Galatzi World (Galatzi Trade Book 2)

by Robin Roseau

  "Guesses?"

  "Um. Think maybe. Not know. Just maybe."

  "Okay."

  "The day we met-"

  "I was so rude! Try do good job. Governor busy. Aunt Anna tell me everyone try talk Governor. I decide who important. Not understand Vendart's daughter important. Most planets Vendart's daughter spoiled bitch."

  I laughed.

  "You weren't rude. You were..." I tried to find the word. "Severe. Cold. Like a machine."

  She rolled her head away. "Try to do good job."

  I pulled her back to face me. "I know. Friends now." And she nodded. "Also, if English causes headaches, maybe you are cold or even mean at the end of the day. Your head hurts, and maybe you only think about 'no more English'. Maybe go home instead of go out. Not be friend. They might think it's because you aren't nice. But you are nice. They didn't meet the real Maddalyn."

  She worked her way through all that. "Good guesses," she said. "What do I do?"

  "Patience. Time." I smiled. "And being the Vendart's daughter's friend won't hurt, either."

  She laughed. "Powerful woman."

  "You are good at your job. Cecilia told me."

  "No. You take my job."

  "What?"

  She covered my lips. "Job needs Talmonese words. Aunt Anna sent me your job, but I can't."

  "Patience," I said. "Time." I smiled. "And trust Chaladine."

  She returned my smile. "Trust Chaladine." She snuggled against me. "Thank you. Feel better already."

  * * * *

  But finally, and far too soon, her last night arrived; she was to return to Sudden tomorrow, flying out with Erica. I quietly told Cecilia and Sartine we would be eating in, and Maddalyn and I prepared and served dinner for the household.

  Over dinner I asked, "Maddalyn, don't you know how to fly?"

  "I do," she answered.

  "Then why did you need Blaine to fly you here and Erica to fly you home?"

  It took her a second, but then she said, "Oh. I don't have a jumper here. Blaine use jumper from embassy, but too long to keep it here. Erica has one assigned to her."

  "Erica bought that jumper herself. Well, she and Mallory together," Cecilia said. "The Empire transported it, but they paid for it."

  "Yes. I no have jumper."

  "I understand." Inwardly, I smiled. I was about to comment, but then she went on.

  "Also, landings here very difficult. Cecilia not allow fly Indartha until Colonel Blue... um..." She cocked her head, then said, "authorizes that person."

  "Landings here are scary," I admitted.

  She laughed. "For me, too." She cocked her head. "You know I fly. I fly to Beacon Hill."

  "That's right. I had forgotten," I said. "I guess it's the same answer though. You borrowed a jumper for that trip."

  "Yes," she said.

  It was Sartine who got the jump on what I was going to say next. "Maddalyn, your Talmonese is much better than when you arrived."

  It took her a moment to work that through. Sartine's accent was really quite different from mine.

  "Thank you," she replied. She smiled at me. "Chaladine teach me."

  "Chaladine is teaching me," I said. "Or Chaladine taught me."

  She nodded. "Chaladine is teaching me," she said. "You see? She teaches me now."

  "I see indeed."

  "I know not what I do in Sudden." She looked down.

  "It's a shame," I said. I had keyed Sartine and Cecilia on that phrase, and they both grew quiet.

  "Shame?"

  "Um." I turned to Cecilia. "I know you said you wouldn't translate."

  She sighed and gave a German word to Maddalyn.

  "What is a shame?" Maddalyn said.

  "Well, it's a shame you wouldn't consider a galatzi trade."

  I hadn't talked to Sartine about this, and by her reaction, neither had Cecilia. But she didn't say anything.

  "What is a galatzi trade?" Maddalyn asked.

  "It's what Cecilia and Sartine have," I said. "It's what Luradinine wanted with me."

  She looked at Cecilia then to Sartine, then turned to me. "You were so sad. She loves you. You love her. Why didn't you stay?"

  "That is a long story. I'll tell you someday." I shook my head. "A galatzi trade would be perfect for you, but you wouldn't like it."

  "Why not. I like how Sartine treats Cecilia." She grinned. "You really liked how Luradanine treated you. I heard."

  I blushed, but it was true. I had.

