The White Brand (The Eastern Slave Series Book 2)

by Victor Poole

  "I am not," Nam said, beginning to cry.

  "Um," Delmar said, squirming visibly.

  "Let me guess," Ajalia asked him, "there aren't any prostitutes in the city of Slavithe?"

  "Well," Delmar said hesitatingly, "there aren't."

  "Exactly," Ajalia said. "But there is no law against exchanging favors, is there? Or against helping your friends. Or making private business deals. Are you pregnant?" Ajalia asked Nam again.

  "No!" Nam said angrily. She avoided the others' eyes, but she glared at Ajalia with naked hatred.

  "But you have been pregnant in the past?" Ajalia asked.

  Nam stared at Ajalia, her jaw thrust in a stubborn line.

  "Is she okay?" Delmar asked Ajalia. Ajalia sighed.

  "Delmar," she said calmly, "you are an idiot."

  "She seems sad," Delmar whispered loudly.

  "She isn't sad," Ajalia told him. She stood up and went towards Nam. Nam went stiff. Ajalia raised one hand. She saw Daniel and Gull staring at the evening light that played against her bruises and scars.

  "I'm going to touch you," Ajalia told Nam. Nam lifted the chair leg, brandishing it threateningly in the air. Ajalia backed away slowly.

  "See?" Ajalia told Delmar. "Angry, not sad."

  "People can be sad and angry," Delmar said reasonably.

  "Okay," Ajalia said. "Then go take the chair leg."

  Delmar puckered his face.

  "I don't want to," he said, eyeing Nam with distaste.

  "I will," Gull said, and stepped forward. Ajalia intercepted Gull before he had taken two steps; she heard Nam's seat clatter to the ground. The girl uttered a whine like a frightened animal.

  "You stay out of this," Ajalia told Gull. He grimaced and retreated. Ajalia turned around. Nam had pressed herself into a far corner, her eyes rimmed with white.

  "She's mean," Daniel complained to Ajalia.

  "I know," Ajalia replied.

  "She needs to be beaten," Gull added.

  "Possibly," Ajalia conceded. Nam whimpered loudly. "Shut off the noise," Ajalia snapped at Nam; Nam's eyes flashed. Ajalia went back to her pile of sticks, and sunk down on them.

  "Why are these here?" she asked the boys. They both looked at each other, and then away. "Were you going to build something?" she asked them. A headache was building slowly behind her eyes. "Will you please sit down?" she asked Nam.

  "They hate me," Nam said bitterly.

  "Everyone hates you," Ajalia told Nam. "You're a pain. Now sit down."

  Nam crept dramatically back to her piece of wood and righted it. She sat down and raised her chin.

  "I have nothing to be ashamed of," Nam said.

  "I have got better things to do than this," Ajalia told Nam. "Do you even know what is going on?" she asked Delmar. Delmar shrugged blankly. "Well," Ajalia said loudly, "since none of you are cooperating, and since it is late—"

  "It isn't late," Delmar put in.

  "—and since it is late," Ajalia repeated, "I am going to explain things to you all. Delmar," Ajalia told the three children, "is in love with me. His father does not approve of him as a human being, and so Delmar is going to live here. I am going to tell him what to do, and he is going to follow my orders."

  Silence filled the kitchen.

  "None of that is true," Delmar said.

  "Delmar has convinced himself that I will eventually succumb to his considerable charms. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen." Ajalia paused, and the eyes in the room turned irresistibly towards Delmar. Delmar's face had turned a gentle shade of purple.

  "Now," Ajalia continued, shifting on the pile of sticks, "Daniel and Gull, you are supposed to be in charge. Neither of you is doing what I asked you to do." The boys both opened their mouths to protest; Ajalia raised a hand for silence. "I understand that you are young," Ajalia said. "I understand that I have given you money to manage."

  "They have money?" Delmar asked quickly. "You gave them some money?"

  "Yes," Ajalia said. "However, as I am more concerned with the success of my mission here than in playing nursery school, I have decided to add a constraint to your relationship."

  Gull and Daniel glanced uneasily at each other.

  "Since Nam is so worthless," Ajalia said, "and since you two are so carefree, you will all three have to work together. I expect both of you," Ajalia told the boys, "to answer to Nam. If there is trouble," she added, "from any one of you," and she turned her eyes to include Nam, "I will carry you to Talbos myself, and sell you there on the open market."

