Red Moon
Authors: Elizabeth Kelly
RED MOON
By Elizabeth Kelly
Copyright
2013 Elizabeth Kelly
This book
is the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, scanned
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Your
support and respect for the property of this author is appreciated.
This book
is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places,
events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions
of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
Adult
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Cover art
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Dedication
For Jess.
Because she believed.
1
Tristan rubbed his forehead and sighed irritably. He
had grown weary of the man’s fawning from the moment he had stepped into the
building, and with an impatient grunt he held up one hand.
“Enough. Show me the slaves.”
“Of course.” The old man bowed low and pattered
nervously down the long narrow hallway. “Forgive me my lord; it is not
often we have someone of your stature visiting.”
They walked out into the courtyard and the man stopped
short, staring suspiciously at the large horses hooked to an empty wagon.
There was a young man and a small girl sitting on the seat of the wagon and
they stared back at him.
He glanced up at the large, broad-shouldered man standing
next to him. “My lord, how many do you need?”
“I require six.”
The man led him across the yard towards a second
building. As they walked by the wagon, Tristan stopped and held his arms
out to the young girl. She was no older than seven, and she hesitated briefly
before allowing him to pull her from the wagon seat and set her softly on the
ground.
“What are we doing here?” She asked.
“We’re hiring some staff for our new home, as well as a
nanny for you and your baby brother.” Tristan smiled down at the girl.
She didn’t return his smile, staring solemnly at him for a
moment. “I can take care of Nicholas.”
“I know you can, my love. But I think it would be best
if you had some help.” He squeezed her hand encouragingly as they
approached the building. “I could use your help in picking out the right
nanny. What do you say, Sophia?”
She nodded, watching curiously as the small, dirty man in
front of them pulled out a giant ring of keys from a pocket hidden deep within
his coat. He thumbed through them until he found the correct one and
unlocked the door. Its rusty hinges squealed, and the little girl cringed
but followed her father into the building.
They walked down the hallway; the man flipped a light switch
on the wall and the overhead lights buzzed on weakly.
“You have electricity here.” Tristan said, surprised.
“Aye - some days. We’re close enough to the city to
latch on to their grid. But it goes in and out.” The man led them
down the hallway to another door. This too was locked, and they waited
patiently once more as he picked out the right key and unlocked the door.
He ushered them into the room and shut the door firmly behind him as Sophia
peered timidly from behind the safety of Tristan’s legs.
The room quieted as the women in the room stopped their
chatter and stared at the two strangers. Tristan grimaced. All of
the women were dirty and unkempt, their hair uncombed and their clothing ripped
and stained.
He swore softly and gave the man an undisguised look of
disgust. “What kind of facility are you running here?”
The man bristled. “I can assure you my lord that our
slaves are of the utmost quality. Just because our facility is not as
proper as you are undoubtedly used to, does not mean we don’t offer excellent
services.”
Tristan rolled his eyes. “I’m sure.” He eyed the
women in the room with suspicion. “How many of them are suffering from
the sickness?”
“None of them!” The old man puffed himself up, trying
to match Tristan’s formidable height. “If they suffer from the sickness
we banish them to the outskirts immediately.” He paused. “Perhaps
my lord would prefer to go somewhere else?”
“You know very well your facility is the only one within
fifty miles.” Tristan said angrily. “Enough idle talking. I
require a nanny and a house staff. Who do you recommend?”
The man didn’t reply. Instead he hobbled towards the
group of women and began pulling a few of them to the front. Out of the
nearly fifty women in the large room, he separated fifteen of them into two
groups before returning to Tristan and Sophia.
“They have experience in both cooking and cleaning.”
He pointed to the ten women on the left. “They have experience with
child rearing.” He waved his hand at the other five on the right.
Tristan moved forward, Sophia trailing behind him, and
looked over the ten women. He stood in front of the oldest. “What’s
your name?”
“Marian.” She spoke softly, staring down at her bare
feet.
“What experience do you have?”
“I was the head of the household for the Farthing family for
more than fifteen years. Perhaps you have heard of them?”
“I am not from here. Why did you leave their
employment? Were you fired?” Tristan asked.
