“What’s the shaman for?” I demanded.
“I will ignore your reticence to acknowledge my request considering it has been so many years. You have been allowed to wander under your own command for far too long. It has skewed your mind into ignoring its own frailty. To answer your question, the shaman is to unite us. I would suggest you take heed now. I expect my wives to be respectful.”
He wanted what? “Wife?”
This took the cake. Maybe he was drunk. I was a slave in his eyes. He wouldn’t ingratiate himself with someone of that status other than sexually. But judging by his lustful, bulging eyes, he did know what he was talking about. “Violet eyes and raven hair, child of night, union by light, death to darkness, glory be bright. It was foretold that our people would rise again at the hand of a great leader. I will sire him and you shall birth the child that will save us all.”
He dabbed something on the scrape on my head. Much to my disgust, he was treating me with a fanatical adoration. “As soon as I remembered your eyes, I knew. I have been waiting. This is long overdue by fourteen years.”
So I was to be a child bride at fourteen? And now he expected me to bear his offspring after my rape? Lovely. Just how crazy were these people? Then again, I remembered their perverted religion. It was little more than pagan witchcraft. The ‘foreteller’ was likely high as a kite on LSD when he ‘foretold’ of my return.
He chuckled, rising from the bed and clapping his hands. “My women will prepare you for the bonding ritual. I would suggest you do not fight them. I know you have been taught the ways of a warrior but it is out of your stature. I would, however, like to know where your companion is.”
His eyes narrowed when I clamped my mouth shut. Who had gotten away? Well, at least someone had. He chuckled amusedly. “I’ll get an answer out of you eventually. Perhaps our child will eventually soften your visage.”
It would certainly have to as I spirited it as far away from its morally repugnant father as I could. But still I had to try and get as much information from him as I could. “Surely the idea of a nuclear bomb going off and killing us all perturbs you.”
He cocked his head. “It is not to your concern. They intend to detonate it inside the bubble of the city, so we will be shielded from the blast.”
Before I could question him further, he turned away and exited. I didn't try to hide my revulsion as he sauntered out of the tent and no less than ten handmaidens filed in. Reveno clearly didn’t care for the thousands if not millions of lives that would be lost in a nuclear event. But now I did know that he knew who had the bomb. The question was how I would get the truth from him without becoming his bride.
All of the handmaidens eyes were sorrowful. They knew what was coming my way. But they didn’t know about the piano wire I always concealed inside the bracelet on my wrist. They didn't know that by daybreak they would have no master to answer to. And they most certainly didn’t know that the red dawn sky would pale in comparison to the blood that would soon spill across the floor once Reveno was of no more use to me and I knew the identity of the terrorists.
All I had to do was wait.
* * *
The dress I had been adorned in rustled indelicately every time I took a step. The obscene amount of jewels and fresh water pearls that were sewn into it disgusted me. Even the slippers my feet had been encased in were jeweled. I fully intended to strip this once my betrothed was dead. The gems alone were worth a fortune.
Maybe this was all planned better than I thought. The damn dress was so heavy I could barely move. Add to that the tightly wound corset around my waist and I was good and immobilized. My breasts were being squashed upward to the point of ridiculousness and it was killing me due to the hastily stitched wound beneath the clothes.
Ah, the price to pay for beauty. I was trussed up like a turkey. Maybe that was what I was supposed to resemble. There were even white peacock feathers along the skirt.
Right now I was sitting in front of the shaman who was hastily setting up the altar. He seemed very unsettled by the weight of my apathetic glare. People were starting to gather on the sands of the courtyard behind me. I could hear their murmuring over the low sound of the harp one of the handmaidens had produced. Maybe they smelled the vast amount of exotic oils that had been lavished on my skin. Personally I thought I reeked to high heavens.
But to my intense surprise, I heard familiar voices coming closer. I was not happy with them. “So instead of selling us, you’re going to bring us to a wedding? Seriously. A wedding? Who’s getting married?”
