Prisoners of Scythia Shifter Box Set

by Lisa Daniels

  He made a noise of reproach, “You should never color an entire people with a single brush.” His seriousness quickly lapsed into a chuckle, “That’s what my mentor would have said anyway. I happen to agree with you wholeheartedly.”

  I moved my hand a little, the silk dangling down. “Is this from your mentor?”

  “What? Oh, gods no. That’s just a handkerchief. You can get a dozen of those for a gold coin.”

  “A gold coin!” There was no way to hide the surprise in my voice. Quickly clamping my hand over my mouth, I forced my emotions down. “Take it!”

  “It is yours.” There was some amusement in his voice, which I did not understand.

  “Absolutely not. It is worth more than I will make in 10 years. I cannot accept it.”

  “I was under the impression that you believe you are going to die here. Why not enjoy a little luxury that you would never have found while you were free?”

  “Are you making fun of me?”

  “Not at all. I have more, so it really doesn’t hurt me to give it to you.”

  “Unless you have them on you, I don’t see how you can enjoy any of your fine stuff while you are here.”

  “That’s alright. You don’t have to.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t worry about it and just enjoy it.”

  I shook it a little roughly. “And I am telling you to take it back.” I began to open my eyes to glare at him, forgetting about his warning earlier.

  “No, no, that’s unnecessary.” He sighed and I could hear him stand up. I felt the fine material slide out of my hand. A bit of regret followed the loss, but I had no time to consider it as something touched my face. My eyes flew open at the sensation, but the only thing I could see was the handkerchief covering my eyes. “Hey!”

  “There,” he finished tying it around the back of my head. “I have taken it back and this is how I choose to use it. Now, stop arguing about it.” As if adding as an afterthought, he said, “It really looks good with your hair. Surprisingly so.”

  Choosing to ignore what felt like a slight, I decided to learn what I could from what I was given. My hand felt the back of my head where the silk was tied in a knot that I could not identify. Frowning, my fingers explored it. “That’s a strange way to tie something.”

  “Strange in what way?”

  “It feels entirely unfamiliar. And I’ve worked on docks in over two dozen countries.”

  “What?” The shock in his voice gave me a little pleasure. “Since when do people of Shingyon travel extensively? Aren’t you too busy trying to fight off invaders?”

  “Sometimes the best defensive move is to be offensive.”

  “Ah, you are a spy.”

  I gritted my teeth. The pain reminded me why that was a bad idea, but the small voice in my head reminded me that it no longer mattered. I gave a mirthless laugh, “I was, yes. For a long time I was quite good at it. All it takes is one wrong mission, and—” I held my hands out to indicate what I meant.

  My admission was met with a long silence. I wasn’t entirely sure why he had suddenly become so quiet, but I was getting lost in my own thoughts as they returned. Dying in a dungeon wasn’t the worst way to go. At least I had someone to talk to for the time being. Once he tired of me, I could probably find a way out. The guards were going to be a problem—they always were. The thing about guards is that you rarely encounter an intelligent one in dungeons. Intelligent guards served in positions where they could be more effectively used. A pair of cold blue eyes flitted across my memory and I shuddered as I remembered the guard who had seemed ready to sacrifice me.

  “Are you cold?” He had sat much closer to me, though I wasn’t sure why.

  “No, just remembering the guard. He was… I’m glad I never had to face him on my own. It is rare to meet someone that analytical and calculating who is so open about it. He strikes me as the kind of person who wears everything on his sleeve. It is very difficult to fight people like him.”

  “You might be surprised just how many secrets a guard like that has.” I detected something in his voice, but he didn’t let me dwell on it. “You don’t need to worry about the captain or any of the rest of them.”

  “Obviously, not all the way down here.”

  “Oh, you think that they are going to ignore us down here, don’t you?”

  “Of course. That’s what dungeons are for. To bury all of the people opposed to you in a place where they aren’t dead yet and aren’t really alive either. It’s just pure survival down here.”

  “That is generally the case. Unfortunately, you happen to be linked to me now.”

  “Do you really have such a high opinion of yourself that you think they would take a special interest in you now?”

  I imagined the look of anger on his face, so was surprised when his tone was entirely amused. “Let me paint you a little picture. A couple of weeks ago, the good king of Scythia captured a powerful humanoid. He—”

  “Couldn’t be that powerful if he was captured,” I said, slightly offended on behalf of my species, even a Scythian ruler.

  He simply laughed, “So predictable. Anyway, negotiations weren’t going well with the humanoid’s people, so the king threatened to kill his prisoner. The people predictably sent someone to help the prisoner escape. This someone managed to attract the attention of the entire palace guard, and they were all drawn into the courtyard to try to finally capture him.”

  I closed my eyes, beginning to understand what he was saying. “And into that, a stupid woman blindly strolled onto the scene. She was nothing to either side beyond a simpleton to be pitied.”

  “Or spared if at all possible.”

