by Cerise Noble
He came into the cell and crouched down beside her, taking my jaw in his big hand. “Marri. Tell her what happened.”
I swallowed hard, and he released me, his gaze a quiet intensity I could feel in my bones. Inexplicably, the weight of it stirred something in my core.
“She followed me on my mission. When I realized that, I kept her close to me. We went to the south gate.” I could feel rather than see Roy tense. “Two men took us out to the place where Simon died. One started to fuck me, and I cut his throat. The other was still fumbling with Katherine's clothing when I cut his. He—” I swallowed hard again, looking anywhere but at the stricken woman's face in front of me. “He bled. All over Katherine.” Jacqueline paled. I hurried on. “I washed her off. In the river. And took her back to the boat. And William beat me. Twice.”
Roy nodded, satisfied. Jacqueline was still distraught.
“How could you?”
Roy stroked her gently. “She killed the man before he could rape Katherine. I think that counts for quite a bit.”
She turned away from me, biting her lip as tears streamed out of her eyes. “How could you even take her to that place?”
He stroked her, murmuring soothing words. Finally he spoke firmly. “Go to Devon. Do not come back to Marri's cell until tomorrow morning.”
She obeyed, but not before sending me a final piercing glance. Roy's eyes followed her out, and then he came back into the cell with me. Without Jacqueline's gentling presence, he felt bigger, scarier. I instinctively drew away from him, my belly tight with fear even as my traitorous cunt responded to his power. He crouched in front of me again. I stared at him, not wanting him to know just how much he intimidated me.
He half-smiled. “So you're the troublemaker. One of the sailors was telling Stephanie how there was a soldier woman on his boat who was the worst troublemaker he'd ever seen.”
I blinked. Fortuna, I am not sure that playing dumb will be the right tack to take with this man. He seems to see too much.
“Yes, sir.”
“When did you last see William?”
When did I, Fortuna? “Some days ago. Maybe as long as a week or a fortnight. I'd have to think back.”
“Where?”
“At the last little dock before Brackish Bay. They told me it was only a day away by boat. It took us several on foot.”
“And Katherine was with him?”
“Yes, sir, he and Amadeus both.”
Roy relaxed a touch. “They didn't disembark with you?”
“No, sir. Why would they? William knew my mission.”
His attention sharpened. “He did? What mission?”
“My mission to prove your defenses were insufficient.”
He stared at me for a long moment, and I had the unsettling feeling he was deciding how to react to me. Then he threw back his head and laughed.
“You sit here in my jail cell and tell me to my face that my House's defenses are insufficient?”
I shrugged. “If William hadn't made me swear not to harm any of your people, I'd have better proof. As it is, I've been on your island twice now without getting caught. I only got caught when I needed to bring Sandra to safety.”
Roy looked at me with new respect. “So you have no fear of killing? The murder of Katherine's would-be rapist was not a fluke, but a skill?”
I shrugged the shoulder with the mercenary tattoo on it. He touched it, gently, as it was only partially covered by the fresh bandages.
“I am a soldier.”
“Who do you belong to?”
“No one. I last belonged to William, because he saved our lives.”
“Our?”
“Dinis's and mine. A fellow soldier who also belongs to him now,” I explained.
“Who set you to this mission?”
“I set myself to it. I was concerned when William described your House and your relatively open borders.”
“You understand why my borders are open, don't you?”
“No, sir.”
“My wife—” He stopped for a moment, swallowing hard and blinking away a sheen that came over his eyes for a moment before continuing more strongly. “My wife, Jessica, wanted this to be a safe haven where people who needed protection could come. This world is harsh.” I nodded. “Those brutal enough to rule, do so. The strong submit, and the weak die.”
I cocked my head. Was he calling those who submit the strong ones, Fortuna?
“Are you brutal, sir?”
He smiled slightly. “When I need to be, yes.”
I remembered Petunia's description of rust, Sarafina's description of the consequences of rule-breaking in this House. “Death for death or excessive damage.”
He nodded. “Yes.” His eyes were approving. “You've learned things.”
“Of course, sir. My mission would not be complete without information.”
“So you understand that you have broken one of our rules and will be punished.”
I swallowed hard. “My information is service enough to atone for any rule-breaking.”
He shook his head. “No. Your information is valuable enough to keep you alive.” I winced. “Had you killed or attacked any of my people, I would accept your information and then you would still be put to death.”
Fortuna, maybe William cared just as much about me as he did the rest of the people in Brackish Bay when he made me swear to his rule.
“I give you my oath, sir, that I have not harmed any of your people.”
“Good. I will check.”
“Of course, sir.” My heart was beating faster than I wished it to, but what could I do? I was bound, my body still far below full strength. “Have you checked the information in the quiver?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“It is none of your concern, other than to know that you will be safest here, in my land, when they attack.”
His words reminded me of my patrol, and I cursed myself for forgetting them. “Sir! My patrol! Are they safe?”
He frowned at me. “Your patrol? Who are they, and where are they?”
