Whatever she thought at him, he raised his eyebrows slightly, then bowed in acquiescence, as though he approved of whatever she’d sent.
“Eighteen million,” she said, looking back at me. “That’s half a million for each infiltrator ranked above a six...plus a quarter million for those who are ranked less. That is fair market price.” She gave me a conciliatory bow. “...It is also rounded in your favor.”
“You would have me work off their market price?” I raised an eyebrow, glancing at Ulai. I saw that he had paled, and that he stood closer to me, hovering almost protectively. For a moment, I felt a pulse of warmth for him, strong enough that he seemed to feel it.
“It is a fair offer,” Voi Pai said. “And it is final. I would want the same from the Sword. I ask only for what is due me...in terms of payment for his rescue...”
“What about the others?” I said. “Those in the work camps?”
She waved dismissively. “Make it an even twenty million. For all of them.”
I felt my jaw harden once more.
“And you will of course include all of those seers captured tonight?”
“Then it is twenty-two million,” Voi Pai said curtly. “That one alone,” she added, pointing at Wreg. “He is worth half that. It is a fair price.”
“And how do I know you will keep our bargain this time?” I said, gesturing around at the others without looking at them. “How can I be sure you won’t simply kidnap them again, and auction them off at your whim...?”
Voi Pai clicked softly. “The Esteemed Bridge has a poor opinion of her servant...”
“...Because I do not kid myself for one moment that that’s what you are,” I retorted, my hands clenching. “I need assurances, Voi Pai. They must be real assurances. I need to know they are free...before I will let you own me.”
“We can provide that,” she said, her eyes hard on mine. “You must agree to be collared, for at least a portion of your time under my employ...”
I thought about this, then was forced to concede, realizing I couldn’t expect otherwise with the telekinesis. I gestured as much, avoiding Cass’s eyes again.
“Agreed.”
“And work at whatever work I deem you fit for.”
I conceded to this as well, albeit more reluctantly. “Agreed.” I hesitated. "In return, I would ask for training while I am here..."
"Training?" Her eyebrow lifted again humorously.
"Full infiltration training. Whatever you provide to your normal recruits."
Her eyes measured mine, then she nodded. "Agreed."
"Will I be a formal member of the Lao Hu?"
"Through the duration of the contract, yes," she said. Her eyes narrowed further. "Which means you will be bonded to the group...that is non-negotiable, Esteemed Bridge."
I hesitated at this. Unfortunately I didn't know enough about what she was saying to know if it was unreasonable or not, or what the effects would be long-term. There was no one there I could ask, obviously. After another longish pause, I gestured a yes.
"Agreed."
“The terms will begin, including the collar, once I have provided you these assurances to your satisfaction?”
“They must be to my satisfaction,” I warned her. “You will not own me, in any way, until I am sure they are all away...”
“Sister...!”
I jumped, turning my head.
It wasn’t that someone had spoken so much as who.
Wreg stared at me, his eyes stricken, like his voice. His face held a kind of bewilderment, like he didn’t know me, but there was grief there too. From the look on his face, it seemed he wanted to say more, but he didn’t move as I returned his gaze, probably as much in surprise as anything else. Finally, I swallowed, turning back to Voi Pai.
I pointed at Wreg without looking at him, my jaw hard once more.
“I would request a moment alone with brother Wreg,” I said. “No guards, no construct...I need to speak to him privately.” Glancing briefly at Ulai, I added, “If you need one of your representatives there, I will accept brother Ulai as a chaperone...but no one else.”
Voi Pai gestured dismissively. Despite the ease of the gesture, her eyes on mine were harder, examining my face as though looking for some kind of trick.
“You may go,” she said. “Use the gardens past the antechamber...and brother Ulai.”
Taking my arm gently, Ulai led me out the way we’d come in.
