“Shut up,” he spat out, his eyes fixing on Malaya as her body trembled in her growing fear. He knew she was remembering the vision she had had just as he was. They both knew where this was going to lead. “You and I both know she’s a self-centered bitch who never gives a damn about the little people doing her bidding every day. Has she even bothered to ask about Fatima? The serving girl your men went through to get to me?”
He heard her gasp with distress and he glared at her. She had to go along with him or they were in the worst of trouble. Even more than they appeared to be in already. The last thing he wanted was for Malaya to barter with Acadian for his life. She would never refuse to throw herself in front of Acadian’s claws for him. He knew it with all of his soul. But he had protected her for too long to let it come to this. If she would just let him do his job one last time, maybe he could save her.
“See? Now she thinks of it.”
“Fatima? Oh, she’s safe.” Acadian chuckled. “Fatima, angel, come to Mother.”
Fatima walked into the room, looking out of breath and flushed, but smiling as she met Helene halfway across the floor and hugged her tightly. Acadian turned to look at two sets of angry eyes.
“Well, how did you think I always knew so much about you? The fights. The amusements. The rumors and the truths. Although, naughty girl, she didn’t figure out you two were really lovers until just before we caught you. How did you think we knew where you were and that you were finally without palace protection? I admit, it was a surprising special bonus for the day. But she gave me enough notice so I could plan to be chatting with Killian when my people went to get you. What better alibi than the head of the city guard? After that, no one will suspect me again.”
She absently touched her throat where deep bruises had once been where Guin had almost throttled her to death. He’d come very close to it. She’d taken a great risk playing that game with him and Dae. He could just as well have run her and Angelique through and asked questions later. Guin realized she’d been gambling on knowing that he would want to feel the life draining out of her for every single minute of her death. It was probably also why she had planned to be with Malaya at the time. She’d known Malaya well enough to know she would pull him back.
“Anyway, no hard feelings against Tima? Yes? No? She was just being a good girl for her mother. Go ahead, Tima, go rest. You’re through being a serving girl for this spoiled girl.” Fatima left the room as quickly as she’d come and Guin heard her running up some stairs. Wherever they were, there were multiple stories to the house. It made him believe they were actually quite close to the main level of the city. Only the wealthier houses tended to have multiple stories. Those houses seemed to be restricted to the first two or three city levels, as the prestige of being nearest to the royals made them prime property. That made him realize there was a chance they were in Helene’s own house. Barely a block from the palace! But they might as well be in New Zealand. Then he suddenly thought of Rika. The vizier had the power of locus. By now they’d have noticed Malaya’s extended absence and would be frantic to find her. As long as she had the strength for it, Rika could easily find them there. The trouble was in defending their lives if they came crashing down on the house. Helene and her servant were both armed with daggers. They would cut his and Malaya’s throats wide open if they had a five-second warning.
“Anyway, back to the bargaining table. Let’s see how your mistress values your life, Guin.”
“She doesn’t. Don’t bother. I’m just her stud of the week. Trust me on that.” He recalled how he had felt when he had actually believed that and never thought he would be glad to borrow on the experience of the emotion. His bitterness sounded all too real. He looked at Malaya, desperate for her to let him do this.
“Let’s test that theory, shall we?”
Acadian moved to a table off to the side between them and reached to slide her hand into the leather glove of the infamous metal claws she was known to use in her torture. With four curved tines, like a fork, only much sharper, these were what she had used during her torture of Trace. To this day he still bore those raking scars all over his back.
After securing it tightly to her palm, she moved back to Guin. She stood behind the warrior and then reached down the front of his body; curling her fingers and exposing the blades, she let them lightly rake him through his pubic hair. Guin was breathing hard, his entire psyche wanting to rebel against the threat, but all he did was keep his gaze locked on Malaya’s.
“The bargain is simple. Your life for his, little queen.” Acadian smiled as she looked up at the Chancellor. “Let me kill him as I please as you sit and watch, and I set you free without a scratch.”
“That’s a lie. I know who you are now, and this is a capital crime. You’ll be killed.”
“Memory can be destroyed. I have a nifty little drug that could wipe out…oh, say, the last year of your life. I guess you could call that a little scratch. So you got me there. So…a little scratch for you, and—”
Acadian jerked harshly against Guin, letting the claws catch him where they would as she swiped him across his chest like a temperamental cat. Guin couldn’t help shouting out. The claws tore at him so savagely, the metal tines hot from sitting so close to the black fire. The fire didn’t give off any light, but it burned with plenty of heat, and the tines had absorbed it well.
“Stop it!” Malaya shouted, struggling with her own chains as helplessly as he had. It was just the reaction he had wanted her to keep from making. As he gasped for breath, Acadian crossed her arm over him again, hovering over fresh, unmarked flesh.
“Now I see you are paying attention. But you haven’t heard the entire deal. If, for some crazy reason, you decide to trade your life for his, you will be raped…by men and a variety of things…and you will feel my claws. Both will share time with you for, oh, well, however long it takes you to die. I figure a few weeks. Months maybe, seeing as how you’re so strong. Agree to that and he goes free. I think that makes things pretty clear. So? What’s your choice, little queen?”
