Home > The Ippos King (Wraith Kings #3)(50)

The Ippos King (Wraith Kings #3)(50)
Author: Grace Draven

A cascade of grim possibilities made her scowl. He was one of the four sent back to High Salure and Saggara with messages. Had only Ogran made the journey back alive, and if so, what message did he deliver?

Her neck hurt from keeping it arched so she could look into Chamtivos's deceptively innocent features. “Why haven't you killed him already? And me as well?”

“As I told you before, you're entertainment.” He smiled. “I like a challenge and am fond of the hunt. The Kai have a reputation for being strong, fierce fighters. I'm told you're equal to three men in a fight. You'll make for challenging prey.”

There it was again, the comparison between her and specifically three humans—an echo of what Serovek had told Ogran while they decided how to split up their party and who would return and who would continue to the monastery. Karulin had referenced it first, and even had he not mentioned Ogran's name, she would have known it was him.

Chamtivos's revelation of his plans for them was anticlimactic, at least for her. Anhuset had imagined something far worse than being hunted by him and his minions, though she wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating their prowess, especially with Karulin in their party. Every instinct she possessed told her that despite his kindness toward her, he was likely the most dangerous adversary in this group.

Done with conversation, Chamtivos left her to issue more orders and soon a party of twelve, along with her and a now unconscious Serovek rode out of the camp. Her sense of time told her they hadn't traveled more than an hour before they halted again, but her balking stomach and pounding head protested it was a lifetime. The smell of water teased her nose, and she heard the sound of gently lapping waves tumbling against a shore.

She was afforded a better view of her surroundings once they hauled her off the horse and dropped her in a heap onto a pebbled beach. She struggled to her knees before managing to stand. A lake, with an opposite shore in the far distance and an island rising from its center lay before her. She recalled Serovek's map. There'd been a body of water marked on the map whose location was parallel to the path they'd planned to take to the monastery. If her sense of direction was correct, this lake was that body of water.

Were Chamtivos and his men planning to drown her and Serovek? She discarded the idea. The warlord had stated he planned to hunt them. She eyed the island in the lake's center, noting its shape like a hump with a significant incline that rounded off to a gentle summit. The land itself was covered in a conifer forest, nearly black against the gray sky and matching the lake's serenely dark surface.

Two boats sat beached nearby, just large enough to transport their entire party to the island. Chamtivos took no chances and ordered Karulin to muzzle her again. The grim expression Karulin had worn was now black with disapproval. He tied the gag snugly, but not so tight that it cut into her cheeks. She swore a flicker of apology danced across his features before he guided her to one of the boats.

They split into three groups. Two men stayed behind to set up an overnight camp on the shore, while the others divided their numbers between the boats. “Put his lordship in the boat with me and the Kai bitch in the other with Karulin,” Chamtivos ordered.

The slap of the oars on the water as they skimmed across the lake was the only sound. The water itself was dark, with the vague outline of a drop-off that began not far from the shore and plunged into depths no sunlight reached. This was a deep, deep lake. Surface waves lifted and dipped them gently, and more than once Anhuset spotted undulating shapes cresting above the water in scaly, serpentine arches. The creatures moved counter to the waves, leaving broad, flat wakes behind them as they glided parallel to the boats. She was a good swimmer and didn't fear drowning should some accident occur and she fell in the water. But whatever patrolled just below the surface promised a death more savage than a drowning.

They reached the island's leeward side without incident. A man from each boat hopped into waist-deep water with bow lines and towed the boats, always watching the deeper water for any sign of the water creatures that had followed them. Once they turned the boats so that the bows faced out toward the lake and set both anchors and spikes, the rest of the group piled out. Anhuset muttered under her breath as she plunged knee-deep into the water. She'd just started drying out and warming up.

Karulin kept a steady hand on her arm as she shuffle-waded to shore. Two others dragged Serovek to where she stood, dropping him at her feet. A faint groan escaped his lips.

Chamtivos faced her, gesturing for Karulin to remove her gag. “You've the rest of the day and night to prepare. Tomorrow morning, we return for the hunt. I'm much looking forward to pitting my skills against you, Kai woman.”

This was a petty man driven by childish malice and an overblown sense of his own importance and entitlement. How he managed to gain and keep a fighting force willing to die for him in a war with the Nazim monks puzzled her greatly.

Karulin moved from behind her to scowl at Chamtivos. “This is wrong. All of it. When did our purpose drift from fighting for our lands to chasing defenseless captives through the forests for fun?”

Chamtivos lost the smirk he wore. Something neither human nor Kai nor anything belonging to this world stared back at her and Karulin. They both retreated a step. “It isn't your place to protest or judge. Here I am king.”

He didn't wait for a reply but strode to where the other men gathered, making plans for the following day and exchanging wagers over who'd make the first kill and how they'd do it. Karulin bent to pick up the gag he'd dropped to the ground. He held it out to her, face hard with a quiet fury and equally resolute. He held the gag out to her. “Do you want this?” She nodded. Cloth strips came in handy for numerous reasons. He folded the gag neatly, tucking it under Serovek's prone form. “You can retrieve it once I'm not so close to you.”

His actions were odd as was his statement. Bound as she still was, her mobility was severely limited.

“Will you be one of the hunters tomorrow?” Anhuset hoped not. She'd regret killing him and only him. He might be as twisted as the master he served, but she trusted her instincts and her judgment, and they told her Karulin was nothing like Chamtivos.

His lips thinned. “That depends on whether or not Chamtivos requires me to prove my loyalty to him.” He shrugged. “I'm an adequate hunter and better with a sword than a bow.” Her eyes widened at these key details he shared with her. His voice, already low, softened even more. “There are four archers among us who are far more skilled than the rest. Without them, you might survive.” He backed away. “Good luck, sha-Anhuset.”

He returned to the boats where the others had already begun boarding. Chamtivos regarded him from his place at the bow of one boat, reminding Anhuset of a snake studying unsuspecting quarry. Karulin ignored him, and she guessed he'd not turn his back on his master, figuratively or literally, any time soon.

She watched them row away, leaving her and Serovek without provisions or weapons of any kind. She'd expected no less. Wrists and ankles still bound, she'd have to find a way to cut herself free, otherwise she was useless to Serovek and herself. A small, triumphant cry burst past her lips when she discovered a treasure folded into the creases of the gag cloth tucked under Serovek's shoulder: an eating knife. Small, easily hidden, and just as sharp as any fighting blade she normally carried.

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