  "Why is this trade perfect?"

  "Well, if you were a galatzi wife, then you would learn Talmonese so much faster. You would speak Talmonese all the time, and it would get easy much faster."

  She puzzled through that, and I knew she wasn't getting all of it. Cecilia and Sartine were watching me carefully. I turned to Cecilia. "Governor, I know you said you wouldn't translate, but do you think maybe you could this time?"

  She huffed. "Fine," she said. "I'll translate, but you're explaining." Then she repeated that to Maddalyn. And so, for most of this conversation, I would speak, and Cecilia would translate, and then Maddalyn would speak, and Cecilia would translate.

  And so, slowly, I explained everything. I was only about halfway done when she turned to Cecilia and said, "Sartine owns you?"

  Cecilia nodded.

  But then Sartine and I took turns explaining more. And Sartine explained even more, talking at length about their first time. "I was so stupid," she said at one point. "But she forgave me anyway."

  It took a long time. And then I had to explain why I thought it would be perfect for her. That took more time.

  Finally Maddalyn turned back to me and spoke in her halting Talmonese. "Why you think I not like galatzi trade. Maybe I like lot."

  "No one from The Empire understands. They all think it's slavery."

  Cecilia translated that. Then Maddalyn said, still in Talmonese, "Cecilia isn't a slave. You weren't a slave for Luradinine."

  Cecilia translated that into German, and we all turned to her. "I think Maddalyn knew what she said."

  Cecilia shook her head and covered her face for a moment. "Sorry. I was in the groove." She repeated that in German.

  Maddalyn smiled. "Governor human, too. Good to know." She turned back to me. "Maybe I like."

  "Hmm. Maybe." I turned to Sartine. "Vendart, we should show her. Do you have rope and cloak available. In fact, we need two."

  She eyed me for a moment. "I do," she said finally. "Give me a minute." She rose from the table.

  While she was gone, Maddalyn asked some more questions with Cecilia continuing to translate. Then Sartine returned carrying everything I needed. I stood up, collected one of the ropes, then pulled Maddalyn to her feet. "Governor, if she were caught in a galatzi raid, there would only be Talmonese."

  "Then I won't translate further," she said, but she told Maddalyn what I had said.

  "If I were leading a galatzi raid," I said. "We would catch you when you didn't expect it. Maybe at home. Maybe I would trick you. We would catch you. I would have many friends helping. Maybe you would fight. Maybe you would let us take you." I was sure she understood very little of that, but what was important was that she focus on what I was doing, and my tone.

  She was watching me intently.

  "We would make you cross your wrists." I pulled her hands in front of her and crossed her wrists with the palms up. When I began wrapping the rope around her wrists, she let me do it. She was biting her lip.

  I finished her wrists, then moved behind her. I tied the harness, taking my time, talking quietly the entire time, making promises to her of how she would be treated. When I stepped back in front of her, she was a little flushed and was still biting her lip.

  I stepped close and pulled her hands into position over her head, then moved behind her and bound them there.

  She didn't resist, not even the slightest.

  I moved in front and caressed her cheek. "Lovely," I said. "So beautiful. So helpless."

  I turne
d to collect a cloak, but Sartine already had one waiting for me. She held it out, and I moved behind Maddalyn to drape the clock over her shoulders, tucking everything into place and doing up the buttons.

  I pulled a chair out and then told her to sit, helping her. I tied her legs then caressed her cheek again.

  "Then we would carry you to a buggy and take you away to your new home. After that, you belong to whomever I give you."

  I didn't wait for questions, but I turned to Sartine. "She should see how it looks."

  "I am not letting you tie me."

  "No. You will tie me, just for a few minutes."

  She grinned at that. "All right."

  I cooperated, and soon I found myself sitting in my own chair facing Maddalyn. She was watching with eyes wide open.

  "This is just a tradition," I said. "Cecilia, will you translate again?" She did. "Now we are both tied, and if this were a real galatzi trade, Sartine might give us both away."

  "She not give me to you? We both tied."

  "No. If you were for me, I wouldn't be tied. I probably would have helped to tie you."

  Sartine explained a little more.

  "What if-" Maddalyn said, lowering her eyes. "What if I want to belong to you, Chaladine?"

