Sophia rushed forward, trying to find a way to get to the bolts outside the bars. She reached through the gaps of the wagons sides, but there was simply no way to reach the lock from where she was.
You mustnt, the girl with the bruised mouth said. Hell beat you for it if he catches you.
Hell beat all of us, another said.
Sophia pulled back, but only because she could see that it wasnt going to do any good. There was no point in getting hurt when it wouldnt change anything. It was better to bide her time and
And what? Sophia had seen what waited for them in Meister Kargs thoughts. She could probably have guessed it even without that there to make her stomach clench with the fear of it. The slavers cart was not the worst thing that could happen to any of them, and Sophia needed to find a way out of it before it got worse.
What way, though? Sophia didnt have an answer to that.
There were other things she didnt have an answer to either. How had they found her in the city, when shed managed to hide from hunters before? How had they known what to look for? The more Sophia thought about it, the more she was convinced that someone must have sent news of her departure to the hunters.
Someone had betrayed her, and that thought hurt worse than any of the beatings had.
Meister Karg came back, dragging a woman with him. This one was a few years older than Sophia, looking as though she had already been indentured for some time.
Please, she begged as the slaver pulled her along. You cant do this! Just another few months and Id have paid off my indenture!
And until you pay it in full, your master can still sell it, Meister Karg said. Almost as an afterthought, he hit the woman. Nobody moved to stop him. People barely looked.
Or your masters wife can when she becomes jealous of you.
Sophia caught that clearly, understanding the horror of the situation in that moment through a combination of Kargs and the womans thoughts. She was called Mellis, and had been doing well in the profession shed been indentured to. Well enough that shed been about to be free, except that the hat makers wife had been sure her husband would leave her for the indentured woman as soon as she paid off her debt.
So shed sold her on to a man who would ensure she was never seen again in Ashton.
It was a terrible fate, but it was also a reminder to Sophia that she wasnt the only one there with a harsh story. Shed been so focused on what had happened to her with Sebastian and the court, but the truth was that probably everyone had some sorrowful tale behind their presence in the cart. No one would be there by choice.
And now none of them would have a choice about anything they did in their lives.
In, Meister Karg snapped, throwing the woman in with the rest of them. Sophia tried to press forward in the moments the door was open, but it slammed shut again in her face before she could get close to it. Weve a lot of ground to cover.
Sophia caught the flicker of a route in his thoughts. There would be more meandering through the city, picking up servants who were no longer wanted, apprentices who had managed to anger their masters. There would be a journey out of the city, into the outlying villages and as far north as the town of Hearth, where another orphanage waited. After that, there was a ship moored on the edge of the Firemarsh.
It was a route that would take at least a couple of days of travel, and Sophia had no doubt that the conditions for it would be awful. Already, the morning sun was turning the wagon into a space of heat, sweat, and desperation. By the time the sun reached its zenith, Sophia doubted she would even be able to think with it.
Help! Mellis called out to the people on the street. She was obviously braver than Sophia was. Cant you see whats happening? You, Benna, you know me. Do something!
The people there kept walking past, and Sophia could see how useless it was. Nobody cared, or if they did, nobody felt as though they could actually do anything. They werent about to break the law for the sake of a few indentured girls who were no different from all the others who had been sold from the city over the years. Possibly, at least a few of those there had their own indentured servants or apprentices. Simply calling for help wouldnt work.
Sophia had an option that might, though.
I know you dont want to interfere, she called out, but if you take a message to Prince Sebastian and tell him that Sophia is here, I have no doubt that hell reward you for
Enough of that! Meister Karg shouted, slamming the handle of his coachmans whip into the bars. Sophia knew what was waiting for her if she was silent, though, and she simply couldnt accept that. It occurred to her that the street people of the city might not be the right ones to ask for help.
What about you? Sophia called to him. You could take me to Sebastian. Youre just in this to make money, arent you? Well, he could give you a profit on me easily, and youd have the thanks of a prince of the realm. He wanted me for a fiancée two days ago. Hed pay for my freedom.
She could see Meister Kargs thoughts as he considered it. It meant that she shrank back the instant before the whip handle struck the bars again.
More likely hed take you and not pay a bent copper for you, the slaver said. If he even wants you. No, Ill make my money off you the sure way. Theres lots of men will want a turn on you, girl. Maybe Ill have a taste when we stop.
The worst part was that Sophia could see that he was serious. He was definitely thinking about it as the cart rumbled back into motion, heading into the outer spaces of the city. In the back of the cart, it was all Sophia could do to shut her mind to the prospect of it. She huddled down with the others, and she could feel their relief that it would be her and not them that the fat man chose tonight.
Kate, she begged for what seemed like the hundredth time. Please, I need your help.
As with all the other times, the sending went unanswered. It drifted off into the darkness of the world, and Sophia had no way of knowing if it even found its intended target. She was on her own, and that was terrifying, because alone, Sophia suspected that she couldnt do anything to stop all the things that were going to happen next.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kate trained until she wasnt sure she could take any more deaths. She practiced with blades and sticks, fired bows, and threw daggers. She ran and she jumped, hid and killed from the shadows. All the time her mind was on the circle of trees and the sword that lay at their heart.
She could still feel the pain of her wounds. Siobhan had dressed the thorn scratches and the deeper puncture with herbs to aid healing, but they had done nothing to stop it hurting with every step.
You need to learn to work through the pain, Siobhan said. Let nothing distract you from your objectives.
I know about pain, Kate said. The House of the Unclaimed had taught her that much, at least. There had been times when it had seemed like the only lesson the place had to offer.
Then you need to learn to use it, Siobhan said. You will never have the powers of my kind, but if you can touch a mind, you can distract it, you can calm it.
Siobhan summoned the ghostly forms of animals then: bears and spotted forest cats, wolves and hawks. They struck at Kate with inhuman speed, their claws as deadly as blades, their senses meaning that they could find her even when she hid. The only way to drive them off was to throw thoughts their way, the only way to hide from them, to soothe them into sleep.