Cursed by Ice (23 page)

The brothers were young, healthy … vital, rich, and powerful. They would no doubt be in charge of this city for many turnings to come. It was also clear they would not be spending much time in the city once they felt it was politically secured for them. If she could install herself as indispensible in this court … she would find herself in a particular position of power and security. Security was key. She had come from nothing, had been raised with nothing. If not for her looks and having caught the bennesah’s eye, she would still be wallowing in poverty and nothingness. She would not go back to that. She must play her cards as sharply as possible.

And doing something to earn the gratitude of the elder brother seemed a good way to achieve her goals. All she had to do was figure out how to extract Garreth from Sarielle. She could then, on her own terms, parlay Dethan’s gratitude into anything she needed.

She returned to her chaise and stared into the fire as she thought.

Sarielle spent the morning playing with the twins. Their trauma seemed to have had little effect on them. They were used to being slaves, their lives dictated by the whims of others, so the experience with the bennesah and the mage had not been as traumatic for them as it
could have been. The worst had been the damage to their wrists and fingers from their bindings, but the mems had already seen them mostly healed.

After visiting with the children, Sarielle went down into the main hall to look for Garreth but instead found Dethan there. He was poring over a diagram of some sort that had been roughly drawn on a large plank.

“A map of the city,” she said.

“Yes. I’ve been touring it, finding all the main structures and parts … where it is defensible and where it is not. This city fell too easily and will do so again if nothing is done to improve its defenses.”

“Your brother said the same thing.”

“My brother and I are of the same mind on many things.” He looked at her. “Then again, there are things on which we are not.”

That had not quite been a veiled remark, she realized. She was beginning to get the sense that Garreth’s brother did not like her for some reason. Which was strange since the brothers had offered her control of the entire city the day before.

“This is the bazaar,” she said, pointing to a large gap in his map at the center of the city. “The walls surround us. The keep is at the north side, the garrisons at the south and east.”

“You know all this from being caged up here?”

“I could see out the windows and from the parapets where I was allowed to walk.” She looked back at the map. “How will you better defend the city?”

“By digging a moat around the entire wall. It will be a big project and will take many wanings, but it is possible it can be done before winter sets in if we begin right away and put many men to the task.”

“However?” she asked, sensing a caveat. “However,” she then answered herself quickly, “you will not be able to rebuild the city if all your laborers are dedicated to
the moat. People who have lost their houses will be homeless this winter.”

Dethan lifted a brow and gave her a once-over. “Perhaps my brother is right about you. You would make a good leader. You have a good understanding of the needs of the city as a whole and the people as individuals.”

“I simply know what it means to be weak, hungry, alone, cold, and afraid. I have been all of those things. I would not wish it on another.”

“So which would you choose? Defense of the city or rebuilding it?”

She didn’t even need to think. “Rebuilding it. The people must come first. Garrison your army here for the winter, use the men of the city as laborers, and your men to defend the city. Then, when spring comes, move all capable men to the moat project.”

“That would mean my brother could not attempt to take Zandaria until the summer wanings.”

“He is seriously considering taking Zandaria?”

“It is not a bad idea overall,” Dethan said.

“You have no mages here. You must have powerful mages or magesses if you intend to go up against the rylings’ magic.”

“We have sent for some … when we thought we would need them to retrieve you. My men will find the best mages. They will be lured here by the gold I can provide for them. And perhaps when we do preliminary scouting in Zandaria we will find a faction of rylings who are discontented with their lot and will join us in overthrowing the majority government.”

“You have done this many times before,” Sarielle noted.

“I used to make my living doing this. Now I do it for Weysa. For my brother. In the hopes that one day he will be free of his curse.”

“His curse?” she asked.

Dethan’s eyes widened. He realized he had said too much and quickly covered. “Being forced to conquer in Weysa’s name when, before, he only ever wanted to go on quests that brought peace to others, not war.”

“He owes a great debt to Weysa,” Sarielle remarked with a frown. “When will this debt ever be repaid? Your brother cannot be killed. I imagine he cannot age. He will be around for a very long time. Will she expect this of him for the rest of his existence?”

“I do not presume to know the mind of a goddess. I only know that she is willful and will not tolerate my brother swaying from his course. You should know that now.”

“Why should I know that?” she asked.

But she already knew the answer before he said, “Do not grow too attached to him. He will not stay forever.”

“I will do what I see fit to do,” she said defiantly. “I am free now and you cannot make dictates to me. As long as your brother wants me and I want him, then we shall be together. I hope you will not interfere with that.”

Dethan avoided the query. “Now, what else can you tell me about the city that I do not know?”

“First, which would you do? Rebuild or protect?”

“I would protect. I would dig the moat and let the people find their shelter in what is left of the city. Otherwise, it risks falling again. It is twice as vulnerable now as it was before.”

“Then may I make a suggestion?”

“Be my guest.”

“Close half of the bazaar. On that land assemble the tents of the army, and use the tents as temporary homes for those without. That way you are shutting down only half of the commerce the city needs for taxes and providing
the shelter your taxpayers need to stay alive. The winters are hard here, Sor Dethan.”

“You know what? That’s not a bad idea,” he said, lifting a brow as he looked at her. “But what of my troops? Where will they stay?”

“The garrisons. The city guard is, as you discovered, woefully understaffed because the bennesah depended so heavily on the wyvern to protect the city. That is one reason why we could not properly defend our walls. The barracks were barely a quarter full before your attack on the city; now they are even less so … leaving plenty of room for your men to be quartered.”

“I had noticed the same thing,” Dethan said. Really, it was a shame, he thought. She was a very bright girl, after all. But in the end, Garreth was cursed enough without failing to do as Weysa demanded of him. He did not need to earn her wrath by falling for some girl … however clever she might be.

