Another loud animal noise, this one closer, trumpeted to the right. She’d never heard anything like the noise—it was a trill and a horn all at once. A moment later she saw it.
Twenty tall, leggy animals plodded along the desert sands. Their long necks ended in narrow, almost attractive faces. Whiskers dotted their noses, and thick lashes surrounded their big eyes. The animals themselves didn’t appear dangerous, but the men riding on them were another thing. Large wraps surrounded their heads and tunics were belted at the waist. Long pants and boots that rose to the knees protected their bodies against the heat and sand. On Magonia, men donned similar attire. Several men walked alongside the animals, guiding them with harnesses and leads.
Mangalor returned from the desert. “They are here.”
Taris laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. “We could have figured that out for ourselves. Where were you?”
The man looked sheepish. “Talking with their leader. He wants the woman.”
The woman. Mangalor stared at her, so she couldn’t mistake his meaning.
“Very well. How much will he give me for her?” Taris asked.
The man whispered an amount in Taris’ ear. Taris grinned. “For sight unseen?”
Mangalor looked extremely pleased with himself. “For sight unseen.”
Taris smiled. “How extraordinary.”
Xandra’s stomach tossed. Dizziness threatened to claim her. She couldn’t fade now. She needed to stay alert and capable of fighting.
“There’s one problem,” Mangalor said.
Taris’s self-assured grin faded. “What?”
“He wants us to bring her into camp and then leave. A courier will bring our money back here to us.”
“Bugger that!” Taris laughed. “Is he fuckin’ crazy?”
Mangalor’s stoic expression didn’t change. “Very possibly.”
Taris licked his lips. Xandra searched his eyes and saw one thing she recognized. Uncertainty. She’d experienced his wrath, his insincerity, his adherence to the strongest and most condemning Magonian laws and religious beliefs. Yet despite his certainty, she recognized discomfort when she viewed it.
“Let’s do it,” Taris said.
On the edge of a precipice, she tottered in fear and an overwhelming desire to cry. She swallowed hard. One way or the other, she’d find her way out of this mess and back to Rayder. She could never return to Magonia. Never. A pang of deep regret tugged inside her. She wanted to see her old home, yet she despised the idea. A vision of her last moments in her old home kept her from moving.
Blood. Everywhere.
Her parents’ bodies.
The destruction caused by this man.
Nausea rose in her throat. Tears stung her eyes.
“Let’s move it.” Taris gestured forward. “With any luck, when I sell you, Rayder Tyrus will never see you again.”
To her despair, she realized that she feared it too.
Chapter Twenty
“We have enough supplies, I think,” Rayder said to Marc. “Enough to appease Aramus right before we kill him.”
Marc stood outside his fortress with Rayder. Rayder’s contingent of men had backpacks filled with supplies and awaited orders as they stood down the hill from the entrance to Marc’s compound. They’d considered taking Marc’s dragon, but Marc decided he’d keep the dragon there to stay on guard. The dragon was sleeping in his building, but they knew at the slightest hint of danger to the complex, the dragon would come out with a vengeance.
“Good.” Marc planted his hands on his hips. “When do you want to head back to the Beast?”
Urgency hummed inside of Rayder. “As soon as possible.” Rayder felt Marc’s scrutiny and met the other man’s critical gaze. “I don’t like leaving Xandra there alone.”
“Yet you did.”
Regret burned in his gut but it made no sense. “I should have brought her with me.”
“Because you think you could protect her in the jungle?”
Rayder sniffed and shook his head. “I don’t know if I could protect her any better than leaving her on the ship. But my instincts tell me something is wrong.”
“You left her on a ship with slavers like me.”
“They aren’t like you.”
“I am flattered.”
“They are worse.”
Marc’s eyebrows popped up. “You are right. They are. You wouldn’t have asked for my help if you knew otherwise.”
Rayder shoved a hand through his hair. “It is time to destroy Aramus.”
Marc hefted his own backpack from the ground. “We never discussed who gets his ship.”
