THE
VIRGIN SACRIFICE
MISSY
LYONS
Copyright
© 2013
Chapter
One
The Troll King was overly fond of
treasure, and the throne he sat upon was a collection of his most prized precious
gems and golden objects. The sparkly bits caught every bit of the light even in
his cave home, but the effect was probably not as grand or pompous as he intended
to make it. Through Jewel’s eyes, the throne appeared to be more like a pile of
sparkly trash and didn’t look very comfortable to sit upon at all.
Jewel had an appreciation for pretty and
expensive things as well as the next girl, but she would have chosen something
a little more comfortable to sit upon if their positions were reversed. Of
course, she really wouldn’t like to be here at all.
She hated being underground. It limited
her options for escape and made her feel trapped.
The Troll King’s scaly minions dragged
her here to face him, bound and gagged.
It was the only way they could get her
to come without losing a body part or two to see him. When the trolls were
within ten feet of his chair, they dropped her like a sack of potatoes and she
fell awkwardly, scrambling to push up to her knees. She glared at him,
imagining what it would be like to attack his person and do him bodily harm. The
Troll King surrounded himself with an army of trolls and creatures with twisted
forms and dirty bodies. But he was the most disgusting of all with his two-inch
fanged teeth that poked out from his mouth. He had a shaggy beard that covered
his neck, and the clothes he wore couldn’t have been washed in this century. The
musty stench had an unmistakable edge to it that couldn’t possibly be natural.
Part of it was being in the dark cave, lit only by torches, and it was always musty
and damp in places like this.
But the bigger part of the bad smells in
the small chamber came directly from him. She knew his kind had a natural
aversion to soap and water. Trolls were dirty, filthy creatures that she’d
always avoided given the opportunity.
“Well, well, well.” He grinned at her,
sharing a yellowed, toothy, jagged smile. “What have we here? Is it dinner?”
A shiver travelled up her spine, and her
eyes widened in fear. He better damn well be kidding.
“Nay, my liege. It is Jewel, the common thief
you requested.” The shorter troll snorted through his piglike snout. His portly
body ambled forward, and his head dipped down, honoring his leader.
“Interesting, I didn’t expect such a weak
and skinny human.” The Troll King tapped his chin thoughtfully, and his lips
twisted up in a thin, cruel smile, framed by two saber teeth on either side. The
crown of thorns and weeds on his head seemed to catch the dim light and glowed
as he tilted his head. “Release her gag so I can speak to her.”
“As you wish.” The taller of her two
captors released her gag but didn’t touch her ropes that bound her wrists and
ankles. After the fight she put up in town, he knew better. She would be happy
to take another try at castrating him with his own knife for the way he treated
her.
“Are you the Jewel of the Jaguar? The
assassin and thief who stole the Fairy Queen’s book of spells?” One shaggy brow
lifted high in morbid curiosity. His dark eyes sparkled in repressed glee.
Damn!
Was that what this was all about? Curse
her rotten luck for getting involved with anything to do in the magical realm. She
ground her teeth with the memories. Ever since she pulled that spellbook heist off,
she was getting all kinds of notoriety, and it didn’t matter that she had since
returned the book. After that job, she gained a reputation that people expected
her to live up to, and she seemed to gain some unwanted attention from some
very unsavory characters.
She spat out the bad taste in her mouth
and cleared her throat with a loud cough. Her mouth had become dry, and her
tongue was thick from hours with the gag in her mouth. She said with venom in
her voice, “Are you the Troll King Luther, whose stench precedes you?”
She really didn’t want anything to do
with whatever his high and mighty self had dragged her butt down in this hole
to do and wanted him to know exactly how she felt.
“Show our King some respect!” The troll on
her left with the scar running across his eye kicked her in the side of her
ribs. She doubled over in gut-wrenching pain. He chuckled cruelly when he saw
her forced bow. “That’s better, thief.”
The troll to her right answered his
question for her. “She’s the thief you wanted all right. I saw a fairy’s light
in her room, protecting her while she slept. No human would have that without
some trickery on their part, and the entire town talked of her legendary
deeds.”
“Feisty. I like it. Maybe I won’t eat
you for dinner.” The Troll King’s mouth gaped open in a threatening smile, and
his intense gaze pierced her like a knife.
She frowned at the disgusting idea of
having her flesh ripped off her bones by his sharp, sharklike teeth, and kept
very quiet. Whatever his plans were, she knew instinctively she wouldn’t like
it.