  "I'm sorry," I said. "The Governor is making arrangements for me." I turned to face Cecilia. "Please explain that further."

  So she did, speaking rapidly in German. The two went back and forth for a while, and I thought perhaps Maddalyn was asking other questions. Finally she turned back to me. "Why?"

  "Talmon needs me," I said. "Talmon needs me to learn... Everything. Like what you taught me about different years. That is just one thing, and you couldn't even teach it all to me."

  "I could teach you all these things," she said. "Just... take time."

  "No," said Cecilia gently. "You can't. No one person can. The math teacher is not the chemistry teacher." Then she said it again in German, or at least I assumed that's what she said.

  Maddalyn turned back. "This is why you didn't stay with Luradinine."

  "Cecilia said I was an idiot," I said. "But she agrees. Talmon needs me."

  "Yes," Maddalyn said. "Talmon needs you." She sighed, and I let her think about it.

  I looked over my shoulder to Sartine. "I think she's seen enough. A galatzi trade isn't for her. Please untie me."

  "Oh, I don't know," Sartine said. "She hasn't seen the entire picture." And I saw she was holding the cloth for a gag."

  "She's seen enough," I said. Then I intentionally spoke poorly, sure that Maddalyn wouldn't understand. "No games, Sartine. Please."

  "Of course," she said immediately. She took her time, but she untied me, setting the rope and cloak aside. But she whispered to me, "Do you know what you're doing?"

  I didn't answer.

  Finally I was free, and I moved to untie Maddalyn, but she pulled away. "No. Not yet."

  "All right," I said.

  She turned to look at Cecilia and said, "Governor Grace, I want galatzi trade. Will you make?"

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  "I have no one on Talmon to trade you to, and I do not have time to make an arrangement for you. If you want a trade of this nature, then you must ask a vendart to arrange it, but I must approve it, and I will only approve it if I am satisfied." Then she said it all again in German.

  Maddalyn nodded, then she smiled. "Vendart Sartine, I wish a galatzi trade. Will you accept me in a trade?"

  "She will not," Cecilia said immediately. "I enjoy having you to visit, but I need you in Sudden. Sartine cannot give you to someone in Sudden, and as your vendart, she cannot give someone from Sudden back to me, either. But if she did, who would I give the trade to? Someone from Indartha?" Then she spoke in German for a while, and I presume it was the same.

  Maddalyn looked frustrated, then looked at the floor. "Please free me."

  Instead, I leaned forward, and lifted her chin. "Do you trust me?"

  "Of course. Yes."

  "I need you to call Cecilia, 'My Vendart'. Two or three times. Talk to her for a minute or two, but call her that." Cecilia translated. And so Maddalyn turned to Cecilia, and I have no idea what they talked about, but I heard her say, 'Meine Vendart' several times."

  I looked at Sartine. "I believe that satisfies the law. Do you agree, Indartha Vendart?"

  "I do," she said.

  "Maddalyn," I said. "I am the daughter of the Sudden Vendart. On this issue, I speak with his authority. Cecilia, please translate." And she did.

  I turned to Cecilia. "Cecilia Grace, as Imperial Governor, you are not vendart over all, but you are vendart of all non-Talmonese living on Talmon. You have the rights and responsibilities thereof. Do you agree?"

  She nodded. "Yes."

  "Perfect. Sudden would like to propose a galatzi trade with you."

  "What trade would Sudden propose?"

  "Sudden would offer the Vendart's eldest daughter in exchange for Maddalyn. It will be the Imperial Vendart's authority to choose who I am given to, as already discussed. It will be the Sudden Vendart's authority to choose for Maddalyn."

  Cecilia shook her head. "You sly fox. You solved half my problem and, I believe, the better part of another problem."

  "Tell her what I said so far. I think I lost her."

  "Not yet." But she spoke very briefly in German. "I have requirements. She needs to become fluent in Talmonese."

  "Look at her improvement in two weeks. Look at how you improved. A year, two at the most."

  "More than that. But yes, I agree." She paused. "Do you have someone in mind?"

  "Yes. She's perfect, but I've been away for a while. I would need to travel to Sudden to arrange this."

