Sapient Salvation 1: The Selection (Sapient Salvation Series) (25 page)

A flicker of a question passed over his face. “As you wish, my Lord.”

I could only imagine what was running through his mind, how my protectiveness over Maya appeared from his perspective. But I simply couldn’t let her out of my sight, regardless of how questionable my behavior might seem.

He gave her a transdermal mist injection, strict instructions to get up only for essential needs for the next eight hours, and then departed.

I knew I needed to call for the Priestess again so that we could discuss how to proceed, knowing Maya was awake. Not that I imagined we had many options. But more than that, I wanted to extend my time alone with Maya, even if only for a few minutes.

“Are you hungry?” I asked. “I can order anything you want. It would be good for you to eat something, to help get your strength back.”

“Thank you, my Lord. I don’t think I’m quite ready for food.” Maya’s cheeks colored. “My Lord, I need to use—um . . .”

I tilted my head, waiting for her to finish, and then it struck me that she was trying to tell me she needed to use the restroom. “Oh! Of course. I can call for a female servant to help you.”

“I don’t, um, think I need that
much
assistance, thank you.” Her cheeks burned deeper pink, but she raised her chin. “Perhaps just assistance getting up? I’m sorry, Lord Toric, I do not know the proper protocol.” She looked down at her hands.

I chuckled. “I’m not sure there
is
a protocol for our current situation. We will just have to make it up as we go.”

She looked at me out of the corners of her eyes, and when her mouth widened just a little in a small, grateful smile, it made my heart sing.

She pushed the covers down to her waist, and I realized she was still dressed in the lovely pale green gown she’d worn to the ballroom. It was wrinkled and smudged with dust now, and when she sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, I caught sight of a torn hem edge.

When her feet touched the floor and she shifted her weight off the bed, her knees buckled. I took a lunging step forward, bending to catch her before she fell. Her forehead brushed my chin, and she clutched at my forearms.

“I’m sorry, I did not guess I would be quite this weak. I—oh!” She gasped as I swept her up in my arms and carried her toward my dressing room and bathroom.

I looked down at her. Surely she could feel my heart racing. “You should save your strength.”

She swallowed, her eyes wide with apprehension. After a moment she relaxed a little. “Thank you. You’re much too kind and accommodating, my Lord. I’m embarrassed to be such a nuisance.”

“You’re not a nuisance in any way. You’re a resident in my palace, and as such I’m to blame for your mistreatment and abduction.” I was fully aware that my words might sound hypocritical to her ears. After all, Maya had watched some of her comrades die in the first challenge of the Tournament. The Earthen Offered were not
exactly
guests here. But what had happened to Maya was certainly not part of the Tournament. “And I want to know who is responsible for what happened to you. When you are settled back in bed, I hope you’ll tell me every detail you remember.”

She glanced at me and seemed to hesitate but then shook her head. “I didn’t see anything. Whoever it was snuck up on me and put a bag over my head.”

I ground my teeth and tried to hide my disappointment. I was hoping she’d be able to accuse Jeric outright. I set her on her feet just inside the doorway of the large marble bathroom. She grasped the doorjamb with one hand but seemed steady enough to stand.

“Perhaps together we can discover some detail that will help us identify your abductor,” I said. “I will leave a robe for you to change into right out here.” I pointed to a bench in the dressing room that adjoined the bathroom. “You’ll be okay?”

She nodded, and her cheeks flushed again. “Yes, I think so. Thank you, my Lord.” She disappeared behind the closed door of the bathroom.

I found a pale blue silk robe with a soft cotton lining, laid it on the bench, and then exited the dressing room and shut the door behind me to give her some privacy.

I paced outside the door, my stomach tight and my pulse thin and fast, pausing only long enough to go ask Victor to send for the Priestess.

I wondered if Maya had any idea of the effect she had on me. How badly I wanted to call off the Tournament, abandon all traditions outlined by the sacred texts, and keep her here in my chambers where I knew she was safe.

And what if Maya really remembered nothing of who abducted her? How would I prove that Jeric was involved? I was torn between wanting to storm through the palace in search of my treacherous brother and staying by Maya’s side.

When she emerged from the dressing room wearing the robe I’d provided, she gave me a hesitant smile. “My favorite dress back home was exactly this color,” she said, looking down at the robe.

“It suits you perfectly.” I forced myself not to stare and instead offered my arm. “Do you think you can walk to the bed chamber?” I almost hoped she couldn’t. Though of course I wanted her strength to return, I enjoyed the feel of her in my arms.

She nodded but still took my arm. “A little movement before I rest again might be a good thing. And I truly do not want to impose any more than I have. I understand if you’d like me to go back to my room.”

“I can certainly arrange that, but why don’t you stay here a bit longer so we can talk about what happened leading up to your abduction?”

