Page 77 of Sands of Atonement

He nodded slowly and continued in hushed, sinister tones, “He made love to her one night. As you know, it’s forbidden, lest he and the woman die at the hands of the Atrove. It’s against their first law. But he didn’t care.”

“Aww…” I exhaled in fantasy bliss.

His eyes slide to mine, his smile fading like the stars in the sky. “Then he killed her to hide his identity.”

My jaw dropped.

I grabbed a handful of warm sand and threw it across the fire and into his face.

“Kavid! That’s a horrible story.”

Kavid laughed methodically, brushing the sand off his skin. “You asked for it.”

“That story didn’t end happily! Does she magically come back to life or something? Does she find out she was going to die and just faked being poisoned or something?”

“Nope. Dead.”

“You’re awful. The Atrove should never be part of your storytelling, unless you want them to come out from their invisible palace tonight and kill us in our sleep.”

Kavid’s shoulders shook with his full belly laugh.

“Stories of the Atrove never end on a good note. Don’t be angry with me, little sister. This is life. Better you learn about that now rather than later.”

Our laughs quieted, and I could only hear the crackling of the fire in front of me, weighing his words.

The Atrove. They killed our family. He was right. Stories with them in them never ended well.

I planned to have my revenge on them regardless of Kavid’s plans with me.

I would have it.

Something tightened around my wrists, which caused me to wake from my dreams, and my eyes flew open. Shadows bound my wrists, making it so I couldn’t move them. The scream that came from my mouth was covered by a thick cloth around my head and stuffed into my mouth.

My breath turned shallow. I felt as if I were choking.

I couldn’t move.

My legs were weighed down and roped together before I could kick these shadows in the face. They wore white robes and white cloths around their heads.

The Atrove.

I screamed and screamed and begged for help, but no one heard me. My racing heartbeat was in my throat, but I couldn’t breathe. The three men grabbed my bound body, and another hand was placed against the cloth that covered my mouth.

I tried to blink the darkness away, but I could barely see. They took me out of my tent, and I quickly noticed the guard outside my tent lying unconscious. I twisted and wormed my body to be released, but the men who held me were like an iron cage.

A knot the size of a hand twisted in my stomach, and the desperate pounding of it made me sick.

I was going to die. I was going to die.

Where was Kavid? I hoped he hadn’t been caught. What did they want from me?

I couldn’t think straight, and suddenly a piercing force fell on my head before everything turned dark.

I woke to the beast beneath me, causing me to sway. I was on a horse. The stranger’s arms that kept me from falling were cold and tight, and I let out a shudder. How long had I been out for? It was still night. The Atrove had attacked my brother’s caravan and stolen me. My breath quickened, but I was bound like a hog, my ankles and wrists tied together, making it impossible for me to move, let alone escape. I could feel blood sliding from the side of my head down my nose before darkness overcame me again.

Chapter 20

Eshe