by Jaleta Clegg
"Of course it won't. Things won't be as neat as Mayguena believes," Lilliasa said complacently. "There will be fighting. People will die. But I will win, in the end."
She was insane. I ducked my head so she wouldn't see what I thought of her. It didn't work.
"You think I'm crazy. Perhaps I am. Do you know why I want to lead the Triad and the Electoriate? Mayguena just wants the women in charge. I want more than that. If I'm leading the Triad, I can change the Code. I can rewrite the laws. I decide what traits are desirable. Does that make me mad? To want to change things?" She leaned over me. I smelled the perfume she used in her hair.
"For better or worse, Lilliasa?" I asked. "Is your life the only one that will be better? What about the innocent ones who will die because of you?"
"What about them?" She moved away, light as a feather in the wind. "I won't have to marry Gyth. And neither will anyone else. Unless they choose to. Isn't that making their lives better? Giving them that choice?"
I didn't know how to answer her. It wasn't my job to make their world better. It was my job to get free so I could bring back help for the slaves.
"Mayguena promised you freedom," Lilliasa continued. "It will take time to abolish slavery. You'll have to free yourselves. Earn your freedom. What price would you pay for it, Dace? To be free again? Would you die for it?"
"Not if I had another choice," I said truthfully. "But if I had to, yes, I would give up my life to be free again."
"And the other humans feel the same way. What a strange species you are." She turned away, to the window and the dusty air outside. "I should dress for dinner now. Do you think you can do a decent job on my hair? I wish the ruby strands," she said as she settled into the chair in front of the mirror.
"Yes, des Shira," I said and fetched them from her cases.
Chapter 29
Lilliasa's father called for her at sundown. Red streaks painted the sky outside the window. I had managed to weave the rubies through her hair, taming the curls into thick braids that twined around her head. I left a single tumble of curls down one side of her head, falling across her shoulder. Rubies sparkled down the strand. She liked the effect. She also liked the red dress. It flared out below her hips, swirling around her ankles. The top was tight, fitted almost like a second skin. She did her own makeup, painting her face carefully.
"What do you think?" she asked me, primping in front of the mirror.
I didn't dare tell her the truth, that she looked like a woman trolling for customers on the bad side of the port. "You look very good," I said instead.
"No man could possibly resist me," she said and pouted her cherry red lips for the mirror.
I left that comment alone and tidied the room.
Her father sent one of his house masters to fetch her, one of the lower ranking members of the middle class. His eyes were glued to her rear end as she walked out in front of him. The door swung closed.
I puttered around the room for a while, waiting. Shadita snored on the pad. She woke at a knock at the door. She chirped loudly when I opened it.
It was one of the cooking servants. She placed two platters on the dressing table and left. One of them was a mix of green leaves, Shadita's dinner. The other one held the pasty mush that was all I'd ever been given to eat. I set Shadita's dinner on the floor. She trotted over and started munching happily. I picked over the mush, less happily, but it was food.
It was very quiet after that. Shadita settled back down, belly full. I brushed her until she started snoring again. It was dark outside. The room was dim, lit only by one small lamp near the door. It was time for me to do some sneaking.
I found the outfit I'd packed in the bottom of my bag for just that purpose. It was a set of loose trousers and long tunic in a dark green mottled with gray that I'd cut down to fit me. I was hoping it would help me blend in better.
I eased the door open.
The hallway was empty, dark and quiet. A single lamp burned in the entry. I slipped out of the room and shut the door. I paused, listening. I heard nothing but the pounding of my own heart. My breathing was too loud in my ears. I saw no one, though. I made myself step away from the wall and down the hallway.
The entry was deserted. There was no sound of a dinner party. They must have gone somewhere else. I had neglected to ask Lilliasa about that detail. Just to be safe, I stuck to the dark hallway leading into the courtyard. I'd noticed an outside door, beyond the gate, when I'd been in the courtyard earlier. It led into the slave quarters, if Lilliasa had told me the truth.
The night was not quiet. I heard faint laughter, from a distance. The smell of cooking hung in the air. A thin sliver of moon gave just enough light to make the shadows seem even darker.
I pushed the door open, slowly and carefully, just enough so I could pass. The air in the courtyard was still hot, dry from the day's heat. The leaves of the tree stirred in a sluggish breeze. The plants near the fence rustled. I froze at the sound, waiting for a shout of discovery, some sign I'd been seen. They rustled again. I caught sight of a slender four legged creature squirming under the fence and away. I let out the breath I'd been holding and shut the door behind me.
The courtyard was packed dirt, where it wasn't flowers. I moved silently across and to the gate. I crouched next to the fence, peering into the makeshift street behind. I ducked down as a group of laughing men staggered past. I guessed they'd had more than one bottle to drink that night, if alcohol affected Trythians the way it did most other humanoids.
The road was empty after they passed around a corner. I gathered what courage I still had and lifted myself over the fence. The boards creaked under my weight. I dropped lightly to the road beyond then scurried into the shadows next to the house. I took three deep breaths, waiting to be certain I hadn't been seen.