“My—they're soldiers from Cinitar who swore themselves into my service as a way to learn more than city-protecting. One was injured. She—I'm hoping all of them have either been captured or turned themselves in to Brackish Bay, as what is coming is far more dangerous to their health.”
“I will check.” To my surprise he stood immediately and left the cell to speak to a man who left quickly. He came back in and sat down, contemplating me. “They will let me know if any strangers have arrived in the last few days.”
“And if they have? Will you grant them protection?”
“It will depend on their behavior.”
I opened my mouth to argue, then thought better of it. Now was not the time. “Thank you, sir.”
“Good girl.”
I blushed from my chin to my hairline and hated that he could make me feel that way from a couple syllables of approval. “And Sandra? Will she be cared for?”
“How did you come by her? You said she was not a soldier.”
“She was one of the slaves to the man who captured me in the forest. One of the enemy soldiers. I helped her escape.”
“Is that the only reason you left the enemy camp?”
I scoffed. “Gods, no. I was on my way out and took her with me.”
“She is terrified.”
I grimaced. “I'm sorry for that. It would have been worse if I'd left her there. Lorenzo was harsh to her. He would have beaten her for my disappearance and probably seriously damaged her, as she could have been the only one other than him to have the combination to my shackles. And she was dying of emotional neglect there.”
Roy raised an eyebrow. “Dying of emotional neglect?”
“She needs to be a one—someone special for her man. Lorenzo had a dozen captive women. She was the senior, but it didn't matter. She was not worth much to him.”
“I'll see what I can do to offer her to men look
ing for a wife.”
I bowed my head, my breath a sigh across my lips. “Thank you, sir.” One down, five to go. “One of my patrol was captured by Rari's people, a tan skinned, brown haired woman named Sami. She needs to be released.”
He snorted. “You don't ask for much.”
“I protect my own.”
“We'll discuss it once I hear the details from Rari.”
“I—”
He silenced me with a look. I closed my mouth. Fortuna, that's strange. I swallowed hard. He changed the subject.
“How are your arms?”
“Sore. But I feel less likely to black out in the middle of this conversation.”
“Good.” He touched my bandages then, examining them carefully and making sure there was no longer any rot in my flesh. I flinched when he touched me, but it was bearable. “I'm going to unbind you now. You will stand up, slowly, and you will stretch your limbs.”
Again, the weight of his voice, of his orders, lay heavy in my belly.
“Yes, sir.”
I waited, then when I felt the tension on the cuffs release, I obeyed. Carefully, slowly, I stood up. He stood with me, a strong hand steadying me. I stretched, the cuts burning and throbbing. I inhaled, pulling air into the deepest parts of my lungs, and with it came the scent of the man in front of me.
Fortuna, that's a dirty trick.
I exhaled, pushing the desire away, pushing the pulse that started between my legs out of my mind. He leaned over and locked my ankle cuffs together with a small lock with a key from a separate ring on his belt. I grunted, annoyed, and he raised an eyebrow. I sulked. He guided me back, and helped me sit down in the corner, my back to two walls.
“Tell me if Jackie comes back before tomorrow morning.”
“What will happen to her if she does?”
“She'll be punished.”
“Why?”
“She belongs to me. She knows better than to disobey me, and if she does, she knows to accept her punishment.”
He left the cell. I leaned my head against the walls and pondered. Fortuna? I know a mother's heart. Maybe he doesn't, or maybe he thinks his word will bind her. Either way, I have a feeling she's going to come back.
They brought me breakfast, and I ate, grateful to be a captive with unbound hands for once. I still had cuffs on, but Roy had left them unlinked. I spent the rest of the day listening to the goings on in the town center. There was the hearing of disputes, and I was gratified to know that they were handled as fairly as possible. There were new immigrants to the city, and that was most interesting, to hear their tales of where they were from, and why they would be useful to the city. They were required to demonstrate a skill, and if they had no skill, they were required to take up apprenticeship with one of the trades masters in the outpost.
I noticed more than a few women wearing the same sort of dress Jacqueline had worn, and wondered at the particular style. It was not something I would chose to wear—open at the sides, chest, and leg, belted with chain or leather at the waist. And then I realized all the women wearing it also wore collars of chain or leather around their throats. I called to one, once, when I was bored.
“Slave!” Her step hesitated, and she turned towards me. I cocked my head. “Slave, come here.” She stopped, facing me, and shook her head slowly. “Who do you belong to?”
She lifted her chin. “My master is Jacob. He is the presiding judge of this outpost.”
“Where did you come from?”
“I earned my slavery through my sloth and theft.”
I stood carefully, and then, using all the skill I'd learned while being captive to the flesh traders, I walked in my bound ankles to the bars. She took a step away. I grinned at her.
“Is that so? And did your slavery cure those faults?”
She flushed red. “My faults are not your concern. I have my master to answer to, and his governor, and that is all.”
“Don't you wish, sometimes, that you could be free?” Shut up, Fortuna, I'm busy instigating.
“Of course I do.”
She wasn't young, but she wasn't that much older than myself. I could see the discomfort in how she wore the dress, in how she fidgeted with the collar without thinking. Newly a slave, then.