Before I turned, I glimpsed Cass’ face once more, almost by accident. In that one look, I saw that she’d gone sheet white, her eyes wide as she shook her head in another silent ‘no’ to me, if anything more adamantly than before. My eyes flickered up to see Jax and Mila giving me equally stunned looks, but theirs were closer to what Wreg’s had been, like they couldn’t believe what they’d just heard. I saw a guard prod Wreg to his feet then, and followed Ulai into the candlelit dimness of a room past the throne room we’d walked through before.
We passed another set of doors, and then we were outside, in a lantern-lit patch of snow filled with stone landscapes. The creek that used to run through here was dry, but the cherry trees still stood, their bases wrapped with padding against the cold.
Wreg joined us a moment later. The guard shoved him out the door, so that we all stood in the new snow. He stumbled a little as he came to stand near Ulai and me, then looked up, his eyes narrow as he stared into mine.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he hissed. “Is this some kind of joke?”
Ulai spoke up before I could answer, his voice openly worried.
“You should not speak to her in this way,” he said to Wreg. He gave me a worried look though, with some measure of apology. “...But he is right, Esteemed sister,” he added. “Voi Pai is not positing this as an idle offer...she will take ownership of you, and she will employ you however she deems it most profitable...”
Swallowing, Ulai looked down at me nervously, letting his gaze grow meaningful as it trailed down to my feet.
“...You must know there are possibilities with that,” he added. “Things which you might not wish to have done to you.” Clearing his throat, he looked away again, his skin darkening slightly. “...Indignities, Esteemed Bridge. Not befitting your stature...”
I looked up at Ulai, reading the meaning in his light blue eyes.
Nodding, I realized I had known that. Clearly, Voi Pai wanted me to know it, just as she’d wanted me to offer myself instead of just telling me outright what she wanted. I still didn’t see a whole lot of options. I didn’t exactly have the clout or the manpower to declare war on the Lao Hu...even if I managed to pull some kind of army together with the refugees from those camps, it would take too long, and anyway, half of them wouldn’t even be trained. It would be months if not years before I would have any leverage with her that way.
Even Revik would need at least a year to plan such an operation, if not more.
I knew Voi Pai likely had her own reasons for wanting me out of the picture. More than simply humiliating me and playing her own stupid power games, that is. Maybe she was even trying to lure Revik back here. Maybe she wanted her own paired set of telekinetic seers.
Or maybe she was just hedging her bets again, protecting the hegemony of the Lao Hu by making sure we never became a threat to her. In any case, I got the feeling she was more than a little disappointed that I hadn’t killed Revik following his capture. She’d likely go out of her way to humiliate me, in the hopes it would bring Revik here faster.
But it wouldn’t work. Not anymore.
Feeling something in my chest tighten, I looked at Wreg. As soon as I had, I wished I hadn’t. The same understanding that Ulai voiced seemed to have reached him as he studied my face.
“You knew,” he said, his voice an accusation. “You are whoring yourself...you are doing it on purpose.” His voice grew angry. “Why?”
I shook my head, clicking sharply. “I don’t have to answer to you, Wreg, even when you shout. And no, I didn’t
know. I came here to make a deal. This is the deal she will accept.”
“You are a liar!”
“Am I?” I bit my lip, remembering Revik accusing me of the same. “I suppose you’re right. Being the mastermind that I am, I planned all of this. I coerced Voi Pai into demanding this ridiculous price of me...right after she asked me to sell her my husband...” I swallowed, almost correcting myself on that last, then shrugged, giving Wreg a flat look. “You’ve got me, brother Wreg. The jig is up..."
“You laugh. This whole thing could be a charade...”
“And you would never know if it were,” I retorted. At his angry look, I threw up my hands. “Gods, Wreg. Would you rather I sold Revik? Or do you think there is someone else she would accept in either of our places?”
He shook his head, clicking at me angrily.
When I didn’t say anything else, he looked away. I watched him thinking about my words, his eyes narrowed as he kicked a booted foot at the snow. I felt emotion pulse off him, but I couldn’t read any of it, apart from his anger at me.
