Zeik dismounted, then reached up and pulled Allegra off the horse. The dodecahedron in her pocket jabbed her thigh as the tunic hiked over her leg. Zeik put her on her feet, and for a moment he kept holding her, even though she was neither falling nor fighting.
The sentry jumped down and handed his reins to the stable boy. As the youth led away the horses, Zeik took her arm. “Come. The General is waiting.
No! She balked, refusing to move. Zeik jerked her, and she stumbled a few steps. When she held back again, he and the guard took her by the arms and dragged her forward until she managed to pull her feet beneath her. They stopped in front of the tent, and the sentry went on inside, leaving Zeik and Allegra waiting.
Please. She tried to say it, but even she couldnt decipher the noise she made. She looked up at Zeik and willed him to relent, to show mercy, to take her away from here.
“Your eyes are as big as moons, he said, his voice strained. He cupped his hand around her cheek.
A tear ran out of her eye. Please dont do this.
“Ach, he muttered. “Dont look at me that way.
The sentry opened the tent. “You can bring her in. He lifted the flap and stepped aside.
Zeiks expression hardened, and he pushed Allegra through the entrance as if he were angry at her for his own compassion. The light wasnt bright inside, but after so long in the dark, she had to squint. The reek of scorched hemp saturated the air. Three men sat around a low table, studying maps and other parchments. A torch burned in a stand behind them, lighting their area but leaving the rest of the tent in shadow. She recognized all three: Generals Yargazon and Ardoz and Colonel Bladebreak. As Yargazon looked up, Zeik saluted, his fist turned up to the sky.
“Well done, Lieutenant, Yargazon said. “Excellent work. He indicated a pole that held up the roof to Zeiks left. “Put her there. Then he returned to his meeting.
Zeik took her to the pole and shoved her down on her knees. Crouching behind her, he worked on the thongs binding her wrists. When he freed them, she tried to bring her arms in front of her body, but he pulled her hands over her head. By the time she realized what he intended, he had stretched her arms tight and bound her wrists to a metal loop jutting out from the pole above her.
Dont, she tried to say. It hurts.
He avoided looking at her as he pulled her calves so she was sitting with her legs bent to the side. He tied her ankles to a metal loop jammed into the ground. She felt ill when she saw the blood that stained the rugnear her big toe.
“Stop looking like that, he said in a low voice. “Your spells wont work on me. He hesitated, then pulled her tunic down, over her thighs. The cloth was too torn to cover much, especially with her arms pulled over her head, but his gesture of kindness made another tear roll down her cheek.
Zeiks face contorted as if he were in pain. “Im sorry, he muttered. When he reached up to her hands, for one incredible moment, she thought he would free her. But he was only checking the knots around her wrists. He pulled one, securing it perhaps. Then he stood up and turned toward Yargazon.
The General glanced up. “Thank you, Lieutenant. He inclined his head. “Im pleased. You will be rewarded.
“Thank you, sir.
Regret showed on Yargazons face. “We will hold a memorial for those who lost their lives tonight. Their sacrifice in rescuing the atajazid will be remembered. If you would like to speak for them?
“Sir, yes, I would, Zeik said. “Thank you.
“Very well, Lieutenant. You may go rest. The hint of a smile touched his expression. “Its well deserved, young man, and weve a few hours before we fight at dawn.
Zeik saluted and left the tent, accompanied by the sentry. Allegra felt as if her last hope of mercy had vanished. Not that she had really believed he would help her. But at least he had shown remorse. Watching the officers conferring with Yargazon, she wondered if they even cared what the General would do to her. She had thought Ardoz might, but neither he nor Bladebreak even acknowledged her presence. Perhaps they truly did think her evil.
Although she was too far away to hear all of their war council, she caught some. Their forces had occupied the palace in Quaaz, but the Taka Mal army continued to fight. Carrier birds had taken news of the invasion to Cobalts forces in Jazid, and many Jazidian soldiers had deserted that army to join Yargazons fugitives. Tonight Jazid and Taka Mal had called a temporary truce. They were waiting to see what would happen with Aronsdale and Harsdown, and for the arrival of the extra men from Jazid.