I moved stealthily to the door and twisted the handle. It was locked. I muttered a few curses under my breath. I half expected this, so I'd come prepared with a length of wire threaded into the seam of my tunic, very thin and flexible. It wasn't as good as the lockpicks I'd left behind on my ship, but it was good enough for the locks the Trythians used. They apparently had no problem with theft. Locks were more for keeping things like slaves in than for keeping others out.
I crouched in front of the door and wiggled my wire into the lock. It was trickier than I'd thought. And I was out of practice. I wriggled the wire around, acutely aware of every passing moment.
Someone grabbed me from behind, jamming his hand over my mouth. I fought automatically, kicking backwards and trying to bite the fingers.
"Stop it, Dace," he breathed in my ear, dodging my feet.
I stopped, noticing that he was close to my height, not the two feet taller one of the Trythians would have been. He let me go. I staggered a step until I got my balance back.
"What are you doing here, Will?" I whispered.
"Why don't you just use the key?" He held up a length of metal.
We both heard the voices at the same time. They were coming our way, confident voices that could only belong to one of the Trythians. He wasted no time in opening the door and yanking me through behind him. He eased the door shut. We waited, barely breathing, as the voices passed by outside.
"That was too close," he whispered. "Don't they ever sleep?"
"Who's there?" It was one of Tuarik's slaves.
"It's the pet," another one called as I stepped into a thin beam of moonlight. "Come to gloat over us?"
"I came looking for help," I said. "Any of you pilots or navigators?"
That question was met with dead silence.
"They aren't interested," Will muttered. "Let's go."
"Who else is with you?" the first voice asked.
"I'm a pilot," a new voice added. He shuffled forward to the front of the bars that divided the room in half. "Why do you ask?"
"Because tomorrow night we're stealing a ship," I said.
"Why just pilots and navigators?" the second man asked. "Because the rest
of us aren't good enough?"
"Because there isn't room," Will said. "The rest of you have a choice. You can escape with us and hide in the hills until they come back with help. Or you can stay here, as slaves."
"There isn't any help," the second man said. "They forgot us and left us here."
"Because they don't know what's happening out here." My nerves were on fire, waiting for the jolt of pain that would signal we'd been found.
Will stepped forward, to the bars. He held the key into the light from a grimy window. "You choose what to do with this. We're moving at sundown tomorrow, just after they go into the chamber house."
I heard voices outside, asking about someone hiding in shadows. My collar tingled a warning. "They're coming," I whispered.
Will dropped the key and moved swiftly to the door. He leaned against it, listening. I watched the third man, the one who'd admitted to being a pilot, bend down and retrieve the key. He stared at it as if he'd never seen one before.
"Is there another way out?" Will whispered urgently. He put his hand on my back, pushing me away from the door. "They must have spotted me earlier."
"The door, there," the third man said. He stuck his hand through the bars to point into a very dark corner.
Will pushed me that way. I stumbled in the dark. He caught my elbow, keeping me upright. I found the door by ramming into it with my head.
"This one isn't locked," a voice outside announced. The handle of the outside door rattled.
Will reached around me and yanked the door into the mansion open. He shoved me through, stepping on my feet in the process. I bit back a yelp of pain, I didn't have shoes. It didn't seem to matter that I was barefoot. Reashay had managed to beat that particular phobia out of me.
Will pulled me into a shadow next to the door as he eased it closed again. I leaned against the wall, trying to keep my breathing under control. I hated this kind of sneaking around. I hated the creepy feeling of being almost discovered. Will's hand was warm where it rested on my back as I leaned my face against the wall.
I heard them in the room with the slaves, shouting questions. The slaves played stupid. They didn't give us away. The sounds of searching continued for a few more moments. The room beyond went quiet again.
Will let out a long sigh. "That was close," he whispered.
"How are you going to get back?" I asked. "I assume you came with Sylena."
"Tayvis isn't with us, if that's what you were hoping for. Sorry."
I slumped against the wall in disappointment.
"He gave me a message for you though. He said not to forget. And not to give up. The others are supposed to meet up with him, in the hills out there. Sylena arranged for them to pass messages. She didn't know exactly what messages we passed. The others are going to escape, steal flyers or whatever they have to do. They have coordinates."
"He's building his own army," I said. "To counter whatever Mayguena triggers."
"Just to stay safe until you get here with the Fleet."
"That still doesn't answer how you're going to get back."
"This was my last stop tonight. Do you think Lilliasa will hide me for a day?"
"I really don't know if I can trust her that far," I answered truthfully.
"Then hide me until morning and I'll slip out then, join the other slaves running errands."
"There isn't anywhere to hide you," I objected.
"Under your bed?"
"You think I have a bed? I sleep on the floor with her other pet, the furry one."
"And here we were thinking you lived a posh life."
"Sleeping on the floor and eating mush twice a day isn't posh." I led him out of the dark room, only tripping twice over chairs.
He eased open the door to the hall. "Sounds like my first owner."
"This way," I said and led him quickly to Lilliasa's room.
