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  The hand never let up from my eyes, but the man holding me down did not attempt anything further. Instead of talking about what had just happened or explaining what was going on, he surprised me by showing something that could have been mistaken for compassion. His voice was low and close to my ear as he asked, “How much do you remember?”

  Unwilling to accept anything from the stranger, I shot back, “Why do you care?” My lungs still had not fully recovered, but I was pleased to hear that my voice was already stronger.

  There was a silence as the man appeared to think about it. “Maybe it is pity. I dare say for someone from your country to walk so blindly into death, there must be a very good reason for it. I know that even the women in Shingyon are fighters who don’t easily give up. I’ve seen first-hand what it takes to kill one of your kind, and it isn’t usually obliviously walking into certain death. Everything is calculated and planned, so for you to appear in the courtyard at that moment, I can only think of a couple of reasons. None of them good. ”

  Something in his words sounded like a warning. Deciding to pick my words a little more carefully, I focused on his own admission. “So you have killed some of my people.”

  I could feel his body shrug as his hand shifted. “Hasn’t everyone?”

  A low growl escaped me, immediately causing my head to protest the noise.

  “Keep your eyes closed.” His hand shifted from my eyes to the back of my neck. “As I’m sure you heard, you were hit by a Gargoyle. One that they carelessly broke off of the palace façade to take me down. Well, you were hit by enough of it to do some real damage to your skull.”

  I paused for a moment. “A Gargoyle? Do you mean like one of those large, ugly-looking things glaring out over the city?”

  “I don’t know of any other kind.”

  I could feel my expression lapse into one of disbelief. “No one can survive being struck in the head by one of those things.”

  “You are welcome.”

  It was not the response I had expected. My thoughts seemed to come to an impossible conclusion as I realized why he had said it. “Are you trying to say that you took the brunt of the hit, and that is why I survived?”

  “I had been hoping for something a little gentler when they took me down, but when you strolled into the middle of my confrontation with the guards, it was either watch you die or take most of the damage.”

  “I repeat, no one can survive being struck by a Gargoyle.”

  “Just because your weak human frames are so fragile they break under rock doesn’t mean that other humanoids can’t survive it. That kind of inability to understand other species is exactly why you always lose.”

  My body froze. After listening to him, little pieces of memory had come back. The barn. The market. Clear blue eyes glaring at me. And a soft voice accompanying a warm body pressed against my own.

  What had I walked into?

  The questions in my head began to get backed up to the point where my mouth chose one at random. “Why did you save me?”

  Again he paused. “That is the second time you have questioned the motives of someone trying to help you. What kind of life have you lived that you keep asking these kinds of questions?”

  Without thinking, I raised a hand to my forehead and began to rub it, “Not the kind that anyone would envy.”

  “I would never envy the life of a human, but that doesn’t answer my question.”

  “You didn’t answer mine.”

  There was a gentle laugh. “Fair enough.” His hand stopped massaging my neck and I felt the warmth move away. The pain was far less intense, more like a mild throbbing than the explosive pain it had been. “If you would like, I can roll you over and work on your spine, try to fix some of the rest of the pain you undoubtedly feel. I would have done it while you were unconscious, but I wasn’t sure how much damage there was. If you are able to stand up, it is a good sign. However, you will still need to keep your eyes closed. After I am done, it won’t hurt so badly. You might be able to sleep without that blinding light.”

  My expression must have shown my confusion. I could hear the smile in his voice, “I have enough experience with humans to know how your bodies react to trauma. Particularly blunt force to the head. Without the right medicines, I can’t do more than reduce the pain.”

  Against everything I knew I should be saying, I found myself nodding ever so slightly. “If you can make it a little less painful, then I accept.”

  He was surprisingly gentle as he lifted me and turned me over. “You are definitely unlike your fellow Shingites. At least the ones I’ve met. I have not met them all, though, so encountering an oddball here and there isn’t too surprising.”

  This got a small laugh out of me that I immediately regretted. “You’ve no idea,” I muttered into the straw.

  “Here, I’m going to lift your head and put something under your head so that you don’t get straw all over your face, hair, and in your orifices.”

  I was about to say something when a few pieces of straw went into my mouth. This quickly shut me up.

  His voice was warm with amusement, “Exactly. Hold on.”

  Gently, he lifted my head and slid something under it. The material was far softer than anything I had ever felt. Nothing about my current predicament made any sense. That’s when my mind latched onto the most logical explanation. “Have I died?”

  There was dead silence before a low rumble went around the room. It was over a full minute before he finally spoke, his voice a little labored, “Thank you so much. It has been a while since I laughed that hard. My apologies if it further hurt you.” His hands were very warm as they began to work along my shoulders. “No, you are not dead. I’m not quite sure what gave you that impression.”

  I knew my face was beet red. Trying to shift my face so that my hair fell over it, I muttered, “None of this makes sense.”

