Sold to Serve: The Dark Brothers Book 1

by Kyra Alessy

  She closed her eyes and was immediately fast asleep. Like every night now, the shadows emerged from the deep as soon as she succumbed to tiredness. She tossed and turned, unable to wake from the nightmares until she felt someone next to her, smelling of that same light, floral mint that seemed to calm her so well. He came as soon as the bad dreams did, and she curled into strong arms that made her feel safe. Only then was she able to sleep peacefully, not really knowing or caring if it was a dream.

  The next day she asked Davas for something to wear when he brought her morning meal and was immediately given another dress. She supposed it must have come from the village, but it was much softer and more luxurious than the others had been; it felt very much like the gowns she’d worn at home. When she remarked on it to Davas, he simply told her that he’d grabbed the first one he could find in their stores that he didn’t think would irritate her skin, which was still inflamed in places from her reaction to the flowers. Her suspicions were confirmed. Kade had been lying to her. But why had he wanted her in his clothes? Was it simply to see more of her body? She couldn’t very well ask him, she thought, her cheeks warming.

  Donning the dress hurriedly, she felt much better as she sat in front of the casement with the plate of food – once she’d drunk another of Davas’s horrible teas. She felt stronger today and decided a short walk inside the keep might be a good start for her blind adventures. She could hardly sit in this room for another day. Boredom was eating away at her. At least in her childhood there had been books, unapproved by her father, that had been sneaked in by the maids who’d felt sorry for her.

  She assumed there would be no tasks for her as yet. She wasn’t sure what she could do at the moment, to be fair, and no one had mentioned anything at all, but she was still a slave here, so it was only a matter of time before she would be expected to go back to her work, she supposed. She’d better find a way to be useful, which meant she had to learn her way about.

  She knew she was on the same floor as the other bed chambers, and the library was on the same level. Once she got her bearings, she would see if she could get there without accidentally throwing herself down the stairs. She would try traversing those another day.

  Opening the door slowly, she half-expected someone to order her back inside, but no one did. She took a step and then another, hand on the door and then on the wall to feel her way.

  ‘Here,’ Kade said, touching her arm and making her jump. ‘Sorry.’

  She raised a brow. He didn’t sound sorry.

  He took her hand and put it on a rope of some kind. ‘There’s a cord running along all the walls up here to guide you.’

  She smiled. ‘That’s very helpful, thank you. I’d hate to break my neck after surviving the well.’

  ‘Mace helped,’ he said gruffly. ‘And I should tell you that it was Lucian’s idea.’

  Her smile thinned. ‘Oh.’ Why would he want to help her, she wondered and almost snorted aloud. It was probably to ensure she went back to work.

  ‘We can put them on every wall in the keep if you find they help you. My room is over there, across the corridor from yours. Mace’s is the other way, and Lucian’s and the library are this way.’ He held her arm up and pointed it in the direction of each room. ‘I was coming to tell you that Mace and I will be gone for a few days. There are raiders in the area taking livestock and supplies. We need to run them to ground.’

  She grimaced inwardly at the thought of being left alone in the keep with just Lucian, but she smiled at Kade, taking his hand. ‘Take care,’ she said brightly. ‘I hope you’re successful.’

  He kissed her lips quickly and she grinned.

  ‘I’d like to go to the library, please,’ she requested, her heart leaping even at his innocuous touch. She remembered the first time they’d met and he’d scared her so. When had she become so at ease with him?

  ‘Do you remember which way?’

  She cast her sightless eyes to the ceiling. ‘Of course. You just said.’

  ‘It’s the first door. The cord will end just before it. About thirty paces.’

  Kora nodded and, taking hold of the rope, hesitantly began to walk, counting her steps. He didn’t follow, and she was grateful that he wasn’t coddling her. When she reached thirty-seven – his legs were longer than hers – the cord ended and she felt for the handle of the door. It opened quietly and she entered, smelling the mustiness of ageing paper and the leather of the volumes she knew were all around her. Remembering the piles and untidiness from the last time she had been in this room, she made her way around slowly, easing a foot along the floor in front of her before each step.