“Why are you doing this?” Malaya cried out.
“Because I like it! Because after you are gone, Tristan will start to fall apart and will make mistakes. Then he’ll be mine, leaving an empty throne that the sole surviving relative of your family will fill. Your cousin. Fatima. You see, your uncle got two children on me. Nicoya and Fatima. Fraternal twins. Coya was born last, but she was always my best. Tima means well, and she will make an excellent dummy queen as I guide her in everything she does. I would have had one on each throne had Coya lived. But that k’ypruti”—she raked over Guin for emphasis and went much deeper and slower this time, blood spitting out of his wounds as she severed thick vessels—“killed her. But she’s paying now, isn’t she?” Acadian grabbed Guin by the hair and jerked his head back so she could see his eyes and the agony she had created. “She’d be suffering more if not for you and your heroics, wouldn’t she?”
“Stop! Please, Drenna, I beg you to stop hurting him!” Malaya was gasping through distraught tears, her whole body straining toward Guin. When Helene let go of his head, he could see the metal grips were making Malaya bleed with her struggles.
“Is that a decision I hear?” Acadian asked eagerly.
“No!” Guin croaked out loudly. “Malaya…tell her you want to live. I don’t trust her to do it any more than you do, but you have to tell her to let you go.” He drew for a hard breath, the expansion of his chest sending rivers of blood down his body. “Sacrifices,” he rasped. “Remember what you said about sacrifices?”
Malaya could barely see him because her eyes kept filling with tears. She didn’t want to give Acadian the satisfaction of her sobs, but she couldn’t control herself. Watching her rip into Guin made Malaya’s entire being scream in pain, her chest burning in sympathy. And now he was trying to tell her she should sacrifice him for herself. If she used pure logic, he was right. She had great value to her people and to her brother, and the
young regime was too raw to take such a blow. But how could she ever live knowing she had watched him die like this and let it happen? And what did it matter anyway? Acadian was lying. She was already planning the future for her daughter. She had slipped up by saying that, telling Malaya she had no intention of letting her go free. But there was a chance she really would let Guin go. In Acadian’s eyes he held no importance and no influence to interfere with what she wanted for Fatima and herself.
Pulling herself together, catching her breath, Malaya straightened her posture and stared at the woman hurting the man she loved.
“Let him go,” Malaya said flatly. “I’ll trade my life for his.”
“No! No! Malaya, goddammit, no!” Guin exploded in fury, his flailing at his chains hurting him even more.
“And if you do it now, without forcing him to watch any of this, I’ll tell you what your future will be.”
Acadian inhaled loudly, loud enough for her prisoners to realize how much the idea appealed to her. She came around Guin and pointed a clawed hand at her.
“That’s right. You’re a precognitive. But how do I know you won’t lie?”
“Why would I? What difference does this make? Odds are you’ll kill us both anyway if you decide you feel like it. But let me see you walk him out of this room at the very least and I will tell you whatever you want.”
“Hmm…useful talent. Maybe we’ll have to keep your torture slow so I can make good use of you. Andonel, prepare an injection of that memory toxin.” Acadian walked over to Malaya and bent with her hands on her knees to look the Chancellor in the eyes. “You realize once I give him this, he will forget ever making love with you and any feeling associated with that?”
Acadian laughed when she could tell by the raw pain in Malaya’s eyes just how aware of it she really was. Helene loved it when people were so willing to make painful sacrifices. It made her job so easy!
“Do you know what my third power is?” she asked her prisoners amiably as she tugged and tightened her glove. “It’s very unusual. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered it. I can sense both emotional and physical pain in a wide radius. The most amusing part of that is that it gives me a very direct sort of pleasure. A rush of endorphins or some such thing. I can literally get off on the pain of others!” She laughed at that. “Anyway, it was hard to ignore that sort of reward system. So maybe it will make you feel a little better to know that I didn’t choose this way of life, rather it chose me.”
Malaya held on to her retort, not wishing to alter Acadian’s good mood and obvious steps at setting Guin free. But the idea that she’d had no choice because of her power was ridiculous. The feedback of pleasure was probably a condition of her upbringing, not her power. Someone had taught her to enjoy the pain of others. Her ability might have even developed from that. Who knew? Malaya refused to believe that Drenna and M’gnone would purposely create something so evil and rob it of free will from being anything but what she was. No. She was an empath, able to feel pain, but it should have been a gift she could use to seek those hurting individuals out and bring them her help. She had twisted the power into what it was now.
Malaya focused on Guin, watching the fury in his eyes as the servant returned to the room with the toxin prepared in a syringe.
“I won’t forget,” he swore suddenly, straining against his bonds toward her. “Not a minute of it. I’ll remember every word, Malaya. Every minute.”
“Impossible,” Acadian chuckled. “Face it, Guin, there are just some things you can’t fight. You can’t fight the effects of this any more than you could fight the effects of the tranquilizer. But do keep looking at her and clinging to your agonized hope. It feels so tragic and good. Are you also thinking about all the ways she can be used by anyone and anything in my reach? If you do remember anything, remember her being gang-raped just so you can leave with your life.”
