Bound To The Silent Laborer's Bed

the sky, a thousand steps of white stone leading up to the Order's sanctuary. At the very top, catching the harsh afternoon s

veins was cut, leaving behind a hollow, ringing void in her chest. She was just

en genius," someone

ir eyes darting over her ragged cloak and bruised ar

hat tasted like dust and failure, and sl

led her, shoving her backward. Her boots scraped against the dirt, trying to find purchase, but the force was absolute

d through the cr

th so hard her jaw ached. She pushed herself up, her thighs trembl

d. She crashed onto the stone plaza, the impact driving the air from her lungs. Her elbow split open, and wa

" a servan

ter Bernardo Rowe flashed in her mind-those cold, calculating eyes staring down at her from the judgment seat, declaring her ex

just a weak, fleshy thi

wed to sleep in the ditches at the foot of the mountain. She charged again. Five steps. Eight. Ten. Each step felt

e steps flared

he force grabbed her and threw her down the stairs like a ragdoll. She hit the ground hard, her vision going black at the edges. S

prickle on the back of her

me impossibly large and still. Cato Sims. She had seen him around the fortress, a quiet shadow that swept floors an

y. No mockery. Just a heavy, unrea

unding in her head made it hard. He didn't look away. He stood there like a statue carved from

r like that? Like she was a specimen on a slab. She tried to glare him down

t laborer. It didn't matter who was watching. All that mattered was the sword at the top of th

, the screams of her squad, the icy agony in her chest. She couldn't re

p of the stairs and prepared to run again. Out of the corner of her eye,