“So what keeps you here? Why do you obey? Why do you yield to punishment, to work not of your choosing?”
“I stay because I must. I would die in the world outside the city.”
I considered her for a moment, the softness on her frame, the way she trembled. I let the cruelest smile I could curl my lips up. “Yes, you would die.”
“So. I must obey.”
“Must you? Would the punishment be so very terrible?” And I watched the gears turning. “Perhaps you could state your case and point out why you should not have to continue to do everything as your master wills. I'm sure you've served penance enough for whatever misdeeds you may have committed.”
She stepped closer, considering my words. “Maybe you're right. Maybe I should talk to him.”
A man I didn't recognize came by then, and his expression was distinctly displeased with the women in front of him. I looked up, all innocence.
“What nonsense is she putting in your head, Candice?” He caught the ring in the front of her collar and forced her face around to his. “Jacob will not appreciate you dawdling between chores. Off with you.”
She scampered away, and I raised a cool eyebrow.
“We were having a most enlightening conversation.”
“I'm sure you were.” He opened the door and came in. I stayed where I was. “Let me check your arms.”
I held them up but out of his reach. He closed the space between us and pressed hard on my still painful cuts. I flinched, but did not cry out, even when tears started in my eyes.
“Your truth?” he said.
“My truth is my own. What do you want from me?”
“I want to know what really happened to William, Amadeus, and Katherine.”
“Let me go free, and I will tell you.”
“No.”
I shrugged as much as I was able in his grip. “Then you'll never know.” It's a dangerous game to play, I know, Fortuna.
He stared at me hard for several long minutes, then he set me away from him and slammed the door of my cell as he left. I smirked to myself. What other trouble can I stir up from this space?
It was evening, after supper, after dark, when I was nearly asleep, that Jacqueline came to me. I heard the click of the lock, then felt more than saw her come. I stayed still. Her voice was close to me.
“Devon came to see you, but you did not tell him where they were. I need to know. Please. I'll do anything if you will take me to them.”
A woman after my own heart. “Let me go, and I will find out what happened to them.”
“I can't. I don't have the key to the cuffs.”
“That part doesn't matter. I just need the door to stay open.”
I could feel her rapid heartbeat, her erratic breathing.
“Swear it. Swear on all the gods above and below that you will bring my daughter to me.”
“I swear, on all the gods above and below, that I will bring Katherine to you.”
“Go with god.”
“I go.”
I pushed myself to standing, and walked in the tiny steps permitted by the cuffs to the door. Once there, I didn't hesitate, but kept going, out the cell door, down the hall, and out of the building. I paused just outside the door, wishing I had a longer skirt. I stepped carefully into the back streets until I found laundry still on a line. There I took a skirt, one that covered me to my ankles when I pulled it over the tunic. It would not help me move faster—in fact, it would probably make me even slower—but not being able to see my bound ankles would alleviate a lot of suspicion if someone saw me.
For that matter— I took two kerchiefs; one I tied around my hair, and the other I wrapped over my shoulders, tucking it around my arms to hide both the bandages a
nd the wrist cuffs. Better than nothing. I lowered my head and walked as briskly as I could with the short steps the cuffs forced me into. I alternatively cursed Fortuna for not giving me a way to get them off, and praised her for having given me opportunity to practice walking with my ankles bound before.
I reached the edge of the outpost and encountered a truly beautiful bit of fortune, thank you kindly, Fortuna. There was a horse, tied and unattended, not far from the gate. I could not leap onto her back, but I could lead her to the stairs of a silent building and lean over her back until I could squirm to an upright position, uncomfortably sidesaddle in a regular saddle. She twitched her ears and snuffed at me.
“Come along. Good girl.” I kicked her side, and she began to walk. “Come on. Faster, girl.”
She didn't listen, but it was still faster than I'd been able to walk before. I bowed my head whenever I passed anyone, and came to the gate. Steeling myself, I clicked my tongue at the horse, and she placidly walked through. I concentrated on breathing calmly.
One of the guards called to me in the dark. “Did you find what you were looking for, Anita?”
I answered softly. “Not yet.”
“Pity.” When the light fell fully on me, the man realized I wasn't her. “Hey! Wait! Stop!”
But the horse was accustomed to picking up speed at this point, and I found myself jostled along the back of a cantering horse while men shouted and sounded the alarm behind me. I tucked my knees up against her back and leaned low, holding tight to her mane and the reins.
That was where Fortuna snatched my bit of good fortune out from under me, and I found myself flanked by two soldiers on horseback. One grabbed for my stolen horse's bridle. She seemed to recognize them, and was content to follow as we turned and cantered back to the gate. I was roughly yanked off the horse and bound so tightly with rope I could barely wiggle. I cursed a blue streak while word was sent to Roy. It didn't take him long. Apparently, he'd stayed at the outpost instead of going back to his island.
He crossed his arms and glared at me. “You do realize I was trying to put off giving you a whipping until after your wounds healed me, don't you?”
Still infuriated by my failure to escape, my tone was snippier than perhaps it should have been, given I was trussed like a game bird. “Were you? You didn't say.”