Waiting for torture, actually, Stephania said. But thats just you. You deserve everything you get after all you tried to take from me. Thanos was mine.
Perhaps she really believed that. Perhaps she honestly felt that it was normal to try to murder your rivals in relationships and life.
And the rest of it? Ceres said. Are you going to try to convince me that youre basically a nice person, Stephania? Because Im pretty sure that ship sailed the moment you tried to send me to the Isle of Prisoners.
Perhaps she shouldnt have made fun of her like that, because Stephania hefted a third bucket of water. She appeared to consider it for a moment, shrugged, and dumped it over Ceres in a wash of freezing cold.
Im saying that nice doesnt come into it, you stupid peasant, she snapped as Ceres shivered. We live in a world that will try to take all you have from you without asking. Particularly if youre a woman. There are always thugs like Lucious. There are always those who want to take and take.
So we fight them, Ceres said. We set people free! We protect them.
She heard Stephania laugh at that.
You actually believe that foolishness works, dont you? Stephania said. You think that people are basically good, and all will be well if you just give them a chance.
She said it as though it were something to mock, rather than a good philosophy for a life.
That is not life, Stephania continued. Life is a war, fought any way you can find to fight it. You give no one power over you, and you take all the power you can, because that way you have the strength to crush them when they try to betray you.
Im not feeling very crushed, Ceres retorted. She wasnt going to let Stephania see how weak she felt in that moment, or how empty. She was going to create the pretense of strength, in the hope that she might find a way for reality to follow.
She saw Stephania shrug.
You will. Your rebellion is currently fighting a battle with the army of Felldust. It might win, and then I will trade you for a path out of the city with all the wealth I can take. My guess, though, is that Felldust will wash through the city like a wave. I will let them break against the walls of this castle, until they are ready to talk.
You think men like that will just talk to you? Ceres demanded. Theyll kill you.
Ceres wasnt sure why she gave Stephania that much of a warning. The world would be a better place if someone killed her, even if it was the armies of Felldust.
You think I havent thought it through? Stephania countered. Felldust is fractious. It cannot afford to have its soldiers sitting, laying siege to a castle it cannot take. They would fight amongst themselves in weeks, if not before. They will have to talk.
And you think theyll play fair with you? Ceres asked.
Sometimes, she could barely believe the arrogance Stephania showed.
I am not a fool, Stephania said. I have one of my handmaidens preparing to play the part of me for the first meeting, so that if they try to betray us, I have time to flee the city through the tunnels. After that, I will present you, kneeling and in chains, to First Stone Irrien. An offering with which to begin peace negotiations. And who knows? Perhaps First Stone Irrien will find himself amenable to joining our two nations together. I feel I could do a lot alongside someone like that.
Ceres shook her head at that thought. She would no more kneel on Stephanias command than on that of any other noble. You think Im going to give you the satisfaction
I think that I dont have to wait for you to give anything, Stephania snapped back. I can take anything I want from you, including your life. Remember that, in what follows: if it werent for this war, I would have shown you mercy, and just killed you.
It sounded as though Stephania had as strange an idea about mercy as about everything else in the world.
What happened to you? Ceres asked her. What made you into this?
Stephania smiled at that. I saw the world as it was. And now, I think, the world will see you as you are. I cant kill you, so Ill destroy the symbol you made yourself into. Youre going to fight for me, Ceres. Again and again, without the strength that made people think you were so special. In between, well find ways to make it worse.
That didnt sound so different from anything Lucious or the royals had tried to do.
Youre not going to break me, Ceres promised her. Im not going to collapse and beg just for your entertainment, or your petty revenge, or whatever else you want to call it.
You will, Stephania promised her in return. Youre going to kneel before the First Stone of Felldust and beg to be his slave. Ill make sure of it.
CHAPTER SIX
Felene had stolen plenty of boats in her time, and she was pleased to find this one was one of the better ones. It wasnt much more than a skiff, but it sailed beautifully, seeming to respond as quick as thought, feeling like an extension of herself.
