My father gave a sigh of irritation and raised his hands as if in submission. “I suppose I will find something to say to the man. Perhaps he will be appeased by meeting with your sister.” I did not say the words though I knew my sister enjoyed flirting with men of all ages. I was sure she would be willing to barter. I had seen her do much more for much less. She would be able to get my father a fair price on ships and receive something for herself, no doubt. “I can take no more of this. We are done for today.” My father pushed Sebastian forward surprising the man. “Tell everyone to leave and come back in the morning if they wish.”
“And please find my sister and tell her that her services are needed.” I added. Sebastian kept his face neutral as he nodded in compliance and departed.
“I need a rest.” My father said wearily as he got up slowly. I stood and offered my hand and motioned to my handmaiden who stood a distance away.
“Take my father to his chambers.” The man was in good health at nearly sixty-five years of age. His weariness was likely caused by his exasperation over me more than physical fatigue.
“It would be wise for you to take a rest as well, mistress. You have been looking weary as of late—” I raised my hand at Isaac, stopping his speech as I waited for my father to depart.
“What do you have to say for yourself? You were too sharp tongued with Sebastian.” I raised my hand again as the man opened his mouth to speak. “I know how irritating the man is, but he is my father’s chief guard, Isaac and he is of much greater rank than you. When he speaks against you, you are to let me defend you.”
“I don’t speak out against him out of my own injured pride! If I am sharp with Sebastian, it’s because his actions are an affront to you. He still seeks your hand though,” He paused as if considering revealing something he knew. It was a common practice of his through the years. The man always seemed to know more than he let on and always hesitated to tell me.
“Go on.”
He sucked in a deep breath before continuing. “Sebastian and your sister are lovers. I don’t know for how long, but—”
“I have been made aware of the situation.” I started. It was rare that the man told me something I already knew, but in this case the relationship had been reported to me by a guard I had following my sister. “How have you learned of it?” He shifted uneasily in his seat as he did before he was about to lie to me. “Forget it. It doesn’t matter that he is bedding her. You cannot show him blatant disrespect. Do you understand me?” He only nodded, meaning he understood though he would choose to ignore it. I sighed. “You show too much interest in my suitors, Isaac.”
“Because I fear you will give your heart to someone undeserving, like Sebastian.”
“Oh?” The man’s words surprised me. He had always taken an interest in my suitors, usually revealing something that made me reconsider speaking to one over another. Though he had never spoken so boldly on the topic before. “And who is deserving of my heart?”
He stared at me for a moment before turning his eyes away. “Maybe no one. Can I be dismissed?” He asked suddenly.
“Is there something you need to do of greater importance?”
“Not of greater importance but of importance. Natalie wished for me to take guard of the slaves in the fields nearest the stables.”
“Very well. I have something to tell you first.” I extended a hand to him as we stood. The years were good to him. The training progressed well those first years. The garments that once hung loosely on him became stretched to capacity filled with lean muscles. He became proficient enough in defense, and skilled in distance weapons as Titus wished. Now he only spent a few hours during the week with Titus, mostly supporting him training the young men, rather than being trained himself. Though he would never possess the skills of a man born and raised in the Fortress, who was trained starting at a young age, the man was a competent warrior. When he wasn’t with Titus, he was with Natalie guarding the slaves in their day to day work. Isaac was good at suspecting abuse put on them and they trusted him enough now as a fellow slave to honestly share their needs. When he wasn’t with either of them, he was with me, serving as a scribe of accounts or filtering through my suitors. The man seemed to excel in every task I bestowed upon him.
“What is it, mistress?”
“I will be leaving for six weeks.”
“Six weeks?”
“I have been called away. I am needed somewhere else. The journey to and from will take about six weeks.”
“May I ask where?” Where I was going, I couldn’t tell him. Not yet. Word had reached me that his father had passed. It was common practice for our condolences and gifts of comfort to be given through our tax collectors or guards. In recent years I had told my father it would be better for us to have more visibility with our people in the surrounding villages. When a governor passes, I suggested we visit the village and show that we mourn with the people. My father was getting too old for travel and I would take trips on our behalf. Though in this case my father tried to persuade me against it.
The people won’t welcome you, Kiatra. They may act foolishly. You could be put in harm.
I knew that fact, yet I needed to go. For Isaac’s sake. I wanted to see his mother and brother. I wanted to know what they were in need of, and I would provide it for them. I knew that the thought of them had been a constant source of pain for Isaac. I wished to see them with my own eyes and ensure that they were well.
“When I return, I will tell you where I’ve been. I will be taking my guards with me and,” I paused for a moment remembering my father’s stipulation on my travel to Isaac’s village. “Sebastian.”
“Sebastian?” The hurt was evident in Isaac’s eyes. He felt it was a betrayal that I would take Sebastian on my travels over him. It was a betrayal. Isaac was more faithful to me than Sebastian and he certainly grated my nerves less, but I couldn’t take Isaac back to his village. I couldn’t predict what he would do if I let him step back even for a moment to his old life. Nor, could I truly predict what his people would do if they knew he was alive.