“You came here to sell yourself,” he said. “...to martyr yourself. It is an indignity, to do such a thing...even for you. You are still an intermediary...”
“What I do isn’t really any of your business, Wreg.”
“Did you kill the Sword then?” he said, his voice bitter. “Is that what this is about? Penance for your crimes?”
I gave a disbelieving laugh, shaking my head. “What is it with you two? He asked me the same about you. No, I didn’t kill him...he’s fine, Wreg.”
“Where is he?”
“You know I can’t tell you that,” I said, impatient. “But I don’t need to. He’ll be free, soon enough, and I have no doubt you’ll be the first one he contacts...”
“Free?” Wreg stared at me. “You will release him?”
“I have ordered him released, yes. He’ll be out in a month. Possibly less...possibly more. There is some discretion there, but it won’t be very long, I promise you...” Sighing a little at his skeptical look, I rubbed my face with one hand. “I’ll let him explain what happened when he sees you. I was trying to help him. He will likely describe it differently...but I never meant him any harm, Wreg...”
“Just the rest of us,” he growled.
“Clearly, yes...I wished you all enslaved. And tortured.”
“Then you are simply a fool,” he said angrily.
I didn’t answer that. I just stood there, my arms folded.
After I took a breath, I looked at Ulai.
“Can we trust that she will let me honestly verify that they are gone?”
Ulai nodded, slowly, his eyes still flickering between me and Wreg. They rested on Wreg more warily, pausing for a beat before he looked back at me.
“Yes,” he said. “She is sincere in her price. I think she will not risk war by refusing your conditions. She would have to kill too many otherwise...and she fears the Sword.”
“He won’t come for me,” I told him bluntly.
Wreg gave a low laugh at this.
“Are you sure of that, Esteemed Bridge?” Ulai asked nervously.
“I’m sure. He won’t come...not unless someone gives him a reason to.” I bit the inside of my cheek. “So if that’s her game, it won’t work.”
Ulai gave me a puzzled look. “Her...game, Esteemed Bridge?”
"Is this still about him? About bringing him here?"
Ulai's eyes grew more thoughtful. Realizing he was in the Barrier space, I didn't speak, and a few seconds later, his eyes clicked back into focus.
"No," he said. "I do not think so. Her attention seems to be solely on you, Esteemed Bridge. She has some concern that he may come, actually...it does not seem to be her desire. She seems to be hoping the contract will be fulfilled before he does, or that she can force you to tell him to stay away, if you are in her employ and bonded to her infiltrators..."
Feeling my jaw harden, I turned on the other seer.
He was staring at me now, too, a new understanding in his eyes.
“You can’t tell him, Wreg,” I said. “...Where I am.”
There was a silence where he just looked at me. Then he let out a snort, right before the expression in his eyes turned disbelieving once more.
“I can tell him whatever I want...Bridge.”
I took a step closer to him, feeling my jaw harden more.
“No, you can’t,” I said. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist that you give me your blood oath that you won't...or I’ll go in there and tell her you’re not part of the deal. In fact, I may throw Jax and Mila in, as well. Clearly you don’t value your own life much, if you were dumb enough to try and climb these walls...”
He stared back at me, his eyes holding a faint surprise, right before they narrowed.
“You would not do that.”
“Believe me, brother Wreg,” I said. “I would. As far as I’m concerned, it’s one less million I have to work off...maybe two, with Jax and Mila...”
His dark eyes remained on mine a beat longer.
Then, as if seeing something in my face, he nodded slowly.
“You mean it?” he said. “You do not want him to know?”
“I do mean it.”
“A blood oath?”
I gestured a sharp yes. “I figure that way I have a prayer of you keeping it.”
“I will keep it.”
He looked up at Ulai.
“A knife, brother?”
Ulai glanced at me, his eyes a question.
When I nodded, he flipped back his coat, pulling a knife from a leather scabbard at his right hip. He held the blade out towards the other male, hilt-first, but Wreg shook his head, indicating his hands bound behind his back.