  "You wouldn't really," Daniel said. "Would you?" he added.

  "She wouldn't," Nam said viciously.

  "Nam," Ajalia said, "let me explain something to you. I am not keeping you here because you are honest, or worthy, or kind. I am not keeping you here because I want you or need you. I am keeping you here, for now, because you are intelligent. Do you understand me?" She looked at the thickset Slavithe girl, and saw, for the first time, a light of comprehension in the young woman's eyes.

  "It is unfortunate," Ajalia said, "that you are immoral, but I care less about your character than I do about your mind. I expect you to contain yourself while you belong to me."

  "I don't belong to anyone," Nam muttered under her breath.

  "Nam," Ajalia told the room at large, "will be staying in this house with Chad. They will be roommates."

  "Chad!" Delmar exclaimed.

  "Chad," Ajalia agreed.

  "Chad's annoying," Delmar told the boys. They nodded in agreement.

  "I'm not sleeping with him," Nam said hotly.

  "If you do sleep with him," Ajalia said, "I expect you to keep it to yourself. He has no money," she added, and saw Nam's eyes harden.

  "I know that," Nam said.

  "She already tried to sleep with him," Gull said.

  "I did not!" Nam protested.

  "Why is Chad coming here?" Delmar asked Ajalia. "I don't like Chad," he added.

  "No one likes Chad," Ajalia said. "Kind of like how no one likes Nam." She looked at Nam pointedly. Nam peeled at her chair leg.

  "Chad will stay here to make Nam look dishonest, which, I presume," Ajalia said, "will keep her honest." She sighed, and shifted her weight. Her arms ached. "Delmar will stay here," she said, "to be useful, and to create the impression of drama."

  "Why do we need drama?" Daniel asked.

  "Good child," Ajalia told him.

  Gull glanced with annoyance at Daniel.

  "We need drama," Ajalia said, "to distract from what is really going on."

  "And what is really going on?" Nam asked.

  "Yes, what is going on?" Delmar asked.

  "Wouldn't you all like to know?" Ajalia asked. They all nodded. She bared her teeth at them. "Everyone likes a good story," she said. "Here is the story we are going to make. You," she said, pointing at Delmar, "are the love interest. You will hang around corners, follow me around, do my bidding, and have a generally lovelorn look on your face. You will stare at me too much, and try to trap me in compromising situations. People will talk. There will be scandal. You," Ajalia said, pointing at Nam, "are going to be my new Yelin."

  "Who's Yelin?" Nam demanded angrily.

  "Oh!" Delmar said, his eyes wide. "I get it," he told Ajalia. "Very clever."

  "Thank you," Ajalia said wearily. "Yelin is the slave that was given to the Thief Lord's wife," Ajalia told Nam. "Beautiful, vain, power hungry, and sleeps with the wrong people for gain. It's an okay part, if you can stomach it."

  "I don't understand," Nam said haughtily.

  "You understand," Ajalia told her. "You're already doing it. You're a smart kid."

  "I'm not a whore," Nam protested.

  "But you've been with child," Ajalia reminded her. Nam closed her lips tightly. "Contradict me if it isn't true," Ajalia said. Nam said nothing. "Thank you," Ajalia said. The feeling of weariness was growing on her, but the weight seemed to be gradually dropping away from her neck.

  "You, and you,"
Ajalia said, pointing in turn at Daniel and Gull, "will be what Philas and I were when we came here. You," she said, indicating Daniel, "are Philas. And you," she said, pointing to Gull, "are me. You three," she said sweeping her hand towards the two boys and Nam, "will jostle for attention and money, and you will attempt, unsuccessfully, to steal from me. All of you will watch him," she said, pointing at Delmar, "and he will resent all of you."

  "Why will I resent them?" Delmar asked.

  "They absorb too much of my time," Ajalia told him.

  "Ah," Delmar said, nodding.

  "While this complex drama is unfolding for the city to gossip about, I will be working on the other thing," Ajalia finished. "Are we clear?" she asked.

  "What's the other thing?" Gull asked.

  "No," Ajalia told him. "Now, all of you go away. Except you," she added, nodding at Delmar. "You have to follow me around some more. We can have a loud fight later."

  "Right," Delmar said, "a fight. About what?"

