Unbroken

by Sarah Hawke

  “Your wish is my command, Master. What do you desire of me?”

  “It’s simple,” he said, leaning in so close our lips nearly touched. “I want you to fuck the Emperor.”

  ***

  My breath caught in my throat. I sat there, thoroughly bewildered, as Master Kristoff chuckled and paced away again. By the time he broke the long silence, he had already poured himself a second glass.

  “I know it’s not what you expected,” he said, grinning. “A few months ago, I was convinced it would never come to this. I assumed I could corner Lucian without ever engaging him directly. But like I said, politics are a fluid thing. We must learn to adapt if we are to survive.”

  “Master?” I rasped.

  “Lucian won’t be nearly as vulnerable a target as Arland or the artificers or any of the lesser nobles,” Kristoff went on. “He’s always been a difficult man to read and an even more difficult man to impress. He rarely meets with anyone outside of the Covenant, and my spies tell me he doesn’t own a single avenari.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m not certain, but I suspect it’s because he despises your people just like his father did. Of course, that never stopped Rikus from accumulating a harem the size of a village…” Kristoff flicked his hand contemptuously. “In any event, Lucian seems to prefer humans, especially young noblewomen. At the start of every month, he brings in several unmarried girls from across the Empire and essentially locks them inside the palace. By the time he returns them to their parents, nearly all of them are ripe with child.”

  I struggled to repress the sudden wave of nausea rising in my stomach. “He doesn’t wed them?”

  “No, and it’s quite the scandal in the Imperial Court. Evidently the Covenant has spent a fortune trying to cover it up, and one of my spies in the palace said that the Hierophant herself secretly slipped priests into the palace so they could place a spell upon the women and prevent pregnancy. Apparently it hasn’t been effective—many of the women are happy to carry the Emperor’s child.”

  I shook my head in disgust when he wasn’t looking. “But why?”

  “Because their families have everything to gain. Think about it: if a family’s daughter gives birth to a child of the emperor, they gain a tremendous amount of political leverage. The Covenant could cover up a few bastard children easily enough—in fact I’m sure they’ve done just that for a long time. But ten children? Twenty? Dozens?” Kristoff shook his head. “In a few years, the political chaos would tear the Empire apart.”

  I frowned and glanced away. Was that Lucian’s plan? To cripple the Imperial Court with scandal? If so, it didn’t make any sense. The Empire was already on the verge of a civil war, and there had to be a hundred better ways for him to destroy the Covenant if that really was his goal. No, this sounded more like the sick fetish of a powerful man than a grand political scheme.

  I closed my eyes and bit down on my bottom lip. I had seen and endured many injustices since our move to Sanctum, but this particular abuse turned my stomach. I wasn’t completely sure why, given that I’d witnessed worse during my few days in Skyfall. And on a personal level, I had just spent the better part of two weeks being degraded and humiliated by General Torelius. I had plenty of rage inside me without worrying about the Emperor impregnating random noblewomen.

  Still, there was something particularly disturbing about it. Perhaps I was surprised because Lucian was ostensibly on the side of the Faedari. Was Karethys wrong about him? Was there something else going on that I wasn’t aware of?

  “In any event, the point is that Lucian won’t be like any other challenge you’ve faced,” Kristoff said. “Arland wanted you on your knees ten seconds after you met him, and I’ve no doubt that Bolvir would happily fuck you for hours given the chance. But Lucian will be different. You’ll have to seduce him. You’ll have to convince that you’re more than just a random slave.”

  He gulped down his second glass of brandy and sauntered back over to me. “And you will, won’t you?”

  “I…I will do my best, Master,” I whispered.

  “Your best won’t be enough. I overestimated your abilities with Darkstone. I will not make that same mistake again.” Kristoff eyed me up and down. “We’ll continue your training this evening. Sharela will dress you appropriately.”

  I nodded slowly. “I understand, Master.”

