The Red Raids go still as the man stops at the foot of the ramp, every single pirate stopping to face him. Each step scares a heartbeat to skip, and only when I hear him right behind me do I finally let my eyes tear away from Sail’s face. From a ramp lowered on the largest ship, heavy boots sound against the white wood. Her cries like a shatter through brittle ice.Īnd then, someone descends. I don’t look away when one of the women wails and begs. I don’t look away when a fire claw growls, so close that I swear it’s about to slash a line down my back. So I don’t look away from him when another one of our guards crumples to the ground. He protects me, bolsters me, there in those kind blue eyes. When a tear falls against my cold cheek, he nods, still speaking to me, even without words. When my lips tremble, he pulls his up into a sad smile. Despite the waves of heat coming from the fire claws at our backs, the bitter chill saps our strength, leaches our spirit.īut through it all, Sail keeps looking at me, gaze steady and unyielding. His thin pants soaked through where he’s been forced to kneel.įrost has collected on brows and temples where nervous sweat dripped down. Sail’s teeth started chattering a while ago, and even from several feet away, I can see that his lips have turned blue. The other guards try to nudge and rally them, try to encourage them to get back up. The near-naked guards still kneeling in the snow grow weary, and two of them collapse, unable to hold themselves up any longer. Then piles are distributed, pieces picked out, and one by one, everything is hauled onto the ships, down to the last piece of dry, salted meat. The pirates work to strip down every single item we possessed. The snowfall hasn’t stopped and continues to drop in a slow, delicate descent, the flakes landing on shaking shoulders. Sinks deep as we stand there, shuddering in the cold. The bleakness of our reality slowly sinks in. That I should never have wished to leave the safety of my cage. A leering voice inside of me tells me that this is my fault. One look at these pirates, and I’m certain that none of us want to be brought onto those ships.īut with the savage fire claws behind us and the vicious pirates all around, there’s nowhere to go. But this? This is an entirely new level of fear.

I was terrified that night with King Fulke. My whole body trembles, and my hand comes up to grip my scar.

They’re going to use us up and then sell us off just like everything else they steal.

No one else could survive out here in the Barrens. The Red Raids are known for being savage and brutal.

Gold plated prisoner series