I could see Isaac struggling with his thoughts, mulling over what to say to me without showing me disrespect. “Speak freely.”
“I just fear you have not thought carefully enough. It is not wise for you to go on such a long journey when you haven’t been feeling well—”
“I am fine. I have just been fatigued.”
“So you say.” He said carefully. “Yet, if you feel more than fatigued on your journey you are being accompanied by men who won’t know how to care for you—”
“And you are better suited to care for me?”
“Perhaps!” He started surprising both of us, before he shut his mouth and started again. “Perhaps, you should take Mara with you.”
“Hmmm. Perhaps, I will consider it. Anything else?” He stared at me for a moment longer before sighing and shaking his head. Through the years, the man’s disappointment in my decisions weighed heavily on me. I was foolish to allow a slave to have so much influence, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. I placed both hands on his shoulders, wishing to appease him. “The matter is urgent. The time will pass quickly. I will be back without delay.”
He shifted his eyes away from mine but nodded. “May I be dismissed now?”
“You’re angry with me?”
He looked back at me and held my gaze. “What right do I have to be angry? I am your slave. I will do as I am told and feel as you wish for me to feel. May I be dismissed?”
“What a tyrant of a master you serve to make you feel that way.” I said sarcastically as I sat back down and looked up at him. I put my finger to my chin and tapped it as if in thought. “I do believe I always encourage you to speak freely to me on your feelings, perhaps too freely that now you have no respect for me? I also believe that you have the reputation of challenging me on my decisions once or twice, and I am constantly forced to remind you to mind your tongue and yet you tell me that you do what you are t
old. Peculiar.” He opened his mouth to respond but I continued, not giving him the chance. “Go. You are dismissed.”
He hesitated for a moment before bowing curtly to me to depart. He paused and looked back. “My lady, if I may suggest one last thing? I believe that a Chieftess who dismembers men is not the legacy you wish to leave. You must be fair. Women are just as capable of deplorable crimes.”
“I’m aware. I’ve met my sister.”
“Then branding perhaps is more appropriate. The word abuser across a forehead. Or adulterer. You could even expand it to thieves and liars.”
I sighed and suppressed a smile. “I will consider it.” He smiled as his amber eyes drifted to my lips for a moment. His expression sobered as he brought his gaze back to my eyes.
“Be well on your journey. I will be praying for your safe return.” I only nodded in response as he departed the main hall.
“You best take me with you. I have done nothing to deserve being left with that man as he sulks over your absence.” Mara raised an eyebrow at me, as she entered from the side of the hall. “He is absolutely insufferable when you are gone.”
“You are spying on my private conversations.”
“Not spying. I simply overheard some things.” She approached me with a wink and kissed the top of my forehead with the affection of a mother.
“It is good for us to spend some time apart. He is too dependent on me.”
“And you would have it no other way. What you have not prepared for when you took him in is that he is not only dependent on you, but he has grown to care for you. He’s protective of you and he worries over you. Perhaps he even loves you—”
“Enough.” It was something that Mara would imply often that Isaac was in love with me. Though I never took much consideration over it. If he loved me, it was not true love. His love drew from fear and dependence that could easily turn into bitterness and dissension. No, his love did not draw from an actual desire to be with me. How could it when he wore the reminders of my cruelty on his back?
“He is not wrong. This journey may be too much for you. Don’t think I have not also noticed your fatigue.”
“I am not ill.” I said trying to sound light with my words. In truth, I had been feeling a dizziness and nausea the last few days, but I had hoped it would pass. I had no time to be ill.
“Your father is right. You are an impossible girl.” Mara’s brow furrowed as she looked me deeply in the eyes. “My lady, Isaac deserves to know that his father has passed.”
“It is best I wait until I return to tell him.” I had contemplated telling Isaac before I left of his father’s passing. The guilt was eating away at me. He had a right to know, but the thought that this news could trigger the man to try to escape again worried me. Though Isaac had acted in perfect obedience since his last escape four years ago, a topic we thoroughly avoided was his village. I didn’t wish to bring those memories back up to the forefront of his mind. I couldn’t have him longing for home anymore. If he ran again, I would have no choice but to put him to death.
Mara was right. He had a dependency on me. What I truly was unprepared for was the dependency I now had on him. I relied on him, cared for him and favored him too easily. I enjoyed simply being in his presence. I liked to hear the sound of his voice as he shared an anecdote from sparring with Titus and the young men, or a sarcastic comment he would let slip out criticizing a suitor. Though it was improper, I considered him a confidant. I felt at ease in his presence and did not wish to lose him. I couldn’t lose him.