  "Um," Ajalia said, blinking, and wiping at her eyes, "probably kissing or something. I might hit you."

  "Don't hit me," Delmar said.

  "Okay, then don't kiss me," Ajalia said. She looked at each of the children in turn. "Do you see?" she asked them.

  Daniel raised his hand in the air.

  "What if you're just using all of us?" the boy asked. "And I think you really like him," Daniel said; his eyes flitted to Delmar, who looked at Ajalia.

  "I am using all of you," Ajalia said. "That's the point. All of you," she said, waving her arms at them, "are props. Objects. Useful scenery. And I don't like him," she added, glancing at Delmar, "yet."

  Daniel grinned at Ajalia.

  "Will you make him show us magic?" Daniel asked.

  "No," Ajalia said, standing up with a groan. "Go and get Leed," she told Daniel. "And get Chad to collect the rest of the girls," she told Gull. "Tell him to bring everyone here. We have to get sorted out," she said, stretching her lower back, "before we get clothes."

  "Clothes?" Nam asked sharply. Daniel ran out of the room

  "Yes," Ajalia said firmly. "You are objects, but you are not yet shiny. I have got to make you shiny. Now get out," she said. Gull went out, followed reluctantly by Nam. "Not you," she said to Delmar, who was still standing against the wall with his hands idly turning over his white rocks.

  "I wasn't going anywhere," Delmar said helpfully.

  "Good," Ajalia said. She looked at him, and he looked at her.

  "Should my feelings be hurt?" he asked. She shrugged.

  "You tell me," she said.

  "Can I read the book yet?" he asked.

  "You're obnoxious," she told him.

  "You said I could have it," he reminded her.

  "That was before," she said. "Now it's different."

  "Are we alone yet?" Delmar asked. Ajalia sighed.

  "Probably," she said. He stepped forward and picked up her left arm.

  "This looks horrific," he told her. He put his fingers over the marks.

  "Your fault," she said. She leaned against him. Her eyelids were becoming heavy. "I'm going upstairs," she told him, but didn't move.

  "I love you," he said.

  "You told me that before," she said.

  "I still mean it," he said. He kissed the top of her head.

  "I don't know why you're being nice to me," she told him. "You realize that I'm the worst person ever."

  "Sure," he murmured, nuzzling at her ear. "That's why I like you so much."

  "Oh, because you're rotten inside, too?" she asked. Delmar laughed at her and kissed her wrist.

  Leed came into the room. Ajalia watched the little boy tumble up, and slide to a stop just in front of her.

  "They're all stupid here," Leed told Ajalia. "They told me you aren't marrying him." Leed jerked his chin at Delmar, who was stroking the edge of Ajalia's arm.

  "I'm not marrying him," Ajalia said.

  "But you want to," Leed said.

  "Sweet child, this," Delmar observed.

  "Have you thought over what I said?" Ajalia asked.

  "I'll teach you all the dialects," Leed said at once.

  "I only want the old Slavithe," Ajalia told the boy. "How much of that do you have?"

  Leed glared up at her through his brown bangs.

  "Enough," he said fiercely. Leed glared at Delmar. "Why are they all so stupid?" he demanded. "Anybody could see you are attached already."

  "He has it," Delmar told Ajalia.

  "Has what?" Ajalia asked, holding back a yawn.

  "The white brand, like you asked before," Delmar said. "Leed has it. And you."

  "You said that before," Ajalia said wearily.

  "I have what?" Leed demanded.

  "You can do magic," Ajalia explained. "He says," she added, nodding at Delmar.

  "Can I?" Leed asked Delmar.

  "No," Delmar told him.

  "You said he could," Ajalia said, "because of the pure soul thing."

  "But he doesn't know any magic," Delmar said.

  "Neither do I," Ajalia said.

  "But I'm going to teach you," Delmar said. "I won't teach him."

  "Delmar is selfish," Ajalia told Leed. "I'll teach you whatever he teaches me."

  "Good," Leed said.

  "What do you mean, attached?" Ajalia asked. She ignored Delmar, whose face had crinkled into stern disapproval.

  "You have parts of each other all mixed up inside," Leed said. "And he loves you."

  "Anybody can see that?" Ajalia asked.

  "Anybody with eyes," Leed said.

