"What do you mean?" Sam asked. "I have to be in your life. You said Irene adopts you."
"She does. Then you die in a plane crash. That same week, my mother dies in a car accident. All of my family dies when I am a year old, aside from my Grandmother Tina."
Sam chuckled. "I'll be sure to not fly, then."
"It won't matter. They'll find you wherever you go."
"They'll find me?" Sam picked up his vase of wine. "So they weren't accidents, then. Who murders me and Irene, Jack?"
"You don't want to know that right now."
"I do, though. Tell me so I can fix it."
Jack sighed. "The Syndicate."
"I'm the Director of the Syndicate. They don't even breathe without getting permission from me first. No one would dare try anything like that."
"They will after you leave."
Mr. Allen scoffed. "No one leaves the Syndicate."
"Dad, you leave after you see the bad things that happen. You leave when you realize how many people get hurt because of the things the Syndicate does."
"You're a liar. I don't know who you are or why you came here." Mr. Allen kicked over one of the food platters, scattering bread across the floor as he stormed up to Jack and shoved him violently against the brick wall. "I'll snap your neck, slave."
Jack held up his hands to protect himself. "Please, don't. Please."
Sam's authoritative voice froze Mr. Allen mid-swing. "Allen, stand down. You would lay a hand on my son?"
"Sir, I was just-"
"Outside. Now. You sleep with the camels."
"Yes, sir." Mr. Allen lowered his fist then slunk out of the house.
Sam took his son in his arms. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry about Allen. He likes to test boundaries sometimes."
"I'm fine."
"I have no reason to doubt you, Jack. I believe that we can make the future better together." Sam smoothed Jack's hair. "Something is on your mind. It's not just your awful day or my Time Knight. Tell me."
"My Time Knight, Niki. He was really hurt and not doing too well. If he came with me here, he could be in trouble. If slavers get him, he'll die with that treatment."
"We'll find him. Is he European like you?" Sam asked.
"He's half Italian and Avelayan and half Iranian."
"Iranian. Well, that doesn't bode well if slavers did get him."
"Why?" Jack asked.
"Pale-skinned slaves like you would usually fetch high sums and be used as scribes or domestic servants. If he looks anything like a native Egyptian, your Time Knight would be sold for field labor or be sent to the mines."
"We have to find him."
He grinned. "He's more than a Time Knight to you."
"He's my brother. We were raised together as brothers. He's everything to me, aside from my fiance."
"You're engaged to be married?"
Jack turned away from him, twisting the shoelace ring around his finger. "I am, but she's missing. The Syndicate kidnapped her and they're holding her hostage while conducting experiments on her."
"The Syndicate? My Syndicate?"
"The same."
"How could things go so wrong?" Sam began pacing across the front of the room. "Is this my fault? Do I turn the Syndicate into something awful?"
"No. It's not you. You leave because it gets so bad and you can no longer control it. You find out the truth."
"What is the truth? What do I find out?"
How could he explain it to him? Sam wouldn't listen. He was too far involved with the Syndicate at that point in his life. "That people are hurting."
"People are always going to hurt, Jack. It has to be something else, something darker that would make me leave. Because right now, my allegiance is with the Syndicate and only the Syndicate until death. I can't give up everything I've worked for because you say some unknown thing happens that makes me leave it."
"I understand. I just want you to be prepared."
Sam placed his hands on his hips. "You've helped me feel better about the future. I will be there for you. I'll make sure of it."
"Is it right, though?"
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"It is right to alter time now that you know about me? Even the smallest thing can kill off millions of people."
He placed his hands on Jack's shoulders. "I will be with my son. I will watch you grow up and I'll teach you everything you need to know about being a powerful Chronomancer. I won't fail you."
"I'm getting tired of people saying that to each other. 'I won't fail you.' Because we always do in some way. God knows I've failed my Time Knight over and over again."
