Hold Me Never (Holding Never) Read Free Page A

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CHAPTER
TWO

    Two soldiers are already waiting in the town square,
their faces impassive as they take me from Officer Goddot and unlock
my cuffs. I roll my shoulders and blow out a breath, but my relief
is short-lived. Almost immediately, they grab my wrists and slam my
hands down on a wooden plank. Clamps secure my hands to the plank,
palms down. I am forced to kneel in the middle of the town square,
the glare of the setting sun in my eyes.
    People are huddled in clusters, whispering and shaking
their heads. An elderly woman tries to approach me with a bowl of
water but she is shoved back by one of the soldiers. The water
sloshes from the bowl as she falls back. Someone helps her up and
pulls her away quickly, out of sight of the soldiers before they
decide that she should be punished alongside the criminal she had
tried to help.
    The minutes tick by. The shadows cast by the milling
crowd and quiet buildings growing longer and more misshapen. I am
not sure if an hour has gone by, but my hands and legs are growing
numb.
    One of the soldiers move away from my side. I squint
into the crowd and see horror registering on the faces around me.
They seem to be staring at something behind me. Why? What is
happening?
    With rising dread, I turn around. What I see makes me
jerk violently against my restraints. In blind panic, I wrench and
twist my arms with so much force I almost dislocate both my arms from
their sockets.
    There is a bucket of hot coals behind me, and a black
iron is thrust deep into the middle of those angry red coals.
Officer Goddot has rolled up his sleeves and has donned a padded,
black glove. Smiling benignly at the gathered crowd, he raises his
voice to address them. “My good people, this young woman, Zoey
Whard, has committed a grievous offense against the Emperor and the
Empress of the Unified States. She has willfully and maliciously
caused damage to the property of the Unified States. All property of
the Unified States is protected by law, and anyone found damaging or
defacing them will be severely punished. Zoey Whard is hereby
punished—by branding!”
    An audible gasp can be heard from the crowd.
    “ It can't be...”
    “ That's too much...no!”
    “ ...can't do that!”
    Officer Goddot's eyes narrow at the mutters and murmurs
rippling through the crowd. I stare up at his twisted face and see
the glowing coals reflected in his eyes. His face is a mask of rage,
his wild, crazed eyes hell bent on violence and revenge. Slighted
and snubbed, demoted and discarded—that is how he has been
treated after all his years of illustrious service to the Imperial
Army. Now is his chance to exact his revenge, to vent his anger and
frustration.
    With a roar, he yanks the glowing branding iron from the
coals and thrusts it high into the air. I see the glowing tip of the
branding iron, a red hot “D” that will be seared into my
skin and scorch my flesh. I blink rapidly, as I hiccup quick,
shallow breaths.
    What is the D for? D—for damage, destruction,
death?
    What will it do to me?
    The sight of the glowing iron descending towards the
back of my pale hands releases the scream that has been boiling in my
gut. My scream pierces the night air, exploding all around me as the
back of my eyelids flash white and red and swirl with all my
nightmares.
    The re
is a thunderous sound and the ground seems to shake and quiver beneath my knees.
    Voices and shouts intersperse with my dying scream. The
last of my breath leaves my burning lungs in a whoosh, as I force my
eyes open.
    The branding iron is not pressed to the back of my hand.
I stare down at my hands, expecting to see my disfigured hand and
smell the acrid smell of my own burning flesh. Instead, there is no
mark on either of my hands. They are clenched tightly into fists, my
knuckles white and my veins bulging.
    But they have not been branded.
    Have I been branded somewhere else? My back? My legs?
My face!
    My eyes swivel round, trying to see every part of