The Slavemaster, Noan, had wasted no time in presenting the Elani prisoners to his master Corrinus. The Elani were manacled and shackled together on a slave line and marched into the town courtyard where the Lamya people had gathered to watch.

Helena looked about, trying to take in the new surroundings, seeing beyond the blank faces of the gathered Lamya to the houses and buildings around them, as beside her most others kept their heads bowed, not daring to look up. A tall figure draped in a dark robe and hood approached the line, catching her attention. Corrinus. He carried no weapon that she could see and gripped a knobbly wooden sceptre, a dragon's head carved at the top.

"Is this all of them?" Corrinus asked, his voice a harsh whisper.

Noan nodded and tugged at the chains whenever one of the Elani moved. "All master, except those we killed." He smiled.

Someone sobbed. Helena closed her eyes briefly.

Corrinus pulled the hood farther over his pink eyes before speaking again. "You've done well, Noan. Take them to their new quarters and let them get acquainted. Then work them hard and let them know they are no longer free, they belong to me. This is my wish. Do it."

Noan bowed his head and replied, "As you command, my lord." He raised his sword and the slavers led the Elani prisoners away.

Helena turned her head to try to get another look at the strange Lamya leader but she stumbled and tripped. White Cloud caught her arm and helped her up, his fingers pressing into her flesh.

"Don't worry, Helena," he said, smiling grimly, "we won't be imprisoned for long, our children are still out there— ungh!"

Helena sucked in a breath as a slaver hit White Cloud hard on the back with the hilt of his sword. She hauled her friend back to his feet as the man hissed, "No one's coming for you, Elani. You're a slave now, so be quiet and obedient." The guard raised his sword to strike White Cloud again but Noan caught sight of him and yelled a warning.

"Strike him dead and you will be his replacement. Now keep them moving!"

The guard fell back, muttering to himself. Helena supported the farmer as best she could, holding on to his arm and keeping close. The chains at their feet dragged and jangled as all around her the Elani slaves progressed in fearful silence.

#

Sorrel and Little Cloud had left the wood and the little teaching hut behind and were heading across the open valley. This part of the Vale was sparse, with very little vegetation but soft grass and small shrubs. Sorrel knew from her history lessons that the Elani had once tried to farm the land here, before raids from the Lamya forced them to abandon it.

To her right ran the River Pinn with sunlight sparkling on its surface. Ahead, it swerved across their path and back again. Cloud was silent.

Take his mind off it, she thought.

"Race you to where the river loops!" She dashed off, glanced back to see him hesitate before he ran after her. They reached the bank and collapsed, laughing and arguing over who had won.

Cloud went to the water and cupped some in his hands. "This is the farthest I've ever been from home," he said. "I hope Mum and Dad are all right."

She joined him and washed her face in the water. "Your Dad's tough as old boots," she said. "Anyway, my Mum'll look after everyone. You know what she's like."

Cloud lay back and gazed up at the sky. "Head east 'til you see the raven," he said, repeating his grandfather's words. "How will we know it's the right raven? There must be dozens around here."

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She shrugged and flicked water at him. "Maybe it's not a real raven," she said, "it might be a stone one or something. What I want to know is why they didn't just send us south, to Bramshire."

Cloud wrinkled his nose. "Bramshire's full of traders, not fighters. I believe I have a cousin in Bramshire."

She looked at her friend sprawled out beside her and poked him in the ribs. "Up y' get, lazy bones, we've got to keep moving."

Cloud struggled to his feet and filled his waterskin before hurrying after her as she wandered away. "Sorrel!" he called. "Wait for me. Sorrel!"

#

Corrinus hated leaving his castle, the outside world almost made him physically sick. The streets of the towns reminded him too much of his childhood, a childhood spent sleeping in doorways and squabbling over scraps of food with feral dogs, and the light of the sun was a hideous thing in his eyes. To his eyes.