It would need more holes in it for that, Felene said, moving to bail out water that had washed over the side. Even doing that hurt, and as for the times when she had to row because the wind had dropped
Felene winced just thinking about that.
She tested the wound gingerly, moving her arm in every direction to stretch the muscles of her back. There were some movements where it almost seemed as though she could ignore its presence, but there were others
Depths take you! Felene swore as pain flashed through her, white hot.
The worst part was that every flash of pain brought with it memories of being stabbed. Of looking into Elethes eyes while Stephania stabbed her from behind. Every physical pain brought with it the agony of betrayal as well. Shed dared to think
What, Felene demanded. That you might finally end up happy? That youd float off with a princess and some lovely girl, and the world would just leave you alone?
It was stupid thinking. The world didnt offer the happy endings you got in singers tales. Certainly not for a thief like her. No matter what happened, there would always be something else to steal, whether it was a jewel, or a slice of the map, or the heart of some girl who would then turn out to
Stop it, Felene told herself, but that was harder than it looked. Some wounds didnt just heal over.
Not that her physical one had, yet. Shed stitched it as best she could on the beach, but Felene was starting to worry about the puncture Stephanias knife had left in her back. She lifted her shirt high enough to douse it with sea water, gritting her teeth against the pain as she washed it clean.
Felene had been wounded before, and this felt like a bad one. Shed seen wounds like this among others, and generally it hadnt ended well. There had been that climbing guide who had found himself mauled by an ice leopards claws when Felene had been trying to steal from one of the dead temples. There had been the slave girl Felene had rescued on a whim after her master had whipped her bloody, only to watch her waste and die. There had been that gambler who had insisted on staying at the table, even after hed gashed his hand on a broken shard of glass.
The sensible thing to do right now, Felene knew, was to head back the way she had come, seek out a healer, and rest for as long as it took to get back to everything she had been. Of course, by that point, the invasion would probably be over, and everyone involved would be scattered to the wind, but Felene would be all right again, free to go off wherever she wanted.
It shouldnt make any difference to her how the invasion turned out, after all. She was a thief. There would always be things to steal, and there would always be those who wanted to hunt her down. There would probably even be more in the aftermath of a war, when things tended to get a little less tightly controlled, and there were always gaps for someone cunning enough to slip through.
She could go back to Felldust, rest up, and then find some fresh adventure to set out on. She could go off in search of long-lost islands, or head into the lands where ice closed over everything like a fist. There might be treasure and violence, women and drink. All the things that had tended to mix together so readily in her life to date.
What made her keep the small boats tiller pointed toward Delos was simple: it was where Stephania and Elethe would be. Stephania had tricked her about Thanos. Shed used her to get to Felldust, and then shed tried to kill her. More than that, shed tried to kill Thanos, even if the rumors around Felldust suggested that he had at least survived through to the rebellions capture of the city.
Felene found that she couldnt let what Stephania had done go. Felene had left plenty of enemies behind her when she sailed on, but she didnt like to leave unsettled debts. Shed fought a duel in Oakford once over an insult a year before, and once hunted down a locksmith who had tried to cut her out of her share, following him across half the Grasslands.
Stephania was going to die for what shed done. As for Elethe
In a lot of ways, that betrayal was worse. Stephania was a snake, and Felene had known it from the moment she set foot on the boat. Elethe had actually dared to make her feel something. For one of the first times in her life, Felene had dared to think beyond the next theft, and had started to dream.
And what a dream, Felene said to herself. Traveling the world, rescuing beautiful princesses and seducing fair maidens. Who do you think you are? Some kind of hero?
It sounded more like the kind of thing Thanos might have done than something for the likes of her.
My life would be so much easier if I hadnt met you, Prince Thanos, Felene said. She jerked on one of the lines for her boat, setting it skimming in a new direction.