  There were two windows on the wall opposite the door, she remembered, and a long table to the right with high-backed wooden chairs around it. The hearth was on the left, and there were two more comfortable chairs there with a much smaller round table between them.

  She walked towards where she thought the windows were, intending to open the shutters and let the warmth of the sun in, but walked into one of the chairs with a thump. She gave a low cry and tutted to herself in annoyance, adjusting the picture she had in her mind of the room. Feeling her way around the chair and the edge of the table, she took three steps, her arms out. She reached for the shutters but felt a warm breeze instead. The casements were already open. She turned to the left. She might as well sit on one of the comfy chairs. But her foot caught the edge of a pile of books, sending them thudding to the floor. She sighed as she knelt down, feeling for them as she battled to keep tears of frustration from spilling down her cheeks. She gathered the books slowly, running her hands over the cold stone floor to find them.

  It was only her first time out of her room, she told herself. These things would happen until she became accustomed to days without her eyes. She couldn’t hang all her hopes on her sight returning. She must go on as if she would never see again or else she wouldn’t be able to live her life. As it was, she wasn’t sure where she fit now. And escaping the keep was nigh impossible at this point. The best she could ask for now was to stay here and hope to be treated kindly or to be sold on. She had already discounted Davas’s suggestion some days ago of letting her family know where she was. She doubted Blackhale would want a maimed wife, but having to endure her father’s home until he no doubt found a ‘suitable’ marriage for her – which she would, of course, have to be grateful for, for all of her life … She shuddered. She’d rather take her chances in the keep.

  She picked up what she believed was the last of the fallen books and coaxed them into a nice, neat pile; as good a one as she could currently make, at any rate. She started as one of the chairs by the hearth gave a faint creak. Someone was here and she believed, with a sinking feeling, that she knew which of the Brothers it was.

  ‘Do you enjoy skulking about or are you lying in wait to frighten me?’

  LUCIAN

  Actually, Lucian had been applying a hot compress to his swollen jaw, which Davas assured him was not broken but still fucking felt like it days later. But he wasn’t going to tell her that. He shifted in the chair again, listening to the tell-tale creak as he tried to put his ribs into a more comfortable position. Two of them were broken. As he had feared, Kade had given him the soundest and most thorough beating he’d ever had from one of his Brothers. The only thing currently making him feel slightly better was boldly observing their slave’s kneeling form; specifically, how much of her breasts he could see in the low-necked silk gown she wore as she reached to pick up the books she’d knocked over.

  ‘I was just minding my business in this chair when, suddenly, you arrived.’ He moved again, stifling a groan of discomfort. He didn’t want her to know how badly he was injured.

  She snorted and he smiled genuinely only because she couldn’t see it. She was stronger than he’d first thought. He’d seen some of it that first day when she wouldn’t be cowed by him, but he was still surprised at her resilience. Even as she knelt on the floor in that wine-coloured gown that was
much too elegant for her, trying to tidy the mess she’d made, she was no delicate bloom that would fade in the frost. She wouldn’t let something as banal as blindness stop her from doing as she willed. She would press forward to the bitter end no matter the cost. He recognised those same traits in himself and he could admit that he had some measure of respect for her. In truth, a small part of him had missed her presence in the keep while she’d been absent.

  He glanced around the room. He should clear all the piles of books away, put them back on their shelves where they belonged. She’d be tripping over them all the time as she tried to navigate the room if he didn’t.

  He stopped those thoughts immediately and stared at her for a moment in consternation. Why did he suddenly care for her comfort? He must simply feel some measure of uncharacteristic guilt for his part in what had happened to her. Yes, that must be it.

