Grave (The Sanctuary Series Book 1)

by L H Whitlock

  Her hair was the color of millnor flowers and her eyes a color unlike any in all the worlds he had traveled. The image of him cupping her cheek and bending down to kiss those pink lips crossed his mind but he immediately locked it away. No, she was too small. She may be confused right now, but she would fear him just like all the others. She could not be his. No one would ever be his.

  He watched as the last of the Vivid Flor star dipped beneath the mountains to the west, and he began his nightly walk.

  8

  Nora tucked her shawl around her shoulders and finished the last few steps to Lit-ta’s house. Deon and Lit-ta sat on one of the three logs surrounding a fire pit that roared with orange and yellow flame.

  “Hey!” Lit-ta held up her hand, and her red eyes sparkled brightly against the firelight. “I was hoping you wouldn’t bail on us.” Lit-ta’s red hair was pulled back into a bun, and she wore a heavy sweater over her clothes.

  Deon stoked the fire and stood. “Hey, Nora. I’ll grab food from inside and be back in a minute. Want anything to drink? I’ve got rasp juice and water.”

  “Water would be wonderful. Thank you.” Nora took a seat on a log across from the one Lit-ta and Deon sat on and held out her hands to capture some of the fire’s heat.

  Light flickered over Lit-ta, accenting her beauty.

  “Did you get the firewood?” Lit-ta asked.

  “Yes, thanks for reminding me. I would have been out of luck tonight.”

  “It gets freezing cold here. We’ll have to get you a proper coat too.”

  Nora nodded. “I have a few more things I would like at the market. Like a heavier blanket. The one in the house is fine, but I don’t want to have to wake up cold all the time. Tonight I’ll probably sleep on the sofa to be closer to the stove.”

  Lit-ta nodded. “I did the same thing for a long time. I was so scared to be alone. Thankfully, Deon took me under his wing.”

  Nora smiled, knowingly. “He seems like a nice guy.”

  A blush radiated up Lit-ta’s neck, and she shyly looked away as Deon came back outside.

  “We’re having hugwort and veggies tonight.” He held out a platter. Lit-ta adjusted a few logs in the fire and placed a pan in the center, holding it steady while Deon dumped the food onto it.

  “I’m sorry I don’t have anything to contribute tonight. I owe you.”

  Lit-ta waved off Nora’s words. “Nah, I’m sure you’ll make plenty of dinners for us in the future. It takes a bit to get settled. We know. So please, think nothing of it. It’s just a little food. Besides, I doubt someone as little as you eats much anyway.”

  Nora found herself almost admitting that she was eating for two, but caught herself just in time. “Thank you both so much for helping me.”

  Deon smiled. “You’ll have to show me the curtains when you get them up. Maybe we can help with that tomorrow. I don’t like you being so exposed over there. This isn’t a safe place, especially for women.”

  Nora inched closer to the warmth of the flames. “I’ll get them up tomorrow. I don’t like it either.” She almost added that she needed to replace her lock, but decided against it. She had only just met these people, and she didn’t want to seem too friendly and eager. She remembered what Rikar had said, that she could never forget where she was, even if people seemed friendly.

  She watched the food sizzle against the iron skillet as the smell of roasting vegetables mixed with burning firewood made her stomach groan. She took in a deep breath and smiled as she remembered home.

  Her father loved to cook on an open flame. She and her sister would sit around into the early hours talking about their day and gossiping about which men in town were cute or who had gotten in trouble. Nora never appreciated those talks until she no longer had them.

  “Do you guys ever eat with Grave?” Nora asked. He had left so quickly she didn’t have a chance to invite him to dinner.

  Deon and Lit-ta exchanged a look. “With Grave?” Lit-ta asked. “No, he doesn’t eat with anyone. We don’t see him much.”

  “Oh. Why not?”

  “Nora.” Deon’s firm voice cut over the crackling fire. “Don’t go anywhere near that man. He’s dangerous.”

  “Isn’t everyone here dangerous in some way?”

  “Well…yes. There’s a lot of dangerous people here, but not like Grave. He’s a trained and skilled killer,” Deon replied.

