Prologue
“You can’t! She’s my baby!” Ilena cried, straining to reach her daughter. She felt strong hands hold her back, keeping her from the child. She struggled, and screamed with frustration. Ilena fairly burst with anger, and slapped and kicked at her captors, trying desperately to retrieve her child.
The tall, bulky man holding Ilena’s child acted as if he didn’t hear her screams. He looked impervious, all muscle and armor and dirt. His large hands dwarfed the baby, but the look in his eyes drowned out all else. He stared at Ilena’s child with admiration, awe, and adoration. He enfolded her in a blanket, and settled her in a wicker basket. He laid the basket on the floor near one of his guards. “She cries, and you get it, understand?”
The guard gulped. “Yessir. Understood, sir.”
The man smiled. “Good.” He turned back to the lady in the bed. Her tear streaked face was sweaty and ashen. Rathak grinned wolfishly. She had been sick for weeks now, ever since the baby had been born. Rathak had decided to take his child into his custody, to keep her safe from whatever contamination her mother might have. Or at least, that is what he told her. Really, he just wanted the child. She would make an excellent tool.
Rathak nodded to himself. A daughter is a useful thing to have. All you have to do is marry them off to some rich prince, and presto! You get all his land, once you kill him off of course. He chuckled to himself, and Ilena blanched even more. Then she screamed with all her might. The sudden explosion surprised Rathak. He blinked.
The baby started to scream. The guard panicked, and picked her up, bouncing her up and down trying to calm her down. “That will be enough, Larik. I shall take her.”
The guard trembled as he handed over the babe. Rathak smiled grimly. He was proud that Larik hadn’t begged, or done anything to prove his innocence. It was a good trait in a soldier. “You shan’t be punished.”
“Thank you sir.” Larik let out a breath he hadn’t known he had been holding. He eyes the sword at Rathak’s side edgily. It was a sharp blade, and it had a harsh master. All of Rathak’s guards feared it’s bite.
Suddenly the baby laughed. The sound was the most beautiful thing Rathak had ever heard. It was better than the screams of the fearful, or a man’s last breath. It was in every way more satisfying. Rathak stared gently at the baby. “Elaine, my dear, you shall want for nothing.”
Ilena watched the exchange, watched Rathak’s eyes soften as she had never seen them do before. She started to panic. Already Rathak was attached to the child. He had even named her! “Please, just give me my baby back!” the child was all she had. Without her, Ilena would be all alone, with no reason in the world to live.
“Why should I?” Rathak inquired. “You can give her nothing. I can give her the world.” He turned his face back to the cooing bundle. “There is nothing she couldn’t have.”
“She is all I have. Please,” she begged, her expression desolate. She reached out a trembling hand, trying vainly to touch her babe.
“I think not. Good-bye, Ilena.” Rathak turned, and swept out of the room, coat swirling around his legs.
“Please!” she shrieked the words after him. She started fighting again, with renewed vigor. “Please!”
Rathak kept walking, never looking back. He clicked his fingers, and his guards trooped after him. Ilena watched the troupe go, watched them take her only family with them. She cursed, and a gleam entered her eye.
She forced her way to her window and watched the man she had loved leave her behind with nothing. “Never again, Rathak. Never again.”
