The Atkoi War, Volume 1: Slave Girl of Akkadis by Sparrowhawk Henry

Author:Sparrowhawk, Henry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Greyhound Press
Published: 2013-09-27T00:00:00+00:00

19: THE TIES THAT BIND

Akkadis… The Commonwealth has doggedly retained its independence, initially from Luxor and later from the Empire and the Atkoi. The strategic position of Akkadis, being within easy striking distance of Tolon, made it a target of Imperial foreign policy from the 2700s onwards, with successive Emperors determined either to seize it or at least prevent the Kzamate of Ziandakush from establishing a naval base there. The oligarchs sought to play the Empire and the Atkoi off against each other, but by the late 2900s the balancing act was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain….

New Galactic Encyclopaedia (Infopress: Nenuphar)

Amanda Alba and Roxana Keswick guessed they had been in Diskobolus for about two months when they received an unexpected visit from the hated Lieutenant Lavendro. They had lost track of the exact number of days. They had not been tortured as such, but they had been allowed no contact with other prisoners and neither of them knew whether any of her family survived. Amanda in particular imagined that this was a torment worse than any physical mistreatment the CPS could have devised.

Then quite suddenly Lavendro appeared outside their cell, together with another CPS officer. Roxie and Amanda stood, hardly daring to breath. Amanda glanced at Lavendro and then looked immediately away. The sight of her husband’s killer filled her with both loathing and fear. Lavendro simply looked at Amanda and Roxie dispassionately and said to his subordinate, “Good. Get them ready.” Then he left.

Amanda and Roxie were hooded, tied and gagged once more and taken to a vehicle, some kind of landcar, Amanda guessed. She sensed that there were a number of prisoners with her, standing together in the back of the vehicle. She heard a conversation but could distinguish few of the words. Eventually someone said, “They’re ready. Sign here, please.”

We are goods now, thought Amanda, being delivered. We have to be signed for. The vehicle moved off suddenly and Amanda heard several thumps and squawks of discomfort as other prisoners fell to the floor of the vehicle. Amanda managed to sit down quickly on the floor. They were taken across the city and into a building and prodded into a room. Amanda heard someone say, “Take the papers to the Old Man. Manuela can do this lot.”

Much later – Amanda guessed it was the next morning – they were ordered to stand and hobble outside.

Igor Bleeny looked down from his comfortable office overlooking the courtyard of the Rose Garden at the five new slaves and the woman trainer who was responsible for their processing and obedience training.

The Rose Garden was the oldest and best known slave market and auction house on Akkadis. It had belonged to the Bleeny family for three hundred years. Igor’s ancestor Edmund Bleeny had made his fortune selling prisoners of war, traitors and their families, who had sympathised with the enemy in the Luxor War. He had found it both a profitable business and congenial occupation.

Three centuries later, just as the Bleeny family

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