“You’ll have to do it, brother.”
Ulai nodded, once, then walked around behind Wreg.
I followed, watching as Ulai pulled one of Wreg’s hands flat gently below the cuffs. In one clean motion, he cut the seer’s hand across the palm, making me wince. Turning to me, Ulai held a hand out politely, gesturing for me to take it. After a bare hesitation, I placed the same hand as he’d cut on Wreg in his, palm up. Without waiting, he cut mine across the palm, just as cleanly.
I winced again, but more at the sight of it; I barely felt it.
When he indicated, I clasped Wreg’s hand over the cut, palm to palm.
“You will not tell him,” I said to Wreg.
“I will not tell him.”
“Where I am, or how you got away...you’ll make up a story, one that does not involve me.”
“I will not tell him...I will do exactly as you said.”
“You did not see me here. You have not seen me since I shot you on the plane.”
“I have not seen you.”
“Promise me, Wreg!”
“I vow it,” he said. “He will hear nothing of this, or of you...not from me, or from any of my people. I vow this, Esteemed Bridge.”
“And you will tell the Wvercian...Baguen...to do the same,” I added. “...You will tell him it is my wish, as his intermediary, that he forget this thing, that he speak of it to no one.” I swallowed, fighting back a pain in my chest as it occurred to me that she might not forgive me. “...And tell him to erase Cass. Make her forget I was here. Give her whatever story you intend to give the Sword...or have her remember nothing at all. Whatever is more effective...”
“Yes,” he said, after a pause. “If Baguen is unable to do it, one of my people will. We will remove the memory from her...or create a new one, Esteemed Bridge.”
I nodded, almost to myself.
I tried to decide if there was anything I’d forgotten, then realized if he wanted to find a loophole, he probably could. I had to trust he would do as I’d asked, and not lie to me about it. Maybe it was dumb, but I did trust him, even then. I trusted him to keep his word, anyway; I still wouldn’t trust him not to shoot me on sight if he got the opportunity.
When I released him, I saw his
shoulders relax.
Walking back around to the front of where he stood, I met his gaze. His eyes had narrowed again. Even so, I saw that my words had affected him somehow, too.
“You said he would not come for you,” he said.
I gestured a yes. “He won’t.”
“Why the secret, then?”
I gestured a seer’s shrug, keeping my face carefully blank.
“I am telling the truth,” I said. “He wouldn’t come only for me, Wreg...but I don’t want him to feel obligated. He might come out of a sense of debt, if he knew I’d freed you. I know how you seers value your honor in such things.” I folded my arms. “I only want to keep this clean. I don’t trust Voi Pai, and I don’t want her using me to get to him.”
Pausing again, I looked him in the face.
“Keep him safe,” I added. “Do what you do best, Wreg, and be loyal. Don’t give him a reason. If he doesn’t know about you and the others, he won’t care about the rest.”
He continued to stare at me, his dark eyes openly skeptical.
Rolling my own a little, I clicked impatiently, saying it again. “Believe me on this. He wouldn’t come only for me, Wreg. And he won’t care what I do. I promise you that...”
For a long moment, Wreg only looked at me.
Then he averted his eyes, clicking to himself.
“I think you are lying to yourself, princess,” he said softly.
His words startled me, more for his use of the old nickname he’d teased me with before. I didn’t think about the rest of what he'd said until later.
“Well, you’d be wrong,” I said only.
“...But I have made the oath,” he added, as if I hadn’t spoken. “I will keep it.”
Hearing his words, I nodded, feeling my shoulders unclench.
I realized I believed him. I really believed him.
“Thanks, Wreg.”
I felt a tightness come unexpectedly to my throat.
Before he could see my expression, I looked away, forcing my face still as I looked again at Ulai. The taller seer’s eyes and mouth remained pinched as he met my gaze. He seemed almost as if he wished to speak, too...but he didn’t. Squeezing his hand briefly, I let it go.
Allie's War Season Two Page 101