  “I don’t understand your motives at all. You should have focused on getting your leader out. Neither of you are any good to your people here. You should have let me die so that you could save him.”

  “Is that what you would have done in my place? Would you have watched as an innocent person was killed because of something you had done?”

  “I absolutely would. I have.”

  There was a sharp intake of air. He changed his tactic a little, “What if that innocent was a child, or a small creature that didn’t understand what was going on?”

  “I am not a child!” My hands clenched, and I added as an afterthought, “Nor am I some small pathetic animal that lacks understanding.”

  “Just awareness.”

  His jab cut deep, and I turned my face from him. “I was stupid. Worrying about what was coming, I failed to remember that I was not out of danger. Six months have lulled me into feeling a degree of safety away from those people that was never actually there. Nowhere in this city is safe.”

  “After a while, living on your own takes a toll. No one should always feel alone because it breeds some of the worst sentiments.”

  I shrugged, “I accepted it as part of my career. There are worse things.”

  A hand patted my head, and I flinched at the touch as my head hurt. “I’m sorry.” I didn’t know if he was apologizing for the pain he had caused or if he was apologizing for the life I had just confessed to. His hand began to run down my hair, as if I were a child he was trying to comfort. As much as I wanted to be offended, after everything that happened over a decade, it just felt nice to have someone care. I found myself responding to the touch. Before I knew it, I was leaning against him. Parts of my brain registered that he wasn’t quite like I had imagined, though they were buried beneath the feeling of comfort. Placing my face against his chest, I soon realized that I was crying. His arms moved around me, holding me close as I silently cried into his shirt.

  During this time, he sang a quiet song in a language I didn’t know. His voice was beautiful and comforting as I began to accept what the rest of my life would be. It wasn’t long before I had fallen asleep to his quiet crooning.

  Chapter 3

  An Unexpected Attachment

  I woke again to a headache, though it was much milder. Groaning a l
ittle, I raised my arm to put my hand on my head to brace myself against the ache. When I moved, a hand fell off of my arm and gently bounced a couple of times against my stomach. That was when I realized that the prisoner who owned me had spent the night sleeping at my back.

  Ordinarily, I would have been angered by such an intrusion. Such an invasion of my space and abuse of my vulnerable position would have meant immediately extracting myself from his grasp and taking whatever revenge I could. I had seriously injured several men for taking such liberties in the past when I still lived in my country. However, I did not feel the same indignation or anger at what I should have found to be a serious transgression. It had been the first time since I left home where I had allowed anyone to see me so vulnerable. Even sleeping in the barn, I had maintained a state of near perpetual awareness, sleeping lightly and only appearing to be asleep when one of the family came to wake me.

  Maybe it was because I felt that everything was over, so it really didn’t matter what happened. Maybe I was simply comforted by the feel of someone else after so many years working on my own. Whatever the reason, I found a sense of peace. Closing my eyes against the yellow of the blindfold, I pushed further back into my new owner.

  It was then that I realized it did not bother me that I had simply changed hands. Given the way I had expected to die, this was hardly worse than what could have happened.

  In a week, a month, or maybe even a year, we would probably hate each other. As long as he was there, I had no chance at freedom. He hadn’t been wrong about my people. I had never known someone who would simply allow themselves to be taken prisoner as I had on several occasions, usually with an eye on escape to send my people information that I had acquired during my captivity. The one thing I had witnessed of my people, for all their brave fighting, was that no human could beat a humanoid in a direct fight. With no weapons of my own, there was no chance of escaping a humanoid.

  Yet I wasn’t bothered. When he tired of me, I knew that I would have a chance against the guards, no matter what I said to my new master. It hedged things in my favor because if he thought I would be worse off once he tired of me, it was more likely he would pit me against people I could manage. Being at the dungeon of the palace, there was even a chance that I could steal some valuable information.

  All that was in the future. The present was a strange sense of calm that I wanted to soak up like a desert plant during the rainy season. It might be a long time before I would again find such kindness or comfort.

  Not that I was unaware that he must have something he wanted from me. Just because I couldn’t fathom what benefit he would get from keeping me didn’t mean that he wouldn’t have some design on me. Perhaps he was hoping to use me as bait to gain his own freedom. Maybe I was going to be some kind of sacrifice to whatever gods his people worshipped. Or maybe it was as simple as him wanting some companionship while he was in captivity. After the brief story he told me, I had no doubt that there had always been a plan for his leader’s rescue. It was unimaginable that his people would send a single member in to rescue their leader. Something in his word choice had made me suspect he was just a decoy, and that the real rescue was occurring as he was attracting all of the attention to himself. It made no sense to me why they would need to create such a distraction if humans were as pathetic to them as he seemed to believe.

  Which meant they were probably after something else.

  “Nothing about you makes sense,” I muttered as I drew his arm around me.

  “Right back at you,” his voice murmured in my ear.

  Startled, I scrambled away from him. Putting a hand over my heart, I tried to gain my composure. “Gods, you startled me.”

  “Why? I don’t require much sleep.”