  One of his hands left my shoulder and pushed the hair back. “Wouldn’t want you to suffocate,” he explained before resuming. I suspected that he was enjoying seeing my discomfort, but given the magic his hands were working against the pain, I decided it was the least I could do. His hands massaged my back, forcing muscles to relax for the first time in years. His voice was just as warm as he spoke, “I suppose you haven’t ever felt silk before. It’s a luxury that not even the leaders of your country have been able to enjoy. It’s pretty common where I am from.”

  “I take it you aren’t from Cholania, then.”

  “Decidedly not. Bunch of self-important barbaric humans who have gotten too big for their britches. If you are referring to the accent, I adapted it to blend in a little better. Once we are done here, I look forward to shedding it like soiled clothing.”

  “You are very contemptuous of humans. What are you if not human?”

  His hands never stopped working the muscles along my shoulders and neck as he murmured. It was his voice that let me know that my words were not being taken well. “I’m going to give you a few seconds to consider your question.”

  Confused, I furrowed my brow. “Well, I know you aren’t demon because they would never help a human. For the same reason, you aren’t a sprite. Judging by the size of your hands, you can’t be about half a dozen other humanoids, including the only two that I have ever known to not be hostile to humans. I’m still trying to figure out just why you are being so kind to me. Since you know where I am from, you already know that I have nothing to offer you. If you are a humanoid, there are only a couple who could make any use of me. And none of the things I can think of are agreeable to me.”

  There was humor in his voice when he replied, “Maybe I just find you attractive.”

  I could not stop myself from laughing, and my head immediately reminded me that I was in no state to find humor in anything.

  Over my groans, I heard him say, “Serves you right. It was a very personal and clumsy question.”

  “I’m not trying to offend you, so no need for you to act like I’m
an idiot.”

  “The jury is still out on that. Given how and why we met, there is a lot of evidence suggesting you don’t have much going on in your thin skull.”

  I opened my mouth to protest, but quickly realized that he was right. Sighing, I managed to say, “That’s a fair point. From the pot to the fire.”

  “What?”

  “Of what little I remember, there was someone in the market trying to buy an hour of my life from my mistress.”

  “So, you are a servant here, so far from home? That doesn’t…” Whatever he was thinking, he didn’t finish his thought.

  “I… no. That isn’t right. I’m no servant.” The memories from before the market were still hazy, but something told me I really didn’t want to remember.

  “I won’t press you since I realize that it is a bit personal.” He left no question that he was taking a shot at my own clumsy questioning. “I’m going to start working down your spine now.”

  “Okay.” I wasn’t quite certain why he would warn me.

  “I mention it because it will hurt when I first apply pressure. Please try not to scream so that I don’t have to sell the same idea to the guard again.”

  “What, you mean you don’t want to pretend to be raping me?”

  “It may surprise you, but my kind are not so barbaric that we have to force ourselves on women.”

  “That’s… very unhuman of you.”

  “That is the pinnacle of compliments.” I could hear his smile again. His hands began to move down my back, and true to what he had said, the pain was excruciating. Far from the worst I had ever experienced, though, so I set my jaw and didn’t utter a sound as he worked.

  A few minutes passed without either of us speaking. As he reached the middle of my back, he said softly, “You handled that far better than I could have expected. No doubt it is your unenviable life that has made you so capable of managing extreme pain.”

  “Something like that,” I pushed my face into the silk. It was then that his hands slid to my lower back, and a pain tore through me that made me turn and clamp my teeth on the makeshift pillow.

  Immediately, his hands let go of me. “What happened? Are you alright?”

  Gasping a little, I turned my head slightly, “Don’t worry about it. You are almost done.”

  “It should not hurt worse on your lower back. When I shielded you, the impact should have been minimal, ensuring that most of your spine was spared. It was your head, neck, and upper back that should have been the most painful. The rest should be largely unaffected.”

  “I don’t think that the pain is related to that incident. It’s… from something else.”

  There was silence while he thought about what to do. “Do you mind if I take a look at it? Perhaps there is something I can do.”

  “If you are asking if you can lift my dress, absolutely not.”

  “Are you still trying to protect your honor? Because I can assure you—”

  “No, you would not be the first by any means. And I would kindly ask that you drop it.”

  “Alright. But I will need to keep working along the spine to make sure everything is aligned.”

  “That is fine.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “There are very few types of pain you can inflict that I haven’t felt before.”

  His hands were very gentle as he began again. The same pain shot through my body, and it was much worse than the pain in my head. I couldn’t help but let out a cry as his hands tried to gently work along my spine.

  He took his hands away. “What kind of pain is it?”

  “It isn’t a bruise or tension,” I muttered to myself as much as to answer his question. There were some horrible memories lurking in my mind that I was now seeking. I knew that my brain was protecting me, but I needed to know.

  “More like an abrasion or laceration?”

  That was when I began to remember about my enslavement. My shoulders released the tension I had been holding as the memories started to flood back. “A nine tails.”

  “What?” His voice was loud and angry, and I heard people stirring around us. It was a while before he spoke again, and this time he was very close to my face. “Have you been enslaved?”