They also talked about the suicide raid. They had known it had little chance of success and that it violated accepted codes of war. They had been willing to try anyway, for if it had succeeded, the sun would have risen on a very different world. Ozi could have been close to becoming ruler of all the settled lands.
Yargazon finally set down the map he was holding and rubbed his eyes. “Its been a long night.
“So it has, Bladebreak said. “But when the men realize His Majesty has returned, it will improve morale.
“There is that. Yargazon rose to his feet with the others.
They spoke for a bit about inconsequential matters, and then Ardoz and Bladebreak bid him good-night. Ardoz glanced at Allegra as he and the colonel were leaving the tent, and a frown creased his face. He turned back to Yargazon. “Be careful with her, Dusk. Markus doesnt want her interrogated.
“Dont worry, Yargazon said. “Shell be fine.
Liar! Allegra thought. When Ardoz nodded and left the tent, she cried, Come back! but even she barely heard her muffled call.
Yargazon stretched his arms and rubbed the small of his back. He turned almost lazily toward Allegra. “So, he said. “The witch comes home.
Dont, she thought. She was having trouble breathing.
He came over and sat next to her with one leg stretched out and the other bent at the knee. Leaning his weight on one hand, he traced his finger up the inside of her elbow. With her wrists pulled over her head, her sleeves had fallen down to her shoulders, leaving her arms bare.
“Youre quiet tonight. Good. He touched her neckline. “This rag, however, offends me.
Dont hurt me, she thought, knowing it was futile.
He dropped his hand to his belt and pulled a dagger out of its gold sheath. As she stared at the knife, blood drained from her face. With methodical, relentless motions, he slit the neckline of her tunic, then ripped the cloth down her front. He cut off the sleeves and pulled away the scraps until none remained. Then he sat, his gaze traveling over her body.
“Ive wanted to do that since I first saw you, he said.
Her face flamed. She instinctively tried to pull her arms down to cover herself, but she could do nothing. He dropped the remaining rags of her tunic in a pile, and she saw the pocket that hid the dodecahedron. Unreachable.
Yargazon pointed his dagger at a structure half-hidden in shadow across the tent. “Do you see whats up there?
She squinted into the dark, but she could make out no more than a framework with a row of shapes along its top, cups or bottles perhaps.
“Theyre hourglasses, he said. “One hour each. Do you know how many are there?
She shook her head, and a curl fell into her eyes.
“Sixteen, he said. “One for each hour you left me chained. He picked up her curl and twirled it in his fingers, then deliberately let it fall back into her eyes. “You will pay for that. Folding his hand around her breast, he pinched her nipple. Then he leaned forward and kissed her cheek, his lips brushing the strap of her gag. “Sixteen hours for sixteen hours, he murmured.
No! Clenching her teeth, she wished she did have the power to curse him. May you lose everything youve ever cared about. Everything you love. The war. Markus. Ozarson. Everything.
Yargazon sheathed the dagger. Then he rose to his feet and walked to the row of hourglasses. He took one and turned around, holding it up so she could see. “The first hour, he said. He flipped it over and set it on a table where she could see it better. Sa
nd began to pour from the upper into the lower half.
As the General walked back to her, Allegra flattened herself against the pole and wished she could shrink into it where he couldnt follow.
He stopped in front of her and looked down as he unbuckled his leather belt. “You may belong to him, he said, his voice low and angry, “but Im the one who controls you. He pulled the sheathed dagger off his belt and dropped it on the ground. “I will own you, Allegra, despite what those marriage documents say, because after tonight, you will know Im the one who has claimed your spirit.
Then he swung the belt.
The sand poured, and Allegra cried. She tried to distance herself from Yargazon and his swings, tried to think of Aronsdale, rolling green hills, her friends, Prince Aron, kindnesses she had known or of Markuss gentler side, instead of the violent warlord who wanted to conquer her in the same way he sought to conquer the brutal land that had forged him in the crucible of its merciless sun.
