See Prologue (A) for Disclaimers

Chapter Two

Sharak had seen much in the millennia of his existence, and so he knew of a place that not only was far from the Terron reach but was safe from any pursuit of any kind.  The only catch was that it lay two months journey from where they were now.  Dar and Tao were willing to make the journey, but they were worried about Miren.  Miren, however, was worried only about the future safety of her child.

"Zad won't stop looking for me," she said quietly, when Dar relayed Sharak's information of the safe haven.  "It's a matter of pride for him now: he has to save face, especially since he's lost the protection and favor of the Sorceress."  She looked up, her gaze steely.  "I won't let that happen.  The farther we are, the safer.  I can make any journey necessary if it means my child will grow up without fear of the Terrons."

Tao nodded in understanding, as did Dar.  Miren looked at the BeastMaster with a slight frown.  "How does Sharak know of this place, and remember so clearly how to get there?  I wouldn't think an eagle . . ."

Tao smiled.  "Sharak is no ordinary eagle."

Dar nodded.  "He's been alive far longer than all of us put together."   His eyes darkened somewhat as he glanced at his friend, who was perched on a high branch.  "He was cursed by a sorcerer with immortality."

Miren frowned, about to say that such a thing didn't seem like a curse.  Then she considered, remembering her own life-experiences, and decided that there was always a time when one's soul needed simply to rest and have an end.  She nodded slowly to indicate her understanding.  "And this forest he suggests?"

"He says he traveled there many years ago," Dar said, then added with an amused look at Sharak, "He won't tell me how  many years ago.  But he does say that the guardian of those woods is someone who is a friend to him, another immortal, and that she will watch over you so long as you live there."

Miren nodded.  "Then I will go," she said.  She looked at Dar and Tao.  "You don't have to come with me . . ."

Dar raised an eyebrow and smiled.  Tao spoke aloud.  "Don't be ridiculous, of course we're coming!"

Ruh contributed, his voice like rough velvet,  I will allow no harm to come to her or the cub.  I say we go.

Kodo and Podo agreed.  Their voices were like a patter of raindrops against the surface of Dar's mind.   Count us in, Kodo said.   We like babies, they're cute.

And there's always more food around them, Podo added.

Dar chuckled and relayed the essence of those messages too.  Miren gave the animals an amused smile.  "I appreciate the sentiments and support," she said, chuckling.  "I am truly fortunate."   The concept seemed alien to her; Tao didn't doubt that it was.

He remembered Miren only vaguely from the camp -- it was her way to be silent and unobtrusive, as it was the way of most Terron female slaves.  The less attention you drew to yourself the better, as there was the slightest chance the warriors might forget you were there.  Tao remembered that lesson well from his very first night in the camp.  It was then that he had discovered Aleye's ability to "nudge" a person's mind.

Dar announced that he was going to check the surrounding area with Sharak while Ruh kept watch over the camp.  It was an understandable precaution: Miren wasn't sure how many men the half-mad king had sent after her.  She had only smiled slightly and nodded, however, when Dar left.  Her eyes met Tao's for a moment, then released his gaze willingly when he looked away.

So many memories were coming back now, seeing her.  Most of them he would have been content to lose forever, but he knew better than to expect that.  The mind kept hold of everything, his teachers had said, whether it showed those images in waking life or sleep was the only question.  Given the memories, Tao figured it was best to relive them awake -- maybe then they wouldn't chase him into the night.  He turned his gaze contemplatively to the herbs he was grinding by the fire and remembered.

He tried to ignore the jeering of the warriors as they pushed him and Aleye through the night towards the camp, but it wasn't easy.  Just as it wasn't easy to ignore the hungry look of one warrior when they reached the torch-lit, rough-hewn huts.  The man came out to inspect the new slaves, his eyes fastening first on Aleye's stark beauty and then on Tao; unexpectedly, it was the young man he advanced on.

The warrior reached out and grabbed a fistful of the Eiron's short hair, pulling so that Tao's head was jerked back to give him a clear view of the young man's face.  His gaze roamed over the graceful planes of Tao's face and the soft green-gold of his eyes, settling for a moment on the curve of his lips before moving down to his body.

"A bit scrawny," the warrior commented.  "But not bad at all."   He leaned down, his breath hot and foul against Tao's skin.  "Perhaps you'll serve to warm my bedrolls, pretty one."