Sam kissed Jack's forehead. "Then let's not add to that. There's a slave auction this evening in this village, over in the square. We can check it out and see if your Time Knight is there. If he is, I'll buy him for you."
"Thank you."
"Jack, you are my son. There is nothing in all the world I wouldn't do for you. I mean that. Are you all right, actually all right?"
Jack rubbed his eyes. "Tired. I don't feel very good. Those slavers held me underwater. I thought they were going to kill me."
"You're with me now. They respect me. They won't try to take you back. Come here and I'll remove the rings from you ears."
He backed away. "No."
"No? They mark you as a slave."
"I'll keep them."
"Why?" Sam asked.
"Personal thing. Do you have a mirror?"
Sam took a small piece of polished glass from the shelf and held it up for him. "They're basic bronze rings."
Jack poked the small rings that fit snugly against his earlobes. "I see."
"At least let me put some alcohol on them. You don't want them getting infected." Sam rummaged through another chest then took out an alcohol swab, obviously from the present. He swiped it over the wounds. "There we are. If you're finished eating, I will give you the tour of the village and we can go check out the slave market. I do hope your Time Knight is there. You didn't tell me his last name."
"Valentino. Nikolas Valentino."
"Valentino . . . Leo's baby?" Sam asked, tossing the swab into the chest.
"You know about him?"
"Leonardo Valentino is my dear friend. He never joined the Syndicate, but he's been helping with some cases. I just found out before coming out here that his wife was pregnant. I almost asked when you said he was Iranian and Italian, but I wasn't sure. Look at me, my son. We will get your Time Knight back. I promise you that. Before we go, your sword is still on the camel. You're welcome to carry it."
So Durendal wasn't lost after all. "Thank you."
"I know not to come between a Chronomancer and his weapon. Now, let's go to a slave auction."
Chapter 24
Jack kept his hands clasped together in front of him while he stood in the crowd of eager men who had gathered in the afternoon sun in front of a wooden stage between two date palms. Durendal hung on his hip from his belt, but he was under strict orders from his father to not draw it unless told to do so. Some slaves, mainly bodyguards, carried weapons, so he wasn't completely out of place. "How much longer?"
Samuel Carter crossed his arms on his chest while another line of slaves was led onto the stage and the bidding began. "Keep looking for him. He's got to be around here somewhere. What about over there, by the carts? There's a cage or something. They usually keep chickens in there, but it's possible they could keep a slave in one if he's been in trouble."
He squinted through the dust and heatwaves to see the waist-high wood-slat cage where a nearly naked tan-skinned young man with a shaved head of black stubble and cuts covering his body was locked inside. The slave sat there, slumped over, his eyes on the straw below him. It was unmistakably him.
"In the cage. That's him."
"Good work, my boy. He doesn't look too good. I think they've been beating him."
"He was beaten before he got here."
A female Egyptian slave was separated fr
om the line on stage. The bulky brown-haired guard stripped the robe from the woman, leaving her naked and crying in front of the crowd of men. They whispered between each other and jingled the coins in their coin purses.
Sam attempted shelter his son's eyes from the scene in front of him. "Don't look, Jack."
"I'm not a child, Dad. I'm engaged, remember? I'm not interested, anyway."
"Sorry."
The smack of a reed against skin drew Jack's attention back to the stage where the woman was on her knees and being caned with a heavy reed by the guard. He shifted on his feet and had to look away. "Tell me when it's over. I can't watch this."
"He's just showing how hearty she is. It won't be long."
"They're not going to cane Niki too, are they?" Jack asked, sincerely hoping his friend would never have to endure any discomfort again in his life.
"I don't know. It's over. You need to watch this, now. I think it's Niki's turn."
The guard went to the cage and slid the front open. He took the rope around Niki's neck then forcefully pulled him out of the cage, dragging bloody straw behind him. With a slap to the back of Niki's head, he forced him to crawl on his hands and knees up the steps and to the middle of the stage. He crawled like a dog, wearing a scrap of cloth around his hips that had smeared with his blood. It was then that Jack could see the extent of his injuries.
