The Sorcerer's Concubine (The Telepath and the Sorcerer Book 1) (18 page)

The guard stopped, and shifted her position to fumble with something. She heard the gates creak open.

They were going outside of the camp.

The music grew ever more distant. The night air seemed colder. Through the blindfold, she saw a light nearby—Flower must have had a light crystal. 

“How I’ve dreamed of getting rid of you,” Flower said. “From the day you arrived, a pampered princess. Grau doesn’t want you to serve him, he doesn’t want you to serve anyone. I’ll bet he even holds you in the night, so tenderly. He probably tells you he loves you. You must have thanked every star in the sky the day he bought you…didn’t you?”

Velsa moaned a plead. If she could just
talk
to Flower—

“You’ll never see him again,” Flower said. “I hope you know how to ascend.”

Ascension—a death some Fanarlem chose for themselves, since it was very difficult for them to commit suicide—surrendering their bodies and releasing their own souls to their next life by sheer force of will.

What are you doing to me?

They wouldn’t dare separate the eye that held her soul from her body. That would set her telepathic powers free as well. They must mean to lose her body in the woods. Maybe strip off her limbs so she couldn’t move. Or else—

She heard the waters of the river, rushing in the distance, and suddenly she knew what they would do.

The water would immobilize her limbs. The current would carry her away. And the band would lock her from calling for help. She had the key, but she couldn’t reach it.

She tried to struggle, tried to cry out.

“Have you guessed your fate?” Flower said. “Hurry,” she told the guard.

He ran faster, the rushing waters growing closer, until he was at the bank. He threw her over his shoulder again and scaled the bluff. Flower followed more slowly; Velsa could hear her making small sounds of struggle and dropping down hard, like she had half-fallen.

The guard threw her body down on a cold rock. He held her down, one strong arm on her chest, and the other pinning one leg, while Flower caught the other, but Flower was not so strong. Velsa kicked and it felt like her boot made contact with Flower’s chest.

“If you struggle, Dar will bash in your rib cage,” Flower said, her tone dripping with false sweetness, with loathing.

The fight drained out of Velsa. No, she couldn’t attack them physically. She had to tap into her other powers.

She felt her crystal. She brought her sensations to life—the deep, ageless strength of the rock beneath her. How could she use the rock to fight? She didn’t know how to move rock the way Grau moved dirt. Moving rock took great skill, he had told her. The rock might give her more power, more resilience, but she would still have to overcome a man who was trained in fighting.

Flower was unbuttoning her boots, exposing Velsa’s toes to the air. “How old are you, Velsa? A grown woman, aren’t you? And Grau couldn’t be more than twenty-five. I don’t think he’s owned you long at all. Do you know how old I was when I went up for sale?” she asked. “Twelve. Twelve, and given the body of a woman. I was an innocent. I knew nothing at all, and I was there for a week when Archel bought me. He didn’t know I was twelve, of course, I was told to lie. But then, I don’t know if he would have cared anyway. What do you think that first night was like?”

Velsa wondered what the guard thought of all this. He must already know her story, since he didn’t seem surprised. 

She pulled off Velsa’s trousers, peeled her stockings away. “I was utterly helpless,” she said. “Surely he must have washed away all my sins, that very night. I wish you could know how that felt. You would be so grateful to know you were cleansed.”

Velsa grunted urgently.

Flower unfastened the clasps of her tunic, and made a small gasp when she saw the crystal. “Oh—look at this! An unexpected treasure.” She unfastened the clasp, and all the crystal’s power slipped from Velsa’s grasp. Grau’s gift to her, that she had chosen because it sang to her.

Sibalora! Listen to me!

Flower gasped. “Don’t call me that name.”

It is your name. You deserve a real name. I don’t want to be your enemy. The Miralem bandits tried to kidnap me so they could give me freedom. They wanted to help me. Fanarlem are free in Miralem lands. Go across the river. Leave Archel forever. Save yourself—find a new life!

Flower slapped her face. “Shut up!”

“Is she talking to you?” the guard asked. “With her mind?”

“Get rid of her,” Flower said. “Get rid of her now.”

“Are you sure?” He sounded like he was having second thoughts about this plan himself.

“Now, before she gains full control and kills us both!”

He lifted Velsa and tossed her.

T
he moment
before Velsa hit the water was the longest of her life. She knew what was coming, and there was nothing she could do.

