Scarred Man Read Online Free Page B

here!’
    Maida kept going, now trying to make less noise.
    â€˜She’s got to be in those bushes. Find her, but bring her back undamaged!’
    Squirming along under bushes that might have been designed solely for this sort of escape, Maida smiled grimly. Undamaged, that’s nice , she thought. But she had no time to think, she had to keep moving. She still had only twenty or so paces between her and Huitzilin. Nowhere near enough yet.
    The sounds of pursuit grew louder. The Agents were slashing at the bushes behind her, moving inexorably closer. She had to move faster to keep ahead of them — an indiscriminate sword slash through the branches could damage her, no matter what Huitzilin had ordered.
    â€˜Hold!’ Huitzilin bellowed. The sounds of the slashing swords stopped immediately. Huitzilin’s voice dropped to a mutter, but Maida did not stop to listen, she kept moving, now aware of the noise her movement was causing, hoping she was far enough away for it to be dismissed as normal woodland sounds.
    â€˜I see her now,’ Huitzilin shouted. ‘Ahead, thirty paces, down to your right.’
    Maida heard Agents running, straight towards her. Their boots pounded and stopped right by her. Hands tore at the bush, ripping away her cover, leaving her vulnerable. A sword touched the back of her neck.
    â€˜Said she was a tough little slag,’ Opochtli said to his companions.
    Maida stopped moving and looked up at him.
    â€˜You have no idea,’ she hissed at him.
    Huitzilin walked up to join them and looked down at Maida with thinly disguised contempt.
    â€˜It is not just the Blindfolded Queen who sees, Red,’ he said.
    Maida regarded him closely and noticed something she had not seen before. His tattoo was just the crown, high on his left cheek, but those of his Agents had a black line underneath them.
    A mark of rank? Even as she thought it, she realised it was more than that, but as yet she did not know what it meant. And what did he mean by seeing? Could he see me? How?
    â€˜Take her back,’ he ordered. ‘And chain her up again.’

5
    If it wants her dead, we should keep her alive.
    Hinrik’s words rang in Slave’s head. What had he done? Released this thing, this Revenant onto the world. But what did that mean? What could it do? What was it capable of? After so long trapped beneath the ground, Hinrik had said it would be insane.
    Slave remembered the thing, the beast he had met in the utter dark beneath Vogel. Ancient malice, cunning evil, vast strength — all he had witnessed, but insanity? He did not think it was insane. Which meant it might act rationally, or at least consistently, with a plan. Slave recalled the way it had laid its hand on his chest, the way it had intoned the words: Accept my blessing and live for the battle to serve me in the fray. Take my offering and live, or refuse me and die, the choice is yours. These were not words chosen at random, they were oft-repeated, ritualistic. A ritualistic pattern meant plans, method — predictability. And Myrrhini might have visions that could reveal plans.
    If it wants her dead, we should keep her alive.
    If what Slave had done could possibly be made right, Myrrhini must be able to have her visions. He must keep her alive.
    He ran on, the ground icy and hard beneath his feet. Behind him, he could hear Hinrik labouring, falling ever further behind. Soon the open air with its currents and unstable scents would no longer bring him the sounds and smells of the weak man.
    Ever since the confusing, terrifying moment he had escaped his subterranean home, Slave had been lost, without plan or purpose. His time with Slaaj had only served to open his eyes a little to the world around him. So far he did not like much of it, but even so, it was better than being a slave. Spending time with Waarde had been almost as confusing as escaping from Sondelle’s dungeon, while Ileki’s duplicity had hurt