CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Darius was rudely awakened, his head smashed into the iron bars of the carriage as it came to a grinding halt. He barely had time to process what was happening when keys jingled in the lock, the iron door slid open, and several rough hands grabbed him by the chest and yanked him out into harsh daylight.
He landed on the hard dirt ground, tumbling, dust rising all around him, squinting his eyes into the sun as he held up his hands. His ankles and wrists shackled, he couldn’t resist even if he wanted to. The Empire taskmaster knew that, yet he placed his boot on Darius’s throat anyway, enjoying inflicting pain on him. Darius could barely breathe, feeling his windpipe being crushed.
More rough hands grabbed him and yanked him to his feet and Darius shut his eyes again, eve
