The Sovereign's Slaves (Narrow Gate Book 3) Page 11

  Probably not, she mused. She remembered how her mother had told her that Strays were only property to the Sovereign. His Enforcers, even a talebearer, would at least serve a purpose and have some value to him. So, the punishment could not be so severe for telling tales as it might be, since he’d want to keep his Enforcers alive. But she was a Stray who had defied him, easily replaceable property with no value, and Kara knew that the Sovereign would want to make an example of her. She knew that he would want to make her suffer.

  She looked up when the dirt beneath her feet became cleanly swept cobblestones, finding the House looming out of the gloom ahead of them. It, too, was lit brightly against the night’s darkness, alight with torches at every door and window, of which there were many.

  The House was enormous, and Kara couldn’t help but gape at it. She had never had occasion to see it when she lived in GateWide. Her mother had always tried her best to keep Kara away.

  The massive structure was made of dark colored stone and took up at least four square blocks, which was a space that would have housed dozens of homes in other areas of GateWide. Rising three stories above the ground, it towering over every other structure around it, since there were no other buildings that were more than two stories in GateWide. At least, none that Kara had ever seen.

  The precious glass in the windows shimmered in the firelight from the torches, casting back reflections with an eerie glow.

  As she stared at the House, Kara thought that she could, perhaps, bear her own suffering when the Sovereign inflicted whatever torture he had chosen upon her. Perhaps. However, she knew that she could not bear to see Mathew suffer inside the House at the Sovereign’s hand.

  But how could she save him? She didn’t know what to do anymore. What was the right thing? How could she keep him from being hurt and killed?

  She didn’t know.

  She began to pray under her breath to the One True God. Only He could save them now.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Mathew balked as the Enforcers shoved him through the iron gate that separated the courtyard in front of the House from the cobblestone streets of GateWide. Fear and revulsion overwhelmed him as they neared the House and he could not stop himself from recoiling. Even though revulsion gave him new strength, he only managed to jerk his arms from their hold on him before they sprang into action to contain him again.

  One of the Enforcers cuffed him hard on the side of his face, and he reeled sideways from the blow, only to run into another Enforcer on the other side, who slapped him roughly on the back of the head.

  Ears ringing, he stumbled backwards, and was shoved forward so hard that he went flying through the entrance to the iron gate, then fell and slid along the rough stone pavers that lined the House’s courtyard on his hands and knees, bloodying them as gravel gouged his skin.

  “Stop!” he heard Kara exclaim as he picked himself up off of the ground.

  Her protest was immediately followed by the sound of an open palm slapping bare skin.

  Kara gasped, and as Mathew turned to help her, he caught an Enforcer’s boot in his ribs.

  It knocked the air, and the rest of the fight, right out of him.

  “Careful, don’t damage him too badly before he gets to the Sovereign. You know what is in store for him, and the Sovereign won’t like it if you’ve taken all of the fight out of him before he arrives in the throne room,” a familiar voice said from the rear of the group.

  Mathew saw the man named Truchen steer a path through the other Enforcers, a small, ragged girl of about six trailed along behind in his wake, looking terrified and tearful.

  “I’ve brought the other Stray,” he said, moving forward to pick Mathew up off of the ground and stand him up straight, a feat that Mathew didn’t feel confident that he’d have been able to do on his own for at least another minute or two.

  His ribs ached and his face felt as if it were on fire, but he managed to remain standing at Truchen’s side as he wheezed and gasped, trying to regain his breath.

  “Come on, let’s get this over with,” Truchen said, grabbing a handful of Mathew’s collar as if to prevent further problems.

  Mathew glanced at the Stray who stood at the man’s side. The girl was tiny, underfed and half-starved. Her cheeks were hollowed with hunger and her eyes were haunted with fear and ringed with dark shadows.

  Mathew glanced at Kara, but she was also staring at the girl and didn’t catch his gaze. Truchen urged him forward, and Mathew didn’t resist again as he was brought to the House.

