Trained in Blood [Lords of the Expanse 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Honor James

  “Being dead doesn’t exactly rate right up there, Colonel. Believe me when I tell you that living would be the best of the best. However, even I know when to give up and give in.” She was just so damn tired. Exhausted in a way that only torture would bring. They would never know just how close to honestly breaking her they had come.

  Looking sharply to her when she spoke, the unvoiced question clear, Titan sighed quietly and looked away. “The other choice will be marriage to one of the Lords, usually one of the Royal Houses. You will be never allowed to return to your people, you will never be allowed to speak to your people, and you will be made to learn every aspect of our culture and fit in. You will also be required to give the Lord a child or be pregnant within the first year of your marriage. If you are not pregnant within a year on our world you will be publicly flogged and left out for three weeks for any and all of our peoples to do whatever they wish to you without any coverings. At the end of that three weeks, should you still be alive, you will be executed by evisceration and, should that fail to kill you, you will have your head removed.”

  She watched him carefully and nodded. “Considering that I am a trained assassin I seriously doubt that any of the royals would want me as their bride.” She smiled and added, “The Syndicate wouldn’t want me dead. I’m the only child of the last of the Seers. I’m the last of their Seers.” She shrugged. “And yet they put me…” She sat up. “They put me through that training in hopes that I would be given the chance to marry inside of one of the Royal Houses.” She chewed her lip as things began to fall into place. “That is why I had the strict learning of your society. They think that with my breeding, lineage, and what they termed ‘poise’ I would be able to lure one of the older gentlemen.” She smacked her forehead and felt like screaming. “Your idea, Colonel, is a wonderful one and one that I would willingly jump on, but there is not a Lord on your planet that would be willing to marry me, especially now.”

  Lifting a brow at her he had the sudden urge to laugh. She was drunk. Shaking his head he poured her another glass of the liquor and nudged it toward her. It was low, but she seemed so talkative that he couldn’t turn the opportunity down. “How do you know that there is a Lord of my world that would not willingly marry you, my Lady?” he asked, curious as to her thought process on that particular topic. “There are a great many Lords and I’m sure there are some that are looking to regain favor. Taking on a woman such as you, a great task I am sure, would raise them in the eyes of all their peers. Or there are the Lords that just would wish to have a beautiful woman always in their beds to have there for whatever their particular perversions might be.”

  “That last one I can believe.” She took a long drink and let her head fall back once more. “They made sure that my scars didn’t show. Even gave me the injections in my head so that the hypodermic marks didn’t show.” She shrugged and swung her feet up and placed them in his lap. “Courtesy of the electrical floor when I didn’t behave.” They were mangled, hideous really. “But I know no Lord would want me as wife. Mistress maybe, sex slave, as long as I was in chains.” She smirked and shrugged, lying down against the sofa with her feet propped on his lap. “But that’s it and I will not now or ever be someone’s whore. They taught me all the ways of pleasure, but I am still no one’s whore.”

  Pouring her more liquor Titan sat staring at her. She was very open now, odd compared to the very composed female that had regarded him originally. “I know of at least three that would take you to wife, though two of them have odd definitions of the position and I doubt that you would appreciate their predilections. The last is not old nor does he have any unusual quirks that may offend you. In comparison to the other two he is actually very restrained. But, as I mentioned, the Alliance would have to approve such a match and, depending on what other information you have to provide them with you may not get the chance at a life at all. So far what you’ve provided is common knowledge and, in reality, is more propaganda that our people spread in a specifically restricted manner to make other peoples believe that they have information they can use against us.”

  She had never been able to hold liquor well, one of the “trainings” that she was working on. Cracking an eye she shrugged. “Is it common knowledge that the Lord Colonel Mauricio’s wife is with child, and that he has all but stepped up into his father’s place? Is it common knowledge that the Alliance Lords meet every fourth cycle in the basement of a temple ruins on your planet’s south pole? Or common knowledge that the Alliance is seeking a way to counter an illness that was once rampant in your culture and is now shown to have popped up in far-reaching colonies?”

  His lips tightened slightly but he didn’t say anything for a brief moment. “Those are all interesting speculations but they still give me nothing that might save your life and give you a chance with the Lord of choice. That is of course if you wish to even go that path,” he commented. “Are you willing to marry the Lord I spoke of? Or would you prefer to be given to just any Lord if that is to be your fate?”

  “I would if I could, Colonel,” she said with a sigh and turned slightly, eyes closed. She was past exhaustion, more than a lot tipsy, and unable to think clearly at all. “I wish that I could follow your direction, follow your thought about who you think might be willing.” She shrugged a delicate shoulder and smiled a smile of resignation. “But I have nothing to give you to save my life, but at least I will die free and not in the clutches of the Syndicate.” And as she closed her eyes the smallest tear rolled from the corner of her eye and down her cheek.

  Chapter Four

  The tear decided it for him. In that moment everything was crystal clear and he knew he’d ensure she had a life of some kind. “I think it is time for you to retire, my Lady. It has been a long day for you.” And against his better judgment, he got to his feet and picked her up to cradle her against him. She was so light, too light point of fact. She needed more meat on her bones.