The cuts, the gashes, the burns, the bruises. They covered him from head to toe as a brutal reminder of the abuse he had suffered in that freezer. He was shaking as if he was shivering, but he was glazed with sweat in the heat. Was he suffering from not having those drugs?
"Dad, I think he's going through withdrawals."
"Like, he's a drug addict?" Sam asked, his eyes narrowing.
"You know that torture he went through in the freezer? Part of it was them injecting drugs into him. He hasn't been weened off of them yet."
"That's not good, Jack. We'll get him. Looks like someone has taken an interest in him. Look at his ears."
The blue stones caught the light. "Are those gemstones?"
"Sapphires. Shh. Let's hear what they have to say about him."
The guard addressed the crowd as he kept his hand on Niki's head. Whatever he said elicited whispers from the audience.
"Dad, what did they say?" Jack asked.
"He's already been bid on by a representative for Cleopatra. She wants him as a bodyguard, if his wounds are able to be healed quickly."
"Cleopatra, the queen?"
"Indeed. We might have some competition."
Would they even stand a chance? "How much money do you have?"
"Not as much as royalty."
The guard slapped Niki until he stood up. A heavy wooden beam was dragged onto the stage by two guards then lifted up. They barked at Niki until he held out his hands. They lowered the beam into his hands until he was holding it up on his own. He lifted it, his arms quaking with the enormous weight. He gritted his teeth and grimaced, but he held it above his head as his chest heaved.
"What are they doing?"
"Seeing how strong he is."
"Whoa."
"The will to survive can help people do amazing things. Right now, adrenaline is pumping through your knight, despite his injuries."
Jack watched in both horror and awe at his brother's torn body that still held that beam high. "That's good, right?"
"Good for him, not good for us. It means he won't be discarded or killed for being useless, but it also means that he's probably going with the queen. He'll be unreachable by us. Unless . . ."
"Unless what?" Jack asked.
"Shh. Just watch for now. Has he seen you?"
Jack covered his mouth with his hand when Niki dropped the beam and collapsed with a cry of pain. "I don't know."
"The bidding is starting. I'll go as long as I can, but bidding against Cleo is never easy." He held up his hand to bid. "Starting high. We'll see."
The royal representative, a heavy-set, bald Greek man near the stage raised his hand as well.
Sam clutched his coinpurse as he bid once again.
Back and forth, the two men bid without any other competition. Once the bids reached higher, the crowd became silent, the other men watching with intrigue and wide eyes. The wordless battle of money continued with growing ferocity until the representative thrust his hand up and waited, grinning at Sam across the square. Everyone turned to Sam, waiting for his counter-bid.
Sam opened his coinpurse and sifted through the coins. "I'm sorry, Jack. I'm out. I didn't think Cleo would be this interested in a Persian slave."
"We can't leave him."
"We'll get him. I have a plan B. The auction's over. We'll wait a bit, then go the camel. We'll have a bit of a ride into Alexandria."
Jack watched Niki being bound with ropes then led off of the stage. He took the chance he had while he could. He jumped up and shouted at him over the audience. "Niki! Niki, we're-"
The heavy hand slammed down over his mouth, cutting off his words. Sam held him tightly against his chest. "Quiet. This is not the place. Stop fighting me. I'll have to do it. I'm sorry."
Jack was shoved down onto the ground then kicked in the side, his father's boot connecting with his ribs. He groaned and curled up in a ball to defend himself from another kick that never came. He remained there, motionless, until the crowds began to disperse and his father jerked him up by his collar.
"Are you all right?"
He cowered away from his father. "I just wanted him to know he wasn't alone."
"You know why I kicked you?"
Thinking back, he knew he messed up. "Yes. I was making a scene. I forgot I'm just a slave."
