Slave of Froize: A Froize Trilogy Novel

by Emera Rose

  “Oh, Helene, I can’t. I can’t stay strong anymore. I have been staying strong my entire life. I think it’s time for me to give up. No one would notice. It would be better.”

  She grabbed me roughly and made me focus back on her, “Don’t you ever say that again! Do you hear me? We all need you; you may not know it, but every slave in this place looks up to you. You’re a leader to all of us even when you do nothing but follow.”

  This was the second time that someone said that I was pegged for a leadership role, I didn’t want it, but no matter what I did, I never seemed to get away from it.

  “No one follows me; no one should follow me. I am just going to get people killed.”

  She smiled, “Tahmas and his people have a fire in their bellies because of the speech you gave. Midi, Melissa and the rest of the slaves here all know that you endured over a week in the hotbox because you wouldn’t give their names, even the slaves in the main chambers know how much of an advocate you are for us. You have no choice in the matter.”

  Finally, I let the tears overflow, and I collapsed onto her shoulder, since losing my mother she was the closest thing to a mother that I’d ever had. I knew that Helene would never steer me wrong.

  “It’s so hard, and I am so tired.”

  “Of course it’s hard, overcoming these great evils are never going to be easy. We have to fight and sacrifice for freedom. All of us.” She unhooked the cloak from her neck and draped it over my shoulders. The silk was lined with the softest fur, thick and warm.

  “No, I can’t take this, you will freeze!” I tried to push it back into her hands.

  “My child, I have a bed and four walls to go back to, you will freeze long before I ever feel a chill.” She smiled warmly, kissed on the cheek, and turned to walk back to the castle.

  I prayed for her safety as she made her back into the walls. I gathered the cloak and laid back down on the rough hay. At least this time, I was able to cover myself with a warm blanket.

  Chapter 21

  “You thieving slut!” A shriek woke me from my slumber. I blinked a few times, trying to let my eyes adjust to my surroundings. The cloak was torn from my body, and I turned to see who the offender was.

  Queen Margot.

  “My Queen!” I knelt before her, she was pissed, and I didn’t want to upset her any more than what she was.

  “Where did you get this? You stole it!” She screamed, shoving the cloak that Helene had given me the day before in my face.

  “I did not; it was given to me,” I answered as contritely as I could manage.

  “You have people working with you to steal then?” She snarled and bent down to get closer to my face, the stark white enamel of her sharp vampire teeth a bright contrast against her extremely pale face. “Who?”

  I opened my mouth to answer, but I knew what would happen if I told, Helene would be killed. I just dropped my head down and waited for the punishment.

  “Get up!” She growled at me. I did as she demanded immediately. She walked quickly in front of me, I tried to keep up, but no matter how quick I moved, she was still pulling away from me. I could have cried in joy the minute I walked into the royal chambers; it was like a slap to my senses. After spending the last few days, secluded outside with the animals, being in the lush surroundings of the king and queens space made me so excited. Even if my excitement was short-lived.

  She let the door slam behind both of us, “This is the reason for your melancholy? This thief?” She reached behind her, grabbed my tattered shirt, and flung my body to the ground. That’s where I stayed with my head bowed.

  “Laramie?” King Jett said, he sounded unsure. Like he wasn’t expecting to see me.

  “Yes, your precious Laramie, off stealing things again. Apparently, the punishment was not harsh enough, when will you see that she is a leech on this kingdom and our generosity. When will you wake up-”

  His roar was loud and final, “You might be the Queen, but I will walk myself to the gallows before I let you speak to me like this again! I’m tired of your fucking pushing. What she does is not your concern!”

  I heard him stepping off his throne but didn’t dare lookup. “Laramie.” He called to me.

  “My King?” I answered, my eyes still down.

  “Look to me.”

  I raised my head on his command, and it took everything in me not to gasp in surprise. Instead of the strong, handsome king that I was used to seeing, Jett looked beat down. He looked tired, he looked sad. Surely, this couldn’t be about me.

  “Did you steal this cloak?” He asked me plainly.

  “She must have-” Margot spoke up again.

  “Close your mouth, woman!” Jett screamed back at her before she had a chance to finish her sentence.

  “No, my lord, it was given to me.”

  “Laramie, only those that work closely with me have cloth such as this. Who gave it to you?”

  I kept my mouth closed. There was no way that I would rat out Helene, not after she had shown me all the kindness in the world.

  “It was me. I am the one who gave her the cloak.” Helene’s voice rang out behind me.

  I hissed echoed in the air, and Queen Margot flashed right behind Helene.

  “No!” I screamed before I knew what was happening, and I turned around to see the closest person I had here, my friend, become a meal for my sadistic and jealous queen. She pushed her head roughly to the side and bit down hard into the soft skin of Helene’s neck. I crawled over to her, not even thinking clearly enough to stand on my own two feet.

  “No! Stop! Please stop!” I cried hard, pulling at the soft garment that wrapped around Helene. I knew in the back of my head that it was too late, once Margot bit her, she was dead.