  Shaking his head slightly he carried her through the bedroom and, kneeling, he pulled back the covers before laying her down on the crisp sheets. Drawing the covers over her he brushed back a piece of her hair that had fallen across her face. “Rest, my Lady, in the morning many things will be clearer than they are now and hopefully I will have answers for you as well so that you need not worry about what fate may await you upon our arrival on my world. I think though, for all concerned we will slow our voyage to your mother’s world, stall for a time if you will, while I contact the Alliance and see what can be done for you.”

  She nodded and looked up at him and as she watched him her eyes glazed over. “What’s worse is that I see the son I give him. He’s gloriously beautiful.” She was speaking, but her voice sounded distant, almost an echo. “He looks like you, the son.” That information didn’t really register as she spoke. “The son that I would have given was to be the first male Seer in my line.” She smiled faintly and then closed her eyes, turned to her side, and was sound asleep before he could demand any answers from her.

  Stroking her hair gently Titan sat for a moment on the side of the bed just staring at her. Heaving a breath he moved from the room, lowering the lights to the lowest setting, not wanting her to wake in a strange room in the dark. Letting the Major know he wouldn’t be returning to the command deck, Titan sat on the low plush bench in his outer room and began to compose his message to the Alliance. As it was early evening on his world he’d be able to reach them all and, if they convened quickly and put it to vote, he’d know before she woke in the morning. Her sleepy words had sealed her fate in his mind and, as he wrote, he kept that at the forefront of his thoughts. One way or another, Violet Macy’s life was going to be in his hands.

  She slept dreamlessly. She slept far more peacefully than she had ever imagined she would. It was the combination of exhaustion, fear, and the new feeling of safety that had her sleeping through the night and into the late morning. When she finally opened her eyes she looked around with a slight frown and rose to t
he side of the bed. Her head hanging down low she pushed to her feet and started for the very, very much-needed bathroom and shower.

  Going through his ship reports the next morning he lifted his head at the sound of the sonic shower starting up and, with a quick word into his ear piece, breakfast was heading their way. Moments before she shut the shower unit off breakfast was set on the table and he was back with his reports. Very early that morning he’d gotten a message from the Alliance and it had been exactly what he’d wanted to hear. “Good morning, there is lots of food so help yourself,” he said as he stood, pulling out a chair on the opposite side of the table for her as she came slowly out of the bedroom.

  She was dressed in the clothes that he had laid out for her the night before. “Thank you. I think that the drugs are finally working their way out of my system and I can feel every single one of them as they do that.” She finally looked up. “Thank you, Colonel.” She shifted on her feet as if not comfortable with the situation. “Did you sleep?”

  “For an hour,” he told her as he retook his own seat and pulled the covers off the five separate trays. “They may have overdone the amount of food required so only eat what you can,” he advised, setting the covers aside. “As our cooks only have men to make meals for they appear to have been slightly excited about showing off for a Lady in our midst.” Waving a hand at everything he looked to her. “Dig in,” he suggested before he went back to reading the reports and making notes, sending them back for revisions or signing off on them as he drank his meal supplement with the required amount of blood, the supplements ensuring the blood couldn’t be scented.

  She slowly began to dig into the dishes and grinned. “That’s very nice.” Once she had her plate half-full she asked the question she had glimmering in her eyes. “All right, Colonel.” She leaned back in her chair and folded the napkin in her lap. “How much longer do I have to live? I would like to know so that I can hopefully live each day that I have left to the fullest.”

  Lifting a brow at her question he set the data pad down on the table and sat back in his seat. “Direct,” he said. “I must applaud you for that. As to how long you have to live, that depends upon you, my Lady. You have two options that I will present to you with equal detail and you must choose one of them. I have contacted the Alliance and from what I told them of the situation they are in agreement with both choices though they did have a third that was less than acceptable but, if you wish I will present that as well.”

  “All right.” She grabbed the juice in the glass and started to drink. “Would you please begin them now? I don’t think that I could possibly eat without knowing what my future will be, Colonel.” Placing the juice down carefully she took up her fork in her hand and began to slowly cut up and begin to eat.

  “Option one is that you marry a Lord that has already been predetermined and bear a child or be with child within the first year of your marriage. You will need to fully integrate to your new life, you will need to be a good wife to the Lord chosen, and he will report at the end of the year to the Alliance.” Watching her for a moment as she ate he waited as she digested that piece of news.

  She listened to him and finally nodded. A part of her mind floated over something. She wasn’t sure what though. As she watched him she could almost see him proudly holding a small boy who looked so much like him, a son that had laughing and teasing eyes that danced with delight, and a part of Violet’s heart clenched as she wished she could see that in reality. “So become a brood mare,” she snarked out blithely.

  “Option two is that you will be pronounced a prize of war and stripped of all rights under our laws as a female. You will be auctioned off to the highest bidder for whatever the buyer might wish. You will have no choice in the matter, you will not be able to complain to anyone of whatever is done, and you will never leave whatever house you end up in,” he said, folding his hands in his lap.