At one point, after Yargazons blows had become especially violent, he took a long breath and stepped back. Sitting on a crate, he leaned against a pole behind it, the belt hanging loose in his hand while the clenched set of his features eased. He closed his eyes, and his body relaxed for the first time that night.
Allegra breathed in ragged gasps, fighting for air, her face wet with tears. When she realized he had fallen asleep, relief surged through her. She didnt know what he would do to her for sixteen hours, but surely if he kept this up, she wouldnt survive.
Yargazon eventually lifted his head and rubbed his eyes. The intensity came back into his gaze as he watched her shuddering by the pole. Then he went to the shelf with the hourglasses. The first one had run out, so he took the second and lifted it so she could see. Then he flipped it over and set it on the table with the sand running. He returned to the pole
And swung his belt.
Her existence narrowed to each moment, one after another. She withdrew deep within herself, seeking a place where nothing could reach her, none of the cruelty that stamped this world.
A call came from outside the tent. “Sir?
Yargazon lowered his arm, the belt hanging from his hand. He wiped his other arm across his forehead, blotting the sweat from his exertions. Allegra shook with silent thanks for the reprieve.
The General strode to the entrance and swept aside the flap. “What is it?
“A messenger arrived, a man outside said. “With a scroll from Emperor Cobalt.
“Bring it in, Yargazon said, moving aside.
The man who entered wore black armor and a heavy sword across his back. He handed Yargazon a scroll and stood waiting while the General read it.
“So. After rolling up the scroll, Yargazon tapped it against his fingers. “It looks like no one is sleeping tonight. He walked over to Allegra and looked down at her. “Cobalt is willing to trade Markus for you and Drummer. How absurd, to think I would send back the wife of the prince regent.
Die, she thought. Have a terrible convulsion and die in agony. She knew too little about Jazid to know whether Yargazon had overstepped himself, but she couldnt imagine he could do this to the prince regents wife. He was betting on his irreplaceable value to control Markuss anger.
You cant control him, she thought. Yargazon had misjudged Markus this time. Maybe he couldnt understand the prince, for Markus acted differently with him than with other people. He didnt want to appear weak to the General. But Markus wasnt Ozar Onyx.
Yargazon turned to the other man. “Is the messenger from the emperor still here?
“Yes, sir.
“Good. I will speak to him. Yargazon sheathed his dagger on his belt and fastened the belt around his waist, once again the General in perfect array. He crossed the tent to his shadowed wall of time and set the second hourglass on its side, stopping the flow of sand. Glancing at Allegra, he said, “Well finish when I return.
With that, he strode from the tent.
Allegra sagged against the pole, so relieved that she wanted to laugh, then cry. Then she wanted to rage. She yanked on the cords binding her wrists
And they slipped.
Allegra froze. She looked up at the knot, the one Zeik had tightened before he left. At least she thought he had tightened it. Yet now it was coming apart.
Her pulse jumped. She yanked on the bonds over and over, and with each pull, the knot slipped a little more. When it finally unraveled, her arms fell into her lap. Her muscles hurt from being held in one position for so long, but she ignored the ache as she attacked the restraints on her ankles. They were tighter than the ones on her wrists, but Zeik hadnt pulled them as secure as possible, either. Thank you, she thought to his image in her mind. Thank you, forever.
As soon as her feet were free, she grabbed the dodecahedron out of her tunic pocket. But the wretched gag silenced her. Metal clasps were embedded in the ball of leather, with straps that pulled around her head, under her hair and locked in the back. She couldnt pull the leather out of her mouth or the strap over her head, and without her voice, she had no spell.
Allegra ran to the nearest chest and opened the top. Scrolls filled it. She kept searching, fast and furious, knowing Yargazon could return any moment. She found a chest with his uniforms and put on one of his shirts, hiding the dodecahedron in its pocket. She went through more chests, throwing out contents, until she found a shaving blade. Clenching the hilt, she ran to the back of the tent and hacked a hole, then pushed through it, out into the night.
