Prisoners of Scythia Shifter Box Set

by Lisa Daniels

  “You mean you didn’t volunteer?”

  “Oh, I did. I always do.”

  “Then that is your fault.”

  “It’s nicer to blame someone else when you are imprisoned.”

  I giggled into my hand. He nudged the food in my lap, “Eat.”

  “What, before it gets cold?” I smiled at the food.

  “Before your stomach revolts.”

  I waved my hand, “It will get over it.”

  “As long as you are with me, there will be no more of this useless self-deprivation. Eat.”

  “Or what?” I asked pushing my luck.

  “I’ll stop talking to you.”

  I shrugged, “Silence is something only wise people can appreciate.”

  “Is that your way of telling me you aren’t wise?”

  Frowning, I turned to face him. “That was uncalled for.”

  “I will strive to be kinder if you eat. No promises.”

  I was trying to figure just how anyone could be kinder than Bryce had been to me. “That isn’t much incentive. I don’t think you could possibly be kinder than you have been.”

  Suddenly the warmth moved away, causing me to lurch to the side. Righting myself, I kept the food from falling to the floor. “Hey, you almost wasted it.”

  Nothing responded to my accusation.

  “Oh, is this the silent treatment you mentioned?”

  The only response was my stomach as I smelled the food that was so close. With a sigh, I picked up something that was small and round. Taking a hesitant bite, my mouth exploded with tastes that I had never experienced before. “Oh, dear gods,” I muttered into the food. “What is this? Mana?” Shoving it into my mouth, I didn’t stop eating until everything was gone.

  To my disappointment, Bryce did not sit back down. The only sign I had that he was still nearby was the rhythmic sound of his breathing. Brushing off my dress, I said indignantly, “I think you lied to me. I am dead, and you are easing me into my next life.”

  “That is not what your people believe.”

  “I never said that I held their beliefs.” I hid my happiness that he had finally broken his silence and continued. “I think that is what the Djoser believe. The shock of death triggers such a change that no one can enter the afterlife with a full grasp on their new state. Those who know they are dead return as blighted spirits. The gods have appointed someone or a group of beings to ease the dead into their new existence.”

  “I admit, I have never met anyone from Djoser, so I could not say. What I do know is if this is the afterlife, it is very disappointing.”

  “I can’t agree with that. For the first time in a long time, I finally feel at peace.”

  Silence met my words. A moment later I felt the familiar warmth at my back. Bryce wrapped his arms around me, and I leaned into the embrace. Neither of us spoke as the time ticked slowly past.

  The warnings in my head were loud and clear. I was forming an attachment with someone, and that could only lead to pain and misery. I didn’t care, though. After a lifetime of being alone, it felt good to be held by someone who seemed willing to consider my perspective instead of just my use.

  The fact that I didn’t want it to end was something I was not willing to face. Instead, I kept telling myself that I just wanted it to last a little longer. Just a little longer, and then I would return to myself.

  Chapter 4

  What a Person’s Worth

  Several days passed in what was like a dream to me. I came to think of the world in terms of sounds and was perfectly content to trust Bryce for almost everything. Occasionally he would ask me questions, but he never pressed when I exhibited reservations about discussing my past. He was more than happy to fill in the quiet times with stories of his own, and he must have found me to be an eager audience judging by the number of stories he told me of his exploits. I often wondered just how he could manage to pull off a lot of them. It seemed to me that he was either very much embellishing or outright lying about what he had done. He never asked whether or not I believed him, and I never offered my opinion of his wild tales.

  After a delicious dinner, we sat down together, our bellies full. Bryce was a bit lethargic. Placing his head on my shoulder, he said in a sleepy voice, “Would you mind being the storyteller tonight? I’m not sure I will be awake by the end of one of my stories.”

  “My tales aren’t nearly so magnificent or entertaining as yours. And you will likely find me lacking as a narrator. Even in your current state, your offerings are far better than mine.”

  “If your stories put me to sleep, so much the better.”

  “You had best be careful what you ask for because if it happens you have no one to blame but yourself.”

  “Oh, I can still blame you for it.”

  “That doesn’t give me a lot of incentive to try.”

  He shifted a little. “Sleeping isn’t a bad thing. And considering it has been too long since the last time that I really slept, it is time for me to get a bit more than a few minutes at a time.”

  “I remember doing that for a while. It’s not great for the body.”

  “Maybe not for a human body, but my kind are quite used to foregoing sleep for long periods of time. We’ve evolved so that we can maximize our brain capacity.”

  “Well, this feeble human brain is too unevolved to have any tales to keep such a pristine being as yourself entertained.”

  “Didn’t I just say that putting me to sleep would be a good thing?”

  “Fine. I’ll see if my low-capacity brain can go back beyond the last couple of days to come up with something worth relaying.”

  “That’s my girl,” he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. His head moved from my shoulder as I started to think. I was momentarily surprised and turned to ask him why he had moved when I felt his head plop down in my lap. “Make it nice and boring so I sleep for days.”