  Lit-ta stirred the cooking meat and vegetables around with a spoon.

  Nora waited for a moment for more clarification, but when she got none, she pressed, “What do you mean a skilled killer?”

  Deon picked up three bowls and scooped a spoonful of food into one. He handed it to Lit-ta then filled another and offered it to Nora. Nora smiled her thanks and drank in the scents of her dinner. Her stomach rumbled, and she realized she had not eaten anything since the previous night with Miss Yulle. Guilt twisted in her throat. She needed to remember to take care of herself. No, it didn’t even matter if she took care of herself, but she needed to make sure she took care of her baby.

  Deon finished a bite then balanced his bowl on his knees. “Grave helped build this place and fought in the war to maintain the sanctuary. But he’s dangerous. He’s aggressive and huge, and there’s a reason he doesn’t get too close to people. It’s best to keep your distance. That’s what he wants, anyway. Why else would he stay in the woods outside of town and not come to any of the gatherings?”

  “It’s rumored he’s a half-breed experiment made by the people on Huftor.” Lit-ta said.

  Nora’s eyes widened. She had heard horrific things about the slavers, but she never heard of any biological experimentation. They were known to be brutal and to torture people, so, honestly, experimentation wasn’t too farfetched of a thought.

  “I heard stories from a gladiator who escaped Haddena while Grave was still fighting. He said that Grave was a decorated champion, one of the finest. He fought in the rings for like twenty years,” Lit-ta whispered as though she didn’t want to be overheard.

  “I’ve heard he fought for eighty years and killed almost three thousand men.”

  “I heard five thousand.”

  “What are you guys talking about?” Nora asked. Her lips felt cold with anxiety. That man had just been in her house!

  “The gladiator rings,” Deon replied. “You know, fighting to the death. He’s ruthless. A killer. You should have seen him when an assassin tried to break in here and kill his target. Grave ripped the guy’s spine out and threw him over the wall. Over a twenty-story fucking wall! He’s not normal. Normal people don’t have that kind of strength,” Deon added all the while chewing his food.

  Nora’s appetite completely vanished. “He ripped his spine out…”

  “Yeah. It was disgusting. The guy didn’t have a shot against Grave.”

  Nora forced down a bite of vegetables, but couldn’t stomach the thought of meat when her imagination saw only the bloodied flesh of another living being. She tried to sooth her panic by convincing herself that their stories were outrageous.

  The wall was only about ten-stories high, not twenty, and Grave didn’t look like he was a century old! Not to mention the fact that killing thousands of people seemed impossible.

  “I’m not saying that the assassin was a good guy,” Lit-ta said, “but Grave’s reaction was excessive. Rikar had to pull him away because it looked like he might take out another person. It was the scariest thing I ever saw.

  “A lot of the people within these walls have done some seriously messed-up shit. I mean, Brook killed her ex-husband and his entire family over a simple affair and Riften used to skin people. So, I don’t blame others for wanting to sneak in and kill people like them, but really, Grave is different. He seems to enjoy the fight. You should have seen the look in his eyes. It was like he wasn’t even a person anymore.”

  Lit-ta took a swig of water. “Even though some of us deserve to be reprimanded by the justice system, I’m thankful for the rules of this s
anctuary. I’ll salute to that!” She held up her glass and clanged it against Deon’s.

  Me too, Nora wanted to say. But she forced another bite down instead.

  “He’s horribly scarred too,” Lit-ta continued. “That’s why he wears that hooded cloak; to hide the scars on his face. But I’ve seen them. You can see the edges around his cheeks and mouth. I don’t even want to know what the rest of his face looks like. There’s a reason he keeps it hidden.”

  “The rest of his body is scarred like that too,” Deon added. “I’ve heard he was whipped hard by his old masters for disobedience and the lines of their whips are etched into his skin.”

  Nora swallowed, feeling the food go down the entire way. The only reason she continued to eat was because her baby needed it. But her nerves made her want to vomit, and she hoped she hid the slight shaking of her hands from the other two.

  Deon and Lit-ta chowed down and gossiped about the rumors of Grave like they weren’t telling a gory, horrible tale.