  “No, you don’t,” he said, his smile fading. “But you will. Now go.”

  He glanced away and returned to his drink. I stared at his back for a moment, a hundred lingering questions dying on my lips, before I finally hopped off his desk and left the room. The house guard standing outside silently escorted me back to my chambers. I followed in a stupefied daze, wondering what in the name of the Triad I was going to do next…

  “Back already?” Astanya asked when the door opened and I slipped inside. She was sipping at some tea and repairing the stiches on an old dress.

  “He wanted to talk to me about Captain Larric,” I lied. My thoughts were so scattered I really wished I could be alone for a while. But apparently I wasn’t going to get that opportunity very often anymore.

  “I know he’s ecstatic that you both survived. He’s lost so much recently…I can’t imagine how hard it must be for him to suffer like this.”

  Astanya glanced back down to her needle and thread, and I felt my face scrunch in reflexive disgust. Not at her, of course, but at the words she’d spoken. She meant what she said—she really did feel for Master Kristoff’s “suffering.” Just like me, she had fully embraced her submission. I had no doubt that she’d even convinced herself to draw pleasure from serving him.

  “He’s always been strong,” I whispered. “I’m sure he’ll find a way to get through this.”

  “Now that you’re back, we can help him together,” Astanya said, flashing me another smile. “Perhaps we’ll get a chance tonight. He said he had something special planned.”

  “I, uh…I suppose we’ll see, won’t we?”

  I sat back down on the bed and tried to force my mind to settle. Astanya engaged me in conversation every now and then, but thankfully she didn’t seem like the type of person who was bothered by extended silence. I used every spare moment to try and figure out just what in the void I was going to do next.

  On the surface, allowing Master Kristoff to hand me over to the Emperor seemed like a terrible mistake. The part of me that regretted returning to Sanctum in the first place was now practically ordering me to flee the city and return to the Faedari as soon as possible. But another part—a growing part, strangely enough—argued that this was an opportunity I simply couldn’t afford to pass up. Not for Master Kristoff, necessarily, but for me. What if Karethys didn’t know as much about Lucian as she thought? What if I could discover information that was valuable to my people?

  My people…

  Just a few months ago, I never would have used that phrase. But sitting here now, looking at Astanya, I was more convinced than ever that I needed to find a way to contact the Faedari rebels again. But even if Larric could make that happen, I would be far more valuable to them if I possessed intimate information on Emperor Lucian.

  I closed my eyes and sank back into the cushions on the bed. No matter what path I chose here, the bottom line was that I needed to speak with Larric again as soon as possible. Unfortunately, if Master Kristoff had a new training regimen in mind, I probably wouldn’t get another opportunity tonight or perhaps even the night after that. I needed to figure out a way to leave this room without alerting Astanya or any of the house guards…

  By the time I’d finally concocted a semi-plausible plan, the problem was solved for me. One of the guards arrived with orders to take Astanya to the bath and the tailor, and I knew from experience that meant she’d be gone for at least an hour, possible more. I waited a few minutes after she’d departed, and once I was convinced she wouldn’t return I reached out to the Aether and repeated my memory-altering performance from last night. The lone gua
rd in the hall was a different man, but he proved every bit as easy to charm—as were all the others on my path to the barracks. By the time I arrived, I had woven false memories into minds of four different men. I felt rather like a ghost flitting across the estate.

  Larric was alone in his room when I arrived. He already looked much better than he had last night. The color had returned to his skin, and he seemed to be moving more or less normally as he paced back and forth between the fireplace and his desk. I considered knocking on the door, but rather than make any more unnecessary noise I simply pulled it open and darted inside instead.

  “Elara,” he gasped, his hand instinctively reaching for a sword that wasn’t there. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “No one spotted me, don’t worry,” I assured him. “I know I can’t stay long, but I needed to speak with you.”