  Massive double doors swung open when they arrived at the entrance, and he saw four male Strays had opened them and now stood behind them, waiting to close them again. They all looked as worse for wear as the girl at Truchen’s side, unkempt, sickly, frightened and half-starved.

  “This way,” Truchen said, directing Mathew to a hall that split off from the main entrance, running along parallel to the long side of the House.

  There were no windows in the long hallway and every few feet torches were lit, sitting securely in thick sconces attached to the stone wall by black wrought-iron bases. The dim lighting accentuated the fact that the wide hallway was devoid of furniture or decoration of any kind. Not even a woven rug hung upon the walls to keep out drafts.

  Truchen did not pull and shove him as the other Enforcers had, but he kept a hand on Mathew’s collar just the same. Mathew had no choice but to go the way he was directed.

  Kara was shoved up near where he and Truchen and the girl walked at the head of the group, and then most of the Enforcers split off from the group and headed back out of the double doors and into the night.

  Only three Enforcers and one tracken brought up the rear of the group now, and only Truchen led them at the front.

  Mathew realized that, if he had any chance of saving Kara from the fate the Sovereign had in store for her, now would be the time to do it. He looked at Kara, knowing that she still had the Old Tech that Otto had repaired for her, and hoped that he could buy her enough time to use it.

  Mathew took several more complacent steps forward and then he flung himself sideways into Truchen, letting out a bellow like that of a crazed bull.

  The man was startled and released his hold on Mathew’s collar as he was shoved to the side. Mathew lost his footing, tripping over Truchen’s feet, and toppling them both to the floor.

  The other Enforcers leapt forward a second later, one of them aiming a kick at Mathew. The man’s boot hit Truchen in the face instead, and the Enforcer’s nose seemed to disintegrate into a geyser of blood.

  To Mathew’s surprise, Truchen pushed Mathew out of the way of another boot aimed for him, whispering “Go!” urgently as he rolled himself toward the Enforcers and Mathew away from them.

  Kara took advantage of the moment to rip the device from her pocket and press the tiny silver button on its side. A strange sub-sonic hum filled the hallway, and for an instant, Mathew saw a wavering transparent curtain bell out from the device before it seemed to snap into place and disappear from sight.

  Mathew now lay at Kara’s feet where he’d rolled when Truchen had pushed him, and the girl Stray was behind Kara’s back, huddled into a protective ball against the wall.

  The Enforcers and the single tracken charged Kara as Mathew shot to his feet, ready to try to defend her, but his efforts were not needed.

  The device worked as Otto said it would. The Enforcers’ heavy blows were deflected as if a stone wall lay in front of Kara instead of a transparent barrier. The tracken leapt at them, but it bounced off the shield, giving an angry, confused yowl as it rebounded back into its masters, its heavy weight toppling two of them to the floor, where they joined Truchen.

  The last standing Enforcer pulled his gun out of the belt at his waist and fired, but the bullet bounced off of the barrier too, going wild as it ricocheted on the other side, until it finally ended up buried in Truchen’s shoulder.

  Truchen shouted in pain. The girl Stray began to wail loudly as
blood fountained out of the wound. Mathew gaped as he watched Truchen writhe in agony, his shoulder pulsing out his life’s blood.

  Kara turned her face away with a sob, but she continued to hold the device in front of her, keeping the others at bay.

  “Come on, we’ve got to go before others arrive,” Mathew said, reaching out to grasp Kara’s free arm.

  He turned to Maude’s daughter, “Which way will lead us to where the Sovereign’s tracken are kept?”

  The girl raised a tear-filled face and pointed, her small shaking finger directing them to a path back the way they’d just come, through the Enforcers who stood in their way on the other side of the Old Tech shield.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Kara gritted her teeth with determination and took a cautious step forward, unsure if the shield would hold if she tried to press the men backwards.

  “Throw your weapons on the floor and back away,” Kara said.

  “And my Old Tech device,” Mathew added. “Put that on the floor, too.”