  ‘You were wrong yesterday, you know,’ he suddenly said and then silently cursed himself for speaking aloud. What did it matter if she knew he hadn’t meant to hurt her, whether or not she forgave him?

  She stayed where she was, staring blankly in his direction. ‘About what?’

  ‘When I sent you to get the flowers, I thought …’ He ran a hand over his swollen face. ‘They should have simply made it seem as if you’d had too much wine. If I’d known what would happen ...’ he trailed off, not sure what else to say.

  She didn’t say anything for so long that he thought their conversation was finished. But then she seemed to decide something. She sat back on her heels, her countenance turning mulish.

  ‘Why do it at all? Why devise work to harm me? Even if you didn’t know what the flowers would do to me, why did you send me out there at all?’ She shook her head. ‘Why speak to me only to make unpleasant comments? Why steal my dress and then post guards so that I’d be caught? Why send me to the smithy when setting foot in there was so dangerous that only Davas could enter? I don’t understand.’

  He felt an unwelcome pang of regret in his chest. She’d caught him off guard and he found he didn’t like it one bit. He ground his aching jaw.

  ‘I don’t know,’ he said, deciding it was time to put her back in her place. ‘Perhaps I want to see how much our expensive little slave can withstand before she breaks.’

  She grimaced and got to her feet, chest heaving as she made her way to the table and sat heavily in one of the chairs.

  The colour had drained from her face and she suddenly looked quite unwell.

  ‘Fuck,’ he muttered under his breath, wondering why he couldn’t keep his temper under control where she was concerned and then wondering why he was worried about such a thing.

  ‘Can I get you some water?’ he found himself asking.

  She sighed. ‘Will you poison it?’ she countered.

  He smiled darkly. He’d take her surrender, but he did enjoy that fire in her as well. ‘I promise you that I won’t.’

  ‘Your word? What’s that worth?’ she scoffed.

  ‘Not much.’ He chuckled in spite of himself as he slowly stood and took her a cup of the water from the table next to him, trying not to make it obvious that he couldn’t lift one of his legs properly at the moment.

  When he set it in front of her, she sniffed it and took a sip. ‘I didn’t think you drank water.’

  ‘Mace has been delaying the supply wagons from the village, so that’s all there is.’ Lucian rolled his eyes, though she couldn’t see it. His Brother thought he didn’t know.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because I drink too much,’ he stated matter-of-factly. He looked down at his hands. At least the tremors had finally abated.

  She downed the rest of the water from the cup. ‘I should go back to my chamber now.’

  She eased up from the chair. He didn’t move, didn’t try to help her.

  The door shut behind her and Lucian frowned in the silent room. He shuffled back to his table and sat back in his comfy chair. He told himself he was glad the little intruder had gone; with her distracting body and bothersome voice. This was his room and now he could be blissfully alone in it to wallow in pain.

  He closed his eyes and tried to think about their plans for the keep, the problems they were facing with the villagers, and with the bandits that seemed to appear and vanish so quickly. But his mind kept taking him back to thoughts of her – her dress, her hair, what it would be like to kiss her, to have her legs wrapped around him. He thought about how she’d looked squirming under Mace when he’d walked into her room. Breathless, cheeks stained red, mewling as Mace suckled her tits.

  Swearing aloud and adjusting his now painfully hard cock, he realised that he needed to get her out of his head somehow. He’d known it for days and it was time to do something about it. He couldn’t be rid of her now that she had both his Brothers under her spell.

  He would fuck her, he decided.

  Once he’d had her he would see she was just another woman. He’d remember there was nothing special about her and that she was simply a pretty slave. He practically shivered in anticipation. It wouldn’t take much to make her succumb to him after all. Gods, if his Brothers could manage it …

  He leant back in his chair and grinned as he began to formulate his plans for her. He would begin tomorrow.