  “Anyway, please promise me that you’ll stay away from him,” Lit-ta said.

  Nora nodded and looked out to the woods where the shapes of the trees were barely visible in the starlight. But he helped me with the firewood and hiding my money. Yes, he’s huge, and that cape he wears makes him look like Hut-na, the demon of nightmares, but that’s just my silly imagination. He’s just a man. A man with a troubled past.

  “Hey, Lit-ta,” a voice called out from somewhere behind them. “I thought you were going to come to my place tonight. I’m not surprised to see you sitting here with the snub and your fuck-mate.” The blond-haired man from the market staggered over with two men giggling like children behind him.

  Deon jumped to his feet. “Griff, back off. Grave and Rikar already spoke with you about harassing us.”

  “Oh, you mean the psychopathic murderer. Why would he care if I kill you and fuck your girl? Besides, he’s doing his walk. He isn’t here to protect you. Now, you going to leave or stay and watch?” His two buddies drunkenly cackled.

  Nora felt like a buchin in a beam of light. Staring at Deon, her heart pounding in fear and her hand frozen between her face and her bowl, the vegetable perched on top of her fork losing its heat into the night.

  “Seriously, Griff. You need to leave now,” Deon growled.

  Lit-ta stood and grabbed Deon’s arm. “Griff, stop this. You do this all the time. If Grave knew—”

  Griff laughed and took a gulp of his drink. The liquor dribbled into his beard. “Grave won’t know. He don’t care either. You can’t put a bunch of misfits together and not expect the stronger to flourish.” He grabbed his crotch. “Come on, Lit-ta. You give such good head. Why don’t you get on your knees and put your pretty little mouth around my—” Griff’s words seemed to catch in his throat as he looked past Deon and Lit-ta into the forest. He froze, his hand falling limply to his side.

  After a long pause, he said, “You know what? Fuck this. I don’t need some ugly bitch begging for me. Let’s go to the brothel and get some more booze.” His friends laughed, and the trio turned and walked briskly away.

  Nora looked over into the forest, searching for what had spooked Griff. Amongst the thick tree trunks, a cloak blew in the gentle breeze then disappeared into the brush.

  9

  “You don’t have to come with me, you know?” Nora told Lit-ta as she started down the road the next morning heading to the market.

  Lit-ta’s gaze shifted left and right as she rubbed her palms on her thighs. “Oh, I need to go anyway.” Though Lit-ta tried to keep her voice nonchalant and cheerful, she couldn’t hide her nervousness from Nora.

  Nora didn’t blame her friend. The confrontation with Griff and his friends had left her feeling nervous herself. She had ended up sleeping in front of the door all night so no one could get in. And even then, her dreams were plagued with Griff doing horrible things to not only Lit-ta, but herself.

  “You want to take the long way?” Lit-ta asked. Nora nodded and followed Lit-ta to a trail around the other side of their home. It meandered through the forest. The golden rays of Vivid Flor shone through the canopies of the trees, basking the forest floor in spotlights of warmth.

  “Sorry about last night,” Lit-ta finally said.

  “Oh, you don’t have anything to apologize for.”

  Lit-ta tugged the tie out of her ponytail and shook her hair out, then pulled her fingers through the ends of her red locks. Nora assumed Lit-ta was trying to distract herself.

  “I was in a bad place when I first got here,” Lit-ta began. “I was kicked out of Morala… Well, not really kicked out as much as isolated to the point of misery. I thought anywhere would be better than there.”

  “What happened?” Regret immediately filled Nora. Maybe Lit-ta didn’t want to talk about it, just like she didn’t want to talk about her journey either. “If you don’t want to talk about it, I understand. I’m still not wanting to share my own story.” She could only hope the other woman wouldn’t ask her to reciprocate.

  Lit-ta sighed lightly, the sound just as feminine as the sway of her steps. “It’s fine. Most of the town knows it anyway, thanks to Griff. I really loved it there at first, Morala. I was so grateful to be a free woman. I had thought I even found love in one of the border patrol guys but turns out he was married to one of the women that ran the place. Once she found out I was sleeping with him, she turned the entire settlement against me. No one would trade with me or buy from me. No one would talk or share a meal. I got so lonely and so broke that I applied to come here. I had nowhere else to go.”