“And what will you do about your sister? The second you are gone, she will try to take Isaac to her bed.” I sighed in frustration at the thought of my sister. Sabrina’s antics didn’t subside after Isaac’s victory against Eliazer and his beating commanded by me. Though I was not certain if she had any real interest in Isaac, the woman would continue to try to get the man alone with her. Time and time again over the years Isaac would report to me that Sabrina tried to persuade him to dine with her or walk with her or visit her in her shop. She appeared so much in the stables when he slept, I started to send one guard down with him to keep Sabrina at bay. Once when he awoke the woman was standing over him. The next time she saw me she proceeded to allude as if something had happened between them, though the man denied it profusely.
I knew the game my sister was playing since Isaac came into my service. She wanted me to feel like I could not trust him. She spoke as if there was something between them, that he kept from me as if he was also one of her paramours. I knew it was not true. The man would not betray me in that way, but in the deepest part of my being, I knew he still kept things from me. I still questioned whether I could trust him even after all this time and her words festered those thoughts.
Sabrina and her mother were cause for other more pertinent concerns. Their shop of healing herbs and potions received quite a bit of popularity through the years. Where once, they were dependent on mine and my father’s kindness for financial stability, they were now becoming women of independent means. Villagers across the province would send requests to visit the Fortress for my sister’s supplies. I warned my father about giving them too much freedom, but he assured me that I was being petty and jealous.
Your sister and her mother are no threat to us. He would repeat foolishly. I toyed with the thought of casting them both out. I had the power to do so, although the decision would cause an irreparable wedge between me and my father. Those things could not be done until he passed.
“On that account, my sister is no concern for me, Mara. Isaac is strong willed and devoted to me.”
“Yes, but as you are gone, he may want to find a way to pass the time.”
“Mara.”
She shrugged as if the conversation was casual. “He is a man after all Kiatra, or have you not noticed? Your sister can be a persuasive woman even to the most strong willed of men. It is best you stake your claim to him sooner rather than later.”
“Meaning what?” I snapped, wishing she would let the conversation rest.
She put her hand over my wrist as the bemused expression left her face. She held my gaze for a moment before speaking. “You are a woman who wields so much power and yet on so many important things you are immobile. It pains me to see you stop yourself from being happy.”
“Kiatra!” The door opened suddenly as Natalie entered and knelt before me. Her green eyes were frantic. “Forgive me for the intrusion but there is a matter that cannot wait.”
“What type of matter?”
“An intruder was caught lurking near the outer premises of our walls.”
“An intruder?”
“Yes. He was found with only a portion of food and water, and a spear. I wouldn’t have disturbed you if I didn’t feel he would be of particular interest to you.” She paused her words. “He is from Isaac’s village. He was one of the other men who trespassed five years ago.”
My breath caught at that. After all this time one of those cowards returned. “Are you certain?”
“Yes. I remember him.”
“Where is he?”
“I’ve taken him to your chamber as I knew Isaac was with you and didn’t wish for the man to see him.”
“Good. Come with me. You will serve as my intermediary.”
I recognized the man instantly when I entered my bedchamber. His arms were bound, and he was on his knees as my guards stood closely by him. His dark brown hair was sticking up, but it was his eyes I remembered. They were a deep chestnut with thick lashes, now bordered with dark circles, indicating sleepless nights. He was the young man who sobbed when Isaac offered himself to me. The only one of the men who showed an ounce of concern or compassion toward Isaac. He only raised his head slightly when I entered and stood before him. “Untie him.” I commanded my guards. “Ask him to state his name.” Natalie jammed her staff hard before the man causing a look of fear to flicker across his eyes.
“State your name.”
“Benjamin.” The man s
aid almost in a whisper.
“Ask him why he is here.” As Natalie did so, the man looked from Natalie to me.
“Is he alive?” Benjamin said with a tremor in his voice. Natalie ignored this and struck him once across the face with her staff and repeated the question. “Please.” Benjamin pleaded. “You know why I am here. Is he alive—”
“If you cared about your friend you wouldn’t have waited five years to seek his whereabouts.” Natalie said curtly. The words struck the man. Guilt contorted his face before he looked to the floor. “You have waited too long—”
“Enough.” I commanded as a horrified look came to Benjamin at Natalie’s words. He bowed his head to the floor.
“Forgive me. Forgive me, my friend.” The man started to weep. Natalie made a gruff sound in disgust of the display.
“Your tears mean little now.”
“I said enough.” The man was lost in his grief and I knew we would get little out of him now. I motioned Natalie to follow me back out of the chambers.
“Pathetic.” Natalie said as the man disappeared from view, though the tone of her voice did not hold the venom of the actual word. “Five years, Kiatra! Five years they left Isaac here on his own. No action. Not even one word! What good are his tears? Are we supposed to be moved that guilt has taken its course on his soul and now he feels regret? They are a village of cowards!”
“He’s likely always felt regret. Yet, he could do nothing without the support of his people.” I said calmly, in thought. “Perhaps he grew desperate from their immobility and made the attempt on his own, knowing it would be fruitless.”
“Five years later?” Natalie said bitterly. “What will you do with him?”
Premonition Page 15
