Paying the Price (2 page)

"I don't believe you."

"I am willing to show it to you later. Will you recognize your sister's signature?"

I didn't respond.

"Why not just kill me?"

"Because that wouldn't be justice. It might be revenge, but not justice. I personally promised your sister you would receive a fair trial. I keep my promises."

"If what you say is true, she is no longer my sister. I disown her." Again, I would have liked to have spit.

"I understand that you may feel that way," she said. "But she must be queen first and a sister second."

"She could have talked to me."

"Being allowed to
take you this way was required. It will appease certain factions in Tendaria. If it's any consolation, she cried."

"It's not. I do not forgive either of you."

"I do not blame you. Shall we discuss your most immediate situation?"

I was silent.

"As discussed, I can leave you like this. It will be an unpleasant trip. You will arrive in the capital in a very undignified fashion."

"As if I care."

"You are a princess," she said. "I rather suspect you care quite a bit." She paused. "There are factions in Tendaria who would be very pleased to see you carried to your trial bound and gagged. But it is not fitting of a princess, and I would not wish it done that way."

"It's not like you can trust me if you untie me."

"I have something to show you. I can remove the blindfold. You will be tempted to lose your polite nature when you see it. I will forgive a brief outburst, but if you are exceptionally rude, I will replace all your bonds and leave you like this until tomorrow."

"You are a bitch," I told her.

She didn't respond immediately, then laughed. "You did agree to be polite, more or less. I guess that was the less part." She paused. "Your choice, Princess. I would rather give you dignity, but either way, you are going to Tendaria. You are standing trial. It is completely up to you."

"I
will strive to remain polite
for the next several minutes," I said. "On my honor."

"Excellent," she said. She reached for my head, and the blindfold fell away. I blinked in the light.

I was lying on my back, my arms and legs still trussed, and sitting on the bed, looking down at me, was an attractive woman with long, blonde hair, which she was wearing in a single braid. She was Captain Dareena, temporary ambassador from Tendaria, and daughter to Queen Fridara. I wasn't sure why she didn't call herself princess.

I looked around and saw that I was in a small ship's cabin.

"You have displaced the quartermaster," she said. "
He
didn't seem to mind."

"What did you want to show me?"

She opened a pouch at her waist and withdrew a heavy metal circlet. I realized it was a slave collar.

I stared at it.

"It is magic, of course," she said. "If you agree to wear it, you will be subject to my orders. You won't be able to disobey."

I looked away. "No. You could make me do anything."

"You understand these only work when the wearer agrees to them."

"I don't agree."

"And they fall off if the conditions expire."

She let me think about that.

"Do you believe me?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"The conditions are this. You will wear the collar until you are taken into custody at the palace in Rendarin. I will transport you by the most direct, practical route. I will not issue any orders to you that would cause you to act against Norinia. I will not issue orders to dishonor you."

I wasn't interested in her slave color. She could let me rot in the cabin.

"Princess Meorie, I would use the collar only to ensure your cooperation in delivering you to trial. I would prefer to treat you as a princess
. I would not mistreat you. So you have a choice. You can accept the collar. You will then be allowed to relieve yourself and would have reasonable run of the ship. You would dine with me. Or I can leave you like you are now if you agree to remain verbally polite. Or your third choice is to become abusive, and I will replace the blindfold and gag. Those are your choices."

"How do I know you aren't lying about the slave collar?"

She took the collar, opened it, and placed it around her neck. "I agree to be bound to Princess Meorie for the next five minutes or until she orders me to do something contrary to delivering her safely to Rendarin." There was a glow.

She looked at me. "Test it."

"Remove your tunic."

She immediately removed her tunic, setting it on the bed. I noticed casually she had a fine figure with pert breasts.

"Kiss my feet."

She bent down and kissed my boots.

"Release me."

The collar fell off. She caught it as it fell.

She put her tunic back on then
looked at me. "Decide."

I looked away. She didn't rush me.

"I need to relieve myself," I told her.

"You may soil your clothes or wear the collar. Decide."

I had no intention of standing trial. If I could get up on deck, I could jump overboard. Drowning would be better than whatever circus they would have planned for me.

"Fine. I'll wear it."

She nodded then placed the collar around my neck. She told me what to say, and I said it. I felt the collar tighten around my neck and the magic invaded my mind. Dareena suddenly appeared far more attractive than she had, and I wanted nothing but to please her.

"Princess Meorie, you will make no attempt to escape my custody. You will make no attempt to hurt yourself or anyone else on this ship. You will obey the reasonable orders of the ship's officers. If you are given an unreasonable order, you will immediately present yourself to me. You will cooperate fully with my attempts to deliver you to the palace in Tendaria. You will remain polite to me as well as the officers and crew of this ship. Do you understand these orders?"

"Yes."

She smiled. "Welcome aboard, Princess." She reached down and released the bonds on my legs and arms then helped me to sit up. "You will share my cabin. Let us see to your most immediate needs."

"Follow," Dareena ordered. Meekly, I followed behind her, unable to do anything else. She showed me a chamber for relieving myself. I made use of it, and Dareena waited while I cleaned up for a moment afterwards.

I still stank from the sweat and fear. I was sure she would notice.

