that, he’d haul ass off of this planet as fast as possible.
He walked toward the tub, examining it in order to figure out how it worked. Wite had used ultraviolet cleansing technology for a while now, but he’d experienced the luxury of water baths before. Vejhon took a step down to get a better look and instantly the sound of sliding stone sounded as two portals opened in the far side of the tub and water surged out of them at incredible speed. Before he knew it, the tub was full and hot and he was experiencing the first act of civilization he’d been allowed since this had all started. The simplistic right to take a bath. It galled him that he recalled Hanna ordering him to do exactly that before she had left, but not enough to be stubborn about it.
In truth, the woman was right about one thing: he wasn’t the man he had been when he’d last had a foot on Wite. Nothing would change the fact that at heart he was a soldier…and a stone-cold killer when he had to be, but that man would never have paused to bathe and think before all of this. The diehard soldier would have been throwing himself around like a trapped animal trying to escape.
But if he’d learned anything from this experience, it was that anyone could be brought down in value to absolute nothingness, and it was humbling to know he wasn’t as invincible as he’d always thought he was. So now he would think. Rest, build strength, bide time and information, and work it all out right. It had to be right. He’d never make it out of the city alive if it wasn’t, never mind off the planet. The truth was he knew next to nothing about where he was and how things worked. It was vital he learned, even if it meant playing nice with his enemy for a while.
The very idea of cozying up to the woman who had violated and humiliated him left a taste like acid in his mouth and sparked his banked anger. He rubbed his temple as pain lanced through his head in response. He forced himself to resist the urge to spend time wishing seven kinds of death on her. It would be a waste of time and energy, and it certainly wouldn’t make him feel any better about what had happened. He focused instead on washing away all remaining evidence of her crime against him, as well as the haunting echo of her touch on his flesh.
Female Masters of High Houses wear these everywhere. They never go anywhere without them.
That is what she had said about that thrice-damned ring she’d used.
Except…she hadn’t been wearing it. Not when she had arrived and not when she had left. Still, if this was her playroom, why would she need to wear it anywhere else? It made sense that she could keep it here to be used only with her latest toys.
Vejhon exited the bath feeling a bit more grounded and truly refreshed. The aches in his muscles had been eased away by the heat of the water and his wounds were cleansed. He found some medic patches on the countertop with the towels. He dried himself and tended his wounds. Best of all, the towel became the first thing like clothing he had worn in a hell of a long time.
He ignored the bed for the moment, deciding to explore everything more thoroughly. The room wasn’t obviously bugged or monitored from what he could find, but he didn’t take it for granted. There was technology here that he’d never seen before and anything was possible. He peeked in the small cabinets and drawers of the furnishings scattered about, and then made his way to the large wardrobe near her chest of jewelry and trickery. Honestly, between the rack of hooks and that chest of subversive baubles, he was expecting the worst when he found the doors to the wardrobe unlocked and pulled them open.
What he found was clothing. A lot of it. Rich fabrics, top to bottom, inside and out, everything he could need and amazingly all in his size. Clearly, Hanna had gone to great trouble to be prepared for him. Vejhon shut the doors and turned his back on the finery. Oh, he’d need it eventually if he was going to get out of there, but at the moment he didn’t feel like dressing up for the bitch like some pretty, well-behaved doll.
Like Najir. The clothes were similar to what he’d seen on the other slave.
Man. Other man. Vejhon was no slave and refused to refer to himself that way. She said it was inevitable and that he’d have to accept it? Well, fine. Let the inevitable find him. He wasn’t going to make it easy. So he decided to head over to the bed and, after pulling everything back and inspecting it sternly, he chose to lie down. Or to be more honest, his body decided for him. Between his draining ordeal and the drawing heat of his bath, he was asleep before his head hit the pillows.
“Good morning, Master Drakoulous.”
Hanna drew to a halt and turned with perfect poise and posture to face her greeter. She felt Najir come to a stop behind her, the tension rippling through his body a force of energy she could almost taste. However, she trusted Najir not to show any outward signs of his hostile emotions as the Baron of Majum House approached them.
“Good morning, Baron,” she returned, smiling pleasantly as she exchanged politeness with the enemy of her House. The Feuds were ended, and she would obey the law, but she knew Majum would not. The man had murdered her parents and countless others. He had a taste for it and a talent for it and people like that didn’t just stop. Neither did they let go of lifelong grudges and feelings of vendetta.
“How do you find your new toy, my dear? I must say, I hope he was worth the bid. As envious as I am, no mere flesh is worth such a price.” The Baron walked up so that he was close enough for her senses to absorb the smaller details about him. It might not deceive her, but it always amazed her that such handsomeness and appearance of refinement could be grown over so foul a soil.
“Oh, he was worth the price,” she assured him, meeting his dark eyes with all her honest pleasure pouring out of her. “He was worth the price and so much more. Najir has been amply rewarded for his keen eye and quick bidding on my behalf.”
“I’ll bet he was,” the Baron said, his air unsuccessful in hiding his sudden stiffening. “Perhaps now that you have a new confection, you will consider selling the old. He’s getting a bit long in years, isn’t he?”
“Najir?” She laughed as though it were the most ridiculous concept on the planet. “Najir is as fit and fine as the day I bought him.”
“Out from under me as well, if I recall,” he said with a chuckle that sounded as forced as it was.
“The perils of an open auction I am afraid, Baron,” was her sweetly polite reply. “No, Baron, Najir will make a fine match to the new slave. I plan them to be the finest pair of studs ever seen, the envy of every woman in High City.”
The Baron’s false smile faded as he stepped a little closer and lowered his voice for her ears alone. “Tell me, Hanna, why do you persist in baiting me? You know I will find a way to wound you.” He raised his voice again. “I am curious why I have not seen your brother Kaino around in so many months. He is sorely missed at all the clubs.”
Hanna felt the strike go through her chest, her heart pounding hard from the pain of it as she narrowed eyes on the Baron. She wondered if he realized how very hard she resisted the instinctual urge she had to rip his throat out. The Baron knew very well that Kaino had gone off on a journey to “find himself.” The idea had been that he would travel the world and see how others lived and thrived. Other cultures had always fascinated him. However, despite his promises to keep in touch, Kaino’s communications had abruptly ceased only two months after he had left. Ever since then, Majum had persisted in dropping these poisonous hints that he’d had something to do with that…and that she wasn’t likely to hear from Kaino ever again.
“I believe I mentioned before that he is traveling. He is a grown man with a taste for adventure, and I doubt I will be able to lure him back here anytime soon when there is a world to be explored. Of course, he is only third in line
