” Aida ordered.

My cloth drenched in sweat as I wandered frantically, trying to locate Kia's quarters. Each step was agony. The wounds on my back pulled and burned. I could feel blood trickling down my spine, warm and wet.

“Each Hallway looked the same” I mumbled as my stomach turned cold while falling to my knees.

“Are you lost?” A voice drifted from the shadow.

“Yes,” I rasped, lifting my head. “I am trying to locate Lady Kia’s quarters”

Her voice hushed through the air “Follow the flower arrangement, at the end, turn right. You’ll see stony steps. Her door is carved with delicate patterns, vines, roses and wings”

“Thank you,” Relief surged through me, I breathed, springing to my feet.

I pressed forward, clinging to those directions, reaching the polished steps, I raised my hand to knock.

Then I froze.

“Mmmh, mmmh” a sound seeped within, low, drawn out and intimate. 

“A moan!” My inner voice gasped

“This feels good” Kia hummed

My pulse pounding in my ears, if they found me here, listening, I am doomed. Curiosity kill the cat but satisfaction brought it back, they say. Yet my hand hovered above the peephole.

A secret sharp enough to kill, an invisible blade drawn in the dark. Every instinct screamed at me to turn away.

“I miss you” she mumbled against his lips

“Me or my touch?” Fenric’s hands roamed beneath her blouse, his fingertips grazing her nipple. Her breath hitched.

“You,” She moaned softly

“You are crazy” he replied, sucking desperately on her nipple.

“Crazy about you” she shivered against his jaw while her fingers tangled in his hair, she bites down her lower lip.

His voice deep just for her, “I like it when you do that, it turns me on” his voice hoarse with desires. 

“I’m wet for you” she mumbled, their mouths met, she arched into him as his lips crashed into hers. 

His lips were full and sensuous, more appealing, the tension between them simmered. His hands slid lower, gripping her thighs and pressing her against the wall.

“Kia,” He said in a breathless voice. “You drive me crazy”

She gasped “All for you” Her breath ragged.

“End your engagement with Gavin. I want to show you off” He brushed his thumb across her cheek.

“Soon” She replied, low, almost muffled.

A soft laugh followed, the kind that pricked the skin. “Then hurry, before patience dies, I will not be hidden forever”

“Needless to worry, he treats me like a duty and not a woman, with time the oath will be broken by him,” she replied, tugging him closer, “More” She begged.

Kia giggled like a little girl as fenric trailed his tongue from her neck, down to the shoulder, sucking her skin.

 “Like this?” He gripped her neck, every sign with endless kisses.

“Just like that” she moaned, her voice thick with pleasure.

“You’ll ruin me with that sound” Fenric's breath was low and rough.

I fumbled with the doorknob, my palm slick with sweat and the door creaked open just a faction.

“Who is there?” Fenric’s voice las

hed out, sharp and rough.

My throat tightened, I pressed a trembling hand to my mouth, stumbling back a step, I hastened down the hall as Fenric chased after me.