AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I walked to the armoire, found a clean shirt, slid it over my head and said, ‘You want to talk aboutmy“pretences at nobility”? Let me tell you, sister, only rich lordlings and sublime obliviates are stupid enough to believe a slave can desire her oppressors any more than a man dying of thirstdesiresa glass of water!’
Her head rocked as if I’d struck her across the jaw.
Fidick, still sucking on his plum, ran to her side.
For reasons I can only attribute to my imminent participation in the slaughter of the defenders of Archon Belleda’s citadel, I actually felt guilty. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘I didn’t mean to insult you.’
Galass shook her head. ‘A necessary cruelty, Silord. I am grateful for it.’ The blue eyes went icy. ‘Allow me to repay your generosity in kind and suggest that the difference between you and me is not that I am a slave and you a mercenary. What separates us is that IknowI am a slave, and you still harbour the illusion that you have free will, as if Ascendant Lucienasksyou to do his bidding, or more laughably,negotiatesfor your services. The coin with which he pays you affords you the self-deception denied to us.’ She held up her wrists. ‘See? No chains here either, but I feel their presence.’ She walked to the centre of the tent, grabbed my wrists, and held my hands up between us. ‘Can you see your chains, Silord Cade?’
It was a mad thing to do. Wonderists aren’t known for their appreciation of those who lay hands on them without permission. But somewhat to my surprise, I found myself laughing.
So this is why she keeps goading me. She thinks if she gets a rise out of me, whatever vile abuses I’m secretly intending for the two of them will be directed at her, not Fidick.
I was about to call her on it when I heard a yipping sound, followed by a low growl. There was a dog in my tent– a jackal, actually, with tall ears, a long, sharp snout like that of a wolf, and a face I doubted even its mother could have loved.
‘Mister Bones!’ Fidick said excitedly, looking around for the animal.
My eyes narrowed as I spotted the beast near the entrance. I studied it, searching for any spell or charm that would explain how he’d got into my tent without permission. Galass must have mistaken my look of irritation for impending violence because, for the first time, she looked anxious.
‘Please, Silord!’ she cried and rushed to take hold of the jackal. ‘He means no harm. He follows Fidick and me around everywhere. I’ll send him away– or if you must kill him, I beg you, do so quickly. Do not—’
‘Why are you so convinced I want to kill this mutt?’ I asked, then remembered the rumour going around camp that one of my fellow mages sacrificed dogs as part of his ritual preparations for each day’s battle.
I knelt down and held out my hand for the jackal to sniff.
The ugly little beast padded closer, putting himself between me and Galass. His little dog-like head hunched forward, nostrils flaring, before showing me his teeth. The grey-brown fur bristled, the stripes at the tip of its tail somehow sharpening, as he looked poised to go for my throat at any moment– then he finally sniffed at my hand and let out a slightly more companionable snarl that nonetheless conveyed that there would be trouble if I crossed his favourite humans.
Even the dogs were telling me my business lately.
‘Let’s get something straight, Mister Bones,’ I said, deliberately sticking my finger between his teeth. ‘You can stay here tonight and protect your charges, but if you pee onanythingin this tent, I will transform you into a three-legged cat.’
‘You can do that?’ Fidick asked.
‘Better for all of us that you never find out.’
‘Thank you,’ Galass said, grabbing the jackal and cuddling it. ‘You are. . . kinder than the others.’
I could almost believe her this time, which only made me angrier. ‘I’mnotkind, you idiot child! I’m not noble, honourable, decent or compassionate. I’m barely fucking human. I’m. . .’ Why was I trying to explain myself to this kid? ‘I’m a mercenary, that’s all, halfway to a monster as bad or worse than Lucien, if you want the truth. I’d rather not travel farther down that road, that’s all.’
I rose up and strode to the small chest next to my bed, traced a pattern in the air with my ring finger while whispering the words that would restrain the curse as I opened the lid long enough to fish out two coins. I turned back to Galass and Fidick and held one out for each of them. ‘Do you have the means to keep these hidden? Have you some place where you can be sure no one will find them?’
Galass nodded, while Fidick stared at the sheen of gold, fingers reaching out of their own accord. I held the coins up out of his reach.
‘Here’s the deal,’ I said. ‘You’ll stay here tonight. I’ll see you fed and kept safe until morning. When you leave, you’ll have these. If you’re smart, you’ll wait until the battle begins tomorrow and run from the camp while the army is still revelling in the carnage. They’ll leave some of the defenders alive to play with, which will keep them sufficiently occupied that no one will be paying attention to you. Head back the way the army came. Find the least ruined town left standing and set yourself up with a place to live and an apprenticeship. I recommend a tannery. The pay’s good and the stink’s no worse than corpses on a battlefield– assuming you’re clever enough to keep someone from taking the money away from you.’
‘And the price?’ Galass asked. She was watching me, not the coins.
‘You let me cast a memory binding on you.’
She shook her head and stepped away. The jackal growled. ‘No,’ she said. ‘No mage’s curse for me.’
‘But Gal,’ Fidick cried, ‘this could be—’
‘I told you before, wonderist,’ she said, holding up her arms, ‘I’m not blind to my shackles. I’ll not add your foul magic to harden them further.’
‘It’s not that kind of binding,’ I insisted. ‘I just need. . . there are things I have to do now– things I don’t want any of my fellow mages to learn about. I can’t risk you telling them, or them drawing the memories from you by some other means, so I’ll need to. . . tamper with your recollections.’
‘We’ll forget what you did to us?’ Fidick asked, sounding suspicious for the first time.