  Larric let out a deep breath and relaxed his muscles. “Kristoff is furious about Darkstone, far more than I expected. And apparently Duchess Farrow died while we were—”

  “I know,” I interrupted. “He told me what happened, and he’s come up with a new plan.”

  “That was fast. Last night he seemed more interested in screaming and assigning blame than anything else.”

  “He believes he can turn the Emperor and the Covenant against Darkstone. He seems to think that will give his Quorum the distraction they need to strike even without additional help.”

  “Because a three-way war wasn’t enough?” Larric grunted and sat down. “His sanity has been waning for months, but at this point he’s completely unhinged. I’m not even sure I want to know what he has planned.”

  I clasped my fingers together and swallowed heavily. “He wants to send me into the Imperial Palace.”

  Larric’s brow furrowed. “What? Why?”

  “Because he believes I can seduce Emperor Lucian and learn his true plans.”

  “Merciful Triad,” Larric breathed. He rubbed his fingers against his temples. “Well, that settles it, then. We need to get out of here as soon as possible.”

  “Last night you seemed to think that would be difficult.”

  “It will. The Faedari don’t have a permanent base of operations in Sanctum—it’s far too dangerous. Contacting them will take time. I haven’t even written a missive yet, let alone delivered it.”

  “Master Kristoff plans to start training me again tonight,” I told him. “I have a feeling he’ll want to send me within the next couple of days.”

  Larric’s cheek twitched. “Then we’ll have to do this ourselves. Somehow…” He paced over towards the small window on the opposite edge of the room. Several of the house guards were outside training. “You made it all the way here in broad daylight without anyone noticing you?”

  I nodded. “It wasn’t difficult. I just have to touch their minds and wipe away their recent memories.”

  He hissed softly between his teeth. “Now you understand why the Covenant is so fearful of the Unbound….” He paused for a moment before he shook his head again. “Slipping out of estate is one thing, but actually leaving the city is quite another. You won’t be able to charm the Inquisitors watching the gates, and there’s no way in the void we can fight through them all.”

  “Then maybe I should meet Lucian.”

  Larric glanced back over his shoulder. “You’re not serious.”

  “Karethys said he was an ally,” I reminded him. “She said he hates the Covenant as much as anyone.”

  “She also said she didn’t trust him,” Larric countered. “Just because he’s Unbound doesn’t mean he’s on our side. He’s never officially allied with the Faedari or the vaeyn—he was just leaking them information to cause a civil war.”

  I held my eyes on the fireplace for a moment before I turned back to him. “If all that’s true, then shouldn’t we learn more about him? Shouldn’t we figure out what side he’s really on?”

  “I would love to, but not like this. It’s not worth the risk—you’re too important.”

  Larric turned and glanced back out the window, but I couldn’t bring myself to look away from him. I could hear the raw emotion in his voice. He wasn’t just making a cold tactical calculation here; he was truly worried that something might happen to me. And I wasn’t sure how to respond.

  For the last few years, I had believed that Master Kristoff felt the same way. He genuinely seemed to care about me, and over time I had come to care for him. It wasn’t until recently that I’d finally realized it was all just an illusion. Kristoff saw me as a tool, not a person; he saw me as his slave, not his lover. He had manipulated me, and in a disturbing way I had gladly allowed myself to be deceived.

  But now…now it was like everything I’d ever known had been turned upside down. Suddenly Kristoff’s true agenda had become clear, and I found myself looking upon the entire world differently, including Larric. He wasn’t the cold, elf-hating former Inquisitor I’d believed him to be. He was a Faedari agent fighting to destroy a corrupt Empire from within. And for reasons I doubted I’d ever understand, he actually did care about me.

  “Whatever time I spend at the palace will give you an opportunity to find us a way out,” I whispered into the silence. “Who knows, maybe Lucian really is on our side. Maybe he’ll help us.”

  Larric’s shoulders sagged as he pivoted around. “I wouldn’t count on it. Remember, this is the same man who assassinated his own father. And if even a fraction of the rumors about his personal life are true…”

  “Do you think Karethys is making a mistake cooperating with him?”