Tao's eyes widened slightly and for once he found himself speechless.  His people were open about such things as sex and partnering; he knew what the man meant, and had been vaguely interested in trying such things, but . . . not like this.  Never like this!

Before he could even start to think, the man's gaze swung away from him.  Slowly, as if it was being dragged.  And settled on Aleye.  Tao glanced at his companion and saw her eyes narrowed in concentration.  The warrior released Tao abruptly and went to stand in front of her instead, performing the same ritual of observation with the red-haired woman.  But when it was done, he pulled her forward into a rough kiss.  Aleye struggled only slightly, giving the man enough to please him but not enough to cause trouble.

The warrior pulled back, looking pleased, and laughed.  "Take them to clean up," he told the other Terrons.

The men laughed as well and pulled them away, towards the night-shadowed lake.  When they reached the edge, the warriors pushed the two captives onto the shale with a hard shove.  "Strip," one of them commanded.

Tao stared at him, still in shock over this whole mess.  Aleye looked at them with anger and scorn.  The warrior who had spoken took a step forward and sneered, "Unless you'd prefer to spend the night in wet clothes."

Aleye's chin remained high, but she looked at Tao and nodded.  Don't make trouble, her eyes said.  We can't afford it.

Tao nodded, understanding, and awkwardly stripped off his boots, tunic and finally pants.  He was unprepared for the well-placed foot on his behind that shoved him into the water.  He went in headfirst, only the deceptive depth of the "shallows" saving him from a concussion.  He might have preferred unconsciousness though.  The water was frigid, first shocking his system and then seeming to burn into his skin.  It closed over his head and he struggled to come up for air.  Aleye's hands on his arms helped him and he came up gasping and shuddering.  Her eyes asked if he was alright; he nodded.

"Get clean," the lead man said, leaning on his spear like the others.  His eyes were on Aleye, his gaze lingering on her pale skin.

Tao washed the dirt off of himself with difficulty, taking strength from Aleye's similar actions.  When they were done, the warriors stood back to let them out of the water but didn't hand back their clothes.  They grinned and laughed instead as they pushed the captives towards one rough-hewn tent.  All the slaves shared one tent, the warmth inside it provided by the packed bodies and made pungent by them.  It smelled of dirt and sweat and fear.  Tao was shivering violently with cold, as was Aleye, but this somehow made him shudder more.  This was the smell and face of hopelessness.

The warriors pushed them inside and tossed their clothes in after them, the leader grabbing Aleye for a rough fondle before leaving.  "We'll see each other again," he promised her.  Aleye didn't respond or meet his eyes.  Then the door closed and the only light came from a single torch and brazier in the center of the hut.

Aleye bent down and collected their clothes, then handed Tao's to him.  The young man accepted them gratefully.  Tao and Aleye exchanged looks, then regarded the hut and its inhabitants uncertainly.  A few of the slaves at the furthest edges exchanged looks, then one stood.

She couldn't have been much more than seventeen or eighteen, Tao thought as she approached.  Her short muslin was clean, as were her hair and face.  She was pale and slender with hunger, but there was a quiet prettiness to her.  "There are things you must know," the girl said, and told them the rules to surviving in a Terron camp.

That had been the first time he'd met Miren.  He remembered now complaining of the cold of the water, and the cruelty of their captors.  Miren had only smiled, a slight stretching of her lips; there had been no answer to his observation.  None had been necessary.  A couple of hours later, a warrior Tao hadn't seen before came to the door of the hut and scanned the huddled forms for a moment before pointing at her.  Miren had arisen, her face blank, and gone with him.  Tao hadn't caught on to the significance of that until she returned a few hours later, her hair in disarray.

Tao had been part-way asleep from exhaustion, but he remembered seeing Aleye's face as she looked at the girl.  There had been fury and sadness in her eyes.  Miren had said nothing, only gone to the spot where she had been before and lain back down.  There were no tears, no weeping, no comfort offered by any of the other slaves.  There never were, on that night or any other.  But Aleye had seen, and the men suddenly seemed to want her instead of all the others.