  “Right, so become someone’s slave,” she grumbled but continued to look at him, seeing the child in his arms and wondering why it seemed so familiar to her.

  “Option three,” he began after a moment of just watching her, “is that you will be executed according to our laws as a spy in times of war. It will be public, it will be bloody, it will be humiliating, and it will be very final. Our executioners can keep a person alive for well over a month. During that time you will be stripped naked, put in what is known as the shackles and any man, woman, or child will be able to do anything and everything to you in front of whatever crowd gathers. After two weeks of that you will be laid out and parts of you will be removed until you are just barely alive at which time they may or may not take measures to keep you in that state for an undetermined time or until they are satisfied before your head is removed in public and a publicized display to all our enemies as to what will happen should they cross us.”

  She nearly fell out of her chair as she looked at him. Shaking her head she said, “Right, so we can mark number three off because I really do want to live, Colonel. I want a life, and not to die like that.” Her fork down now, appetite gone she sighed. “Number two doesn’t appeal to me at all so it is number one, Colonel.” She licked her lip and looked down at her hands before looking back up at him. “The Lord that the Alliance has chosen, is he a good man?”

  “Some say he is and others say not so much, but I suppose that can be said about any man depending upon who you ask. But I would say, from what I know, you will have no hardships with him. You will not be mistreated in any manner and you will, if you wish to do so, have a full and fulfilling life,” Titan told her honestly. “Whatever your choice is, my Lady, I suggest you think on it for a time before you fully decide as you will not know the name of the Lord you will be wed to until after you have signed the agreement.”

  “I’m sorry, Colonel, but there isn’t anything to think about.” The wan smile was there as she tried to force herself to eat. “If the Lord in question will have me, I would prefer option number one.” She let out a sigh and shrugged. “The question isn’t if I would accept him, Colonel”—she chewed the bite in her mouth—“but if he would accept me.”

  Picking up a second data pad he passed it to her. “You may read through the agreement and sign”—he handed her the stylus—“at the bottom. There are red tags along the page that you should initial at if you are in agreement. Once you are done the intended Lord will do the same and then it will all be sent to the Alliance and it will be considered done. There will be a small ceremony before them for legality’s sake, but from the moment you sign the agreement you will be his wife by our laws.”

  She took the stylus and began to read through the agreement and frowned. “This isn’t giving the Lord of choice very much from the considerable wealth that is a part of my dowry.” She shrugged and then smiled. “It’s okay though. The ties can be completely cut this way. Can I make the arrangements through the Lord of choice to have my dowry given to the needy on my home world?” she questioned as she began to sign her name and then initial the proper places. Pushing it back to him she smiled. “At least I have a good marriage breakfast, right?”

  “You will have to discuss it with the Lord in question but I doubt he will have much need for the money and he will likely approve of whatever choices you should make with your money as it will remain yours,” he commented as he appeared to read through the document. After a moment he started to sign off quickly before doing a big swoop at the bottom of the agreement. Getting to his feet he went to the door and passed it to a guard. “Have the major send that via secure channels to the Alliance and have him also alert them that the marriage contract is complete and upon our return the Lady and I will have our ceremony for official purposes.” Closing the door he walked back to the table, sat, lifted his glass, and went back to work once more as he drank. “You should finish your marriage breakfast.”

  She looked at him and was at a toss-up of what she wanted to do. It was either hit him, or hug him. She wasn’t sure which. “You knew.
The whole time, even when you brought it up last night you knew, didn’t you?” Part of her was hurt, hurt because he hadn’t told her, but part of her stood up and applauded because that was actually really well done of him. “All right, husband.” The sweet tone should have been the alert to him that the next words wouldn’t be appreciated but they were stilled as she once more had a vision. Her eyes clouded over and her hand gripped the knife she was holding so tightly that she drew her own blood. “You will be given a son within nine months.” She breathed in a voice not her own. “If you can keep him and his mother alive that is. Death is coming. The dealer of Death wants their pound of flesh and has set its sights on the Seer who is Killer.”

  Frowning at her he set the glass down and leaned forward in his chair. “Violet.” He said her given name sharply to bring her back. “Are you all right?” he asked with real concern though only a little came through his voice, his “training” likely holding him back. Reaching out, he hesitated and then he put his hand palm down on the table before he could touch her. “Violet?” He said her name once more.

  She turned to him and the laugh that escaped her lips was not her own. “Be wary, Warrior, the fate of your son and the woman who will hold your heart will be in your hands.” When she blinked out she felt ill and leaned forward, her hand sliding forward and touching his, and then lacing her fingers with his as she said, “That one hurt.” They never hurt, but that one did.

  He’d stilled, completely, at the first brush of her skin to his and had flinched slightly. He’d been taught that touch was to bring pain and it did, even though it was only psychological now. Fighting the urge to pull back from her sharply he instead rubbed his thumb lightly over her finger. He knew what she’d been saying and why. He knew of the Seers if only in theory, having never met any of the rare breed. The fact that she was one gave him an odd sense of pride and absolute terror. “You should lay down, my Lady,” he said in a soft tone. “You are rather pale.”