  Cursing myself for speaking my memories aloud, I gave a little nod. “To my shame, yes, I was captured and bought.”

  There was a low threatening growl, and his voice was much harsher as he began to question me, “Were you looking for death? Is that why you walked into certain death?”

  I shook my head as much as I dared, “Hardly certain death since I am still alive. No, I was running from a lecherous merchant and got lost. Not wanting my fingers or other body parts broken, I was desperately looking for anything familiar so that I wouldn’t be gone too long.”

  There was another low growl, “Humans.” The word was spat like a curse.

  Uncertain if he was directing that at me, my owners, the city, or the entire species, I became very aware of my situation. There was no way to return now, and that meant all of my planning was now for naught. If Catharine or her brother learned what had happened, they would likely refuse to pay to retrieve me. By the rights of Scythian laws, my life now belonged to the person sitting near me with obvious loathing of my entire species.

  And if he was captured by the guards, that meant that it would be a steep price to get me back from them if he decided to discard me.

  It suddenly became clear that my chance at freedom had died the moment he had decided to save me.

  Chapter 2

  One Life Over

  To my surprise, he continued his work, and his touch was much different than before. Two fingers traced down my lower spine while the other worked on the top of my back. Whenever I would flinch, his hand on my upper back would almost immediately relax me again. It was almost sensual the way his other hand touched me, and I quickly realized that it was his way of countering the pain. Taking a deep breath, I let my mind focus on the hand that was running down the side of my back. A couple of times his hand brushed against my breast, and he immediately stopped working. I couldn’t help but laugh a little at his reaction, but didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to further offend or incite him. After a couple of silent seconds, he would resume his work without uttering a word. Time seemed to stop as his touch removed most of the pain. When he was finally done, he moved away and said nothing.

  I found myself surprisingly curious about the humanoid. Having remembered the last words I had heard after being hurt, I knew that I was in a dungeon. According to the laws, I belonged to him. There was no one who would fight to get me back. If he decided that he was done with me or that I was too much trouble, I would become the property of the guards.

  At best, I was the property of someone who was probably going to spend the rest of his life in the dungeon.

  I understood all of this, but my desire to talk to him went well beyond self-preservation. My occupation for Shingyon had meant that I was always on my own, always facing the enemy by myself, with death the inevitable end to it. Dying in a dungeon so far from home had always been something I was prepared to endure for my country.

  No, what I felt was entirely new and unique.

  When it became obvious that he wasn’t going to say anything, I pushed myself up on an elbow, keeping my eyes closed. Sitting up, I felt around for the material that he had placed under my head. It was just an excuse, but it was the most natural way I could think to engage him in further conversation. Listening carefully, I heard some very faint sounds of breathing. “Here,” I held it out in the direction of the sounds.

  “It’s yours.” His voice was detached, and in my mind I began to imagine the man I was talking to. He was large and hairy, like a bear, his belly round and his face full. I had never known a rotund humanoid, but he reminded me of the man who had raised me. Perhaps it was that connection that began to color my picture of the prison.

  I smiled a little at the thought. Giving my head a lit
tle shake, I moved my hand to indicate he should take it. “I realize that you can get this material from anywhere, but as a prisoner, I think you will soon find you miss home. I am not going to take something from you, especially since it can give you peace here.”

  The lack of sound made me think perhaps I had said something to offend him again. Just as I was about to speak again, he asked, “Are you speaking from personal experience?”

  “I’ve never been imprisoned.”

  There was a quick laugh, “Of course not. You would never allow yourselves to be taken prisoner, not if there were another way out.” I imagined the smile on his face as he looked at me. “But I wasn’t asking about you being imprisoned. You are a long way from home. No one would have captured you and sent you halfway across the world. There are no slaves in your part of the world either, which leads me to believe that you were enslaved somewhere around here.”

  “Oh.” It had not occurred to me that trying to engage him in conversation would result in me exposing so much of myself. Seeing no reason to hide anything—we were very likely to die in that cell—I shrugged. “No. I never had anything of home with me because it would have given me away. But I have been told that it can help bring someone peace when they cannot return home.”

  “You make it sound like you work for Shingyon.”

  “Until very recently I did.”

  “What ended your time with them?”

  I know that my expression must have shown my incredulity at the question. “I don’t know any prisoner in Scythia who can continue to be of any value to any nation except Scythia. After a year of silence, my government will believe me dead. There is no one coming to rescue me, and I don’t have the necessary charms to work my way out of a place like this.”

  This caused him to laugh, “I think you may be underestimating your charms.”

  I could feel my face assuming an expression of annoyance. “I am not willing to debase myself to get out. Even if there were a 100% success rate for it working, which there isn’t. The people of Scythia are much more likely to toy with me, dangling freedom as an option to get me to do unspeakable things. They would never actually let me go, though. I’m not so stupid that I don’t know what my situation is. Any doubts I would have had about the kind of people who populate this city were erased by those who wanted to be my masters.”