  Over the next three days, he was already in the library whenever she entered. He was polite and helpful. He even began reading his book aloud so that she could listen. He ensured she had food and water – no wine though of course because there were still no supplies from the village. She never stayed long though. After breakfast, she’d walk slowly back down the corridor to her room to spend the rest of the day there by herself. The others were still away trying to catch the bandits that were wreaking havoc.

  On the fourth day, his pretty slave entered the library and gave him a tentative smile that made his heart hammer in his chest. She’d never done that before and he was at war with himself. Part of him revelled in her softening towards him. He was winning her over – and quickly too. She was either very naïve or the most forgiving woman he’d ever met.

  The other part wanted her to keep her distance, to stay away from him and the library, to realise his game before it was too late. But Lucian hadn’t indulged that side of him since well before he’d left his sister to fend for herself in the north. It was easy to push it away and remember that no one could be so pure of heart as she seemed.

  Today, when she rose from the chair to leave as usual, he put the next stage of his plan into action.

  ‘Don’t go,’ he said, letting a plaintive note enter his voice. ‘Stay here with me awhile.’

  A look of uncertainty passed over her face. ‘I thought I disturbed you when I came here. Why would you want me to stay?’ She cocked her head to the side.

  ‘You must be very bored in your room all day with nothing to do. I’m bored in here truth be told,’ he admitted.

  She laughed lightly. ‘You can go wherever you like. You could ride out with the others if you had a mind to.’

  He chewed the inside of his cheek as he considered. He hadn’t intended to tell her about his injuries at all, but … making up his mind he closed the short distance between them. ‘I’m going to take your hand. You have my word I will not do anything untoward.’

  Her lip quirked. ‘But we determined several days ago that your word is worth nothing.’

  He grinned at her retort, but she didn’t resist as he gently grasped her hand and brought it slowly to his face. When she felt the swelling of his jaw, she gasped. ‘Did Kade do this to you?’

  His brow furrowed. She actually sounded concerned for him. ‘Oh yes, and more besides. I have a swollen eye, broken ribs, two fingers pulled out of joint, bruises everywhere and he’s done something to one of my legs.’

  ‘Davas told me but I didn’t think it would be so …. vicious.’ Her mouth opened and closed. ‘I thought you were friends.’

  Lucian watched her closely, feeling her fingers on him and pretending it was a
caress. ‘We are Brothers first. When one of us does need punishing, our unit carries it out. It is the way of the Dark Brothers. You need not concern yourself over it. I only showed you so you understand that I’m stuck in the keep just as you are until I mend.’

  He shifted on his feet, feeling like a boy asking his mama for something he knew would be refused. ‘You could join me during the days, if you like. Perhaps we could keep each other company until the others return.’

  She would say no. He didn’t know why he bothered asking. She hated him for good reason. Why would she choose to come here to spend time with him? He could order her and she would obey, but he wanted her to be here because she wished to be, not because she was forced to be. He shook his head. No that wasn’t right. What was wrong with him? He wanted her here of her own free will so that he could have her. Duress would only set him back.

  ‘What will we do in here?’ she asked suspiciously.

  His mind suddenly threw him down a very enjoyable rabbit hole, showing him some of the many, many things he would like to do in this room alone with her, and his cock began to harden.

  He shifted himself in his breeches, glad she couldn’t see him, and made a noncommittal sound. ‘I’ll read to you if you like. You can even choose. The books came with the keep. They cover a variety of subjects. There are a few instruments ‘round abouts too, though I don’t play anything well. We could devise games to play. Or we could simply talk. All I know about you before you came here is that you were a house slave who was sold away from her home and family.’

  She stiffened next to him.

  Interesting.

  ‘I-I’ll think about it,’ she murmured as she stood, misjudging how close he was. He was forced to take a small step back to stop her from bumping into him. He clearly made her nervous, so she didn’t tarry, slipping between the chair and his body like a mouse escaping a cat through an impossibly tiny hole in the wall. She practically flew to the door, arms outstretched and fumbling for the handle. She couldn’t find it. Yes, she was definitely flustered.