The Cedna by Emily June Street

Author:Emily June Street [Street, Emily June]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-12-27T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

“Wait, you.” My pirate yanked on the leash. After a dizzying trek through the city, he’d come to a walled compound at the top of a hill. We stood on a gravel path just inside the first wall, surrounded by gardens and more paths. I recognized citrus trees like the ones I’d seen in Amar, and pink blossoms on climbing vines trailing over the walls, making the air fragrant and sweet. I couldn’t have retraced our convoluted steps to the shore for any reward.

I had little fear. What did a woman like me have to worry about? I had no plans, no destination. I’d been severed from anything that mattered. I’d escaped death on Gante, and every breath I took was one borrowed from fate.

Despite my bravado, the entourage that approached us left my palms sweating. A man dressed in a blue velvet cloak, followed by six soldiers in intricate scaled mail, crunched down the gravel path.

My pirate bent at the waist in a deferential bow.

“What have you got for me,” the velvet-caped man said in the Imperial tongue of Vhimsantyr. It took me a moment to reach into my arcane knowledge to find the words’ meanings, but as with Lethemian, the language came to me quickly once I sought it.

“A hostage from the west. We took her in Lethemian waters.”

The velvet-cloaked man’s gaze roamed over my plain dress, my tangled hair, and my cold, controlled face. His gaze was assessing, yet at the same time, it made me feel less than human.

“She is nothing much.” He turned back to the pirate. “Strange-looking even for a westerner, and look at her clothes. She is clearly not rich enough to ransom or use in negotiations. I think perhaps you should take her down to the main markets, but the Governor will take a look and make the final decision. Come.”

We were led into a dark receiving hall, a blessed respite from the hot sun. More men stood at the far end of the hall, but only one drew the eye. Like the pirates who had kidnapped me, he had upslanted eyes and black hair drawn into a topknot. Silver beads adorned his hair, and scale armor clad his body. He stood a hand taller than all the others, and his chest was barrel-shaped and broad.

“Governor,” the velvet-caped man bowed. “Here is the girl your loyal servant has procured.”

The scale-clad governor examined me with cold assessment. I might have been a flower or a fish or a feather for all he recognized the awareness behind my eyes. A chill of concern found its way into my spine. I had felt gazes like that before, from Lethemians who scorned Ganteans as savages.

The governor rubbed his head, his scale armor clicking with an insectile foreboding. He lifted the disheveled rope of my red hair away from my body, threw it over my shoulder, and caught the neck of the dress. In one rough motion he pulled down, tearing the bodice to the waist.

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