  I scrunched my nose at him, but let my mind roam back over the years to find something worth turning into a story. “I spent some time in Theadus.”

  “You mean that enormous human city in Bastion?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “It must have been awful.”

  “You have no idea. I could probably recognize the place just from the smell. Why they consider that place a cultural hub still completely escapes me. Then again, what visitors see and what most of the people who live there see probably aren’t at all similar. I wasn’t there on vacation, of course. My mentor had asked me to check out some rumors of an imminent attack.”

  “Where did he get his intel that he knew of an imminent attack?”

  “I don’t know, but they attack us about once a decade and had been quiet for almost two. It was really past time for them to initiate aggression.”

  “Ah, so more like a hunch than intel.”

  “They never sent me anywhere on just a hunch. No, he must have received something because I was usually the one they called when they knew something was coming soon.”

  “So you were like their ace card?”

  “Their what?”

  “You were the person they sent in when they needed to know what the enemy planned to do so that they could nip wars in the bud as early as possible.”

  “Ah. Yes. I was one of a select few who always sent good intel.”

  “Were all of you women?”

  “I never asked.”

  “You weren’t a big believer in questioning, were you?”

  “Not my superiors, no. My job wasn’t to go after them. We have other people for that. My job was to help keep Shingyon as safe as possible. I trusted my mentor, and he never let me down.”

  “Except when you got captured.”

  “That was my fault. And it is a different story.”

  “If it had been me, I wouldn’t have let someone important to me or my country be taken prisoner. I would have found a way to get you out of danger.”

  “Then you don’t understand the point of a
spy.”

  “Not the way you humans do it, no. My people don’t think anyone is disposable.”

  I sighed, “Again with the criticism of humans.”

  “I suppose when you can populate at the same rate as rats and bunnies, you can view other humans as disposable.”

  I furrowed my brow, but decided to push forward with my story instead of going down the line of questioning he had dangled in front of me. “Anyway,” I said in a way that shut down any further interruption, “I had earned a position in the palace as a maid.”

  “Were you a maid to the queen?”

  “Do you want me to continue with my story?”

  “Of course. But you aren’t giving many details.”

  “Maybe I would if I could say more than a couple of sentences before you interrupt.” In response, his head shifted in my lap, and I imagined him looking up at me expectantly. “That’s better,” I said, giving a final nod. Turning my face away, I thought back to the experience. “It was not what I expected. The palace was all glitz and gold on the outside, but inside,” I shook my head, “it was obvious they had not taken care of it. Everything seemed to be falling apart. What they needed were architects and hard laborers, not maids and butlers. After a few weeks in the palace I think I knew why they had not attacked. As a maid to the eldest son, I had seen just how lazy the king was. I am not a big believer that a man should have a woman around to take care of him. If a man can’t take care of himself, he shouldn’t be alive.”

  “And a woman who can’t defend herself doesn’t deserve to live.” His voice was low as he said it.

  I nodded, appreciating that he understood my people so well. “Exactly. Anyway, his son was far worse than his father. Without his hoard of servants, that boy would have died within a couple of days. He literally couldn’t even brush his own teeth. For whatever reason, he had gotten it into his head that he was a much better man and better fighter than his father. What could have led him to the conclusion still escapes me. Some kind of blind belief in himself, an unjustified confidence that I’m certain was instilled in him when he was a child.”

  “I would never want my children to get that full of themselves.”

  Smiling down at him, I asked, “Are you sure? You have put on quite the display of confidence, with a lot of condescension towards humans along the way.”

  “That isn’t based on a figment of my imagination, but a wealth of experiences. But I digress. Apologies. Please continue.”

  “This completely incompetent fool had taken a liking to me, and I found myself increasingly dragged into his quarters under the flimsiest pretenses. Finally, he declared that he did not like these games and threw himself on me. Easily one of the most horrific things I’ve ever experienced. I will take a slash across the gut or a Gargoyle to the head any day over reliving that experience.”

  “You are reliving it now.”

  “Hush,” I said, rumpling his hair. It was surprisingly soft, and I began to run my fingers through it almost unconsciously. Almost. “Fortunately, I had a vial of something that would knock him out. So I suggested we drink to our union before he proceeded too far. Once that boy started drinking, he always went overboard. Within three hours of entering his chambers, I emerged with all of his plans to attack my people. These were promptly sent to my mentor.

  “When the fool woke the next day, he believed that he had done what he wanted with me, so he dismissed me. He very likely thought he had impregnated me like so many of his other maids. I heard that his military was absolutely routed, and soon after they returned home, he and his family were forced to abdicate.”

  The pressure in my lap lifted, “You mean you were partly responsible for the fall of the city?”

  “I was just a small part of it. I was several countries away when the war started and ended. Our military strategists were the real heroes. They figured out how to combat our enemies against some staggering odds.”

  “You shouldn’t be so modest. Without the information you sent them, they would not have been able to win.”