Shockingly cold water wrapped her in its embrace. She thrashed, even knowing it was futile. Immediately, the water started seeping past her skin, and as it did, the weight of it dragged her under. The current was fast, pulling her along, and she could see nothing. Even if she weren’t blindfolded, it was unlikely she would have been able to see in the dark waters.

She kept sinking until her body was scraping rocks on the bottom. She prayed a rock might snag her soon, and then at least she would know she was trapped close to the camp, but the current was unforgiving. She swept along, struggling to gain some purchase. Her stuffing weighed against her bones, but everything was lighter underwater. She wasn’t entirely immobile here like she would be on land. 

The feeling of it, everything so wet and cold, her head still muddled—panic saturated her as surely as the water did.

Grau! Grau!

She didn’t even know if Grau was awake to hear her, and the farther away she was carried, the harder it would be to reach out to him past the restraint of the golden band.

If no one could hear her, she really would be trapped here forever. The waters might carry her so far north that she would freeze. Even if they didn’t—

Oh, fates, I can’t bear it, this can’t be happening!

How long would she have to be here, how terrified and desperate would she have to be, before her soul could ascend? Days, weeks? Grau would be so distraught.

Stop it. He’ll search the whole river until he finds you. 

She wondered if she could bear such a wait. This might also take days or weeks. Weeks of being so cold, so helpless, voiceless and blind? 

Pull yourself together. Surely there is something you can do.

When her feet met rocks, she made an effort to push herself toward the shore. She didn’t know which way was home soil and which way was the Miralem lands, but the most important thing was to make herself visible so Grau could find her. The waters fought her, tearing her feet from the ground, but she kept all her focus on this goal.

No, the water was too fast. As soon as she managed a step, it stole her back into its clutches.

With a slam, her body struck a rock. She made a muffled cry of pain, but the worst of the pain faded, leaving only the discomfort of having her arms twisted behind her back. She wouldn’t wonder if some of her bones had broken. The current held her there, but for how long? 

She was already so exhausted.

Patience,
she told herself.
Magic comes from patience. From talking to trees before you need them to talk back. From noticing the smallest things nature has to offer.

Please…help me.
She spoke to the water, although without her crystal it seemed like a dangerous, heedless force.
She spoke to the rock, even if it seemed nothing more than a hard lump digging into her arms.
I need to get out of the water. I don’t belong here.

The water rushed by her skin, endless and unfeeling. She was no sorcerer, just a girl who liked to activate a crystal to remind herself she was alive.

Don’t panic—no, no, don’t panic. Stay focused.
She had managed this one moment of composure. She could manage another. She could manage as many as it took.
Your telepathy has more power than the band can contain. You’ve proved it twice. Get out of the water. 

She concentrated on her body, from head to toe, and imagined herself breaking the surface. She could feel the band’s magic straining against her, but she fought—she fought as if she would rather shatter into pieces than let the power go. Her body pushed along the rock and her face broke into dry air. The surface of the rock was above the river waters, and in another moment, her body was sprawled there, back in the element where it belonged. The rock was large enough that only her feet still trailed in the water.

The gag in her mouth felt like a wet sock. She couldn’t see a thing. Her limbs were sodden and useless and she’d been stripped down to her chemise and unfastened tunic.

But she was out of the water. She’d done it. A rescue party could see her. She made a choked sound of relief.

Grau…

S
he fidgeted on the rock
, trying to get comfortable where comfort was impossible, especially considering she could barely move. She hoped her stuffing wasn’t too out of shape. What a sight she must be. 

The cold didn’t help either. She had never been
this
cold, so the chill came from the inside. A moment ago, all she wanted was to get out of the water, but now she realized she didn’t want to spend any time on this rock either.

She didn’t dare move, however, and risk falling back into the water again.

She felt as if she was there for an age, but she must have passed out eventually, because suddenly there was sunlight pouring through her blindfold, and she heard Grau calling her name and splashing through the water.

He ripped off her blindfold. She squinted against the light. By the time he unfastened the gag, she was adjusting to the sunshine and able to look at his face.

He closed up her tunic and took her in his arms. She realized he was shivering as he splashed back through the water. A few other men had accompanied him, and humiliation swept over her, that anyone should see her so vulnerable.

“What
happened
?” Grau asked.

“Flower. And the guard, Dar.”

“I thought as much, but…they dropped you in the water?”

“Obviously.”

“Did they—I mean—they didn’t do anything else to you, did they?”

