Prisoners of Scythia Shifter Box Set

by Lisa Daniels

  “Well, it would be impolite to turn down something offered to you. It’s impolite to refuse such an exotic feast.”

  “Quite.” Bryce’s voice was cold as he appeared to end the conversation. He had accomplished what he wanted. I had confirmation that my country had fallen. Of course they would have enslaved those who didn’t fight to the death.

  The echo of footsteps heading away from the cell were like a death knell. As patient as he had been with me, Bryce definitely had a dim view of my species. There was every chance that I was just entertainment for him while he planned his escape, or waited for his own rescue. Once he was gone, I would have a much better chance at escape, but for what purpose? If what he and the guard had said was true, there was no country left for me to spy for them. I could always return and die fighting for the cause, but how long would it take for me to get back home? One year? Two? Would there even be anyone to fight beside me if I returned?

  I sank to the ground. Bringing my knees up, I placed my head against them. There were no words, no tears as my mind tried to process what I had learned. And to determine if there was still a purpose to my life.

  Chapter 5

  A Lowering of Defenses

  The next couple of days I largely shut down. Besides an occasional pat on my head or nudging with a plate, Bryce left me to my own devices. The only real contact we had was at night when he wrapped himself around me, keeping me warm without asking anything else in return. The first night I thought he would ask questions in his calm voice, but he said nothing. I kept my body still that first night and dozed on and off. The next night I managed to sleep for a few hours, but mostly my mind was elsewhere

  Over time, I realized that his suspicions that I was trying to commit suicide stemmed from what had happened to my country. It was only because of my recent story that he realized I had no idea about my country’s fate. From that, he had formulated an impossible role for me, thinking that I had been the one thing between my people and destruction.

  That was, of course, ludicrous.

  If I had been that important, I would have known it. My skills were certainly beyond that of those who had trained me, but there were those who came before and after me that must have been just as successful.

  But one thing bothered me. Bryce had not lied to me before—what would he gain by lying to me now? Even if my country had not fallen, I was just a human from a small country halfway around the world. Humanoids really did not need humans for any pleasant purpose, and I could not think of a single reason for him to be kind to me that would benefit him.

  I had no idea how much time had passed when he finally sat down next to me. “It has been almost three days since you last ate or drank.”

  I had no response.

  “I have a small flask of wine, if that would help.”

  Again, I said nothing.

  “Look, I’m not about to let you sit here and kill yourself, so either you will eat and drink by your own hand, or I will force you.”

  “What do you care?” I muttered.

  “I care as much today as I did that day when you wandered blindly into my life. Even without knowing who you were, I wasn’t about to let you die. Knowing you now, I’m certainly not going to watch you fade away.”

  “I’m no one.”

  “I disagree.”

  “You don’t even know my name, Bryce.”

  This caused him to remain silent for a lot longer than I had expected. I had almost thought that he had left me alone again when he spoke up, “If I asked you, would you give me an honest answer? Or would you just make something up?”

  “I don’t have any reason to give you an answer at all.”

  He chuckled, “And that is why I never bothered to ask.”

  “You thought of me as no more than a child and a lot more like an animal. Perhaps you’ve been grooming me to be your pet. I’ve no idea what it is you want from me, but I know that your actions aren’t as altruistic as you pretend.”

  “And you are not entirely wrong. But what I have in mind for you now is not what it was when I first met you.”

  I turned my face in his direction, “There is no reason to believe you.”

  “I suppose that I will have to earn your trust some other way.”

  After so many days of feeling so alone, I realized just how much I had missed him. I leaned over, and he caught me before I hit the ground. Apparently he was sitting a little further from me than usual.

  Apparently thinking that I had lost my balance, he began to push food into one hand and a small flask into the other. “My little Shingite, please eat and drink.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “Pouting isn’t doing you any good. Please.”

  “I don’t want to,” I muttered more defiantly.

  He sighed and moved away. Having finally felt him again after so many days, the sudden loss was almost painful. It must have been clear on my face because he said, “I will return to your side after you prove that you will eat and drink.”

  I glared at my hands, considering whether to continue my defiance or to finally give in and do what he wanted. Having lost so much already, I took a bite of the delicious food in my hand. He had never explained how he had gotten such good food in prison, but until that moment it had never occurred to me to ask. “Where do you get this food? I never hear the guards coming around delivering food.”

  “They lower it from above. I immediately throw it away because it is poisoned.”

  “What?” I dropped the food, causing him to sigh.

  “That isn’t anything they fed us. I believe I mentioned that the events of that day were planned. I came fully prepared for my stay here. Well, not all of it. I had no idea that I would have a guest.”

  “You mean a slave.”

  “Absolutely not. We do not enslave people. Once we are gone, you will be free to do whatever you please.”

  A few seconds later I felt him sit down next to me. I scooted closer and pressed up against him. Immediately, I began to feel a little better, which I attributed to the food.