She shook her head. “No m’lord. Mr. Farthing
grew ill and died. Mrs. Farthing could no longer afford my services and
sold me as a way to pay some of her bills.”
“How long have you been here?”
She squinted in thought. “Not long m’lord. Six
months perhaps?”
He nodded and looked behind him. “I’ll take this
one. Who among this group of women would you recommend, Marian?”
She hesitated. “How many do you need, m’lord?”
“Five, including yourself.”
She quickly pointed to four of the other women and after
questioning them, Tristan agreed to the ones she had chosen.
He turned to Sophia, crouching down beside her and patting
her back awkwardly. “Sophia, would you like to help me pick out your new
nanny?”
“Yes, Tristan.” She replied softly. Tristan
stared at the women critically as he and Sophia paced in front of them.
“How many of you were nannies before?”
Three of them raised their hands timidly and Tristan glanced
at the other two. “You’re dismissed.”
They melted back into the crowd of women as Tristan began to
question the remaining three women.
Sophia clasped her hands behind her back and stared at the
group of women behind Tristan. There was a flash of colour to her left,
and she glanced over at the woman standing next to the window. Her long
red hair glowed in the late afternoon sun and Sophia edged closer, fascinated
by the red strands.
The woman smiled at her in a friendly manner as Sophia
stopped in front of her. “Hello, little one.”
“Hello.” Sophia whispered nervously.
“Your name is Sophia?” At Sophia’s nod, she smiled
again. “That is a very pretty name. My name is Avery.”
“Avery.” Sophia repeated and the woman nodded.
“That’s right. And this is my little sister Maya.”
There was a petite blonde girl standing behind Avery and she
peeked around and smiled just like Avery. “Hi Sophia. I like your
dress.”
“Thank you.” Sophia ran her hands nervously over the
stiff fabric, wincing when it rubbed painfully against the cut on her finger.
“Are you hurt?” Avery crouched in front of the little
girl.
“I cut my finger.” Sophia showed her the long cut on the pad
of her index finger.
“Ouch.” Avery frowned. “That looks very sore.”
“It’s not healing very well.” Sophia said
solemnly. “Marshall says if I don’t make a better effort to keep it
clean, he’ll have to cut it off.”
“Well that won’t do.” Avery smiled at her.
“Shall I kiss it better for you? When Maya and I were little, our mother
would always kiss our owies.”
Sophia stared at her. “I like your hair.”
A strange look crossed Avery’s face, one that Sophia didn’t
understand, before she smiled at the small girl. “Thank you, honey.”
“Can I touch it?”
“Of course.” She tipped her head forward so that her
long hair fell over her shoulders, and Sophia reached out with a slightly trembling
hand and gently rubbed it between her fingers.
“It’s so soft, so pretty.” She whispered. She
ran her fingers down the strands and Avery smiled once more at her.
“I’m glad you like it, Sophia.” Moving slowly so she
wouldn’t spook the little girl, she gently captured Sophia’s hand in her
own. “Shall I give your owie a kiss?”
Sophia hesitated and then nodded. Avery bent her head
and placed a gentle kiss on her finger, directly on the cut. A feeling of
warmth surged down Sophia’s finger and through her hand. She gasped and
pulled her hand free. She stared down at her finger as Tristan suddenly
appeared beside her.
“Get away from her.” He said angrily and pushed Avery
to the ground with a hard shove. Maya put her arms around the Red as Tristan
pulled Sophia away. He took the little girl by the shoulders and shook
her gently.
“Sophia, you know better than to leave my side. Did
she hurt you?”
Sophia shook her head mutely, staring with wonderment at her
index finger. Where once there had been a long, swollen cut, there was
now only smooth unbroken skin and the burning and itching had completely
disappeared.
Tristan’s expression softened and he smoothed her hair back
from her face. She was still looking at her finger and he took her hand
and examined it. “Look at that - your cut has finally healed.
That’s good news. Marshall was getting ready to cut it off.” He
teased gently.
Sophia didn’t smile, just nodded silently before looking
back at Avery with wide eyes. Avery stared calmly at her.
Tristan took her hand and led her back to the three women
standing patiently. “Sophia, which of these women would you like as your
nanny?”
Sophia stared up at them for a moment before looking back at
Avery and Maya. “I want her.” She pointed at Avery and Tristan
sighed.