  The Enforcers paused, and Kara held her breath. She wasn’t sure what she’d do if they refused.

  Several tense seconds passed as they faced each other down, and then one of the Enforcers removed the weapons from his belt; a gun, two knives and an Old Tech device that Kara didn’t recognize, and stepped back.

  The other two followed suit, laying their weapons, and Mathew’s Old Tech, on the floor before backing up a few steps.

  “Now, one of you call the tracken to you and remove the wire that the Sovereign uses to control them,” Kara said, taking another cautious step forward, until the shield pressed right up against Truchen’s booted foot. The shield hummed as it met resistance, but it held.

  “I won’t,” one of the Enforcers told her. “The Sovereign prohibits the removal of the control harnesses.”

  Kara simply stared at the man, unsure of her next move. She wasn’t sure where the shield reached, and where it didn’t, and she didn’t want to do anything to make it stop working. She took another step forward, and was surprised when the shield moved Truchen’s foot.

  The poor man groaned, and Kara immediately stopped walking. Using his boot as a marker, Kara raised the device a little, hoping to direct the shield higher.

  She stepped forward again, and this time Truchen’s booted foot stayed where it was.

  Hastily, she walked forward, stepping over Truchen and the discarded weapons, and forcing the others back with the shield.

  Mathew quickly realized what she was doing, and moved forward to pick up a gun and a knife from the floor. He stepped ahead with a wry grin on his face as she lowered the device once more.

  “The tables have turned now, haven’t they?” he asked. “Now, I believe that this Old Tech works as a one way barrier. We can push things through from this side, but you cannot do the same from your side.”

  Mathew balanced the knife in his hand and then flung it through the shield. For a moment, the shield sang and a ripple bloomed where the knife flew through the barrier. It clattered onto the floor at the Enforcers’ feet.

  Mathew hefted the gun and pointed it at the Enforcer who’d spoken. “Does that change your mind about helping the tracken?”

  The Enforcer scowled, then nodded reluctantly.

  He called the tracken over and then quickly pulled the wire from the beast’s neck, not making any effort to be careful.

  The beast jerked at the swift removal of the wire, its limbs quivering, then it stepped back and shook its head, and Kara could see the exact moment when it realized what had just happened.

  “It’s going to be okay,” Kara crooned to the beast. “We’re here to help you.”

  One of the Enforcers snorted with derision. “You’ll be captured again, soon enough. The Sovereign is probably sending more Enforcers even now.”

  “Go to the doors and leave,” Kara directed, turning her attention once more to the group of Enforcers, sure that the man was right as she tried to count down the minutes in her head until the reinforcements might arrive. “Make sure they’re shut behind you.”

  The Enforcers backed toward the double doors and the four Strays obediently opened them again.

  In seconds, the Enforcers were back out in the black night, standing there, looking in at them.

  “Close the doors,” Kara told the Strays.

  They just stared at her, too scared to obey. One of them looked anxiously at the Enforcers standing just outside.

  Kara sighed, then directed a glare at the Enforcer closest to the doors.

  “Tell them to close the doors.”

  The Enforcer nodded, and immediately the Strays jumped into action. The double doors shut with a bang as the four grubby boys flung the doors closed with too much haste.

  Kara immediately stopped pressing the silver button on the Old Tech and the sub-sonic hum faded from the air.

  “We’re here to help you, too,” Kara told the four boys by the door. “But you’ll have to trust us. Can you do that?”

  They all just stared at her. Kara sighed again. The task of getting the Strays to follow her out of the House might prove to be harder than she’d first imagined. She’d thought that they’d be eager to flee, but she hadn’t taken into account the depth of the fear that they held for their oppressors.

  The tracken still stood off to once side in the dim corridor, golden eyes carefully watching Kara and Mathew.

  Kara met its stare.

  “If you can find it in your heart to help, the man there needs your aid. He’s been shot,” Kara said, pointing to where Truchen still lay upon the floor.