  "You've overwhelmed her with this. I want her to have a chance to think about it."

  "Agreed. Two weeks?"

  "Two weeks. I'm going to translate, then I'm going to be a little more formal."

  I nodded.

  She spoke to Maddalyn for a while, and the woman brightened. Finally I heard a single word I had grown to recognize.

  "Ja."

  Yes.

  Cecilia then spoke in Talmonese then immediately translated into German for Maddalyn. "I will welcome this trade subject to restrictions. I require Maddalyn to learn Talmonese. You must only trade her to someone who promises to teach her."

  "Agreed."

  "I require her services. She remains in my employment. She will not be a prisoner."

  "She will be a prisoner for a period of time," I countered.

  Cecilia paused. I was suggesting long enough to transport her, per the tradition. Instead, Cecilia said, "Agreed. She will remain a prisoner until her Talmonese is sufficiently practiced we could have had this conversation in Talmonese, spoken the way you once had to speak to me." She repeated all that, and then she had a conversation with Maddalyn that went back and forth.

  Finally, Maddalyn said in Talmonese. "I agree. I learn. I study hard. I not disappoint again, Vendart Governor Grace."

  At that, Cecilia stood up and walked over to cup her chin. "You could never disappoint me, Maddalyn. I am proud of you."

  "Proud?"

  "Proud."

  She smiled. "We have trade?"

  "Vendart Governor Grace," I said, echoing Maddalyn's phrase, "Sudden agrees to your terms."

  "I'm not done," she said. She took a chair, facing backwards in it with her arms over the back and her chin resting for a moment. "I will not wait forever. I require Maddalyn's Talmonese to improve rapidly. I will give this period one year. If she cannot learn in that time, she isn't going to. I prefer shorter. No later than one year and one day after she is taken, she will be returned to me as my employee, and if I am not satisfied with her Talmonese, then this half of our agreement is void." She smiled at me. "But we're keeping you."

  I laughed. "Agreed." I knew it wouldn't be a problem.

  She spoke to Maddalyn for a moment, and the woman nodded.

  "Anything else, Vend
art Governor Grace?"

  "Yes. Maddalyn is entitled to trips to visit her home, or alternatively, other portions of The Empire, once every three years. She is entitled to bring a spouse with her. The Empire pays transportation costs. Maddalyn must be allowed to take these trips."

  "Agreed."

  "Talmon health care is not to Imperial standards," Cecilia said. "If Maddalyn is with child, or if she contracts any sort of illness, and if Talmon still lags in available medical care, then she must be allowed to travel elsewhere for that care. The Empire pays for this as well. If she is intentionally impregnated, it should be timed around the shuttle schedule, which she knows."

  "I don't understand all of that."

  "If she gets pregnant," Sartine said, "Cecilia wants her to give birth at an Imperial hospital. So don't get her pregnant two days after the shuttle leaves."

  I laughed. "Agreed. Make sure she understand that one, though."

  So Cecilia explained for a while, and Maddalyn nodded. "Ja. Ja. Ja."

  "I will make sure everyone understands as best I am able," I said, "And we will accept your judgment if there is any confusion on this issue, Vendart Governor."

  "I have one more condition. The moment Maddalyn is taken, then my agreement with you is fixed. If you become unavailable for me to take, then I am free to raid Sudden for any two people I want. That could easily mean Margotain and Rordano, but it may not."

  "Two for one?"

  "I am making this trade to have a clear agreement with you, Chaladine," she said. "It would take two of anyone else to match you."

  I laughed. "I'm not sure I agree, but I agree to your stipulation. If I die-"

  "No!" Cecilia said. "Not for that. Other reasons though."

  "All right. If I become unavailable for reasons other than death or similar catastrophe, then you may raid Sudden for two of your choosing, subject to the normal rules of a galatzi raid. I am sure your wife knows the rules, and there won't be misunderstandings."

  "We are agreed," said Cecilia.

  "We are agreed," I replied. We turned to Maddalyn.

  "You have two weeks to think about this," Cecilia said. "Do you understand?"

  "I understand. Now untie."

  And I did.

  * * * *

  That night in our room, Maddalyn turned to me. "Chaladine, it is last night here."