by Chele Cooke
Spluttering from a face full of pillow, Georgianna turned her head.
“Seems you didn’t have as much time on your hands while I was away, after all,” she teased. “Good to know that you’ve been enjoying yourself.”
His broad grin faltered and his grip loosened. Without a word, he moved back and lay on his side next to her. Georgianna frowned, wondering what she’d said wrong.
“I do remember that I promised you a conversation, you know,” he said.
Her lips parted. She stared back at him and brought her arms down, propping her head on her hands. She’d been confused before being taken to the compound, and she’d spent a lot of time thinking about their relationship in her hours alone. She had wanted more from Keiran, something she’d not considered with anyone before. He had promised that they would talk once Alec and Nyah’s escape was done, but she’d been captured. Anyway, that had been before she’d become a drysta. Even though Keiran had orchestrated her release, she couldn’t expect him to tie himself to her now. He would grow frustrated and move on. Even if it didn’t happen now, it would someday.
“I know,” she murmured. “But you don’t need to now. You’ve done too much already. I can’t expect you to…”
Keiran cut her off with a soft, insistent kiss. He held her against him, his fingers entwined in her hair. When he finally pulled back, he was so close that even in the low lamp light, she could see every line of his lips, every fleck of blue and grey in his eyes.
“Do you think I help organise the freedom of every pretty girl I know?”
“You’d probably be very busy.”
His thumb absently traced her jaw as his gaze searched her face.
“I’ve not been with anyone since you were caught,” he admitted. “I promised you that conversation and I still intend to have it. Whether you’re a medic or a drysta.”
“Really?”
She wasn’t sure she believed him. She was sure he meant it now, but what about months down the line when he couldn’t see her? If Edtroka went back on the deal, there was nothing to stop him from selling her back into the compound. If she went back in there with Ta-Dao and Vajra, she wasn’t sure she’d ever come out. That would mean Maarqyn might have his way and manage to take her away. She’d probably never see Keiran again.
“I’m not promising joining or anything,” he said, pushing her back so that he hovered over her. “But I want to be with you.”
Georgianna coaxed him down to her, gentle kisses that drew him in until neither of them could breathe. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, slid her fingers into his hair, sighed against his lips. Even if it wouldn’t last forever, she was happy to have him now. Someone to care about. Someone to forget about all the bad things with. She wasn’t a drysta when she was with him. She wasn’t a victim or a criminal. She was just George.
When they came up for air, Keiran rested his forehead against hers, keeping his eyes closed. Her breath fluttered his short eyelashes.
“I should get you back to Edtroka before he decides not to let me have you again.”
Georgianna shook her head and hooked her leg over his hip. She held him against her and smiled against his skin. He wasn’t any more ready for her to go than she was to leave. As he shuddered against her touch, she knew he could be persuaded to delay.
“We still have time.”
Despite the early hour, the tunnels were full of activity as Keiran and Georgianna walked back towards the square. To get to the exit closest to the square meant travelling through the entirety of the Belsa encampment from Keiran’s small shack, and they were stopped more than once by people who recognised her. They’d barely stepped out of the shack when Keiran had slipped his hand into hers, a small gesture on his part, but one that meant much more to her. In the entire time they’d known each other, he had never displayed affection in such a way, preferring to keep it private. Somehow, it was easier to go back to Edtroka and that life knowing that Keiran was here and hadn’t forgotten about her.
“Gianna?”
Georgianna spun on her heel. So few people called her Gianna, especially down here. She was George to the Belsa if they knew her name at all. The only people who knew her as Gianna were family and family friends, one of whom was walking towards them.
He looked haggard, far more so than usual. Like her father, the few months she had been away had taken their toll. Unlike her father, however, she was sure that it had not been her disappearance that had done the damage.
“Hello Beck.”
“Oh, Georgianna, it really is you!” he sighed gratefully. “A guard reported from his duty that you’d come in late last night, but I wasn’t sure whether to believe him.”
The hug he enveloped her in was loose and awkward. Georgianna gripped Keiran’s hand behind her back and forced a smile until he pulled back.
“You’ve seen Lyle?”
“My father is fine, thank you,” she nodded.
Beck glanced from Georgianna to Keiran, his brow tightening in concern. She had never been so short with him, not even when he refused to help them with Nyah’s escape. There was a chance that he didn’t realise how much she knew about his agreement to tell everyone that Alec was dead, but she wasn’t ready to forgive him.
Beck licked the corner of his lips and stuffed his hands into his pockets.
“Zanetti,” he said suddenly.
Keiran stood up straighter.
“You mind if I have a moment alone with the medic?”
Keiran squeezed her hand and moved off further down the tunnel, leaving her alone with the Belsa marshall, someone she had once called uncle. It seemed far too long ago.
“I have your bag of clothes,” he said, slipping a strap from his shoulder and holding out the small canvas bag. Georgianna took it, the bottom brushing the ground as the strap hung from her fingers.