  The tracken’s golden eyes flicked over to the fallen man, then back again to Kara’s face, then slowly the beast crept nearer to Truchen’s position upon the floor.

  The beast leaned down to sniff at his wounds, then stood, peering down at the man silently.

  “Let him die,” one of the four boys said. “He is an Enforcer.”

  Before Kara could tell them that letting the man die wouldn’t be the right thing to do, the tiny girl took a hesitant step forward, then knelt at Truchen’s side, placing her dirty hand upon his cheek. Tears had made pale tracks in her dirty skin, and her nose was running.

  “He was nice to me,” she said quietly. “He was the only one after mother died.”

  The girl patted Truchen’s cheek as he groaned in pain.

  The tracken stepped forward, carefully stretching out its neck to sniff at the tear tracks on the girl’s face.

  A single tear welled in its eye as it took in the scent of the girl’s grief, and Kara watched in amazement as the beast bent over Truchen and let the tear fall into the man’s shoulder wound.

  “Will he heal now? With just one tear?” Mathew asked.

  The tracken nodded carefully. Yes.

  “Then, let’s hurry and free your brothers and sisters so we can find the other Strays and leave this place,” Kara said.

  She stuffed the Old Tech into her pocket and turned toward the corridor that ran in the direction that the girl had indicated. She held out her hand to the girl, and the girl rose from Truchen’s side and took it.

  “How far is it?” Kara asked.

  “At the end of the hallway there is a room where he keeps them, when they’re not with him,” she said as she wiped her dripping nose on a tattered sleeve.

  One of the four boys stepped forward, “If you’re really here to help us, I’ll show you where they’re kept.”

  “Don’t, Jack. The master will kill you,” said another of the boys.

  “Or the tracken. They might kill you too,” said a third.

  Jack took a long look at the tracken that now stood docilely at Kara’s side.

  “No, I don’t think they will,” Jack said, amazement coloring his words.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Mathew followed along as Jack led them down the corridor at a fast pace. The scrawny Stray was practically running, though Mathew wondered how long the boy would be able to kee
p up that pace since he looked so sickly and abused.

  From his vantage point behind the Stray, Mathew took in the boy’s bruised neck and filth-encrusted hair, the old clothing spattered with stains and worn thin at the seams, the bare feet that were torn and blistered in some places and hard with thick calluses in others, the ankles that were ringed with angry red scrapes where there had obviously recently been shackles to chafe the skin there. Mathew shook his head at this sad condition. Life in the House must be even worse that he’d imagined. Kara, who had lived on her own in the forest for years, looked as if she’d had better care than this boy – and, now that he thought about it, she probably had. She’d at least been able to care for herself, where this boy had been denied even that.

  Jack turned right at an intersecting corridor, and Mathew and the others in the group followed. The newly freed tracken took up the rear, and Mathew couldn’t help but glance back at the creature every few steps to make certain that it wasn’t thinking about reverting back to its former behavior. From behind, it could take them all unaware if it decided to attack.

  The beast met his eyes every time he looked back, its calm golden stare doing much to alleviate Mathew’s fear of it.

  Kara jogged at his side, the tiny girl’s hand was clutched in hers, and every so often Kara slowed a bit to help the girl along. Mathew could tell by the way that Kara looked at the girl that she felt responsible for the girl’s plight somehow. He wanted to tell Kara that the girl probably would have become a Stray eventually, even if her mother had not chosen to help Kara escape from the Gate that day. To Mathew, it was becoming obvious that people, whether they were Strays, Enforcers or widows forced to work in the House, did not last long around the Sovereign. So, logically, Maude wouldn’t have lasted long either. But he could tell by the expression on Kara’s face that she hadn’t come to that same logic yet.

  Jack skidded to a halt in front of a large set of ironbound wooden doors that were set into the stacked stone wall of the corridor. Massive iron hinges held the doors in their thick wooden frames and a sturdy wooden plank barred the doors from the outside.