I could hear Michael prattling as he was led into the courtyard. That most likely meant he was accompanied by Cain and Dantenn. Wonderful. My hope that they’d escaped hadn’t panned out. Even more to my displeasure, they were seated in my peripheral vision. I thought Reveno had said one escaped? I ran that through my head again. Yes, he had. Had he been mistaken or had one of them been recaptured?
“If that’s Rain under there, I’m going to laugh. She’s got to be roasting alive in that getup.”
“It’s not funny, Cain,” Dantenn snapped, leaning sideways to catch a glimpse of me. He was, however, impeded by the sheer white veil over the lower half of my face. “I can’t tell.“
“I think it is her. Only Rain can stand that still and intimidate someone that much. It’s the face that could stop a clock, and I’m sure it’s enhanced by whatever corset she’s got on. Her innards have to be killing her. Oh, Rain -“
“Shut up! They might hogtie me to you again if you cause a problem,” Dantenn hissed over Cain’s singsong call of my name.
“Why? Aren’t you into bondage?”
“It now comes to me why Sierr gets along with you. You both along with the kid make the perfect trilogy: the cold, the idiotic, and the innocent.”
“How come I’m the innocent one?!” Michael exclaimed indignantly.
I could feel Dantenn’s stinging response as it hit its target. “It’s like I said. You were an opportunity to corrupt a powerful general's son. Nothing more.”
I forced myself not to turn and rise to that flat-out untruth. Now I knew where Michael’s question had come from when I had been laid out on the table. It also now occurred to me this could very well be Dantenn’s way of staking territorial claim. Make both of the others hate me enough so that they would leave me alone. Very clever. Either that or he just hated me as much as he loved me.
Time was coming close now. I could hear Reveno’s voice from somewhere nearby. I squared my shoulders, squashing my anxiety with the thoughts of the wire wound around my wrist. Now to get Reveno alone.
Cain whistled a deceptively happy tune while I monitored everything around me. I peeked over at him and he wiggled his eyebrows, smirk widening when he saw that it indeed was me. I wasn’t sure why he was being so jovial. From all senses of the word, we were all screwed. The others knew it. Michael was staring at the ground. Dantenn glanced around unhappily. But to my unease, he had a weird greenish tinge to his skin, like he was ill. Had they drugged him? I didn’t have much time to think about it.
Sticky fingers took my hand. I didn’t look at Reveno, very much disgusted by everything as the shaman started chanting. I closed my eyes when the panicked clucking of a chicken cut off violently. It was ritualistic crap to boost my fertility, blood to produce new blood. I hated these people.
I looked to the heavens as the audience started chanting with him. This was all so very superfluous. To consider this to be a marriage was laughable. My consent was not needed. I was not even required to speak at all. All that was desired of me was my body and, most importantly, my uterus.
But much to my interest, I smelled smoke and lots of it. No one had noticed yet it seemed. Judging by the dark cloud overhead, something large was burning. I sniffed curiously and looked over to see Cain smirking at me. He winked slowly, making me wonder just what he had been up to when he had been recaptured.
It took a few minutes for anyone else to notice the odor. A gr
eat yelp took off behind me and then a great deal of squawking. I turned in surprise. Oh, yeah. The banquet tent was up in flames. Everyone rushed toward it at once, the festivities forgotten. Only the shaman, Reveno, and all of us prisoners remained.
“Oh, no,” Cain drawled loudly, confirming my suspicions. “How ever did that happen?”
“Finish it,” my captor ordered as the shaman started jabbering away in alarm.
My chance was approaching. It was here right now if only I hadn’t been so trussed up with clothing. Also, now came the others’ chance. As soon as Reveno and I went inside, they would be free to make their move. No one was paying them the slightest attention. I thought I could even hear the faint sound of a knife cutting through rope.
Finally the panicky fellow finished. I was seized by the wrist and dragged toward the master tent as soon as the last syllable left his lips. Showtime. I was, however, impressed with my new husband’s strength. How he managed to haul me, his fat, and the dress of the damned along at this pace was beyond me.