  Helene looked at me, a strange look of peace and acceptance on her face. I wrapped my arms around her legs as drop after drop of her blood fell onto me, falling from the corners of Margot’s mouth as she drank deeply from my friend.

  “Oh, I am so sorry. I’m so sorry.” I felt her body drop, and I moved as fast as I could to make sure that she didn’t just fall flat on the floor. I caught her upper body in the nick of time while Margot swiftly made her way to the smaller throne next to where Jett was.

  “She should have minded her business.” She said as she used her nails to clean out the nail beds on the opposite hand.

  I looked up at her and let my glance drift slowly to Jett. He had said nothing; he did nothing. I blamed him just as much as her for Helene’s death. He spent so long trying to prove that he would do some good when he became king, but he was just another pawn. He was just a figurehead. The council and the nobles of Froize were the only people that held real power.

  I believed in him, but now I knew he was nothing more than a fraud.

  “May I bury her?”

  “Yes,” King Jett walked over to where I was sitting cradling Helene’s head in my lap, he tried to put his hand on my shoulder, but I moved back quickly. I didn’t want anymore to do with him. I didn’t dare look at him, though, and I knew that the queen was only waiting for one slip up before she would be on me again.

  “Do I have your permission to leave?”

  He stood straight, no longer touching my shoulder, but I could see his hand twitching in my direction. “You may.”

  I stiffly grabbed the cloak that she’d given me and slowly rolled her onto it so I could drag her body out of the chambers. As I stood up, king Jett whispered in my ear.

  “I can’t lose you, Laramie, I won’t survive. You mean too much.”

  I raised my eyes to his. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You never had me. I was always loyal to you, but your loyalties lie elsewhere.” I let my eyes look over toward queen Margot for a second.

  He looked over to the woman who was paying not an ounce of attention to us. “I will fix it; I want you more than I want this legacy. I need you.”

  There was a crazed look in his eye, the same one I saw when I was practicing on the
wall with Tahmas.

  “You can’t fix this. It’s over.” I looked back down and began to drag Helene’s lifeless drained body. A tear falling from my cheek, down onto her still beautiful face.

  Chapter 22

  I buried Helene up on the hill near Leann. I was tired of burying people, especially folks, that I called a friend. What surprised me the most that as I began digging the grave several of the slave warriors came to help me. Tahmas and few other men even stood with me and prayed for her soul. It was touching. They didn’t do this because they knew her, but because they could see that Helene meant a lot to me. It was humbling.

  After the small ceremony was completed, I said thank you to each of the men and turned to walk back toward the lower wing, where Davorin was sure to be looking for me.

  “Hey, you never told us who did this.” Tahmas caught up to me, keep in stride with me as I made my way to start my daily chores.

  “Your queen did this,” I said with a blank face. On the inside, I was screaming and cursing her name.

  “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you; she is not my queen,” Tahmas mumbled through clenched teeth.

  “She’s the one who sits on the throne; she is your queen, whether you want it to be or not.”

  He shook his head and looked away, “I will not fight you about this. I know who I am loyal to and who I obey just to stay alive. Their times will come, both of them.”

  I stopped walking to look at him properly, I had no idea what he was talking about, but from how it sounded I was beginning to think that Tahmas was going to try and kill the royal family.

  “Be clear; what exactly does that mean?”

  “You are one of the smartest and strongest women that I’ve ever met, but I swear I have never met one so naive.”

  I placed my fisted hands on my hips; I didn’t like to be insulted. “Again, I’m going to say, be clear, what are you talking about.”

  “I am talking about the revolution.” He bent down closer to my face, a small smirk appearing on his.

  “You can’t revolt against the vampires; they will kill you all without batting an eyelash. If it were that easy, don’t you think we would have done it years ago.”

  “True indeed, it isn’t easy, but thanks to your intel and the willow acid that you have supplied us, along with the weapons we now have a good chance. All we have to do is kill Jett.”

  My heart skipped a beat, I was so disappointed and angry with Jett, but that didn’t mean that my feelings for him weren’t still very strong. I don’t know if I could stand by and just let them kill him.

  “What will killing him do? They will have another king on Froize before we can blink, and then they will kill everyone that had anything to do with the rebellion.

  “Not if we take all of them out, the queen has no heir. She was the last in the line, she did have a younger sister, but she was killed. If we can kill all the nobles there will be no one to claim the throne. King or Queen.”

  He had a point if they killed all of them, the slaves could take the island. We could be free. For all of thirty seconds until the Makins or any other of our rivals figured out that we were ruler less and they made their way over here to claim what they thought was theirs. Still, maybe the thirty seconds of freedom was enough.

  “Tahmas, please don’t do anything. You aren’t thinking this all the way through. There are too many obstacles that we don’t know about.”

  He threw his hands up in the air, exasperated, “I am so tired of thinking things through, I am so tired of doing what I am told because some dirty bloodsucker thinks it’s the right thing to do. We were not meant to be slaves. We should be ruling Froize.”

  I understood his frustration, I was just as tired, but my will to live was still greater than my will to fight.

  “Tahmas, I promise you if you do this, you will regret it.” I stared at him, pleaded with my eyes.

