The Swordmage Trilogy Bundle, Volumes 1-3 Read Online Free Page B

a writhing sickness. Whoever this girl was, she had power to spare.
    They would have time to discover the nature of her power later. For now, they had to get off the platform and away from the commoners. Things were growing ugly, and quickly.
    “Get up,” Royce grunted, unlocking her shackles from the block. “I own you now, so you're my responsibility.”
    With some effort the girl got to her feet. The glance she shot Royce was wary and vengeful. He owned her now, this demon, full of rage and fire. Royce shook his head. What in the name of nine different hells had he been thinking? He had purchased the girl outright, so she belonged to him. Now all he needed to figure out was what he was going to do with her.
    A rotten tomato slapped into Royce's heavy leather chest guard, spraying him with fermented juice and bits of pulp. Denied their prize, the crowd was rapidly taking on the mob mentality. Assaulting the Constable was an offense that could merit a death sentence itself, but the surging mass of people granted anonymity and they were angry.
    Royce drew the long dagger from his belt and grabbed the girl by the arm, ignoring the second jolt that coursed through his thick frame. He all but dragged her from the platform into the torrid sea of flesh. He swept the blade back and forth, forcing the crowd to yield before them as they made a hasty retreat from the square.
    “My cottage isn't far,” he grunted to the girl as they passed out of the throng and into the relative safety of the mostly empty street. “It will be quiet and safe. Then I can figure out what I'm going to do with you.”
    He felt the girl tense. It wasn't hard for Royce to figure out why. The slaver had said she was untouched. His purchase of her must have made rape seem inevitable. She was, after all, a slave. She was his property, to do with as he pleased.
    “Not that way, girl,” he said, guiding her down the side street that led to his modest cottage . “I have other plans for you.”

    ~~~~

 

     
CHAPTER THREE
     
    Tiadaria stumbled, but the man's vice-like grip on her upper arm kept her upright and propelled her along the sparsely populated road. His touch caused her skin to tingle in a way she had never experienced and made the witchmetal collar burn around her neck. Every time he touched her, it felt as if her skin was on fire. She wanted to run, to get as far away from this village and its people as she could, to find her way back to the north where things were familiar. She would find a place as Klanjon; the expatriate of one clan sworn to serve another. She had heard that some of the clans actually revered their women and treated them with respect. That’s what she would do. She would make her way back to her homeland and claim vengeance on her father and the Folkledre of her former clan.
    This man who had paid for her would have to sleep eventually, and when he did, she would disappear. Or better yet, cut his throat and be done with it. He may have purchased her from the repugnant little slaver, but he would never own her. She would fight until her dying breath to free herself from captivity and gain her revenge.
    They turned down a long, empty dirt road and the man stopped his head-long flight. He released her arm and at once the almost-painful burning tingle that had danced over her skin, vanished. The collar around her throat seemed to expand, letting air into lungs that ached and were starved for breath. She stopped, her hand going to her throat. The man turned to her, his storm-gray eyes ranging over her face before he motioned to a little cottage at the end of the dirt road.
    “That's where we're going. Are you going to walk, or do I need to carry you?”
    She sprung at him, wanting to grab him by the throat, but her chains made her slow and clumsy. He easily kicked her legs out from under her, sending her sprawling in the dirt on her back. He was suddenly beside her, his knee pressing into her throat and the tip of his long