“Was everything okay?”
“Everything was fine,” he nodded. “But enough about that. Are you okay, Gianna?”
“Please don’t call me that.”
He looked hurt by the slight, especially since he had known her as long as anyone else who used that name.
“George.”
“I’m fine.”
“You were buryd, George. I doubt that constitutes as fine.”
She shrugged and looked away.
“Well, I’m out now.”
“No, you’re a drysta, if what Zanetti told me is accurate.”
“You don’t have to remind me. I know what I am.”
His eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Beck sighed.
“You’re angry with me. Why, because I didn’t offer help for that escape? Is that it? You blame me for your capture because if I’d offered those men, you wouldn’t have been caught?”
“You think I’m that petty?” she asked quickly.
“No, no, of course I don’t.”
“Why did you lie about Alec?”
Beck groaned and turned away from her. Georgianna grabbed his arm, wrenching him back.
“No, you don’t get to turn away from me. You owe me this, Beck. You owe Landon. He went off to slavery believing his brother was dead.”
“Look what happened when people knew he was alive, George,” he answered. He sounded tired. “A rescue attempt that landed you in Lyndbury. You’re all lucky that no one was killed for it.”
“You lied to us, to his own brother. Maybe if we’d known…”
“What? You would have let him stay with his owner?” he snorted. “Knowing what he was going through, you would have left him there?”
“Why did you allow it?”
“Because he asked me to!”
Georgianna jumped back at the ferocity with which he spat the words. Alec had said something along the same lines, but she’d been sure that Alec had been trying to protect Beck. She swallowed the lump in her throat. Beck n
odded.
“Alec begged me to say that he was dead. He wanted to stay with that Adveni. He wanted revenge.”
“And you let him?”
“You know better than most how much Alec has lost over the years, all at the hands of the Adveni: his wife, his best friend… his child.”
Georgianna’s eyes widened in shock. Beck nodded.
“She was pregnant when she died.”
She couldn’t meet his gaze. She couldn’t believe how little she knew. Alec had never told her.
“Look, George, if you’re angry at me for lying to you, I get that, but don’t let it change things.”
“I don’t…”
“Lacie misses you.”
Her anger ebbed at the mention of Lacie, Beck’s adopted daughter. She missed the young girl as well. Lacie had become a constant in her life and she knew how hard it was for the teenager to trust others after all she’d been though. She didn’t want her anger at Beck to drive a wedge between them.
“Is she alright?”
Beck smiled.
“She’s fine. Keinah has been training her… when she can get down the Way, of course. Lacie loves her little boy.”
“Keinah had the baby?”
“Almost two months ago now. She named him Rayne. Lacie is besotted.”
Georgianna couldn’t help it, she laughed.
“Look, I didn’t ask to see you just to chat.”
She knew that the reprieve could not last long. She sighed and nodded.
“What is it?”
“Zanetti explained that Halden made a deal with this Adveni.”
Georgianna stared at him for a moment too long. She knew that it hadn’t been her brother to make the deal with Edtroka, yet Keiran had lied to Beck about it. She gulped and nodded.
“I’m going back to him now.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
“What do you mean?”
“You could stay in the tunnels, you don’t have to go back there, George.”
Staring down at her boots, Georgianna nodded slowly. She knew that Beck was trying to suggest what he thought she wanted to hear. Once she knew about Alec, she couldn’t believe that Beck had let him stay with Maarqyn. Now, however, she couldn’t accept his protection, she couldn’t go into hiding, not when her family were still out in the camps.
“Keiran and Halden think he’ll let me out again. I’d rather stay there and know that my family don’t have to hide with me.”
Beck sighed and nodded, though from his expression, she could see that there was more.
“What, Beck?”
“You’re a drysta now,” Beck said slowly. “You have… access.”
“You want me to spy?”
He stayed silent for a moment and her anger returned. He knew that she was angry about Alec and yet he was asking the same of her.
“Yes.”
“Why?” Georgianna asked. “My owner is just a guard. He’s not in control of things. I don’t think…”
“He let you go, George. He has let you go off for time on your own. I don’t know what it is, but as soon as I heard you were coming down here, I couldn’t help wondering if something was going on. Why let a drysta so recently purchased wander around the city? And without a collar?”
Georgianna frowned and resisted the urge to glance over her shoulder at Keiran. He had been the one to make the deal, but what if there was something else? Someone had told the Adveni about Nyah and Alec’s escape. What if they were hoping that by letting her have time to herself, they would discover other plans?
“Are you planning on faking my death as well?”
The sting of her words was evident on his face. He paused before placing a hand on her shoulder.
“Georgianna, know that I care about you. I lied because I had to, not because I wanted to keep things from you,” he said, bending his head to look into her eyes. “I’ve known your father longer than I can remember. He is one of my closest friends and I would never forgive myself if something happened to you because of something I asked. The moment anything happens that puts you at risk, I will come in to get you myself.”