"Stand up straight. Let me see." Sam pulled up the hem of Jack's tunic and frowned at the growing black bruise on his side. "Your skin bruises so easily. I may have kicked you harder than I intended. I'm sorry. I'm not good at this."
"I'll be okay. What about Niki?"
"Number one, trust me that I have this under control. Number two, we need some water and food for the trip. It will take around four hours to get to Cleopatra's party. That's where she will be tonight, all night, so we have time. She's gentle with her slaves, sometimes a little too . . . loving . . . if you catch my meaning. She likes her servants to tend to her every need, men and women, both. It's probably one of the reasons she purchased Niki. She tells her representatives to scour the new slaves for any virile young men or pretty women."
Jack's stomach turned. "She wants him for sex?"
Sam rubbed the back of his neck as he breathed in through his teeth. "Most definitely. I didn't want to tell you that bit because well, ugh, this is awkward."
"Yeah, kinda. I don't know, though, being with a queen is right up Niki's alley. At least, he would have fantasized about it before the attack."
Sam raised an eyebrow. "You two are really close, huh?"
"We share everything with each other."
"Everything? Are you sure?"
Jack dug the toes of his slippers into the sand. "Let's just get him back."
"I agree. Follow me, Jack."
He walked with Sam to a nearby market where they bartered for bread, cheese, and wine. They then drew water from a well to fill their water skins, met with one of Sam's acquaintances in a field where they talked for a few minutes, then finally went back to the camel. Every passing minute was a minute Niki could have been hurting. After an hour of waiting around for his father to finish up preparations for the trip, Jack was on the verge of an anxious breakdown.
They headed out of the village and onto a desert road towards Alexandria. Jack sat behind his father on top of the rug that served as a mildly comfortable saddle. For four hours, he baked under the sun that penetrated his clothes to burn his already blistered shoulders. This time it was worse with the raw welts from being whipped. He passed the time by making awkward small talk with his father about school and acting and road trips to the beach. Most of all, he told Sam about Ellie.
&
nbsp; He told him about her deep blue eyes, her ebony hair, her light brown skin. He told him about her voice like a bird's, her stories she would tell him when he spent the night, and the brownies they baked together. He told him how strong she was. He told him how much he loved her.
By the time they stopped outside the white-walled palace with rose bushes planted out front between marble columns and sparkling pools of water, it was just after sunset. Torches lit the open courtyard that was decorated with flowing purple curtains, stacks of decorative pillows, and rugs stretched out in the corners where couples made love in the shadows and men relaxed while clapping for dancing girls in sheer costumes and bells around their ankles.
"Stay by my side and don't get distracted by any of the women. We're here for Niki."
"Right. Oh, my . . ."
The smoldering eyes of one of the dancing girls focused on him from a few feet away. Licking her lips, she strutted over to him and draped her scarf around his back, pulling Jack up against her sweat-glistened body. He gasped when the woman's soft hands trailed down his neck and she swayed her hips seductively. His eyes were glued to her soft stomach as she moved, the coins decorating the cloth around her ample breasts jingling.
"Jack."
He began to tingle all over when the woman took his hands and kissed him.
"Jack, enough." Sam interrupted them, dragging him away from the dancer. "You are engaged to be married. I know they're tempting, but you have to control yourself."
Jack took a deep breath and let it out slowly as his mind cleared. He immediately felt the twinge of sadness swell up in his chest. "Whoa. Okay. Ellie. I have to think about Ellie."
"That's right. Are you crying?"
"What? No." He sniffled as the guilt ate away at him. "I'm good."
"You haven't explored your feelings about women very much, have you? It's all right. You have plenty of time to learn with your wife once you get her back. There's no reason to rush it. And there's no reason to feel guilty about finding other women attractive. It's completely natural. Let's get you out of here before you draw the attention of another one." Sam nodded to an alcove surrounded by curtains where the silhouette of a woman with short hair flickered in the torchlight. "There's the queen."
Chronomancer (Time Mage Saga Book 1) Page 40