  I shrugged, “Without them, my information would have been worthless.”

  “They would have other strategists. Believe me, what you did was far more valuable than anything they did.”

  “I didn’t fight on the battlefield. It was hardly brave to live in a palace to gather information.”

  “You endured the son and being dismissed. Did that not bother you?”

  “Why would it? It was never my real job, just a means to an end.”

  “Your dedication to your people is almost admirable.”

  My mouth went into a line, “Because I’m human, it isn’t something to aspire to, right?”

  “You were too blind and trusting, minimizing your own difficulty and precarious position to help a people who may not deserve it. Did you ever receive praise for what you did?”

  “Why should I be praised? I didn’t do it for recognition. By definition, a spy should not be known.”

  “I disagree. What incentive do you have to go on if no one knows what you did?”

  “The perpetuation of my people is enough.”

  “And yet you have been enslaved for how long? Your people probably don’t even know you are still alive. Worse, do they even care if you have fallen? And what do you know of how they are affected by your disappearance? Without your intel, how are they fairing?”

  His accusations against my people began to offend me. “Look, I’ve put up with your constant insults against my species, but I draw the line at your insinuations against my people.”

  “I’m not insinuating anything. I am flat out saying that the way they have treated you is shameful. It is wrong to treat someone as something that can be thrown away once they can no longer serve the job they did. There are always other ways to serve. And if a spy is captured, you don’t just leave that kind of gem, especially one like you, to rot. That isn’t what you deserve, and the fact that they have brainwashed you into thinking that this is acceptable is just infuriating.”

  “Brainwashed!” I stood up, my voice raising along with his. “I am not brainwashed!”

  “I’ve never known anyone to admit to it. That’s one of the side effects of brainwashing. A person who has been through it will vehemently deny it, much more so than someone who isn’t brainwashed.”

  My fists clenched, “What if I were to tell you that you had been brainwashed? Would you not get defensive?”

  “Not at all. I would look at my situation—imprisoned in a human dungeon—and question if perhaps I was here because I had been tricked into believing it was the right thing. Only after considering that I not only volunteered, but that everyone understood the value of my actions—and let me know that they were thankful for them—would I come to the conclusion that no, I am not brainwashed. I act of my own volition.”

  I scowled, “Of course you would say that.”

  “And how long has it been since you reported back to them?”

  I gritted my teeth, “Over a year. They probably believe I’m dead.”

  A hand grabbed my shin and forced my face up. “Would you like to know how your people have fared since you went silent?”

  Jerking my chin away and stepping back, I glowered at him. Fully aware that my blindfold negated my expression, I was too incensed to care. “There is no reason to believe anything you have to say.”

  “Have I lied to you yet?”

  “How would I know? Everything you have told me is so fantastical I don’t believe more than half of it.”

  “What? Really?” My words clearly came as a shock, but it didn’t last long. He laughed, “And yet it is you saying that you only play a small role for your people that is the lie. Your country fell to one of the other neighboring countries less than three months ago.”

  It was like a dagger to the heart.

  You are a blessedly long way from home…

  His words at the time had been strange, but if what he said was true, then they made more s
ense. Shaking my head, I refused to believe it. “You are lying.”

  “What would I gain by lying to you?”

  My hands clenched and unclenched, “It’s impossible.”

  “Who imprisoned you and sent you far away so that you wouldn’t be able to send any more information? Did you just think you got unlucky? You were the reason why your country was able to successfully combat so many invasions. They grew reliant on you, not anyone else. Yet they let you believe that you were just one of a few elite. They didn’t even try to find you, believing their own wisdom in relying on others who were far less capable. We wondered what had happened, but I think that meeting you has answered that question. You have been gone for more than a year, and that was too long for them to go without you. As I said, a resource such as you was too valuable to lose.”

  I began to shake, whether from anger, despair, or fear, I don’t know. A hand touched my shoulder. Violently, I shrugged it away. “Don’t touch me!” My voice carried around the cells.

  Several minutes later, a voice I had not heard in almost a week caught my attention. “What’s going on here?”

  Bryce was standing much further from me than I was accustomed to as he responded. “Still haven’t broken her in yet. I’m not sure that women from Bastion are worth the trouble at this point.”

  There was a leer in his laugh, “Well, if you have no use for her, I can think of a few people who would be eager to have some tail from somewhere so exotic.”

  “Maybe in a few days. Should she continue to give me this much trouble.”

  “Still better than a bitch from Shingyon, eh? I’ve been told that they will kill a man before letting him bed them.”

  “That’s definitely the rumor.”

  The guard continued, “From what I hear, the few that are still alive are fetching a good price on the market, though. I dare say we will have a few end up here before too much longer.”

  “It seems to me that your people are courting disaster, bringing them here.”

  “There’s nothing quite like taming a wild bitch like that. Not all of us want something as tame as a civilized lady like you have.”

  “I thought you were interested in having your turn with her.”