A LORD'S WEAKNESS

3. BREAKING THE CONTRACT

Again without saying anything he turned to Mariann and waited for her answer to his previous question. She shook her head no, avoiding eye contact. She could feel him stare at her for a few more moments before looking at Henry who was still laying on the ground.

"What about him?" he asked seemingly no one in particular, but Mariann knew he was asking her.

She stemmed her weight from one foot to the other.

He was a water wielder and she knew it, but she didn't know her master's intentions. Slaves with powers were usually worth more than slaves without any and since her master was also a water wielder she chose to tell him the truth.

"He wields water," Mariann said, not daring to look up.

Rowan would have to ask him about his powers once he regained consciousness, he thought.

Mariann had only just realized that Laria, Alec, another man, and she were the only ones without powers. She'd thought it to be more.

The Lord would give them one more chance to confess. The last straw.

"Now is your last chance to tell me, which one of you used their powers."

Although Armon had admitted to having powers he did not say anything. Mariann concentrated on a small branch laying on the ground in front of her, trying her best not to stand out.

The Lord waited, looking at everyone. He could probably figure out by force who used their powers but it just wasn't his way of doing things. Not right now at least.

Sighing in annoyance he gestured to the man next to Mariann to follow him. "The rest of you stay here."

Although panicked, the tall slave followed his master until both of them were out of sight.

The rest of them stood there, not daring to move.

After a few minutes, Laria broke the silence by whispered to Armon, "What do you think the new master will do to him?"

Armon didn't answer, but they silently all thought the same thing. Mariann couldn't take thinking about it, so she left the row of people and knelt down next to Henry. She leaned in to listen to his breath and stroked a few bangs away from his sweat-drained forehead.  Silently she hoped that he would be okay by tomorrow.

Every limb in her body hurt and every moment her eyes seemed to fall shut but fear kept her awake. And although it was still fairly warm for Autumn she froze.

She closed her eyes still sitting next to Henry to rest for only a few moments. The sound of branches breaking ripped her out of her moment of ease.

Her master was coming. Everyone else had not left their position and Mariann wanted to hurry back into line, but her body wasn't listening. She used her arms to try to push herself into a stance but only ended up falling back into a seated position. She could barely stay seated and her new master was already coming.

Like everyone she was starved and cold but having carried Henry had taken up all of her energy.

When he came into view he was alone. Mariann's hair stood up in the back of her neck, at the thought of him having killed the fire-wielding man. He had done nothing wrong and even if he had the enemy's powers he could have barely used them. If he didn't want a fire wielder he could have probably gotten his money's worth by just selling him.