Do you have something to say, slave?
She swallowed her urge to snap back at that. Only that Grathir is notorious for supplying substandard goods. His former business partner is poised to take his business, though. Support him and you might get the supplies you need.
Irrien stared at her levelly. And why are you telling me this?
Stephania knew this was her chance, but she had to play it carefully. I want to show you that I can be useful to you.
He didnt reply, but turned his attention back to the men there. I will consider it. What is next?
Next, it seemed, were petitions from the representatives of the other rulers of Felldust.
The Second Stone would like to know when your return to Felldust will be, one representative said. There are matters there that require the Five Stones to be together.
Fourth Stone Vexa requires more space for her contingent of ships.
Third Stone Kas sends his congratulations on our shared victory.
Stephania ran through the names of the other Stones of Felldust. Cunning Ulren, Kas Forkbeard, Vexa, the only female Stone, Borion the fop. Secondary names compared to Irrien, yet theoretically all but his equals. Only the fact that they werent here gave Irrien so much power.
Along with names, Stephanias memory supplied interests, weaknesses, desires. Ulren was growing old in Irriens shadow, and would have had the First Stones seat if the warlord hadnt taken it. Kas was cautious, a lord of merchants who calculated every coin before he acted. Vexa kept a house beyond the city, where it was rumored her servants were all without tongues so that they could not speak of what they saw. Borion was the weakest, likely to lose his seat to the next challenger.
As she thought about the situation in Felldust, Stephania laid gentle fingers on Irriens arm. She moved delicately, the touch barely there. She had learned the skills of seduction a long time ago, then spent time perfecting them on a string of useful lovers. She had brought around Thanos, hadnt she? How much more difficult could Irrien be?
She felt the moment when he tensed.
What are you doing? he demanded.
You seem tense with all this talking, Stephania said. I thought I could help. Maybe I could help relax you in other ways?
The key was not to push too hard. To hint and to offer, but never to demand outright. Stephania arranged her most innocent look, stared up into Irriens eyes then cried out as he slapped her casually.
Anger flared in her at that. Stephanias pride told her that she would find a way to make Irrien pay for that blow, that she would have revenge on him.
Ah, theres the real Stephania, Irrien said. Do you think Im fooled by your pretense that youre a humble slave? Do you think Im stupid enough to believe you can be broken with one beating?
Fear flashed again in Stephania. She could still remember the whistle of the whip as Irrien had struck her with it. Her back still burned with the memory of the blows. There had been a time when she had enjoyed punishing those servants who deserved it. Now, the thought just brought back the pain.
Even so, she would use the pain if she had to.
No, but Im sure you plan more, Stephania said. She didnt even try for innocence this time. Youre going to enjoy trying to break me as much as Im going to enjoy playing with you while you do it. Isnt that half the fun?
Irrien hit her again. Stephania let him see her defiance then. It was obviously what he wanted. She would do whatever she had to in order to bind Irrien to her. Once shed done it, it wouldnt matter what shed suffered to get there.
You think that you are special, dont you? Irrien said. You are just a slave.
A slave you keep chained to your throne, Stephania pointed out in her most sultry voice. A slave you obviously plan to have in your bed. A slave who could be so much more. A partner. I know Delos like no one else. Why not just admit it?
Irrien stood then.
Youre right. I have made a mistake.
He reached down, taking her chains and unlocking them from the throne. Stephania had a moment in which to feel a sense of triumph as he lifted her. Even if he was cruel to her now, even if he just dragged her to his chambers and threw her down there to claim as his own, she was making progress.
That wasnt where he threw her, though. He cast Stephania down on the cold marble, and she felt the hardness of it under her knees as she skidded to a halt in front of one of the figures there.
The shock of that hit her more than the pain. How could Irrien do that? Hadnt she been everything he could want? Stephania looked up to see a man in dark robes looking at her with obvious contempt.
I made the mistake of thinking you were worth my time, Irrien said. You want a sacrifice, priest? Take her. Cut the babe from her and offer it up to your gods in my name. Ill not have some mewling brat alive with a claim to this throne. When youre done, throw whats left of her for whatever scavengers will eat her.