Shadita was still snoring on the mat. The single lamp burned on a table near the door. Will looked around the room.
"I assume the closets are full," he said. "And under the bed is out of the question."
I went to the window, looking for stars mainly. It was not far to the ground outside. The window faced the courtyard.
"How about under the bushes out there?" I asked.
A troop of Trythians, the lower class ones, headed past on the road. They all carried the slave wands and were looking in bushes as they went.
"Or maybe not," I said, turning away as one of them looked up at the lighted window. "There might be room in the closet."
I opened the least full one. If he didn't mind being cramped on the floor, there just might be room to hide him inside. I pulled out a few of the dresses and jammed them into the second closet.
"Spacious," he commented. "I think I'll wait for a while, though." He sat on the floor next to it, carefully out of sight of the window.
"So what else did you plan that I don't know about?" I sat on the pad near Shadita. If I stretched out my feet, I could touch his.
"Sylena's been in touch with Mayguena. She isn't the one you need to watch out for. Your mistress is the wild card. Mayguena is going to try something tomorrow, but it probably won't work. So the human slaves are running for the hills with whoever else wants to come. You steal a ship and get back to the Empire. If you aren't back in two months, then we move with Mayguena. At Lilliasa's wedding. We back her rebellion. Sylena is providing what weapons and equipment she can."
"You're going to be slaughtered."
"Not necessarily. There are only three hundred alpha males on the planet. They control the weapons. We take them out, and we control the weapons. That's what Mayguena is trying to do tomorrow. We outnumber them."
"And what about all the other Trythians? Tayvis said they seemed content enough. They won't fight for you. They may fight against you."
"Sylena is taking care of that, too. We have some of them on our side. There are always a few malcontents in any crowd." He studied me a moment. "I won't lie to you, Dace. It's a risky gamble. But we don't have another choice. You have to get the Fleet here in two months or less. Make contact with Sylena and she can get the word out within a week. The plan hinges on you being able to fly one of those ships. Tayvis thinks you can."
"I can fly one, yes. Lilliasa kept her word that far. She gave me access to the training files. I don't know how to navigate."
"That's covered." He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. "There are three dozen navigators and pilots waiting for the signal tomorrow. You head for the gates to the port and they'll be right behind you."
"Which ship do I take?"
"The closest one. We've got anyone else with engineering experience following you. They'll see if they can ground the other ships."
"They'll be killed." That was the part of the whole plan that kept haunting me. People were going to die.
"They know the risks, Dace. We all do. Tayvis told me some of what you've done. I'll admit I'm impressed, even if he was exaggerating."
"Tayvis doesn't exaggerate."
Will just raised an eyebrow.
"Do you all take a class in eyebrow raising?"
He looked confused.
"Never mind. Tell me about the Federation. What did Roland do to it? I thought they were just pirates."
"They aren't now. Roland studied the Empire, talking to anyone and everyone and visiting Tebros once, just to see how the government worked. He came back to Dadilan and made major changes. He did away with the entire feudal system overnight. And then he put it back together, building in checks and balances so no one person held too much power, including himself. He made contact with the Federation about two years ago. They came by to see what they could get, they'd heard rumors that things had changed. I wasn't there when he talked with the leaders. I heard he spent three days shut in his planning room with them.
"When he came out, he had a trade agreement and they had a new constitution. They are only pirates when forced to be. The Empire is too closed to
new ideas. It's grown stale, at least the upper levels of society and government. They keep the Federation and the others closed out because they refuse to acknowledge that anyone else exists. The galaxy is a huge place."
"You don't need to tell me that," I said. "But why steal systems from the Empire?"
"Because they're being neglected. Most of them haven't seen anyone from the Empire except maybe a Patrol vessel in years. And the Patrol doesn't always pay for what they take. They're treated more fairly by the pirates who come for trade than they are by the Empire. The tax rate on many of the frontier worlds is staggering. There isn't any support for growth or development. Roland is offering them a much better chance. And a better way of doing things, where everyone has an equal voice, whether it's in their local town or world or sector or beyond."
"He's converted you. You're preaching."
"You say you have a trading ship, an Independent," he continued.
"It used to be. The Guild kicked me out a while back."
"That is exactly what Roland is trying to prevent. One group controls pretty much all the trade. If you don't pay their dues, you can't trade. That isn't fair."
"So Roland is letting chaos happen instead? The Guild membership stands for something. People know they can trust you. And there are a lot of companies beyond the Guild, the big ones."
"It used to stand for that, Dace. Now it mostly means that you have the money or connections to pay the fees. That's happening everywhere in the Empire. Those at the top don't care about the bottom anymore, as long as they get their tax money. It has to go both ways."
"Will, I'm too tired and nervous to care tonight. I just want to not be a slave anymore. Then I can worry about governments and fairness."
"I thought if anyone cared, it would be you. After what you did on Dadilan."
"I did that for much the same reasons. I wanted off the planet. Everything else was just what I had to do to get what I wanted."
"But you do care, even if you won't admit it."
"So Roland is taking over the Empire. One government is pretty much the same as another, as far as I'm concerned."