Miren's voice saying his name jerked Tao back into the present.  He looked up in surprise at the proximity of her voice, and found her standing close to him.  He looked away again: while he had been reminiscing, he had forgotten about the herbs and the proposed tea.  He knew Miren had noticed, for she knelt down now, the blanket carefully gathered about her to keep it out of the fire.  "You think on the past," she guessed.

Tao chuckled slightly.  "Doesn't seem so past," he said, and started collecting the herbs into a packet through which to strain water.

Miren watched him for a moment, then said, "I was glad when you escaped.  I could tell by how angry Zad was that you were not dead."

Tao blinked and looked at her.  "I wouldn't have thought anyone really cared."

Miren frowned, but stopped his instant apology before it could begin to pass his lips.  "You were kind, Tao," she told him.  "That was not a usual thing, even among the slaves.  Most of us were too concerned with survival to pay such kindness to others."

"You weren't," he reminded her.  "You told us the rules, and helped us -- me -- when I needed it.  Like with the grain I couldn't quite sort."

Miren smiled slightly, that same ill-accustomed stretch of her lips.  "That was different.  You helped by sharing your knowledge, making teas and poultices and salves . . ."   Her voice faltered slightly, and Tao guessed the source: she was remembering the reasons why some of those things had been necessary.  It hadn't been as bad when Aleye was alive, but after her death . . .  Tao's thoughts stuck on that familiar groove again and silence fell between them.  After a while, Miren said quietly, "You still mourn her."

Tao's eyes rose and met hers.  For an instant, they shared a connection of complete understanding: sympathy, grief, frustration.  Overwhelmed and heartsick, he couldn't find words to speak with.

Miren spoke instead.  "She was a good woman, and a strong one.  I don't think I could ever have had her strength."

Tao shook his head.  "To take one's own life requires no strength."

Miren gave him a long look.  "That is not what I meant."   She cocked her head and her gaze grew stony.  "Do you think we did not notice that the men preferred her over us?  Not all of them.  Not the ones who rewarded . . . service.  But the mean ones, the ones who took their pleasure from giving pain . . .  Somehow, through magick of some kind, she drew them away from the rest of us.  She protected us."   She paused, blue eyes locking with green-gold.  "As she protected you."

Tao swallowed, remembering the warrior that had wanted him that first night, and slowly nodded.  He murmured, "She nudged their minds, she said."   He shook his head.  "I should have--"

"Should have what?" she asked, her eyes darkening.  "Died trying to protect her, or one of us?  Left us without your herb-knowledge and your kindness?  Made her own sacrifice worth nothing?  I told you then, Tao: there was nothing you could have done to save her."   Her features hardened into the cold mask he had seen a few times in the camp.  "Just as I could do nothing to save the rest of the women in the camp when I left."   She looked away and then stood, moving away from the fire.

Tao stared at her a moment and then stood as well.  "You think Zad will take his anger out on them."

Miren let out a short, bitter laugh, far too harsh for someone her age.  "I know he will," she answered.  "And at least one woman will die for my escape, whether he intends it or not.  That was how my mother died.  Zad was . . . not careful.  And she had long been his favorite."

Her voice twisted on those last words.  Tao frowned.  To be Zad's favorite meant that a woman was exclusively his -- any warrior touching her without permission would be killed.  Such had been the case with Akili, though Kyra had told Dar that Zad had not physically claimed her.  Tao had his own doubts about that, but had said and would say nothing on it.  But he knew that Miren's mother had died when Miren was still but a babe.  If that were so and she had been Zad's favorite for some time . . .

Tao's thoughts whirred.  He murmured them aloud.  "Then . . . it's possible that Zad is . . . your father . . ."

Miren gave another laugh, this one smaller.  "Quite likely.  But I don't think of it in those terms, and neither do any other Terrons."  She turned and looked at him, her eyes shadowed and bitter.  "Terrons father only sons.  Daughters, they  sire.  We are less than nothing to them.  Just bodies to fetch and carry, and to be used for entertainment when there is nothing else to torture."

Tao's eyes darkened and he reached out a hand to touch her shoulder gently.  "You are not nothing," he told her emphatically.  "And your child will not be nothing.  It will not be a slave, or a Terron.  It will be free.  It will never suffer as you have.  I swear it on my life."

Miren stared at him, surprise clear in her expression.  "Thank you," she whispered.  Then, slowly, she smiled.  It was softer and came more easily than any she had shown before.

(continued)

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