Seer's Hope (Book 1 of The Seer Trilogy)

Seer's Hope (Chapter 7)

Seer's Hope

By Maree Anderson

Chapter Seven

Hope bade a hasty farewell to Varaya. Her pulse thumped a doom-laden tattoo and the bleak darkness of her world closed in on her. She pushed it back, forced herself to take deep, even breaths... and realized with a jolt that while she'd been wrestling with her fears, the young man she was supposed to follow had run on ahead.

She could no longer sense him. Perhaps he didn't know he was supposed to wait for her. Or hadn't been told of her blindness. She should turn back, ask Varaya to take her to Maya's, but....

No. She firmed her lips and threw back her shoulders. She could do this. How hard could it be to find her own way? She'd managed perfectly well back home.

It was harder than she could have imagined. Very soon she'd lost all sense of direction. Worse, now there didn't seem to be any people about to assist with directions. Hope loosed a few choice words beneath her breath. Oh well. It wasn't the end of the world. When she didn't arrive shortly after the messenger, Blayne would surely come looking for her. She trudged along the meandering, dusty path, vowing not to be so pig-headed in future.

She was debating trying to retrace her steps when voices drifted to her ears. Relief coursed through her. "Hello? I am lost. Can you help me?"

Silence.

Nice. They could at least—

She smacked into a solid object. A man. His rough hands clutched her when she staggered.

"Hey, watch it, girlie. Ya blind or something?"

"Yes, I am." She arched back, struggling to free herself from his grasp. "Please, I want to find Blayne—"

"She wants Blayne."

Footsteps, heavy and measured. "Her and every other woman," came another disgruntled voice.

Her captor sniggered. The ripe smell of the liquor on his breath made her gag, and the first stirrings of fear swirled in the pit of her stomach.

"Who've you got there?" the second man asked.

"No clue. Hey girlie, how's about a kiss for ole Willem?"

"Let me go. Blayne has sent for me. I need to go to him." She kicked him, frantically twisting to escape his grasping fingers.

"Leave her alone, Willem. See her eyes? She's the new apprentice people are talking about. Dayamar'll have your guts for rope."

"Ya take me for a fool, Dorian? She's blind. No way she's the one."

He yanked her close and Hope turned her face so his searching mouth connected with her ear. She kneed him but he pincered her knee between his thighs before she could do any real damage. Her continued struggles pulled her off-balance and she and her attacker fell, legs tangled, in a sprawling heap on the ground.

Hope landed hard, whacking her head on the firmly packed ground. Stars cavorted through her headspace. She moaned. The man—Willem—laughed. "See Dorian? She's not really interested in Blayne. She prefers a real man like me. Doncha, girlie?"

She was only dimly aware of the other man—Dorian—begging Willem to release her. Her conscious mind had fled, leaving behind a hollow void that demanded to be filled. A tremendous roar reverberated through her body, and the energy that surged in its wake was scalding hot. Her skin felt like an overripe grape, ready to split, and then power surged from her, leaving her limp and gasping.

Willem's oppressive weight vanished. His shriek ululated through the too-still air, stippling Hope's skin with goose-bumps. She clapped her hands over her ears. But when his scream abruptly ceased and silence reigned, that was somehow worse.