“As you may have heard, the dragons in
this land have been hunting my people, killing my countrymen, and destroying
many of the homes we have taken generations to build. It’s why we have to hide
in these holes, and even now, they hunt us down like dogs.”
“Mmm, yes. Dragons are bloodthirsty
creatures,” she agreed as if she faced down dragons everyday while keeping her
gaze on the king, but worked at the knot at her ankles with her fingers. He was
crazy if she thought she’d be going anywhere near a dragon. So this
conversation was pointless as far as she was concerned.
“They killed my brother,” he said with
venom in his voice.
“So you want revenge? I think you found
the wrong woman. You were probably looking for a mercenary or a hired sword,
not a thief like me. I don’t deal in the revenge field. I find it too bloody a
sport. Someone almost always dies.” She wasn’t about to get involved in some
war between trolls and dragons.
“Don’t toy with me. I know your skills,
dear.” His façade was not very pretty, and while most of it repulsed her from
the rough skin, to the wart on his chin, she had to admit his eyes were the
most gorgeous color of green, sparkling like an emerald in the dim light.
“I’m a thief, not a warrior,” she spat.
Damn. Why didn’t she retire years ago?
At her age, she should be living in the country married and with children.
Instead she was here somewhere hundreds of feet below the surface in the Troll King’s
court.
She needed a career change.
“So you only kill by necessity?” One
shaggy brow shot up as if he discounted her last statement entirely.
“As a rule, I don’t like killing. But
between you and me, I wouldn’t blink if the opportunity presented itself today.”
She shrugged, sincerely hoping he couldn’t see her false bravery. She could
handle her bow like a professional and shoot a dove at sixty paces right
through the eye, but she still regretted the day she let those hunting skills
transfer to a human. Murder for hire was a bad business to be in. She hated the
blood and the guilt that weighed on her heart, and it was never worth a pile of
gold that never melted away an ounce of her guilt. She preferred the life of a
thief to that of an assassin.
“I am sure the opportunity will present
itself once again.” His cocky assurance pissed her off. He not only wanted her
to kill, but he wanted her to kill for
him.
She didn’t like being dragged out of bed
in the middle of the night any more than she liked him thinking she would agree
to do anything for him just because he asked.
“I haven’t agreed to work for you yet.
What’s the job?” Two more seconds and she would have her knots free on her
wrists, too. Then it would be so long Troll King and hello sunlight. She was
much faster than their short, ambling bodies, and she could easily outrun
anyone who dared to pursue her.
“Stealing back my treasure and killing
the two red dragons that guard it.” His eyes twinkled in mischief and delight. His
long scraggly fingers grew white knuckles as he clutched the arm of his chair.
He had experienced much grief by the dragons in this valley, and he looked as
if he enjoyed the thought of their death a little too much. His mouth twisted
up in a cruel smile.
She let a pause go by as if she was
seriously considering his offer.
“So let me get this straight. You want
me to slay two red fire dragons and steal a mountain of treasure they have
hidden in their home?” She was no idiot. She knew the dragon colors meant
something, and the red dragons were fire elemental dragons with magic that
could kill her with one sweep of their claw. Red dragons were extremely
temperamental and hot blooded. They also had a thing for collecting pretty
shiny things, and their treasure chamber was likely to rival a miniature
mountain range from centuries of collecting and hoarding. She doubted it was
all the Troll King’s gold, and he was probably asking for more than his fair
share of the treasure.
“Exactly,” the Troll King confirmed.
The silence was deafening. Everyone
waited for her answer on the subject.
“Hmm. Sounds like a good way to die.
What are you offering me to do this job?” she asked skeptically, not that she
was actually considering such a ludicrous offer. She just needed to kill time
to make her break for freedom. She had been working the knots on the ropes for
some time now. She was nearly done.
“Your life…” He arched one eyebrow high
for her. He was amused she would ask for anything in return as if everyone
lived to serve him.
“Not good enough. You should call a
professional dragon slayer. They could do this job for you with no problem, but
I am not a dragon hunter or a killer.” She stood up, and the ropes dropped to
the floor in a pile. Everyone on the small room seemed surprised, and she was
able to take advantage of that lack of action. She sidestepped and stole the
short blade from the soldier’s belt that was closest to her and warily walked away.
“Thank you for the pleasure of meeting, your highness, but if you don’t mind, I
will be leaving now.”
“Then I will just have to kill your
brother.” His shaggy brows dropped to cover his glittering eyes. Anger lit up
his features, and his cruel smile gave her no doubt he would do such a horrible
thing.