  “Then what were you doing?” I frowned as I faced the direction of his voice.

  “You were shivering and the service here is some of the worst I have ever seen. Can you believe that they didn’t give us a blanket, let alone two?” He was obviously making light of the situation.

  My frown turned into a scowl, “How can you jest at a time like this?”

  “How could I not?”

  “You don’t plan to stay here, do you?”

  Silence met my words, but I heard movement to suggest he had shrugged.

  “Oh, sure, it’s very easy to escape the dungeon of humans, even if it is one of the best guarded fortresses in a dozen kingdoms.”

  “I wouldn’t say easy. Do you consider it easy to wake and step out of the door in the morning? To be perfectly accurate, yes, it is easy, but it is so routine that you don’t really think about it.”

  I tried to give him a look, which I knew would not translate with a blindfold. Deciding that there was no point in arguing with him, I sat back down and pressed my body against his. This seemed to have startled him as he tensed for a moment before laughing.

  “I’ve never tamed a human before. Would never have thought it possible to tame a Shingite.”

  “I’ve never been in a position where I was completely at someone else’s mercy.”

  “That has never stopped your kind before.”

  “I don’t see any need to fight you. What would I gain? You protected me from death, alleviated my pain, and don’t seem to have any immediate plan for me. Instinct tells me to fight, but given that my instinct’s failure led to meeting you, I’m going with rationality over gut.”

  His arm moved around me, “An interesting thought process.”

  Since meeting him, I had done everything wrong, but at that moment I did not care. “What is your name?”

  “What?”

  I felt his head turn to look down at me. Turning my face to him, I asked again, “What is your name? I don’t want to call you humanoid, and I’m not about to call you master.”

  He chuckled in response. “I’m Bryce.”

  I tilted my head to the side, “That is a strange name. I couldn’t even begin to figure out where you live based on your name.”

  He rumpled my hair, “No, you wouldn’t be able to tell. I’m from a country not too far from here. Well, it is near compared to your country. And I’ve no doubt you haven’t heard of it, despite your travels.”

  “I’ve heard of a lot of obscure countries.”

  “Human countries, yes.”

  My hand knocked against his knee. “I’ve been to Purgato, Decyl, and Sommel, and have heard stories from more than a half dozen other countries. It’s not like you are the first humanoid I’ve met.”

  “Svarga.”

  “Okay, you were right. I haven’t heard of it.”

  I felt his laugh before I heard it, and I couldn’t help but smile. He patted my head again, “Don’t know any humans who have heard of us. Besides you, of course. We don’t exactly go around advertising our existence.”

  “Seems like an intelligent way to live.”

  “That is no surprise coming from a Shingite. Your country’s problem isn’t that you call attention to yourselves, but from your location. If you would just move, then—”

  “It would no longer be home. We built our country after being forced out of everywhere else. After all of the work and love that went into making our country, there is no way we will give it up to those who covet it. Some things are worth fighting for.”

  “Even if you never get to go home?”

  This made me pause. It was true that I had always accepted that I would probably never see my home again. The love I had once felt for it had certainly faded—not that I was going to admit that. I was still proud of my people and what they had done, but I was no longer sure how much more I could offer them. My shoulders slumped and I said something that I had been unwilling to admit to anyone, even myself, “It stopped being home for me a long time ago. That’s why I chose this path.”

  He placed his head on mine, “And why is that?”

  I pulled away, echoing his reprimand from the day before, “I’m going to give you a few seconds to consider your question.”
>
  Bryce placed a hand on my head and pulled me back to him. His voice was warm and gentle. “I’m sorry. I meant no offense. If you ever feel like telling me, I will listen.” As soon as he finished speaking, his stomach rumbled.

  Laughing, I gave it a poke. To my surprise it was nothing like I had imagined—it was more like poking a wall than a pile of blankets. My finger bent back at an odd angle. Masking my shock, I laughed again, “I guess that room service isn’t something we can expect either.” The words were no sooner out of my mouth than my own stomach reminded me that I had not eaten since the night before going to the market.

  He poked my stomach as he laughed, “Indeed. Fortunately, I have my own service. Sit tight.”

  As soon as Bryce’s warmth was gone, I wanted to protest. Fighting my initial displeasure at him leaving, I decided to focus on quelling the revolt in my stomach. I had gone much longer than a couple of days without food.

  He soon returned, taking his place beside me. “Here you go.” I felt something be placed in my lap. “Sorry that it is cold, but they haven’t come in to start the fire in the fireplace.”

  “There’s a fireplace?” I turned my face to him.

  “You are right, they will need to build that before they add the fire. Talk about terrible service. I’m going to vacation elsewhere next time.”

  “You should let your leader know that you protest the abominable conditions you were forced to endure at the hands of humans. Starting with having to let them capture you.”

  He chuckled, then began coughing. I felt around until I was certain my hand was on his back, then I thumped a couple of times. “Thanks,” he choked out. “I will make sure to point that out. Next time, he should use someone else as bait.”