She took me to her cabin. We passed several crewmen on the way, who pulled themselves from Dareena's path. We stepped into what I knew was the largest cabin on the ship, the captain's cabin. I looked around, but the collar exerted a large
amount
of submission, and asking questions was outside my abilities.

She pointed to a chair. "Sit there, Princess."

Obediently I sat. She stepped outside the cabin for a moment. I heard her give orders. Then she returned, closing the door. "I have ordered food. It will be here shortly." She sat down in another chair facing me.

"Princess, you have permission to act as a princess, not a slave."

The collar dramatically relaxed its hold over me.
"You are the ship's captain?"

"Yes. I am a ship's captain in our navy."

"That seems like a dangerous duty for a princess."

She
smiled. "Life is uncertain. I suspect this will be my last voyage."

There was a knock at the door. "Enter," she said. Two young boys entered carrying a basket, a jug, plates, mugs, and tableware. They set them down on the table and departed after staring at me for a while.

She could have ordered me to serve her. Instead she opened the basket and passed out the food for both of us. There was bread and fresh fruit. "You missed lunch," she said. "Dinner is in two hours." Then she poured from the jug. It was water.

I took the water and immediately began drinking.

"Careful," she said. I immediately slowed down as the collar enforced the command. "My apologies, Princess," she said. "I meant that as a caution, not an order. I will strive to be more careful."

We ate quietly. I decided Dareena was eating with me to be polite, as she ate sparingly. When we were done, she knocked at the door, and the two boys entered, clearing everything away, leaving the mugs and jug of water.

"I will arrange for you to clean yourself after dinner," Dareena told me. "I have some of your clothes, including court clothes for your trial."

I stared at her. "How did you get those?"

"Your sister gave them to me."

I stared at her. "Show me."

She got up and walked to a chest in the corner of the cabin. She opened it and pulled forth a tunic and breeches I recognized as mine. Then she pulled out a court dress that was also mine. "The entire chest is yours," she said. "You will not abuse the contents."

The collar's magic enforced the order.

I stared at the dress. It was my dress, last seen in my closet in the palace.

"My sister really gave me to you?"

"Yes. I know how devastated that must make you feel."

My own sister had given me to our worst enemies. She had stabbed me in the back. I had always supported her and been loyal to her, and this was how she repaid me.

I began to cry, which immediately turned into sobbing.

Dareena didn't attempt to comfort me. She folded the clothes and replaced them in the chest, then sat down and waited for me to cry myself out. I wouldn't have wanted her comfort anyway.

I eventually pulled myself back together. Dareena handed me a cloth, and I blew my nose and attempted to clean myself up, brushing my sweaty hair back from my face. Then I sat up proudly and looked into her eyes. "Queen Linara has no honor, and I will curse her when you execute me. I will also curse you, coming under a white flag to kidnap me in such a dishonorable fashion." Then I turned away.

Dareena got up and headed for the door of the cabin. She turned around. "Prin
c
ess Meorie, you will remain in this cabin until I return. You will do nothing that would annoy me if I were to discover it." And then she left.

I began crying again.

* * *

I eventually pulled myself together. I cursed Linara. I refused to consider her sister any longer. I tried to curse Dareena, but the collar wouldn't allow it.

I decided the orders didn't prevent me from searching the cabin. I started with the chest. It was filled with my clothing, a hair brush, and some cosmetics. There was no jewelry, no books, no letters, no apology from my back-stabbing former sister.

I hoped her soul rotted for what she had done to me. She could have talked to me. But did she really believe Tendaria would honor whatever treaty she had signed? This had all been a ploy to capture me, and that was it.

Their general sacked our village, killing two dozen villagers in the process, then fled back across the border. We missed catching them by only an hour and set in pursuit. He had taken refuge in a Tendarian village. We set fire to the village to drive him out. The general and many of his men escaped. In the battle, a number of villagers had been killed. General Jendo lost some men. I lost some. But the real losses had come from the two villages.

That had been four years ago. The two countries had been at war since, a very expensive war in lives lost.

We had never learned why Tendaria had attacked in the first place.

I searched the rest of the cabin. There was a bed, large enough for two if they knew each other well. I assumed I would have the joy of sleeping on the floor. The captain had a desk. It was closed, and when I reached to open it, the collar prevented me. I guess somehow it knew Dareena would be annoyed if I were to snoop through her desk.

Likewise I wasn't able to look through her chest. I presumed it contained the same sorts of things my chest would contain.

I found a knife. The collar decided picking it up was okay, but it wouldn't let me hide the knife in my boot. I tried testing the edge, but the chance of cutting myself caused the collar's magic to stop me.

I tried slitting my own throat. The collar didn't allow that, either.

I physically tried pulling the collar off and immediately found myself on the cabin floor, crying out from pain. I tried twice more anyway. I wasn't able to remove the collar, but it punished me badly for trying.

I walked to the door of the cabin and opened the door, but when I tried to step across the threshold, the collar didn't allow it. When I tried forcing it, it started giving me pain, growing the longer I resisted.

I backed away from the door and closed it, and the pain immediately receded.

I was so screwed.

Captain Dareena left me in her cabin for two hours. During that time I attempted six different ways of killing myself. I found matches, but the collar didn't allow me to light them. I tried several acts of clear disobedience, a petty attempt to repay Dareena for her cowardly, dishonorable acts. The collar didn't allow them.