Blood Debt

Lucius POV

He came back to himself slowly.

Cold ground. Night air. The sound of people who thought they'd won something.

He opened his eyes.

A fire. Not close enough to warm him — close enough to see by. Three men sitting around it eating like they hadn't just knocked a man unconscious and dragged him out of a market. A woman standing at the edge of the firelight watching him with her arms crossed