She didnt mean it though. The main thing her life would have been if she hadnt met Thanos was shorter. She would have died on the Isle of Prisoners without him, and after that
He was a man who seemed to have a cause. Who stood for something, even if it had taken Felene to remind him of what that was. He was a man who had been prepared to fight against everything hed been brought up to be. Hed fought the Empire, even though it would have been easier for him not to do it. Hed been prepared to give his life to save the likes of Stephania, which was truly the kind of thing a hero did.
I suppose if I had any sense, Id be falling in love with you, Felene said as she thought about the prince. He was certainly a better person to fall for than the likes of Elethe. But you didnt get what you wanted in this life. You certainly didnt get to choose when it came to love.
It was enough that Thanos was a man to respect, even admire. It was enough that just thinking about the kind of thing he would do made Felene into a better person.
If not necessarily a more sensible one.
Felene sighed. There was no point in all this trying to argue with herself. She knew what she was going to do.
She was going to Delos. She would find Thanos if by any stroke of luck he was still alive. She would find Stephania, she would find Elethe, and there would be blood for blood, death for death. Probably, Thanos would have argued for something kinder or more civilized, but there was only so far you could go in emulating people. Even princes.
Now, there was just the question of getting to Delos and getting inside. By the time she got there, Felene had no doubt that it would be a city at war, if it hadnt fallen outright. Felldusts fleet would probably be a floating barricade before the city, and it was a long established tactic in times of war to blockade ports.
Not that Felene cared about that kind of thing. Shed occasionally made quite a healthy profit from smuggling her way around blockades. Food, information, people who wanted to get out, it had all been the same.
Still, Felene couldnt imagine that Felldusts soldiers would be very welcoming to her if she were stupid enough to just charge for the city. Already, Felene could see fragments of Felldusts fleet ahead of her, vessels strung out across the water from Felldust to the Empire like jet beads on a necklace. The main fleet had long since sailed, but they were going in clusters now, forming groups of three or four, setting off together as they tried to make the most of the invasion to come.
In a lot of ways, they were probably the sensible ones. Felene had always had more of an affinity for the people who came up after a fight to steal than for the ones risking their lives. They were the ones who understood about looking out for themselves. They were Felenes people.
An idea came to her then, and Felene steered her skiff in the direction of one of the groups. With her better arm, she pulled out a knife.
Hoy there! she called in her best Felldust dialect.
A man appeared over the railings, holding a bow aimed at her. Think well take all you
He gurgled as Felene threw the blade, cutting him off mid-sentence. He tumbled from the boat, hitting the water with a splash.
He was one of my best men, a mans voice said.
Felene laughed. I doubt that, or you wouldnt have made him the one to lean out and see if I was a threat. You the captain here?
I am, he called back.
That was good. Felene didnt have time to waste negotiating with those who werent in a position to do it.
You all off to Delos? she demanded.
Where else would we be going? the captain called back. You think were out catching fish?
Felene thought of some of the sharks that had hunted her on the way in to the shore. She thought of the body tumbling among them now. Might be. Theres bait in the water, and there are some big prizes in these parts.
And some bigger ones in Delos, the voice called back. You looking to join our convoy?
Felene made herself shrug as if she couldnt care either way. I figure an extra sword is good for you.
And an extra fifty is good for you. But it looks as though you can fight. You dont slow us down, and you eat your own supplies. Fair enough?
More than fair, since Felene had found her way into Delos. However careful the cordon around the city, Felldusts fleet wouldnt look twice at her when she was a part of it.
Fair enough, she called back. Just so long as you dont slow me down!
Eager for gold. I like that.
They could like what they wanted, so long as they left Felene be. Let them think that she was there for gold. The only thing that mattered was
The coughing fit caught Felene by surprise, almost doubling her up with the force of it. It ripped through her, her lungs feeling as though they were on fire. She put a hand to her mouth, and it came away wet with blood.
Are you all right down there? the captain of the Felldust ship called, in a voice of clear suspicion. Is that blood? Youre not carrying some plague, are you?
Felene had no doubt that he would make her travel alone if he thought she did. That, or fire her ship just to be certain that no disease got close.
Got gut punched in a fight on the docks, she lied, wiping her hand on the railing. Its no big deal.