She ran past dark tents, trying to ignore the pain from the welts on her body and lacerations on her feet. She found a row of supply carts and crouched behind them, straining to breathe. Then she went to work on the gag. The lock mechanism wouldnt release. The strap consisted of metal strips, so it couldnt stretch over her head, and the knife wouldnt cut it. She used the tip of the blade to dig through the strap that held the ball in her mouth, gouging the place where a stud held the leather in place. She hacked at it, striving to shred the gag without hurting herself.
Finally! The stud fell out of the leather. With a gasp, she yanked the gag out of her mouth and threw it on the ground. She gulped in air, nearly choking with her need to breathe.
Calm down. She took a steadying breath, then pulled out the dodecahedron and clenched it as she marshaled her thoughts. What spell to use? She couldnt put everyone here to sleep. They probably had precautions in place now, too. It was easy to counter her spells; they had only to shut out her voice. The last time, she had needed to affect a few people, walk a short distance while putting people around her to sleep and sing in the desert. Even that had drained her. She still hadnt fully recovered. Now she didnt know who to put to sleep, and she had only one chance. If her spell didnt succeed, she would do no more than warn Yargazon about her escape.
Allegra rested her forehead against the big wheel of the cart. In an act of mercy Zeik probably considered weakness, he had given her a hope of escape. But she had no resources. She could barely walk. She needed water and sleep. She was deep in a camp with many sentries. Tomorrow they would resume fighting the Taka Mal army, which hulked somewhere out in the basin. She had nowhere to go, no place to turn, and if Yargazon caught herNo! She couldnt go back to that nightmare.
Ozarson was here somewhere. Could he protect her? Allegra hesitated. She had kidnapped him. He later came willingly, but this army was the closest he had to a home. He would be horrified if he knew what Yargazon was doing to her, but despite his title, she doubted he could stop the General. Too many complications existed in Ozis life, as the atajazid and now, saints forbid, as the conquering sovereign in Taka Mal. He was vulnerable. Brave, yes, and intelligent. But he was only nine. If she sought him out, the General would retaliate against her, possibly even in subtle ways against Ozarson.
Drummer was here, too. Bile rose in her throat as she recalled the blood in Yargazons tent. She couldnt heal Drummer; she wasnt a blue mage. But she could ease his pain and help him escape. If he could walk. It was probably a stupid
idea; she couldnt even escape herself. But she needed to do something.
Demoralized, Allegra closed her eyes. Then she took a breath and sang, her voice soft, a ballad about green hills and sunlight. She wove a gold spell to keep anyone nearby asleep so they wouldnt catch her, and a green so she could search for Ozarson and Drummer. King Jarid had called his wife using a green spell, so it had to be possible to find a person that way, though she had no idea how.
Her spells wavered. The dodecahedron had too many sides, and she couldnt grasp its power. She lost her grip and the spells faded. She hurt so very, very much, and Yargazon had barely started with her. He wouldnt let her die, but that only meant hour after hour of pain. Nor did she know how far he would go. The marriage contract had gone on at great length about how Markus could kill any man who slept with her. But Yargazon had an army at his disposal, and he had spent decades building his power base. If he wanted the prince regents wife, she wasnt certain even Markus could stop him.
“Please, she whispered. “Help me. But no one was here to answer. She had only herself.
Focus! She concentrated on her spells and her power swirled, more than she had ever wielded. But she couldnt quite grasp it. Nothing was distinct. It was as if she stood on the shore of a lake and tried to hold the water. The spells ran through her fingers.
A sense of someones pain trickled past her, but without a warriors hard edge. This was a gentler mind. Vulnerable. Then she knew. Like recognized like. She had touched another Aronsdale mage.
Allegra climbed to her feet, hanging on to the cart. The surge of energy that had driven her escape from Yargazons tent was gone, leaving exhaustion. She leaned over the cart while her head swam. Then she took a step toward that faint sense of recognition. Pain stabbed her feet, and she crumpled against the wheel. Gritting her teeth, she pushed away from the cart and hobbled behind a line of tents. Cold wind ruffled her black shirt, and silver braid on the shoulders and cuffs glinted in the starlight. The shirt came to midthigh, with the sleeves dangling past her hands. She heard the clank of a sentry on patrol and barely ducked down behind a barrel of water before he walked past. Then she went on, searching for Drummer.
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