He was alone in his bedchamber now. He sat on his grand four-poster bed and rubbed his eyes – they ached terribly, it had been too bright for him outside.

He smiled to himself. There would be food in the Kingdom of Malinas soon, good food grown by the Elani people. All they could eat. Wonderful, clean, fresh food. The Lamya would love him for it. He was their greatest leader and they would call him King soon enough.

He threw his robe to the floor and lay down. He had to rest his eyes.

#

"ZEV!"

The guard came running into the room. Corrinus sat up in bed, his face cold and clammy and his hands shaking. The guard drew closer to the bed and Corrinus grabbed him and dug his nails into the man's thick neck.

"Zev, who is she?"

Zev looked blank. He rarely spoke.

"The girl! There's a girl. I saw her in my dreams!" Corrinus's gaze searched his room, half-expecting to see her stood there. He looked up as an aide entered the room.

"My lord! I heard you shout." The aide glanced at Zev, who shrugged.

Corrinus narrowed his eyes. "There is a wild swords–master out there, Zev. I want her found and killed." He calmed himself and shifted his attention to the aide. "You shouldn't have seen me like this," he said. Nobody could see a weakness in him. Nobody who could speak of it, anyway.

The aide looked as if he wished he hadn't. He held up his hands and started to back out of the room. "I was worried, my lord, I—"

Corrinus snatched a dagger from beneath his pillow and threw it with deadly accuracy. The blade buried itself in the man's heart. "Take him out of here," he said irritably, waving his hand as the body slumped to the floor. "Then find the girl."

Zev grinned and bowed low. Corrinus knew he enjoyed a good hunt every now and then.

#

A sudden breeze whipped up tiny leaves and dust and spun past them. Cloud shivered and turned to stare back the way they had come and Sorrel stopped to check on him. "What is it?" she asked, glancing over his shoulder.

He seemed puzzled. "I don't know," he said. "Nothing, probably. I just had a strange feeling that's all." He shivered again and turned back. "Let's get going, I don't like being right out in the open like this."

Sorrel moved on, heading towards the woodland that spread right the way across the side of the hill in front of them, dark green and lush.

When they finally reached the wood, they stopped for a rest beneath a gnarled oak tree. Sorrel sat in silence, thought about her brother, and wondered if her mother was okay. Cloud seemed restless, peering through the trees and back across the valley as if expecting to see someone following them. He sighed, settled himself down and started munching on a bruised apple that had been in his pocket.

"Wish I'd brought something to eat," Sorrel said. "Didn't really have time. I miss Mum's cooking. She was making soup when I saw her last. Bet it was goin' to be really nice, had huge lumps of veg in it and we had bread too, y'know that thick bread that Eve makes."

Cloud held his apple in front of her face. "Want a bite?" he asked.

She looked at the battered old apple and screwed up her face. "That's okay, you have it. I'll go and see if I can find some berries or something."

She got up and wandered off into the wood. Elani were at home in woodlands and it wasn't long before she was rewarded with the sight of a greengage tree full of almost-ripe fruit. Triumphant, she started to pick the gages, careful to take some back for Cloud. She was so absorbed in her task that it took her a moment to notice when Cloud appeared beside her, panicky and gasping for breath.

"Sorrel!" He tugged at her jacket. "Sorrel!"

She turned to him, her arms full with greengages. Cloud looked back through the trees as he babbled, "There's a man on a horse heading this way fast! I don't know who he is, Sorrel, but he's not an Elani! He's come for us, I know he has."

"It's okay," she said. "He might not be after us." She hoped not.

"He's nearly here. Quickly we've got to run!" Cloud's pale eyes were wide. "I felt him," he said, lowering his voice. "Before I saw him, I felt him. I felt the same when we were in the Vale too. We've got to move, Sorrel. He's after us!"

She couldn't doubt her friend's strange words. She dropped the greengages, grabbed his hand, and turned and fled into the wood, her stomach twisted with sudden fear.