  “Drink,” he instructed. “After so many days, I am more concerned with you being dehydrated, even down here in this dank cell.”

  I lifted the flask to my lips. The taste stunned me as it washed over my tongue. It wasn’t wine or water, but some bitter-sweet juice that I had never tasted. Pulling back, I held it out, “What is this?”

  “Grape juice.”

  “I know what wine is, and this is not it.”

  He laughed, “Right. It’s grape juice, not wine. If you don’t let it ferment, you get a completely different drink. No alcohol.”

  “I think I would prefer wine.”

  “I don’t doubt you would. However, considering how many days you went without food and drink, I think it best that you get something in your belly that won’t leave you drunk and more dehydrated. I will give you wine if you still want, after you finish everything I’ve given you.”

  I ate as instructed, not sure what else to do. The threat of him leaving was far worse than it had been in those early days. “I really am more like your dog, aren’t I?”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Something in his tone let me know that I had struck a sour chord.

  “You take care of me more like a pet than like a person. You deny me access to you to get my obedience. The only times that has ever worked was with children and dogs. At least as far as I’ve seen.”

  “I am very sorry that you feel that way. I do not see you as either a child or a pet.”

  “You admitted to it in the beginning.”

  “I—” Whatever he was about to say, Bryce thought better of it. “I suppose you are right. That is certainly my view on your species, but I assure you that you have always been something more in my eyes. I can’t explain it, but from that first interaction, I wanted to protect you.”

  “Yeah. I hear that is what parenthood and having a pet do to a person.”

  He laughed, “I woul
dn’t know. I have no children and have never had a pet. They are a bit unnecessary for my kind.”

  My brow furrowed and I turned toward him, “That’s one more cryptic thing you’ve said. It’s almost like you are testing me, trying to see if you can get me to ask again.”

  “Maybe I am,” I could hear the smile in his warm voice.

  “Somehow I doubt it, but if that is your goal, I will happily disappoint you.” I took another bite of the food and leaned my head against him. “How can you be so certain that you will make it out of here?”

  “How could you be so certain that you would make it out of the clutches of the prince of Theadus?”

  “If I’m being honest, I wasn’t certain. I trusted in my skills and luck to get me through. It could just have easily gone sideways.”

  “But you wouldn’t have just accepted it, would you?”

  “No, I would have kept fighting until I got the optimal results.”

  “Well, I don’t have to fight to ensure I get the results I want. Not even when there are unexpected complications.”

  “What would you do if your people were wiped out?”

  “It can’t happen.”

  “I’m sure the demons could do it.”

  “Oh, well, sure. But that’s why we don’t advertise. We survive by being inconspicuous and mostly sticking to ourselves.”

  “Then why did your leader let himself be captured?”

  “Ah, and so we reach one of the topics that I cannot safely discuss with you.”

  “Because it will compromise your mission?”

  “No.”

  “Because you don’t know the answer yourself?”

  This caused him to chuckle, “Certainly not.”

  “Then why?”

  “I will tell you later. I promise.” He rested his head on mine.

  “What you have planned for me has got to be something big for you to keep being this nice to me. Sharing your food and drink. Taking care of my back.”

  He sat up straight, “You know about that?”

  I pulled away, “Of course. We talked while you… what did you call it? Realigned my spine?”

  “Oh right, that.”

  “Of course. Wait, what did you mean?”

  He cleared his throat. “I… um… don’t think I can say without angering you.”

  Putting the drink on the floor, I could tell that it tipped over. Bryce’s reaction was almost immediate so that it did not spill all over the cobbles under us. “What did you do?”

  “Promise that you won’t get angry?”

  “I promise to get angry if you don’t explain.”

  “Close enough. Well,” he paused and I imagined a wide range of expressions going across a round, apple-cheeked face, “I, um, treated the wounds.”

  “What w—Oh.” After so much, I had not even realized when my back had stopped hurting where the nine tails had torn into me. I had been accustomed to ignoring the pain, so I hadn’t even realized when it stopped hurting.

  “When you were sleeping, I took certain liberties to ensure that your discomfort did not continue. There is still considerable scarring and by the time we are out of here, it will be too late to minimize it.”

  “I’ve no concern with scars.”

  “Clearly, since you were unwilling to let me treat it when you were awake. But I mind that you were in such a state. And if I ever find the humans who did it to you, they will not get off so lightly.”

  “Are you forgetting that I am human?”

  “I meant no offense to you.”

  “I take no offense at being a human.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Forget about them. They are hardly worth my concern, even less yours. There is no point in your seeking them out for my sake.”

  “What about for the sake of anyone else they enslave? Do you not think they are a blight on the species?”

  “I…” Never having cared how people treated others as long as my country was protected, I had never considered the larger implications. “If I had to think about it, then clearly they would only make life worse for anyone they encountered. But does that mean they deserve to die? Who am I to make that determination?”

  “You made those kinds of decisions for your country many times over. It was thinking on a much smaller scale.”

