hall and Seth pulled open two enormous wooden doors and entered ahead of her. She stopped and he turned to her, urging her forward. “Come on,” he whispered. When she still didn’t move, he took her arm.
She stood in the church where the high masses used to be held. There were rows of pews on either side of her, but the altar and crucifix were gone. A man sat alone in the front pew and when he heard them enter, he turned and stood up, beckoning them forward.
“Where is Drakar?” he called, his voice echoing off the high, vaulted ceiling.
“I found him about to rape her, Galin,” Seth informed the man. “And look what he’s done to her face.” Seth pulled her forward gently down the aisle, and Willow suffered the ghastly feeling that some twisted marriage was taking place, and this disgusting little round man waiting for them was the priest.
“Rape? Why would he rape her? He knows the rules.” Galin adjusted his thick belt, pushing it further under his swollen belly.
“Knowing them and obeying them are two separate things,” Seth advised him with a look of disgust.
The round man nodded his head. “Send Drakar to me when we are through.”
Seth offered Willow a satisfied wink.
When Willow reached him, Galin narrowed his eyes and looked at her for a long time, observing every bruise on her face. “She cannot be sold like this. She is damaged goods. I will give him fifty lashes for this.”
“Are you the leader?” Willow blurted, feeling like a piece of her jewelry that Caleb had traded for water.
“Silence!” Galin screamed at her, his eyes flashing with hot fury. “I was not speaking to you. Slaves don’t speak! You are lower than a worm, and you will not open your mouth again unless I ask you a question.”
Willow’s cheeks burned, and her fingers curled into fists at her sides. “I am King Baltrasard’s daughter!” she raised her voice along with her chin and stared down the length of her nose at him. “I promise on my life that you and all your filthy brutes will pay for capturing me.”
Seth closed his eyes and sighed beside her. He expected Galin to go wild, but when he heard only silence, he glanced at his leader cautiously.
Galin was circling Willow like a cat, his dark eyes looking her over from foot to crown. “You would say anything to get out of here.”
“I’m telling you the truth. The king is my father.” She wanted to spit in his face as Galin walked in front of her.
“I happen to know that the king’s daughter was abducted and taken prisoner by the Warriors. No one has ever escaped the Warriors,” Galin told her. “Now why do you say that you are her?”
“Because I am,” she said, realizing that his mind was as simple as poor Martin’s.
“Very well.” Galin turned to Seth. “Send riders to Beldar and summon the king. We shall see.” He turned back to Willow and glared at her. “If you’re lying, which I think you are, I will cut out your tongue. Take her away.”
“Galin,” Seth paused before he took Willow’s arm to lead her out of the church. “I don’t want to return her to the holding room. Drakar seems to have a hankering for her.”
“To the holding room, Seth,” Galin ordered. “Drakar won’t touch her when I’m through with him.” The leader of the Catchers began to turn away, perhaps to go ponder a better way to cleanse the stench from his body Willow thought acidly.
“Galin,” Seth still hadn’t moved. “I can almost guarantee that your beatings will do nothing to daunt Drakar’s desire for torture. And if she is the king’s daughter and he finds her beaten…” Willow was certain now more than ever that Seth had once been a thief, for he was cunning enough to let the substance of his words dangle.
And it worked. Galin thought about the terrible consequences of Baltrasard’s wrath. “Alright, you take her.” He waved them away and went back to sit in the pew alone.
Glancing at Seth’s victorious smile while he led her to a holding cell the size of a closet, Willow couldn’t help but think it was an empty victory for her. Still, whatever Seth’s secret intentions were, at least the room was clean. There was even a pillow on the floor—-right beside the shackles.
After he chained her ankle to the floor, Seth stood up and walked to the doorway. But he didn’t leave. His body