“You said he wouldn’t have to see it,” Malaya cried.
“What does it matter if he does? He’s going to forget.”
“It matters to me and it matters to you! I won’t tell you a damn thing about anything if you don’t let him go right now!”
Acadian frowned, making a sound of frustration.
“Mother?”
Helene turned at the sound of her daughter’s voice.
“I thought I told you—”
“I saw Andonel preparing the injection, and I was wondering if I could give it to him?”
Acadian looked genuinely surprised. And no wonder. Her daughter had proven to have no stomach for her work. But this was relatively bloodless and harmless, so she supposed it was her way of trying to join in on the fun.
“Of course, dearest. Just be careful going near him. He’s a fighter.”
“Yes, Mother, I know. I have been spying on them all these years, haven’t I?”
Acadian chuckled at her daughter’s pique, giving her a mean prick in her arm with the metal talons as she passed. “Don’t give me lip, girl. You’re still my daughter.”
“Yes, Mother.” Fatima took the shot from Andonel and walked up behind Guin.
Guin just stared at Malaya, burning her and everything they were into his memory. He felt Fatima swabbing the back of his neck with a cold liquid he assumed was alcohol.
“I love you,” he said softly.
Malaya sobbed deep in her chest, wanting to say a million things to him. But soon none of it would matter. He wouldn’t remember any of it. He wouldn’t remember making love or her declarations of love. He would lose her thinking she’d never become aware and that his love was forever unrequited.
“I am your daughter,” Fatima said with slow purpose. “The daughter who spies and lies. The one who spent thirteen years serving on her knees for this woman, and who was always close by for every single detail of every single day. A very long time, Mother.”
“Yes, well, I’m sorry, dear. That was all in the name of furthering our ambitions.”
“I learned a lot,” she noted.
“Yes dear, it was very helpful. Now let’s give him the shot and watch her cry her eyes out. That should make up for all those years, hmm?”
“I’ll never forget them,” Fatima argued. “Not a single minute. No more than Ajai Guin will. Because I learned what a strong and amazing woman it takes to gather and rule a culture. I learned how honestly good she always meant to be, even though she had her flaws like anyone else. I learned how strong a man could be as he selflessly repressed his feelings year after year just because he thought speaking up could be a detriment to her happiness.”
“Fatima, what are you talking about?” Helene barked.
Fatima leaned close to Guin’s ear as she steadied the needle above his skin.
“I learned how to think for myself and act for myself. Like I did when I ran to the palace a few minutes ago and told them where these two were and what your plans were for them. And like when I opened the door and let them all in the house.”
Andonel realized what she was saying first. He rushed Fatima, grabbing for the needle. But she thwarted him by jabbing it into her own arm and pressing the plunger. Acadian screamed, turning sharply toward the stairs as she recognized her daughter’s betrayal at last. She turned just in time to see Daenaira throw a sai at her, the weapon hitting her so hard she was flung back against her table of torture. Acadian regained her balance and struggled upright, staring in shock at the three-pronged weapon spearing through her left shoulder.
“You bitch!” Helene screeched. No one knew if she meant Fatima or Dae.
Fatima meanwhile had slipped free of Andonel and raced across to Malaya, sinking down on her knees in front of her and throwing her arms around her in a hard hug.
“I love you, K’yatsume. I have for so long now. I wanted to tell you every single day, but I thought you might never forgive me and would send me away from you. Half of what I told her was lies. The rest was vague and going to be made public soon anyway. When Nicoya was moving quickly into power, I kne
w going along with her would be the only way to protect you. It’s like Ajai Guin said. She never broke any laws. Not until she actually took you. She lied. I didn’t tell her where you were. It was someone in the tavern. I should have said so, but I was so afraid and I knew this was a chance to catch her in the act so you could punish her for all she’s done once and for all. I never meant for you to be hurt. I ran as fast as I could. I did.”
Fatima drew back and looked into Malaya’s eyes.
“There’s no such thing as a memory toxin,” she whispered.
The young woman collapsed back on her heels, her arms sliding weakly away from Malaya.
“Oh gods, no,” Malaya gasped.
“Good! Treacherous little bitch! Die!” Acadian screamed.
Then she grabbed at the implements on the table, fumbling for something sharp to do some damage with. The room was filling with armed men, but it was Magnus who strode up to her, grabbed the sai lodged in her body, and twisted it hard.
With a horrible scream of pain, Acadian fell to her knees. Once she was down and kneeling, Magnus settled his katana’s blade along the back of her neck. Malaya could see his blade vibrating with the rage he was trying to hold in check. The katana pricked through the skin of its victim and Acadian began to bleed.
“Your crimes are many and straddle both common and religious law, but the gods have seen to it that I am here first and so to me you will answer first.” Magnus clamped his hand down on her shoulder, his third power blossoming forth. Whatever he asked, she would now be forced to speak only truths. “Do you regret your crimes and repent of all your sins?”
Pleasure Page 29
