Excerpt: Flames in the Dark

The other two men were gone for a surprisingly long time. Lorne was sure this would be a quick rest stop and then they'd be off. Obviously they were confident they weren't being followed - it was the only thing Lorne could come up with to explain it.

The younger man remaining gave her some bread, but she refused it, so he reached for the rope to re-bind her hands.

“Don't bother,” she snapped. Although her tone would make most servants flinch, he looked entirely unfazed.

“Not like yer goin' anywhere, anyhow,” he reminded her, nodding to the ropes securing her ankles, and set the rope down. She looked away from him in disgust.

They then sat in silence, the man amusing himself by producing a knife and cutting a chunk of wood from a branch. He proceeded to whittle away at it until it was smooth, and then began to carve it. Normally, she would have been interested, but she was refusing to talk as well as eat. The hours stretched on until she wasn't sure how long it had been at all. How long they'd been waiting.

And then her patience broke.

“Where are they?”

He shrugged in that habitual way of his. “Wouldn't tell yer even if I knew.” He didn't look up.

“Maybe you should look for them.”

“Nice try,” he said, and it was accompanied by a snort.

Lorne watched him resume hacking away at his carving. “What did that man call you?”

He still didn't look up. “What's it to ya?”

“Did he say Crow?”

“Yep. What about it?” he asked again.

“That's not a name.”

Crow rolled his eyes at her. “Sorry if Yer Highness Lady Vispirth doesn't approve. I decide what my name is.”

“I'm not royalty. Don't call me that.”

“Don't know yer first name, so Lady Vispirth it is.”

Lorne frowned and fell silent. Talking was the only thing keeping her calm, and here was someone to talk to. He didn't easily fly off the handle like those other two men, either.

But he was still her kidnapper.