Georgianna nodded slowly. She was angry that he had lied, but she was beginning to understand why he had. He’d known Alec as long as he’d known her. Her brother had been friends with Alec as a child and while Alec’s younger brother Landon had been much younger than them, he’d been a constant. Beck had been like an uncle to them all and she wondered whether he’d been suffering from the lies as much as anyone else.
“I don’t think Edtr… the guard, knows anything.”
“If he doesn’t, it will be your choice what we do, whether we help get you away from him, or…”
“He’s been kind to me.”
Beck nodded towards the bruise on her cheek, which, from Keiran’s description, was now dark purple.
“That wasn’t him. It was Maarqyn, Alec’s owner. He wanted to know where his dreta were.”
“You…”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“I was going to ask if you were alright,” Beck assured her.
“It was just a blow. It’ll be fine, but I should be getting back. My owner wants me in the square at sunrise.”
Beck leaned in for another brief hug. This time Georgianna returned it, albeit somewhat awkwardly. Beck had changed since the arrival of the Adveni. He was no longer the cheerful, somewhat cheeky man she remembered from her childhood. She couldn’t remember him hugging her since that time.
“Be careful. No matter what.”
She pulled back from him.
“You too.”
Georgianna turned away, taking a few steps towards where Keiran stood waiting before she turned back.
“Tell Lacie I miss her too.”
Beck smiled.
“I will.”
Keiran pushed himself off the tunnel wall, giving her a brief smile. Slipping her hand back into his, they set off along the tunnel. They remained quiet for a good distance before he finally looked at her.
“So, what did the marshall want?”
Georgianna opened her mouth, but paused. Keiran had helped her, he had made a deal with Edtroka to get her out of the compound and to keep her away from Maarqyn. He had arranged free time for her so that, while her life would be vastly different, she could restore some semblance of her former life. She should have been grateful and forthcoming about the conversation. Surely Keiran would be happy to know that she was helping the Belsa. He might have found ways to help her, but he’d been so cagey about what the Belsa were doing, and the exact details of the deal he’d arranged with Edtroka, that she held her tongue.
“Nothing,” she answered. “He just wanted to know that I’m okay, that Edtroka is treating me well.”
Keiran stared ahead with vacant eyes as she fell silent again. She trusted Keiran, she knew that he was a good man and a good Belsa, but not knowing how the Adveni had found out about the escape, not knowing who the leak was and who they had access to, meant that Georgianna didn’t feel safe sharing Beck’s request with anyone, not even the man who had saved her life.
They had to run in order to make it to Javeknell Square. Long shadows were slowly receding, the pink edges of the sky fading to pale blue. All along the edges of the square, Veniche were setting up stalls. Yet for the most part, it was quiet in the early hours.
Georgianna kept her silence though she itched to tell Keiran what Beck had really asked of her. Maybe it would be easier if she had someone to talk to about it. It wasn’t like she would be able to tell Halden or her father. They would be furious that Beck was leading her back into Belsa business when she had already lost so much. While her father never visited the tunnels anymore, she was sure that he would have something to say to his old friend if he found out what had been asked of his daughter.
Edtroka stood at the north-east corner of the square, a frown evident even from far away. Georgianna hurried towards him, giving an apologetic smile as they came
up in front of him, though it was not her he was looking at.
“I believe I made the terms of our deal quite clear, Zanetti,” he said, glaring at Keiran.
“Bringing her back after a day was not part of the arrangement.”
“The arrangement was that whenever I required her, she would be with me,” Edtroka growled. “I required her at sunrise. Therefore, that is the deal.”
Keiran didn’t answer him and Georgianna could feel that, even though it was about her, she wasn’t a part of it.
“Now, are we clear, or do we need to revise this deal?”
When Keiran glanced at her, Georgianna could see the worry in his eyes. He nodded all the same and, after kissing her forehead and murmuring a goodbye in her ear, he was gone.
Edtroka barely paused before waving her onwards.
“I trust you had a pleasant day.” He had abandoned the commanding tone after Keiran left. When he looked at her, she could see his lopsided smile.
“I did,” she said. “Thank you for letting me go.”
“This may surprise you, but I do understand the psychological benefits of allowing people some of what they crave.”
“The psychological benefits?”
“You had been away from your family for a while, you must have missed them.”
“I did.”
“And don’t you feel better, happier, for having seen them?”
Georgianna smiled.
“Much better.”
“Perhaps more contented to remain as my drysta?”
She nodded.
“See. Psychological benefits.”
“So you did this for me?”
Edtroka laughed and rolled his eyes.
“I did it for me. You being slightly more contented with your situation will make my life much easier.”
She wasn’t entirely sure what to make of his statement. If he wanted his life to be easier, he never would have bought her in the first place. In her understanding, he’d been paid for it, but whether that price had made up for the change in his life, she couldn’t be sure.