Stephania stared up at the priest, then looked over at Irrien, barely able to form the words. This couldnt be happening. It couldnt. She wouldnt let it.
Please, she said. This is foolish. I can do so much more for you than this!
They didnt seem to care though. Panic flashed through her, along with the shocked thought that this was actually happening. They were actually going to do this.
No. No, they couldnt!
She screamed as the priest grabbed her arms. Another caught her legs, and they carried her, still struggling, between them. Irrien and the others followed in their wake, but right then, Stephania didnt care about them. She only cared about one thing:
They were going to kill her baby.
CHAPTER TWO
Ceres still couldnt believe that theyd escaped. She lay on the deck of the small boat shed stolen, and it was impossible to think that she was actually there, rather than back in some fighting pit beneath the castle, waiting to die.
Not that they were safe yet. The flight of an arrow overhead made that much clear.
Ceres looked up over the boats railing, trying to work out if there was anything she could do. Archers fired from the shore, most of their shafts striking the water around the boat, a few thudding into the wood to tremble there as they spent their energy.
We need to move faster, Thanos said beside her. He rushed to one of the sails. Help me get this up.
Not yet, a voice croaked from the other side of the deck.
Akila lay there, and to Ceress eyes he looked terrible. The First Stones sword had been sticking through him just minutes before, and now that Ceres had pulled it out, he was obviously losing blood. Even so, he managed to raise his head, looking at her with an urgency that was hard to ignore.
Not yet, he repeated. The ships around the harbor have our wind, and a sail will just make us a target. Use the oars.
Ceres nodded, pulling Thanos over to where the combatlords theyd rescued were rowing. It was hard to find space to fit in beside the heavily muscled men, but she squeezed into place and lent her little remaining strength to their efforts.
They pulled into the shadow of a moored galley and the arrows stopped.
We need to be clever now, Ceres said. They cant kill us if they cant find us.
She let go of her oar and the others did likewise for a moment or two, letting their boat drift in the wash of the bigger boat, impossible to see from the shore.
It gave her a moment to go over to Akila. Ceres had only known him briefly, but she could still feel guilt for what had happened to him. Hed been fighting for her cause when hed suffered the wound that even now seemed like a gaping mouth in his side.
Sartes and Leyana knelt beside him, obviously trying to staunch the bleeding. Ceres found herself surprised by just how good a job they were doing of it. She guessed that the war had forced people to learn all kinds of skills that they otherwise might not have.
Will he make it? Ceres asked her brother.
Sartes looked up at her. There was blood on his hands. Beside him, Leyana looked pale with effort.
I dont know, Sartes said. Ive seen enough sword wounds before, and I think this one missed the important organs, but Im just basing that on the fact that he isnt dead yet.
Youre doing fine, Leyana said, reaching out to touch Sartess hand. But theres only so much anyone can do on a boat, and we need a real healer.
Ceres was happy that she was there. From the little shed seen of the girl so far, Leyana and her brother seemed to be a good fit for one another. They certainly seemed to be doing a good job of keeping Akila alive between them.
Well get you to a healer, Ceres promised, although she wasnt sure how they could keep that promise right then. Somehow.
Thanos was at the bow of the boat now. Ceres went to him, hoping that he had more of an idea than she did of how to get out of there. The harbor was full of boats right then, the invasion fleet standing like some floating city alongside the real one.
It was worse than this in Felldust, Thanos said. This is the main fleet, but there are more boats still waiting to come.
Waiting to pick apart the Empire, Ceres guessed.
She wasnt sure what she felt about that. Shed been working to bring down the Empire, but this this just meant more people suffering. Ordinary people and nobles alike would find themselves enslaved at the hands of the invaders, if they werent killed outright. By now, they would probably have found Stephania too. Ceres should probably have felt some kind of satisfaction at that, but it was hard to feel much other than the relief that she was finally out of their lives.
Do you regret leaving Stephania behind? Ceres asked Thanos.
He reached out to put an arm around her. I regret that it came to that, he said. But after everything she did no, I dont regret it. She deserved it and more.