  “Well, people of other countries are not my concern.”

  “And that is how humans differ from most other species. I think it is because of how easy it is for you to produce children.”

  “Do you think it is easy for a woman to have children?”

  “Considering how the human population greatly outpaces every other humanoid, I would say yes. No other species has so many children or values their own kind so little as humans. That is not a coincidence.”

  The thought was one I had never even considered, but to hear it, I could not deny that he was right. In my time, I had met a lot of humanoids, and they were always intrigued by how much humans warred with each other. One demon even admitted to me that they hardly needed to do anything to start wars. I was horrified to learn that they would make bets on which side would win after they had instigated a war among human countries. However, my horror turned to disinterest when he mentioned the most recent wars they had started. He had not pointed out at the time how strange this apathy to other countries was. Humanoids and humans did not have the same outlook on their kind. Humans were so populous that we broke ourselves down into nations to create the kind of closeness that other species felt naturally. I muttered, “Perhaps it is too much to care so deeply when there are so many of your own kind. It is easier to create communities and vilify others instead of trying to treat everyone the same.”

  “I don’t know. It is something I don’t think I could ever understand. Wouldn’t it be easier to simply have fewer children and stay connected to your kind than to create artificial alliances and hate everyone else?”

  “I don’t know. We have been doing it for so long, it would be creating a new species to think the way you do.”

  He pulled me to him and began to stroke my head. I closed my eyes behind the blindfold and pressed closer to him. Bryce kissed the top of my head. “Thank you for eating. I was not looking forward to force-feeding you.”

  “Do you really think you could have?”

  “Not without some resentment on your part. I much prefer it when you take care of yourself. No doubt your future children will appreciate it, too.”

  I let out a mirthless laugh, “I can’t have children.”

  His hand stopped. “What do you mean?”

  I moved away from him. Drawing a line across my stomach, I replied, “I told you that even being gutted was preferable to being touched by that prince. Did you think I was speaking metaphorically?”

  “May I see?” His voice was soft, the concern obvious.

  My initial reaction was to refuse. But so much of my instinct did not seem right with Bryce. He had treated me in my sleep—against my will, but he had done it to help me, not to use me. Not as far as I could tell. Finally, I shrugged and lifted up my dress to expose my stomach.

  His finger gingerly touched my stomach, causing me to take in a sharp breath at the unexpected touch. “This doesn’t mean you can’t have children.”

  “As a human who knows our anatomy, I can assure you that it does. It should have killed me. The man had intentionally managed not to damage any organs so that I could die slowly, but he didn’t count on my abilities.”

  “How old were you?” His finger stopped tracing the old scar.

  “12, I think, 13 at the oldest.” I pushed the dress down and immediately my hand stretched out to find him. It was only after I was pressed up against him that I continued to talk. “It was why I chose the path I did. I couldn’t bear children for anyone, and working as a spy was the only thing I thought I could do to help my people.”

  “They used you and your pain.”

  I shook my head, “No. Like you,
I volunteered.”

  He began to stroke my head again. I turned my face to press against his muscular bicep. We sat in quiet for a while, each of us lost in our own thoughts.

  “What do you think you will do with your life if you cannot return to your country?”

  I shrugged, “I don’t have any idea. At the moment, I don’t want to think past the present.”

  “Why’s that?”

  I turned my face up to his, “Because I am content with where I am. The problems of the world aren’t part of my world at the moment. And for once in my life I want to focus on the here and now.”

  His hand came up and gently touched my face. I leaned into it. Before I knew what I was doing, I kissed the palm of his hand and worked up his arm. At first he froze, but soon he began to respond. His arm went around my waist and pulled me to him. I straddled him, pushing my hips into his as he gently kissed me.

  “Will you tell me your name?” His voice was so sweet that I hungered for his kiss. When I leaned forward, he pulled back, waiting for my answer.

  “Joslyn. My birth name is Joslyn.” As soon as I spoke, he put a hand behind my head and kissed me passionately. His tongue slid into my mouth and caressed my own. Moaning, my hips pushed harder into his.

  Bryce’s hand slid up under my dress, and the feel of his warm hand on my bare skin was electrifying. Breaking the kiss, I leaned my head back and moaned. His teeth nipped at my neck as his hand grasped at my skin, working the muscles like he had when he was trying to realign my back. This time there was no ulterior motive.

  He pulled the dress off and slid a hand down the side of my naked back. Gently he lay me down. My hands reached for him and found his bare stomach. It was flat. Moving my hand down it, I was able to feel each of the individual muscles. “I want to see you,” I murmured.

  “Let your hands be your eyes for one more day.” His body covered mine. “Let your body show you what your eyes could not see.”

  I had expected him to penetrate me almost immediately, but that was not what he had in mind. For I knew not how long, he tortured and teased me, stroking me until I panted into his chest, “Please, no more. I want you.”

  “All you had to do was ask.” The smile was clear through his husky voice.