“That was all,” Velsa said. “But it was enough. Are they back at camp?”

“No. They’ve vanished.”

“Damn it!” Velsa didn’t know how she meant to get Flower back for this, but her empathy for the girl had run out entirely. Maybe it was better if she never saw her again, but it was unfinished business.

Yes, if she ever saw Flower again…she would take back her crystal, and that was just for starters.

Velsa couldn’t walk; she was regaining motion but she was still too wet. Grau had to carry her home, and as soon as he brought her to bed, she fumbled for the pocket that held the wand. It was still there, thank the stars. Since they were alone, she tapped the band and ripped it off, sighing with relief when the slight warmth of her power returned.

“I’ll have to take you to town for repairs,” Grau said. “And when I do, I have an idea.”

Grau was not able to take her to town right away; his skill at sorcery made him the best tracker in the camp, and Dlara wanted to find the guard who had disappeared with Flower. And Archel, of course, wanted to find Flower herself. As much as Velsa wanted to get back at Flower, she shuddered to think of the girl back in Archel’s hands. Truly, he was the monster quietly lurking within the camp.

Grau traced their path down the river, where it disappeared—they must have found or hired a raft or a boat. Maybe Flower had gone to Miralem lands after all, although it was hard to imagine the guard agreeing to that, and he was obviously her lover.

Velsa’s limbs had some awkward lumps with her stuffing out of sorts, although her face was all right, so her body could mostly be concealed by her clothes. One of her ribs had broken in two and the loose piece of it kept trying to poke out of her back. She didn’t like Grau to look at her although he swore he didn’t mind. She had a hard time sleeping, nagged by small discomforts and reliving the memory of the river under her skin.

Finally, after a few days of bad weather, Dlara granted Grau leave to take a day off from the patrol squad, and they rode to town early in the morning. Having her stuffing refreshed was a tedious way to spend time, and she had never been worked on by a stranger. She had only ever been to the Fanarlem repair shop that serviced the House of Perfumed Ribbons. Limb by limb, a young woman split her stitches, pulled out the stuffing pockets around Velsa’s bones to replace anything that had gotten too misshapen, and checked the bone itself for cracks, before sewing her skin back up again. Grau read a book while all this went on, except when the woman said, “Sir, did you want to change out the front of her torso today? There’s a bit of a stain on her stomach.”

“We can live with it.”

As it was, Velsa still cringed at the bill for expenses. Archel should have paid for it, if there was any justice, but they had decided that asking him would only make trouble. At least her stuffing was in need of refreshment anyway, and besides the broken rib, her skeleton was intact.

After this, Grau brought her to a magic shop. She hoped he might buy her a new crystal, but instead he went to the counter and said, “Do you have an uncharged golden band?”

“A curious request,” the man said.

“I’m a sorcerer myself, so I want to practice charging one.”

“Ah! I see. Always nice to see young men interested in the profession. Let me look in back.”

Shortly, the man emerged with a band. Since it lacked its most potent magic, it wasn’t terribly expensive.

“There we are.” Grau handed it to her as they walked out. “A decoy. The men at camp will be none the wiser. I’m sorry I couldn’t get you another crystal.”

“No—this is better. Much, much better.” She pulled him into an alley so she could change the bands that very second. Never again would she wear that accursed thing.

“This is better,” he said, taking her hands. “You were right. I should have listened to you, long ago…”

She could feel that his emotions were not quite in line with his words. He seemed a little scared—still. For the first time, he was truly vulnerable against her. 

She also sensed that he was fighting it. He didn’t want to fear her. Although she couldn’t read the specifics of his thoughts, she truly understood that this fear was deep-seated. He had probably been told horror stories of Miralem since he was a boy. 

“I understand,” she said. “I do. I would never have expected my master to free me of my band, until it was you. I want things so badly. I want to be your wife, and your true partner, so badly that it aches inside me all the time, and I’m impatient.”

“You
are
impatient,” he said.

“It’s turning out that way. In the House, they always said, time and time again, that we were reborn when we were acquired. I always took offense at that; I thought it meant I had to forget my old life and everything that shaped me—well, I think that is what they meant. But it has a new meaning for me. I’m learning who I really am and what I really want.”

“I know what you want.” He looked at her suggestively.

“Well, not in the
alley
.”

He laughed. “I’m talking about pastries. This might be our only trip to town for months, after all. But then, we’ll hurry back to camp before the squad returns, see if we can break in that new body of yours.”