Rayder had known, from the time he headed out on this venture. “You and your men. But you must promise to give safe passage to the women. Send them back to Magonia if they wish to go.”
Marc’s eyes sparkled with a form of amusement, but then humor faded. “You really aren’t the man everyone thinks you are.”
Rayder didn’t care. “It doesn’t matter to me. I wanted to return the women to their land. I won’t compromise on that.”
Marc nodded. “You have my word. And you know my word is my honor.”
“Do slavers have honor?”
“This one does. Forgive yourself for what happened to Aknada, Rayder. We both have to forgive ourselves or we’ll pay for it the rest of our lives.”
Regret continued to torture Rayder, burning in his gut. “Why would you need to forgive yourself?”
Marc shook his head. “Because…” He swallowed hard. “It doesn’t matter now.”
Rayder wanted to ask more, but decided they didn’t have time. “Let’s go.”
Marc nodded and headed down the hill. They came to a complete stop, though, when Rayder saw a familiar figure stumbling out of the jungle.
“By the god.” Rayder said.
“Who is it?”
“Phili from the ship.” Fear spiked high inside Rayder. “Admiral Aramus’ concubine.” Rayder ran toward her.
Marc followed and when they reached Phili, Rayder saw her condition more clearly. Her face was streaked with dirt and her clothes torn. Phili’s long hair lay in lank dark strands against her body. She was breathing hard and gazed at Marc as if he’d sprung from the earth as a monster. Yet she looked strong and capable, carrying a pack and a sword.
“What are you doing here?” Rayder asked.
“I escaped the Beast.” Phili didn’t look confident for once. She seemed suddenly fragile, her body quivering with exertion.
“You’ve been running. You must have left the ship not long after me,” Rayder said.
Phili allowed her sword arm to drop. She glanced around at the variety of people moving about the grounds outside Marc’s fortress. “It’s a long story.”
“Explain.” Rayder wouldn’t take Phili’s shite. “And make it quick. I do not have time for this.”
“I didn’t know if I’d make it. I thought man or beast might kill me along the way.” She smiled and wiped her hand across her forehead. “I am free.”
“How did you escape?” Rayder asked.
“I’ve been planning to escape since I knew we were coming into this last port.” Phili lifted a water skin off the leather strap she’d secured over her tunic in the form of a belt. She gulped a significant amount of water. “I’m finding my own way from now on. You’ve always been respectful of the slaves. Not me so much.” She gulped and took a shuddering breath. “But I deserved that. I haven’t made it easy to respect me, but I knew you’d want to know and I had to find you. Xandra’s been kidnapped by the man who was once betrothed to her.”
Surprise and fear jolted Rayder with a punch to the stomach. He sucked in a breath. “What?”
“Yoanda has been skulking today and seemed to be up to something. I didn’t trust her.” Phili grunted. “As if I ever have. After you left, I followed her and saw her go into your cabin. Not long after two men I’d never seen before knocked on the cabin door and Yoanda let them in. I
knew something was terribly wrong.”
Rayder’s stomach tumbled. “What happened?”
“At first I didn’t do anything.”
“Why the hell not? Is because you don’t like her?”
Phili made a short, sharp laugh. “I do like her. That’s why I am here. I was planning to leave the ship anyway while we were docked. I’m tired of being that wanker Aramus’ concubine.”
“Get on with it.” Rayder practically hissed the words.
Phili scowled. She lifted one hand to her mussed hair. “The men working around me weren’t paying any attention to strangers on the ship. Several were grinning to themselves, as if they knew what was happening. Maybe they were paid off. The men came out not long after, and this one fellow carried her over his shoulder. No one said a damn thing. I got the idea really fast that no one was going to help her. I grabbed the pack I’d stowed away and ran after them. I stayed well back because I knew they might see me. They’re on the edge of the jungle where the desert meets. I ran on. I didn’t know if I’d even find you or how I’d find you.” Her eyes looked haunted. “Nearly got eaten by this winged thing. I think it was a dragon.”
Rayder’s suspiciousness ate away at any trust. “And by shear dumb luck you found us?”