She froze.
“You’re bluffing.” She felt fear travel
the length of her spine, sending chills across her body. He had one hell of a
poker face if he was bluffing.
King Luther tilted his head back and
snapped his fingers. The tall troll closest to Jewel hobbled over to him with
hunched shoulders and pulled out a stick from his long cloak. The soldier
presented his king with a walking cane. Jewel recognized it immediately and
gasped. It was the one her father had carved for Timmy when he had come down
with polio. He had customized it so her brother could use it as a crutch when
he was young and a cane as he got older. The smooth lines of the tree were
carved into a snake that seemed to crawl up the stick, and at the top was a
dragon’s claw clutching a precious stone. She had brought him the piece of jade
to use, and he had incorporated it as the crowning jewel.
The only way they could have gotten it
was to take it from him by force, which meant they likely had Timmy as a
prisoner somewhere as well. She had only been concerned with herself and had
not thought about the possibility of the trolls taking any of her family as
well in the tussle last night. She weighed her options, but she really didn’t
have all that many. She was on their turf—which meant she played by their rules
or not at all.
“Relax, my dear. Timmy’s safe as long as
you agree to cooperate with us.” He grinned wide. Luther seemed to know he had
all the trump cards in this game.
What choice did she have? Cooperation
would mean her death. Not cooperating would mean Timmy’s death. They may as
well be sticking her heart with a knife. It would have about the same results,
as trapped as she was feeling now.
“If you touch so much as a hair on his
chest, I swear by every madman that walks the halls of Oniseai prison, I will
kill you.” Oniseai prison was built to keep all magical beings within the
walls. If criminals managed to escape, they got caught up in a maze of ever-changing
rooms and halls. Eventually they went mad.
Jewel pointed the dagger directly at
Luther the Troll King, prepared to shove it deep into his heart. She knew the
act would be suicide on her part. She was outnumbered, but his minions may
leave her alone if she threatened their leader. Her eyes narrowed dangerously,
waiting to see if he accepted her challenge.
He didn’t seem to care in the slightest
that she pointed the toothpick weapon at him. “Interested in my job offer yet?”
She would love to kill him just for the
pure pleasure, but it wasn’t going to do her or Timmy any good until she knew what
they did to him and where they kept him. She needed to remain calm. It was
always her temper which got her into trouble.
She relaxed her posture, knowing a fight
would be futile now. Too much was at stake. While she didn’t give a rat’s ass
about herself, her crippled brother couldn’t defend himself from the likes of
these wicked creatures. She tucked the knife into her belt, for later. “All you
want is the gold?”
He nodded, spittle spilling from his
lips as he spoke. “I want all of it. Every last doubloon. Those two dragons
stole what is rightfully mine, and I won’t rest until it is returned to me, but
I can’t risk any of my men going with you.”
“Afraid they might die?” She folded her
arms defiantly over her chest. He was sending her on a suicide mission. They
both knew it. She was just acknowledging that sad fact. He didn’t want to risk
his men because it was unlikely they would come back alive.
He shrugged as if he really didn’t give
a damn. “You will have an easier time slipping in the cave and slitting their
throats without a lot of men to slow you down.”
“Hmmph.” She snorted out through her
nose. It may have gotten a laugh out of her if she thought there was a chance
of his suggestion being a joke. “That’s a wagonload of bull crap, and you know
it.”
“Tosh.” He gestured dismissively and
spoke as if he were doing her a favor, “I will, however, give you whatever
supplies you require for this journey.”
Jewel’s lips pursed tightly.
Luther was being generous to a fault for
a stingy troll. Perhaps he would be just as generous with her wooden coffin
when she was laid to rest in the cold hard ground from this little adventure he
was sending her on.
“I will need a wagon to carry the gold.”
Dragons were known hoarders. She couldn’t imagine carrying back everything in
one trip. She tried to think about everything she might need, but one item she
remembered from reading the book of spells she had stolen from the Fairy Court.
It may come in handy when dealing with dragons. “I will also require food, and
Dragon’s Bane.”
The Troll King Luther didn’t bat an
eyelash at the last request, but then again he probably knew what the weed was
for, unlike most humans. She learned about the toxin of the rare plant when she
stole the book of spells from the Fairy Queen. She had managed to read a little
of it before she returned the book. “Done.”
She forced her body to relax. This
situation may just turn out okay in the end.
Jewel had no idea where Dragon’s Bane
grew or how to get it, but she knew how to use it, and in a dangerous game like
this one, that was what counted.
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