  “I think Karethys is doing what she believes is best for her people. I don’t blame her for that, but sometimes desperate people make hasty decisions that will haunt them later.”

  I studied him for moment. “You almost sound like you don’t trust her, either.”

  “She is a loyal shadow knight serving the Matriarch Queen,” Larric said. “Her duty to Sulinor and the vaeyn always come first.”

  I detected the faintest trace of resentment in his voice along with the obvious affection. I almost wanted to ask him if he loved her, but I couldn’t summon the courage. It was probably for the best.

  “Do you know anything else about the Emperor?” I asked instead. “Something you haven’t told me?”

  “I have suspicions, if that’s what you mean,” Larric said. “But I don’t actually know Lucian at all—almost no one does. That alone gives me pause. He could be completely insane.”

  “All the more reason to learn more about him, just in case.”

  Larric dragged a hand through his short hair and sighed. “Elara—”

  “You just said there’s no way out of Sanctum,” I interrupted. “So let me do this. Let me see if Lucian really can be our ally. Imagine what it would mean for the rebels.”

  He stared at me for a long moment, his pale blue eyes narrowed in confusion. “What’s the really about?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You seem determined to do this despite the danger. Why?”

  I took a deep breath and sat down on the edge of his bed. I’d been asking myself this same question all day, and I still didn’t have a particularly good answer. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “I just…I feel like I need to.”

  “Because Kristoff wants you to? You don’t owe him anything.”

  “I know, and that’s not why.” I pursed my lips as my thoughts flickered to Astanya and Torelius’s avenari and all the other elves I’d watched suffer over the past month. “If the Faedari are going to have any chance, they need as much information as they can get. I’d feel useless showing up at their doorstep without anything to offer.”

  “They’ll take you in in a heartbeat.”

  “Because I’m Unbound? There are thousands of other faeyn in this city who need their help.”

  “That’s part of it, yes,” Larric conceded. “There aren’t many Unbound faeyn left in the world, and the Covenant controls every other channeler in the Empire. You wo
uld be an invaluable asset.”

  “Master Kristoff believes that, too.”

  “It’s not the same thing,” Larric insisted. “The rebels won’t force you to do anything. You’ll be free to make your own decisions.”

  I met his eyes again. I could only imagine how valuable an Unbound—any Unbound—would be to a magic-starved group like the Faedari. They undoubtedly had to steal Imperial supplies just to feed their soldiers and heal their wounded, and they could never seriously threaten the Empire without channelers of their own. I sincerely doubted that their leadership would be willing to marginalize someone like me.

  Still, the thought didn’t bother me nearly as much as it had just a few weeks ago. I wasn’t a solider and never would be, but that didn’t matter. I could help in many other ways…and maybe I saw this as a good starting point.

  “Then I’ll make my own decision now,” I told him. “I’ll play Kristoff’s game and meet with Lucian. In the meantime, you’ll figure out a way to get us out of Sanctum.”

  Larric continued studying me, his face unreadable. “You’ve changed.”

  “I know,” I murmured. “I had to.”

  He paced over in front of me, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “It happened fast, but I suppose it always does,” he said. “For me it was that mission in the north with Karethys. When I saw what the vaeyn what were really like—what I saw what she was really like—I wasn’t able to look at anything the same way again. Sometimes all it takes is recognizing one lie to make the truth seem so clear.”

  I nodded slowly. The silence between us only broke when he belatedly realized he’d rested his hand upon my knee. He awkwardly jerked away and pivoted back around to stare out the window.

  “I’ll try to get a message out,” he said, clearing his throat. “If we’re lucky, someone will get back to us in the next few days.”

  “The Green Gala is five days away,” I replied. The skin on my leg tingled like his fingers had been charged with electricity. “I suspect that’s when he’ll take me to the palace.”