“No. I ran across a husband and wife traveling to Imekland. When I asked where I could purchase supplies, they told me this place and Felican Castle farther west. Here I am.”
Rayder’s jaw clenched as he tried to shove aside any sympathy he felt for the ragged woman. He always believed women should be treated well, and she had come here to tell him about Xandra. “Did you hear where Taris Elian plans to take Xandra?”
Phili shook her head. “No.”
Rayder turned to Marc. “Forget my plan. I must go after Xandra.”
Marc nodded. His eyes grave. “I’ll come with you.”
Surprise kept Rayder silent for one moment. “No. You have to take the Beast. Make it your ship.”
Phili’s eyes widened. “You’re taking the ship from Aramus?”
His gaze intent on Marc, Rayder continued. “I never intended to make the ship mine. You know that.”
But Marc didn’t seem to care. He clamped a hand on Rayder’s shoulder. “I think I know where she’s been taken. Pian Forma is a slaver in the desert. He has a caravan of nomadic people.”
Rayder’s blood started to boil with anger, and he shook off Marc’s touch. “Do you do business with him?”
Discomfort flickered over the man’s face. “Rarely. But he’s done business with Drakus and Aramus in the past. That’s probably how this Taris Elian found out about him.” Marc glanced at Phili. “Taris Elian is Magonian?”
“That’s what I hear,” Phili said.
“He is.” Rayder hefted his pack higher on his back. “He’s rich enough to pay for information and hire help to take Xandra. He must have paid Yoanda handsomely.”
Phili snorted. “That woman would sell her own mother given the motivation.”
Rayder ignored Phili’s comment and turned to Marc. “All right. Help me get Xandra back.” His throat tightened as emotion slammed him. “I’d do anything to get her back. Anything.”
Marc nodded. “I will help you.”
Before Phili could turn away, Rayder took out some coin and held it out to Phili. “For your trouble.”
Phili took it and her eyes widened. Her mouth opened and worked, as if she wanted to speak but simply couldn’t.
Rayder said, “Thank you for coming here. You didn’t have to. I respect that.”
Phili looked shaken, as if her hard core had been breached for one moment by a simple gesture of thanks.
Marc gestured to his fortress. “You have refuge here, for as long as you need it.” Marc returned his attention to Rayder. “Let’s go. We’ll leave the other men here. We don’t have that much daylight left.”
* * * * *
A cool cloth touched Xandra’s forehead, and the comfort pressed a soft moan from her lips. By the god Magon, her body ached. Her throat burned. She drifted in a haze and tried to feel her surroundings. She lay on something soft. Comfortable. She was warm—too warm as a matter of fact. Her fingers searched and found an itchy blanket over her lower body. How long had she slept? Her thoughts jumbled as she scrambled to recall where she was. Was she on the Beast?
“You’re awake. Come, you must drink.”
The voice startled her into awareness and her eyes snapped open. Sitting next to her bed was a startling-looking woman. Her eyes were a pristine blue deeper than the ocean. Creamy white skin and red lips contrasted against the dark-as-night color of her long thick hair tumbling around her shoulders. Familiarity pricked Xandra. Had she seen this woman before?
The woman smiled. “How are you feeling?”
Xandra couldn’t speak at first, her mind scrambling for coherence. She reached up to touch the damp cloth on her forehead. “Who are you?”
“A friend.” The woman smiled again, and Xandra saw sincerity in those thickly lashed eyes.
Xandra moved her head gingerly, taking in the room. No, not a room. A tent stretched over wood poles. The tan walls looked secure enough, but a breeze moved the sides and made a soft sound. Brightly woven pillows were scattered around the white and black sand. Billowy curtains in bright jewel colors fell across the walls of the tent.
“You’re safe,” the woman said, pressing Xandra’s forearm. “You have nothing to fear from me.”
Xandra didn’t try to sit up, her confusion intact. “Did you buy me?”
The woman’s eyes widened and then she laughed. “Most definitely not. I’m a slave myself. Or, at least, that is what Pian calls us when outsiders approach.”
“Pian?”
