Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
He had locked her in a cage, close to a gutter. The stench repulsed her. She felt sick, but she didn’t beg them to let her go.
She watched as they left the room one by one. With no one to see her, she flinched at the sound of the gate being locked. Alone, outside, in the dark, Milah tested how far she could go. There was nothing to protect her. No bed to offer her comfort.
Nothing.
She was all alone.
The chains only allowed some movement. Her feet were bare, and she couldn’t contain her scream as something furry brushed past her feet.
Rats. He’d put her with rats.
Sickness swirled in her gut at what this could mean. Death by … what? The rats? The elements?
She sank to her knees and stared toward the small pitch of light.
Milah was afraid of the dark. Always had been.
She stared at the light, watching the hours tick by. No food or water was brought to her. This was her punishment.
The rats didn’t come near her after that first one.
Tears filled her eyes as the light slowly began to ebb away, making way toward the darkness. With the dark, she had no choice but to close her eyes, to try to send herself to a happy place.
Bad shit always happened in the dark.
Her mother had always told her to take long, deep breaths and to try to think of all the good things in life. Right now, there was nothing good. Only fear.
The night was closing in, and with it, fear clawed its way within her chest, threatening to take over.
****
The maid wasn’t injured.
The shot to the guard hadn’t even gone through bone. She had shot the fleshy part of his leg that only needed a few stitches, and he’d be healed in no time. Milah hadn’t done any lasting damage.
Why not?
Damon sat back, enjoying his medium-rare steak. It had been three days since he had sent her to the gutter. Most people who went there stayed there to die. He’d ordered food and water to be taken to her once a day.
There was no reason for her to die. In the past, his father would have starved a person to death, or left their body to the rats. It was rare for him to do, and more often, only traitors were sent there. His father felt it rather poetic to allow rats to eat traitors.
Damon smiled, sitting back, enjoying the warmth of his home.
If Milah had given in, she would have been enjoying a fine life, but he’d seen the way she watched the door. Always assessing, and he’d been curious as to what she had been up to. He hadn’t warned his guards, wondering how they would react. Damon had told them all that they were not to kill her.
Milah was to stay alive.
He took a sip of his wine, a nice red to go with the beef that was cooked to perfection. He did love fine food, and he made sure his chef was well compensated for his services.
Damon was enjoying the last bite of steak when James, the guard who was shot, came into the room. “Sir, it has been brought to my attention that Milah has not been given any food or water,” he said.
Damon looked up. “What?”
“I … today, I was in the kitchen, and the chef looked at the tray of food and tutted. No maid or guard has taken any food to Milah in the past three days.”
Getting to his feet, Damon ordered James to bring the guards and the maids who had been in charge of taking care of Milah. James was the head soldier he’d put in place, but with his current injury, he was on rest until the stitches had healed. Even now, he was walking with a crutch to assist him.
Within minutes, the seven guards and three maids were brought to him. His men stared straight ahead, and the maids looked down on the floor.
“Who has been feeding Milah?” he asked.
No one raised their hand.
“What were my instructions?” He looked at his men and then toward the maids. One of the men stepped forward. He couldn’t recall his name, but he was a new soldier.
“Sir, we felt it wasn’t right to feed her. She injured James and has no right to live, sir!”
Rage rushed through his body. Damon pulled out his gun, removed the safety, and shot the guard twice, once in each leg. He screamed as blood seeped out onto the rug.
“When I give an instruction, I expect it to be followed. James, you will keep them all here. They will all receive punishment.”
He left the room, clicking his fingers for two of his guards to follow him. Damon had no choice but to grab a flashlight as he made his way toward the cells. His father installed this many years ago. At first, it had just been a cave, but with time, he’d made sure they could hold men, subjecting them to the elements.