  "Take this," Ajalia said, pulling the bone chain out of a pocket. "Hide it where no one will be able to find it." Leed gathered the carved bits of bone and gold into his hands.

  "Do you need it back?" Leed asked.

  "Someday," Ajalia said.

  "Okay," Leed said.

  "Hey," Ajalia said. Leed had turned away, but he stopped and looked at her. "Is he all right?" she asked, nodding at Delmar. Leed turned and stared hard at Delmar. Delmar's face grew mottled; he looked at Ajalia, and opened his mouth. Delmar shut his mouth again, and gazed down at the pair of white rocks in his palm.

  Leed looked at Ajalia. He made one brief nod.

  "Maybe not what he says," Leed told her, "but he's okay."

  "Thanks," Delmar said sourly.

  "All right," Ajalia said. Leed put the chain of bones down the front of his shirt; he slid quietly out of the kitchen. Ajalia disentangled her arm from Delmar's grasp, and went out to the stairs.

  "Am I still following you now?" Delmar asked, following her. Ajalia left her hand behind her a little; Delmar grabbed it.

  "We're going to have to move," Ajalia said. A flurry of white shadows spread suddenly over her vision. The sense of illness began to overtake her muscles. She stopped walking for a moment, and leaned up against the stairwell, closing her eyes.

  "What?" Delmar asked, meaning why had she stopped.

  "Tired," she said without opening her eyes. Delmar waited, his fingers wrapped around her hand.

  "Why do we need to move?" Delmar asked.

  "House is too small," Ajalia said. "Not impressive enough."

  "Okay," Delmar said. Ajalia forced the feeling of sickness away; it burbled at the edge of her awareness, alive and threatening. She pressed her fist against the wall.

  "I'm going up the stairs," she said, and did. Delmar let go of her hand, and wandered along behind her. She passed the room where Clare had gone through her long-sleeved shift to find hidden things. She passed the room where Lim had stayed, and where she had found the bone chain, the papers, and the golden knife in the box. She passed the rooms where the little boys clamored, clustered around hoards of food and trinkets they kept in their pockets. She passed the final hallway, and opened the last door before the attic room.

  DELMAR'S ENTANGLEMENT

  She had never been in this room before, except for glancing in to check for slaves. It was a tiny corner space, shoved in betw
een the back wall and the rest of the house. A wooden bed was against the longest wall, and a curious little end table of red wood lay in one corner. Ajalia touched the table; she had not noticed it the first time she had come into the house; it had been there when they moved in. The table had carved legs, and a single narrow drawer; she opened this, and saw that it was empty.

  "Are you staying here now?" Delmar asked. Ajalia sat down on the bed. As soon as she was sitting, the nausea rose up in a wave like a roaring monster; she put her face into her hands. Delmar went out of the room, and shut the door. She gasped when the door had shut; she hadn't realized how hard she had been holding the sensations at bay. She knew she was alone; she felt as though she had never been alone before in her life. She curled into a ball on the coarse blanket, and buried her head in her arms.

  Sparks came over her head and danced in her ears. She opened her eyes, and stared at the ceiling. She could hardly see through the sea of swimming lights that were flashing over her vision. She wanted to throw up, but a twisting sensation in her stomach told her that she wasn't going to.

  Ajalia lifted one arm and examined the bruising that extended from the edge of her palm. She had thought it was impossible for her arms to look any worse, but they looked now as though some animal had been chewing on them recently. The raised scars, which were violent enough, or had been when they had been white and thick, were now beginning to look as though they were going to peel open and bleed again.

  Ajalia pressed a fingertip to the end of her longest scar on her left arm, where she had first put the point of the slave trader's knife into the black brand on her inner arm. As it always had, a cold sharp sensation of dread rumbled in her gut when she touched the scar. The memory of her bleeding arms, bound roughly with old cloths, bleeding and emitting infectious smells, filled up her mind. Ajalia turned her face into the blanket, and made the air come into her lungs.

  The door opened again; she tried to sit up, but her muscles would not cooperate with her. She felt hot and sticky all over. Her left wrist where she had touched the scar felt throbbing with cold.

  Delmar closed the door and sat down next to her.

  "I got your things," he said. He had brought a lamp. Ajalia kept her eyes pressed closed. She turned them against the blanket again; she did not want Delmar to see her cry. She heard the rustle of something being laid down nearby; a muffled roaring was in her ears.