“Pian Forma. He’s a wandering ruler with a band of a hundred. He travels the vast Ithaycan desert.”
Xandra sat bolt upright despite the pain in her head. “Is he allied to Drakus Fina or Karman Aramus?”
“Easy there.” The woman urged her to lie back down. “Pian pretends he is their ally, but he isn’t.”
Xandra pressed her fingers to her temples. She needed to think, but physical discomfort made it harder. “Water please?”
“Of course.” The woman reached for a metal tankard, and Xandra sat up long enough to drink deeply as the woman held the tankard for her.
Xandra finished drinking and lay back down. She wanted answers quickly, and her thoughts moved too slowly. “I was with a man named Taris Elian. Where is he?”
“Are you certain you want to know?”
“Yes.”
“Pian has imprisoned him.”
Surprise made Xandra’s mouth pop open. She could not believe it. She gaped at the woman for a long time before she managed to speak. “What of the other men with him?”
“If they are Magonian, there’s a good chance he’s let them go.”
Xandra thought of Clada, the big man who’d treated her well enough. “I cannot say I’m not sorry that Pian has imprisoned Taris Elian. But I’m not sure I like him being so near.”
“Do not worry. He is well guarded and won’t be allowed to harm you again. You see, Pian is a slaver, but he treats his slaves so well they might as well be free. Most of his slaves are loyal to him, and eventually he pays them.”
“That is incredible.” Xandra eyeballed the woman.
The woman sighed. “Perhaps I should tell you all I know. Then you’ll see why it is better to be with Pian.”
“Better to be any man’s slave?”
A slow, indulgent smile played over the woman’s full lips. “You’re Magonian?”
“How did you know?”
“Taris Elian said you were both from Magonia. That was his first mistake, though perhaps he doesn’t realize it.”
“First mistake?”
“Pian hates Magonian men.” The woman’s hand waved as she tried to come up with words. “Most of his slaves are Magonian men. He makes them labor around his camp. Dragonia men he won’t enslav
e.
“A Magonian man did something to him?”
“No. It’s what Magonia stands for that Pian really hates. You see, Pian prefers men over women…sexually.”
Xandra’s eyebrows went up. “I heard of this…of men preferring men and women preferring women. It isn’t done in Magonia. There are laws against it.”
The woman’s smile this time was sarcastic. “You think just because there are laws against it that it isn’t done?”
Xandra sighed. “No, of course not. It’s just that it isn’t done openly. There are severe penalties for such behaviors. The scribes tell us it is a sin, and the Truth and Order Police will arrest people for such fraternization. Even the suspicion is enough to get people arrested and oftentimes found guilty.”
The woman frowned. “Do you abhor men and women like this?”
Xandra shook her head. “No. I never thought much about it. I only knew it was forbidden in Magonia. But then so many things are.” Curiosity wouldn’t keep quiet. “Are you…do you prefer women?” A thought came to her and she sat up quickly again and swung her feet off the bed. “Is that why I’m here with you?”
The woman stood, towering over the bed. She waved both hands in dismissal. “No, no.” Her expression hovered between annoyed and accepting. “Though because of the way I am, many men have accused me of preferring women over men.”
Blinking in confusion, Xandra inspected the woman closer. She stood at least six feet if not taller. Instead of feminine clothing, wore a tunic with a breastplate. Her arms were muscled—she obviously labored hard. A short skirt garment fell in filmy white to just above her knees. Her legs were shapely but obviously fit. Black ankle boots supported her feet.
“You appear strong.” Xandra stood and compared her height to the other woman. “You’re very tall and sturdy. But I don’t see why that would make men think you prefer women over men.”
For a heartbeat Xandra wondered if she should have remained quiet, but the woman didn’t seem angry with her.
“Men don’t think I’m feminine enough because I can fight. I have my own sword, my own dagger. I am stronger than some men.”
A niggling familiarity poked Xandra but she didn’t know why. “That hardly seems reasonable. I mean, that men would rebuff you for that. But like most men on Magonia, I suppose many on this continent don’t like to be seen as weaker than a woman.”
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