I was thrown into the tent and he pointed one pudgy finger at me. “Stay here. I’ll be back.”
Was that a threat, a promise, or an innuendo? I nodded, crimson smile hidden behind my veil. Time to get to work.
As he stomped off, I did my best to make sure he would not to notice the wire until it was too late. I stripped off the gown and atrocious headdress, leaving myself only in the undergarments. A corset, panties, and garters would be a sufficient distraction for a man, right? I padded into the back end of the tent toward the bedroom, settling myself on the gold throne he had in there for himself.
Well, this situation certainly had turned out perfect. Due to tradition, if I killed Reveno, everything he owned would be transferred to his brother, including me. But once Delegato was dead, there were no more brothers. The same rule that had applied to Tiranshyck’s men coming under my fealty would apply again. Since I would kill the brothers, all of their belongings would transfer to my ownership. I would own all of their possessions, which included most of this city’s infrastructure and slaves. I would get my papers back and command of the whole place.
And then I heard the sound I was looking for. There was the crunch and swish of feet in the sand. I did not move as I heard them stop behind the throne. I knew garter-encased legs were visible from that view as were my shoulders. I had to let him make the first move. I had to make it seem like I was fighting back, but not too much that he held me down. At the opportune moment, I would release the wire and end it.
But Reveno was taking far too long behind me. I knew he was peeking over the top, down at me, but he was far too quiet. Shouldn't he be gloating right about now?
“Good to see you have decided on cooperation.” Sticky fingers had returned. I stood, towering over him, and gestured at the chair. Much to my satisfaction, he sat in it.
“Why try?” I crooned, stomach churning. “Giving in is such sweet sorrow, but I am sure you can make it worth my while. Yet you are in grave danger. The nuclear device is unstable-“
“Yes,” he said dismissively, fingers tracing my legs. “But it is none of your concern.”
I forced myself not to whimper as he took my wrist and made me straddle his lap. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to take the weapon and resell it? Double the profit?”
“Perhaps I’d be willing to discuss this another time,” he said inhaling along my collarbone. I stopped trying to protest as one hand circled my waist and the other my throat. The one on my throat twisted into my hair, forcing me to look into his eyes. “What is it going to take to get your undivided attention? I don’t want you to be quiet. Quite the contrary… but you are trying my patience.”
“Tell me who has the weapon,” I whispered, eyeing his mouth, trying to imitate Cain’s way of getting to me. I wound my arms around his neck, trying hard to ignore the fact he was unlacing the back of my corset. “I was hired to find out. To move on to tasks at hand, I need to know. I know you can tell me, and there’s nothing I find more satisfying than clinching the deal. Tell me, and then prove me wrong. Show me something more to satisfy.”
He was rising to the bait… amongst other things. He had no idea I had unraveled the piano wire and was just waiting. By the way he was leaning in, I had him. I could practically hear the words being dragged from his lips, not that they needed to be dragged. They were coming to me willingly. And then suddenly they weren’t.
I was rather confused as he slumped forward onto my shoulder. Had I given him a heart attack? Then I saw the clean red hole in the back of his skull. I glanced up to see my savior, and also at this point, the one who had screwed things up so royally.
“Sorry to cut the honeymoon short.” Cain waltzed through the door holstering his gun, Michael hot on his heels. “But we - Hoowee, that’s a nice wedding present.”
I grabbed the nearest fur from the bed and covered myself from both sets of interested eyes. “You fools! I almost had him! He was about to tell me who has the bomb!”
Cain looked over at Michael disgustedly. “You said she was in danger.”
“She was! He was going for her…” He turned crimson. “Virtue doesn’t count I gather?”
Cain threw his hands in the air with a groan, running his hands through his hair.
“I was interrogating him!” I growled, stalking toward them. “Now what are we going to do?!”
“Feel free to interrogate me then,” Michael said under his breath. “Delegato is dead. Cain got to him while he was prowling about through the halls. Dantenn went off to search his office for clues about the nuke.”