Sarielle took her leave of Garreth’s brother and went back to her search for him. In the end, she found him in the second hall, a smaller version of the main hall, though this had no cozy furniture to curl up on; there was only one table and it was not as large as the ones in the main hall.

He was poring over documents from several stacks of them, some of which were a foot high. Sitting in the chair next to him was Davine. The bennesah’s mistress was dressed in her usual suggestive clothing and her chestnut hair was thickly woven in a fall down her back. She had put little yellow sumi flowers in her hair and they looked pretty and elegant. Davine always looked pretty and elegant and … sexual. All at the same time. And right then she was leaning very close to Garreth, pointing something out to him in the paper he was reading.

Garreth looked up when Sarielle approached the table
and immediately smiled. Davine straightened away from him and smiled as well. Innocently. As if she hadn’t just been showing her significant cleavage to Sarielle’s …

What was he to her exactly? Was she like Davine had been to the bennesah? His mistress? He had put her in the bennesah’s mistress’s quarters. What did that entitle her to exactly? Exclusivity? Was there a promise that she would be his only focus sexually and … and emotionally? Was emotion even involved in this?

For her, the answer was yes and she was shocked to realize it. How had she grown to care for him so quickly? When had it happened exactly? What did it mean? She was a scourge. She had known to never grow attached to anyone or anything because she could be sold on a whim at any moment, tearing her away from everything she loved. The only thing she had refused to give up was her love for her sisters.

But surely she did not love Garreth. She knew better than that.

Didn’t she?

Did she even know how to love another?

All of this raced through her head as he rose out of his chair and came around to her. He kissed her quite openly and quite deeply and it soothed her fractious thoughts almost instantly. He was coming to care for her. She was certain of it. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing she did not know.

“Hello, fira,” he said, touching her face in a fond manner that made her smile at him. “Where have you been all day?”

“With the twins mostly. I just saw your brother.”

Garreth’s face folded into a frown. “What did he say to you?”

“Nothing. We were just sharing thoughts about what to do with the city.”

“He was discussing that with you?”

“Yes. Why? Did you not like that he would ask me about such things?”

“No! Not at all. If you are to lead this city, you should have a great deal of say in what happens to it.”

“I told you I do not want to—”

“Let’s not discuss that right now,” he interrupted quickly. “There are many other things to be done.”

“Such as?”

“Such as the building of the religious houses for Weysa. This city does not have a single temple to Weysa. It is one of the reasons we chose it. Now … we have brought some of Weysa’s mems with us to begin the process of opening new temples, but they need temple buildings and grounds. Davine was helping me to find places where that would work. But now that you are here, you can help.”

“I don’t know how I could possibly help. I spent my days mostly locked away and I was never free to leave the keep. Davine is probably much more familiar with the city and its details. All I know is what I saw from the windows and walls of the keep.”

“Well then, come and sit with us anyway. You should be a part of this.”

“Yes. Please,” Davine said. “Come and join us.”

Sarielle was swayed. She moved over to the table and took a seat on Garreth’s left while Davine sat at his right. After a moment, Sarielle could smell Davine’s perfume. It was a soft and sultry scent. Sarielle did not wear perfume, nor did she use lotions on her skin to make it soft like Davine did. She did not have a wardrobe of soft linens and silks done in the latest fashions. Her only special garments were the ornamental robes of the wrena. Otherwise, she was kept in simple clothing and not much of it. She had only two dresses and two dressing gowns. Both had seen better days. She had petitioned the bennesah for new clothing, but he had not
approved the request. And now that he was dead, whom did she go to about such things? Garreth? If he began clothing her like the bennesah clothed Davine, did that make her his mistress? And as for Davine, what was she still doing in the keep? Who would feed and clothe her now? The brothers? Was she going to try to be mistress to one of the brothers? Was that why she was there even now? Was she trying to be Garreth’s mistress? If that happened, where would that leave Sarielle?

No, she thought. Garreth did not need another woman. He was content with her. Wasn’t he? He seemed satisfied. More than satisfied. But would he stay that way? Was he the kind of man who grew quickly bored with a woman? He did not seem the type, but how was she to know?

And why was she even concerned about these things? For the first time in her life she was free. Free to do anything she wanted! She could be anyone. Go anywhere. Why would she limit herself to one man when she could have any? Or many if she wanted to!

But … she didn’t want to. For now, she was happy to be with Garreth, and she hoped he felt the same. However, if she wanted him to remain contented with her, she couldn’t just be a woman in threadbare dresses and old dressing gowns. She had to … she had to be more like Davine.

But she didn’t know how to be like Davine. She had spent her days reading and learning things. She had not learned how to be pretty or pampered.

“Actually … I was wondering if I could … I was wondering who to ask if I wanted to get more clothing for the twins. They are really in need of it. The bennesah did the very least he could to keep them dressed.”

“Of course! How remiss of me,” Garreth said intently. “I will give you the gold for their clothing, and you should get some as well.”

“Thank you for that. The wyvern can give us any riches we need, but I did not think to ask for it and … Well, I promised him shiny things and have yet to give them to him because … because they are not my things; they are yours.”

“I will see to all of that. You only need to tell him to come to us here and we will give shiny things to him. As for your clothing and such, this time it will be me who buys them for you. It is the very least I can do. In fact, I insist you go to the bazaar right this minute and get yourself and the girls some things.”

“I will,” Sarielle said with a smile. “Do you mind if … Well, I have rarely been to the bazaar. I do not know my way around. Davine, would you mind coming with me? Unless you need her still. Of course I can—”

“No! Take her with you. She is always willing to help, I have found. I can meet with her later about this. You two go, and please enjoy yourselves. Tell any merchants to bill me for your goods. Get whatever you want. Without limit.”