“No, Sophia. You must pick from these three women
here.”
She shook her head stubbornly. “No. I want her.”
Tristan glanced at the man who was idly swinging his ring of
keys from one finger. He shook his head. “No m’lord, you don’t want
that one. She is contentious and disagreeable. You know how the
Reds are.”
Tristan looked back at Sophia. She was still staring
at the redheaded woman and he frowned. “Stay here Sophia.”
He moved back to the Red. She stared unblinkingly at
him as he looked her up and down. She was wearing a dirty, grey dress
that was too large. She practically floated in it. Her feet were
bare, and her bare legs and arms were covered in grime and grass stains.
Her hair hung halfway down her back, a cascade of fire-coloured locks with
twigs and leaves stuck in it, and her light green eyes regarded him with a cool
sort of haughtiness that belied her dirty and disheveled appearance. Her
face was just as dirty as her arms and legs, and he wrinkled his nose at her
smell.
“You there – do you have any experience with children.”
She shook her head. “No m’lord. But she
does.” She dragged a small blonde girl out from behind her and pushed her
towards Tristan.
“Avery no!” The girl whispered.
“Hush Maya!” Avery said fiercely and the girl quieted
immediately.
“Have you nannied before, girl?” Tristan asked
her. The girl blushed and stared down at her bare feet, and Tristan
rolled his eyes with barely-concealed impatience.
“Well, have you?”
“No, m’lord.” She whispered.
Before Tristan could turn away, Avery spoke. “She’s
had plenty of experience with our younger siblings, my lord. She
practically raised both our younger brother and sister. She has a
comforting touch with babies, and she can read and write. She taught our
brother to read when he was only three.”
Tristan stared at the trembling girl and then at her older
sister. “Are you that eager to rid yourself of her?”
Avery flushed. “I want nothing more than a better life
for her, my lord.”
“And what makes you so certain I will give her a better
life?” He arched his eyebrow at her.
She looked around the room and in a voice filled with
desperation, said, “Anything is better than this. She is too bright and
too beautiful to live her life in a cage. Please, take her with
you. She will serve you well. I swear this to you.”
Tristan frowned. The woman’s impassioned plea had
moved him more than he cared to admit. He gave a short nod. “Very
well then – we’ll take the girl.”
Avery nodded with relief but Maya let out a loud wail.
“No Avery! I will not leave you!” She threw herself into the
redhead’s arms, sobbing brokenly. Rather than soothe her like Tristan
expected, Avery grabbed her upper arms and pushed her upright.
She shook the young girl harshly. “Maya, enough!
Stop your crying right now.”
Maya struggled to obey, sniffing loudly and hiccupping as a
stray sob escaped. “Avery, please don’t send me away.”
Avery shook her head and then cupped Maya’s face, wiping
away her tears with dirty thumbs. “Maya, listen to me. I love
you. I will always love you. I do this for you. Do you
understand?”
Sobbing quietly, Maya nodded and Avery hugged her hard
before kissing her on the mouth. Dry-eyed, she pushed Maya towards
Tristan who took her upper arm and led her towards Sophia. He stopped
when Avery dropped her hand onto his arm. He could feel the heat of her
hand through his shirt. A shiver went down his back and he stared at her
as she stepped closer.
“Keep her safe.” Avery demanded, her green eyes
staring into his. His eyes dropped to her mouth and then to her
breasts. They were well-hidden beneath the sack of a dress she wore and
he looked back up at her, flushing a little at the wry look on her face.
“Promise me you’ll keep her safe.” She frowned at him,
and with a small jerk he yanked his arm free. He pulled Maya towards
Sophia. Already the girl’s relentless sobbing was beginning to grate on
him, and he was regretting his impulsive decision.
“Come, Sophia. Let’s go.” He said
brusquely.
The little girl shook her head. “No. I want that
one.” She pointed again at Avery.
“No, Sophia. I do not have time for your games.”
The small, dirty man gave an ugly laugh. “Listen to
yer father, girl. The Reds are all witches or whores. No one with
half a mind brings a Red into their household. They bring nothing but
death and destruction they do.” He picked his nose, staring at the green
smear on his finger with interest before wiping it on his pant leg.