  Nora wrapped an arm awkwardly around Lit-ta as they continued to walk and pulled her in for a clumsy hug. The woman stiffened at first, then melted into Nora, a soft sob releasing from between her lips. “Sorry. I’ve just not had many friends.”

  “I’m sorry. You don’t deserve that.”

  Lit-ta pulled away and started back down the dirt path. “I did, though. I slept with a married man. What I don’t get is that instead of getting mad at him, his wife got mad at me. I had no clue, of course. But anyway, it is what it is.”

  Nora nodded. “Well, I’m really glad you’re here. I don’t know how I would be getting along right now without you and Deon helping me.”

  Lit-ta smiled. “Honestly, you reminded me of myself. Meek and kind. No reason to be hardened yet. I didn’t want what I went through to happen to you.”

  Nora grimaced at being described as meek. “Thank you,” she mumbled, wanting to maintain her friendliness, but at the same time that in itself made her meek.

  “I was so broke when I came here that I worked at the brothel to get myself going. I didn’t realize how scarce women were here, and when I tried to quit, the clientele kept finding me. They would just throw me down and force their way. They didn’t care that I was no longer a service girl. I felt like I would never be able to break free of it.”

  “How did you?”

  “Deon. He found out and defended me. He got the shit kicked out of him too before Grave and Rikar stepped in. I told Rikar what had been happening and he was pissed that it went on for as long as it did. I was pissed at them at first, him and Grave. They’re supposed to be the leaders here. But Rikar is always watching the gate, and Grave doesn’t come into town.”

  “I thought you said to stay away from Grave. Yet he helped you.”

  Lit-ta sighed. “I just don’t want you so close to a man like that. It isn’t safe.”

  Nora gazed over the moss vines creeping up the trees, the silence reminding her of home. From before she was forced from her family and into the bed of the king. She knew what Nora had gone through. The isolation. The fear. The rape.

  Just thinking of it made Nora dizzy with disgust.

  “Legs apart. Wider.” The king’s breath heaved in his belly. “Look at that pretty little flower of yours.” He prodded at her, not really caring if she benefited in any way. “The maid tells me you cried when they stripped you of body hair. Poor Nor
a. But you make your king so happy, and you want to make me happy.”

  Nora turned her face and squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself into a different dimension, but it never worked.

  A pale, wrinkled hand slapped her cheek hard enough to make her cry out. “What have I told you, wife? Look at me while I fuck you.”

  Nora forced her eyes open, and looked up at his face, his sagging skin and white hair blurring together from her tears.

  He jolted forward, shoving himself inside of her without readying her or providing any sort of lubrication or assistance. Each time she cried tears trickled down her neck, disgrace filled her mind and ice coated her heart.

  “Hello. Hello.” Lit-ta cupped her hand in front of her face and imitated static in a radio. “Please adjust your navigation, Captain Nora. You’ve drifted away.”

  Nora forced a smile. “Sorry about that. I got a bit lost in thought.”

  “No kidding.”

  Silence fell between the two for several minutes, but to Nora’s surprise, it wasn’t an awkward silence she felt rushed to fill. Instead, she enjoyed the buzzing of insects and the dots of colorful fungi covering the decaying leaves on the forest floor.

  At least one good thing had happened from the king’s unwanted affections; she had a life growing within her. A life she held sacred even if her old kingdom did not.

  “So, are you and Deon together, then?” Nora asked.

  Lit-ta’s face flushed red. “Well…no.”

  “Why not?”

  “Oh, you know… I really don’t have an answer for that. I guess I’m just waiting for him to officially ask me. But he moves slow.”

  “I bet he’s just timid because he doesn’t want to rush you, especially after all you’ve been through.” Nora’s respect for Deon shot through the lavender sky. She suspected he was so much more worried about Lit-ta’s trauma than what he wanted that he didn’t even realize they both wanted the same thing.

  “You think so?” Lit-ta’s face lit up with hope.