back Kandara. Whatever happened, he decided to keep the thought of killing Cerric at the front of his mind, hoping that if he did lose himself to the dragon, that the beast he would become might at least accomplish that one thing.
CHAPTER FOUR
Black smoke filtered through the city from the fires that still burned outside the walls. The smell of burning flesh and rotting corpses struck fear into the Kandaran people who had remained in the city and they meekly obeyed the soldiers with the pale flesh and grey eyes as they herded them into the open spaces of the city. Cerric had ordered that their numbers be counted and that they be interrogated about what skills they might have that could prove useful to the kingdom. Their labor was divided into four groups; labor for the mines, labor for the farms, labor for the city, and servants for the lords that would rule over them all. Children of less than five years of age were to stay with their mothers, unless the women were bound for the mines, and those who had reached their sixth year or older were treated no differently than anyone else. Once the decision was made which group they belonged to, the people were branded on the top of their hands with a hot iron.
A few of the soldiers had been overheard joking about the fourth group and word had spread quickly through the crowds that, even though the servant positions sounded like they would be the easiest, the men and women were being chosen more for their use as objects of pleasure than any skills they might have. Some, who heard about what was intended for them had even taken to disfiguring themselves in the hopes that they would no longer be considered attractive, and the rest, powerless and unable to comprehend how their world had changed, resigned themselves to their fate and became quiet, letting go of whatever hopes and dreams they might have had, becoming as dead inside as they corpse soldiers who pushed them along the lines toward the bleak future that awaited them.
Calexis walked through the halls of the palace and the sharp clicks of her heels signaled to the various guards that she was in a foul mood. She had hoped to spend some time with Cerric, celebrating the victory over Kandara, but he had all but ignored her since they had entered the city the night before. Through the night, his dead soldiers had searched the palace from top to bottom, looking through every room for weapons of every kind, which were brought into the expansive throne room and laid out for Cerric to see. When Calexis had looked in on him, he was in the middle of beating the young Kandaran king, Elric, demanding to know where the royal treasure was kept. The boy wept openly, pleading for Cerric to honor his agreement and spare his people if he told him what he wanted to know. Cerric was already angry that a number of the Kandarans and their defenders had escaped and it was not long before Elric revealed both the location of the treasure room and the passage behind the throne, which led to a vast underground cavern that the people had undoubtedly used to escape.
Calexis had laughed when Cerric accused the young Kandaran of betraying him, but it served to remind her of how quickly Cerric broke his own agreements when they were no longer convenient. He was powerful, far more powerful than she, and though that was what excited her and inspired heat within her, it also made her resentful and distrustful. Calexis knew that he would surely cast her aside if he grew tired of the pleasure she gave him and if she displeased him, she suspected he might do more than that. Neither his dismissal nor his displeasure was something Calexis desired, but the part of her that had admired Cerric was slowly turning to fear and frustration.
Cerric had left her son, Draxis, to die in the battlefield without so much as a thought, and even though some small part of her wanted to search for him and hoped that he lived, she could not let Cerric see a moment of
CHAPTER FOUR
Black smoke filtered through the city from the fires that still burned outside the walls. The smell of burning flesh and rotting corpses struck fear into the Kandaran people who had remained in the city and they meekly obeyed the soldiers with the pale flesh and grey eyes as they herded them into the open spaces of the city. Cerric had ordered that their numbers be counted and that they be interrogated about what skills they might have that could prove useful to the kingdom. Their labor was divided into four groups; labor for the mines, labor for the farms, labor for the city, and servants for the lords that would rule over them all. Children of less than five years of age were to stay with their mothers, unless the women were bound for the mines, and those who had reached their sixth year or older were treated no differently than anyone else. Once the decision was made which group they belonged to, the people were branded on the top of their hands with a hot iron.
A few of the soldiers had been overheard joking about the fourth group and word had spread quickly through the crowds that, even though the servant positions sounded like they would be the easiest, the men and women were being chosen more for their use as objects of pleasure than any skills they might have. Some, who heard about what was intended for them had even taken to disfiguring themselves in the hopes that they would no longer be considered attractive, and the rest, powerless and unable to comprehend how their world had changed, resigned themselves to their fate and became quiet, letting go of whatever hopes and dreams they might have had, becoming as dead inside as they corpse soldiers who pushed them along the lines toward the bleak future that awaited them.
Calexis walked through the halls of the palace and the sharp clicks of her heels signaled to the various guards that she was in a foul mood. She had hoped to spend some time with Cerric, celebrating the victory over Kandara, but he had all but ignored her since they had entered the city the night before. Through the night, his dead soldiers had searched the palace from top to bottom, looking through every room for weapons of every kind, which were brought into the expansive throne room and laid out for Cerric to see. When Calexis had looked in on him, he was in the middle of beating the young Kandaran king, Elric, demanding to know where the royal treasure was kept. The boy wept openly, pleading for Cerric to honor his agreement and spare his people if he told him what he wanted to know. Cerric was already angry that a number of the Kandarans and their defenders had escaped and it was not long before Elric revealed both the location of the treasure room and the passage behind the throne, which led to a vast underground cavern that the people had undoubtedly used to escape.
Calexis had laughed when Cerric accused the young Kandaran of betraying him, but it served to remind her of how quickly Cerric broke his own agreements when they were no longer convenient. He was powerful, far more powerful than she, and though that was what excited her and inspired heat within her, it also made her resentful and distrustful. Calexis knew that he would surely cast her aside if he grew tired of the pleasure she gave him and if she displeased him, she suspected he might do more than that. Neither his dismissal nor his displeasure was something Calexis desired, but the part of her that had admired Cerric was slowly turning to fear and frustration.
Cerric had left her son, Draxis, to die in the battlefield without so much as a thought, and even though some small part of her wanted to search for him and hoped that he lived, she could not let Cerric see a moment of
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