He sounded as though he meant it, but Ceres knew how complicated things could be when it came to Stephania. Still, she was gone now, probably dead. They were free. Or they would be, if they could make it out of this harbor alive.
Across the deck, she saw her father nod, pointing.
There, see those ships? They look as though theyre leaving.
Sure enough, there were galleys and cogs leaving the harbor, clustered together in a group as though afraid that someone would take everything they had if they didnt. Given what Felldust was like, someone probably would.
What are they? Ceres asked. Merchant ships?
Some might be, her father replied. Filled with loot from the conquest. My guess is that several are slavers, too.
That was a thought that filled Ceres with disgust. That there would be ships there taking the people of her city away to live out lives in chains was something that made her feel as though she wanted to tear the ships apart with her hands. Yet she couldnt. They were just one boat.
Despite her anger, Ceres could see the opportunity they represented.
If we can get over there, no one will question the fact that were leaving, she said.
We still have to get over there, Thanos pointed out, but Ceres could see him trying to pick out a route.
The packed ships were so tight together that it was more like guiding their boat down a series of canals than true sailing. They started to pick their way through the clustered boats, using their oars, trying not to attract attention to themselves. Now that they were out of sight of those firing from the shore, no one had any reason to think that they were out of place. They could lose themselves in the great mass of Felldusts fleet, using it as cover even as some within it hunted for them.
Ceres hefted the sword shed pulled from Akila. It was large enough that she could barely lift it, but if the hunters came for them, they would soon find out how well she could wield it. Maybe she would even have an opportunity to give it back to its owner one day, point first through the First Stones heart.
But for now, they couldnt afford a fight. It would mark them out as strangers, and bring down every boat around them on their heads. Instead, Ceres waited, feeling the tension as they slipped past the assorted landing craft, past the hulks of burnt out ships, and past boats where worse was happening. Ceres saw boats where people were being branded like cattle, saw one where two men were fighting to the death while sailors cheered them on, saw one where
Ceres, look, Thanos said, pointing to a ship near them.
Ceres looked, and it was just one more example of the horror around them. A strange-looking woman, her face covered in what looked like ash, had been tied to the prow of a ship like a figurehead. Two soldiers with lashes were taking it in turns to strike at her, slowly flaying her alive.
Theres nothing we can do, Ceress father said. We cant fight them all.
Ceres could understand the sentiment, but even so, she didnt like the idea of standing by while someone was tortured.
But thats Jeva, Thanos replied. He obviously caught Ceress look of confusion. She led me to the Bone Folk who attacked the fleet so I could get into the city. Its my fault that this is happening.
That made Ceress heart tighten in her chest, because Thanos had only come back to the city for her.
Even so, her father said, try to help and we put all of us at risk.
Ceres heard what he was saying, but she wanted to help anyway. It seemed that Thanos was a step ahead of her.
We have to help, Thanos said. Im sorry.
Her father reached out to grab him, but Thanos was too quick. He dove into the water, swimming for the ship, apparently ignoring the threat of whatever predators were in the water. Ceres had a moment to consider the danger of it and then she threw herself in after him.
It was hard to swim clutching the great sword that shed stolen, but right then she needed any weapon she could get. She plunged through the cold of the waves, hoping that the sharks were already sated from the battle, and that she wouldnt die from whatever filth so many ships threw overboard. Her hands closed on the ropes of the moored galley, and Ceres started to climb.
It was hard. The side of the ship was slick, and the ropes would have been difficult to scramble up even if Ceres hadnt been exhausted by days of torment at Stephanias hands. Somehow, she managed to pull herself up onto the deck, throwing the great sword ahead of her the way a diver might have thrown a net of clams.
She came up in time to see a sailor rushing at her.
Ceres snatched up her stolen sword two-handed, thrusting and then pulling it clear. She swept it around in an arc, taking the sailors head from his shoulders, then looked for the next threat. Thanos was already grappling with one of the sailors who had been attacking the Bone Folk woman, so Ceres ran to his aid. She cut across the sailors back, and Thanos threw the dying man at the next sailor to come at them.