I was astounded. It took me a second to speak. They had assumed control quicker than I would have anticipated. So much for my controlling the territory. I was almost afraid to tell him what this meant, but I had to now. There was no other way. If I didn’t, our mission would fail.
“We take control now,” I stated emotionlessly. “Cain is now the heir to a vast empire, which includes this city. You can order them to tell you who has it. As it stands, you now have the means to fulfill your promise to me. You have the power to dismantle the human market.”
If he was surprised by this, he didn’t show it. “Yet you still look unhappy.”
I bowed my head. “In their customs, I have been married. In Reveno’s death, my marriage would be transferred to the brother. But now that both brothers are dead, I would be transferred to the hands of the victor who killed them, that being you.”
“We’re… married?” he parroted back, looking like he had been clubbed over the head.
“Legally, the ownership of me, the other wives and all slaves are yours,” I said with some discomfort. “That is the law here.”
Michael gasped. “No wonder you wouldn’t let me do any of the shooting!”
He yelped as Cain smacked the back of his head. I stared at the floor, mulling this whole thing over. This should have brought me great joy, but instead it left me with a whole new batch of problems. Technically, this left me not only his wife but his property. And while I preferred to think that Cain would do the right thing, I still couldn’t be sure.
“No time to think or deal with this now. Let’s get Dantenn and get out of here.”
His hand snatched mine and dragged me along out of my reverie. I jogged along to keep up with Cain’s pace, not missing the flabbergasted looks he kept giving me. On the way through the door, I snatched a sheet and wound it around my shoulders.
A few halls into the building surrounding the courtyard, we entered a dark, gloomy office. No Dantenn. “Where could he have gone?”
“I’m here,” a faint voice answered.
We turned to see him sitting in an armchair, his hands clasped over his chest. I was alarmed at the way one of them was puffed up and swollen to the point the joints had disappeared. In addition to that, his coloring had taken on a yellow hue and sweat glistened at his brow. But worst of all was the nasty-looking, red puckered hole on his left forearm.
I swaye
d where I stood as the truth hit me. He had lied saying that he hadn’t been hurt saving me back in the torture room. He had been stung by the very scorpion he had saved me from.
Dantenn was dying.
Chapter Twenty One 02:17:36:01 to potential nuclear explosion
If anyone had whacked me in the back, an echo would have come from inside my body. I certainly felt hollow from the dull ache in my heart. Sitting by Dantenn’s deathbed was not doing me any good.
We were waiting on the edge of the airfield, me standing over him while he lay on a stretcher. A chopper was on its way to take him to Mercaine’s main hospital. But still I wondered if it would be fast enough. While he was still conscious, his condition was rapidly deteriorating. His breaths had taken on a rattling quality that had my insides clenched with fear.
It would serve no purpose now to rake him over the coals for saving me, but I still wanted to shake him for his stupidity. He was a fool for doing such a thing, but apparently a fool that was honor bound to do so and was still stubbornly insisting he was happy that he had succeeded. He now held my hand, stroking his thumb over the rough skin.
Cain and Michael were off settling who was now in charge of Chernobial’s affairs and finding out where the records for the nuke had gone. Surprisingly all of Tiranshyck’s sons’ followers had cooperated with us once they learned they were dead. Perhaps they were relieved to have a less violent master, but I couldn’t think about that now.
I was keeping my dear friend company while he counted his seemingly final breaths. Or maybe I was the only one counting. I don't know. For the first time in ages, I was fighting off waves of hysteria. Guilt was not a good color on me. It was suffocating my senses and clogging my airways. Nor did it help that Dantenn was watching me so serenely, like his life depended on it.
I twitched under his touch as his hand relinquished mine and instead took to stroking my cheek. “I suppose I shouldn't be warmed by your concern?”
I inhaled sharply, finally able to speak. “Why didn’t you say something?”
War Machine: Book One in the Destiny In the Shadows Series Page 27