  “I hope one day, you realize your greatness and the greatness of your people.”

  I watched him turn away and walk back toward the barracks and the rest of the soldiers. I could only hope that what I said reached him enough to give him pause. The last thing I wanted was for another friend to die.

  ***

  *BONG BONG BONG*

  I startled out of my sleep, “Oh heavens, his cup!” I jumped up, trying to understand where I was. It took me a second, but the horse's neighs confirmed I wasn’t in the King’s chambers and was indeed asleep in one of their stalls. I only calmed for a moment; if the alarm I was hearing wasn’t for his blood cup, there could only be one other reason.

  We were under attack!

  The enemy was finally making their move. I ran out of the stall and into the heart of the battle. The Makins had already made it inside the walls, and I saw a group of them running from behind me. They’d found a back way in; our army wasn’t even remotely prepared for them.

  I watched as human body after body fell to the ground, the vampires cutting through them like they were toys.

  I turned to my left, and one of the vampires had me directly in his line of vision. I had nothing to protect myself. He laughed and began to stalk towards me. I knew I wouldn’t be able to outrun him, but I had to try. I turned and ran in the opposite direction as fast as my legs would carry me, I could feel him galloping behind me. Just as he was about to reach out and grabbed me, a large gust of wind blew right behind me. I turned to see one of the elite human soldiers stabbing the vampire with a long silver object. I could see the orange willows acid on the blade, and I knew that the vampire would not be getting up for a long time if ever.

  “Get inside, hide!” he yelled at me as he grabbed onto another vampire, twirling the knife in the air and driving it straight down with extreme force into his skull. “Now, Laramie!”

  I turned and ran; I knew that nothing in Davorin’s chambers would help me in a fight, but I hoped that my staff was still where I left it in my old room in the king’s chambers. I would just have to get it.

  I could do this; I had to do it.

  I took off making sure to stay as close to the shadows as I could, not that it would stop them from seeing me, but hopefully, all the Makins were too busy fighting everyone else to see someone sneaking around in the shadows.

  I could hear the clash of the metal before I even opened the door to King Jett’s chambers. I had no idea how many were inside there, but from the growling and clanging weapons, I knew it was a lot.

  I ran in and scurried past the dozen or so Makins that were trying desperately to get to the royal couple, I saw the king in the middle of the floor, doing his best with four Makins around him.

  Tahmas was in the room as well as a few other of the trained human soldiers, and I could see they were giving it all they had to protect the crown.

  I ran into my bedroom and retrieved my staff. When I stepped out again, three out of the five trained human soldiers were dead on the ground. Now all that was left was Tahmas, a younger kid and king Jett. Queen Margot did nothing but cower behind her throne. She was as physically powerful as any other vampire, but she would never get involved in this.

  I ran into the middle of the fray, sweat pouring down my face and my hands shaking with adrenaline. I swung my staff at the first vampire I saw, and once he turned in my direction, I swung the staff above my head, pressed the release for the willow acid covered blades to pop out, and I sliced his head off. I hit the latch for the blades to retract, and I moved on to the next vampire. I had picked up a lot from Tahmas, but one thing I knew for sure was that no one in here thought that I was a threat, and that was my greatest advantage.

  I cut down vampire after vampire, easier than I would have thought possible, and those that I couldn’t beat either Tahmas or Jett finished off for me. The three of us were a force to be reckoned with.

  “This means nothing if we can’t clear them from inside the kingdom walls, all of this will be for naught!” Tahmas called out as he plunged the blade of his sword right into th
e neck of one of our enemies.

  “He’s right,” Jett yelled back as he used his bare hands to break the neck of another enemy.

  “Light the hellfire.”

  Both Jett and Tahmas looked at me like I was crazy. The Hellfire would burn for hours, if not days, and it would kill anyone in its path. Everyone, including the other slaves in the kingdom.

  “We can’t do that, our people.” Tahmas glared at me.

  “If we don’t do something, we won’t have people to defend. We give the signal and light it stage by stage. I’ll run through the slave quarters and release who I can. I’ll come back here when I’m done.”

  “What? No!” Tahmas looked panicked.

  “Absolutely not, it’s a miracle that you made it here in the first place. There is no way that I am going to let you leave again.” Jett put his arm out and grabbed my waist, pulling me closer to him. The love and need for me shining bright in his eyes.

  “My king-”

  “Ugh, speak plainly to me, woman.”

  I smiled it was still amazing to me how someone who was all about being respected as a king could hate his title so much. “Jett, you know I have to do this, I know those quarters inside and out. I know where the hiding spaces are and how to get out. I will make sure they get out, and I will make it back here. If I can’t, I’ll give the signal to light the hellfire.”

  Jett growled lowly at the very mention of me not being able to make it back.

  “I am a survivor; I know I will make it back. I have to go.” I pulled away from him and looked over to Tahmas. “Protect the crown.” I glared at him for a second, hoping that today was not the day he would go through with his plan to kill the king. We needed both the king and queen to stay alive if we didn’t want the Makins to come in and take over.