“My Lord.” I turned to see Victor standing inside the bedroom chamber door. “The Priestess has come.”

“Send her in,” I said and then returned my attention to Maya and helping her back into bed.

The Priestess strode in, her robes flowing behind her. Her slight breathlessness was the only crack in her composure. The Priestess looked over at Maya and then slowly angled her body away from me and toward the bed.

“You are Maya,” the Priestess said, her voice quiet but solemn, as if she were making a ceremonial pronouncement.

17

Maya

SINCE I’D AWAKENED in Lord Toric’s chambers, part of me suspected that I had never actually woken up at all, and my mind had spun me into a strange, vivid dream. How could I possibly be resting in the alien Lord’s bed while he fetched water for me, carried me to the bathroom, and hovered over me like a worried mother hen?

It all seemed unreal. And yet, there was
something
, an unspoken zip of energy between us that made this unexpected situation feel less outlandish than it should have. It made no sense, but maybe I could blame it on the knock to the head I’d suffered.

When the Priestess came in, I felt my face flush out of embarrassment that I couldn’t curtsy. “I apologize for my condition and my inability to greet you properly,” I said. “I mean no disrespect.”

“You are forgiven, of course,” the Priestess said. She glanced at Lord Toric. “Do we know who is responsible?”

“She says her abductor did not reveal himself. Or herself,” Lord Toric said.

They both turned to me. “Could you tell us exactly what happened, from the beginning?” the Priestess asked.

I shifted under the covers. I’d been dreading this since I woke up. How could I explain without revealing that Jeric had allowed me to communicate with Lana? I did not believe he was responsible for what happened afterward—it made no sense that he would allow me to speak with my sister only to then abduct and drug me. And he’d made it very clear that if I told anyone what he’d allowed me to do, we’d both suffer extremely grave consequences.

“I had fallen asleep in my room,” I said. “I woke to a bag pulled over my head and a hard bump to my head followed by a pinch at the back of my neck. A shot or a shock, I’m not sure which, but immediately after I passed out.” I tensed, half-expecting that my implant would somehow alert them to my half-truths.

“And the light was still on?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yes, but the bag was slipped over my head before I fully woke up, so I didn’t see who was in my room.”

“Did it sound like one person? More than one?” Lord Toric asked.

“Possibly two, but it happened so fast I can’t be sure.”

“Did you hear anything that might indicate your abductor was male or female? Even just a grunt?” he asked.

“I’m sorry, I don’t recall anything like that.”

He and the Priestess exchanged a glance. I wondered what interest the Priestess could have in my situation—it seemed more a concern for the palace guard or even the Mistress of Tournament than the highest-ranking religious leader of Calisto—but it wasn’t my place to demand an explanation.

“If you remember any other details, report them right away,” the Priestess said and then beckoned to Lord Toric. The two of them moved to the balcony to converse in private.

Did they see through my fabrication about where my abduction had taken place? It felt terrible to lie, but I didn’t want to cause trouble for Sir Jeric after he’d done something so risky for me. And I didn’t want to get in trouble, either. It wasn’t my fault that someone had taken me against my will. If that hadn’t happened, I would have returned to my room and fallen asleep and no one would have been the wiser about Lana and the portal in the tower.

I looked around the bed chamber, feeling free to stare a little while no one was watching. It was a rounded room larger than my entire house on Earthenfell but contained few furnishings. A wide cabinet or wardrobe against one wall and a drink and food service stand near the balcony. Other than some plush, colorful rugs around the bed, there wasn’t much to look at.

Was this where Lord Toric brought women from his harem? Or was there a different bed chamber for such . . . activities? I glanced at the pillows piled up at the head of the large bed, and then over at the small bedside stand, which held only a lamp and the glass of water Lord Toric had brought me.

After a few minutes, he and the Priestess came back in, their heads bent together as they whispered. When they parted, she went straight to the door without a backward glance.

Lord Toric returned to the chair he’d brought to the bedside and scooted it close.

I shook my head and clasped my hands at my waist. “I’m sorry I’m not more help,” I said. “I wish I remembered something.”

He regarded me silently for a few seconds, and at first I thought he was irritated that I wasn’t more useful. But his breathing had slowed, and his blue-green eyes were soft. He wasn’t irritated. He was concerned.

I pressed my lips into a faint smile. “You are not at all what I expected.” I sucked in a breath and my eyes widened. I hadn’t exactly meant to speak that thought aloud. “I mean—I don’t know what I mean. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that, my Lord.”

“No apology needed.” He chuckled. “But I’m curious. What did you expect?”

I clenched my hands together. “Someone far more . . . stern, perhaps? You’ve been terribly kind to me, and to be frank I find it—well, I find it difficult to reconcile.”

“How so?”

I paused for a moment, my heart pounding as I considered what to say next. But since I’d already opened my mouth, I figured I might as well tell him what was on my mind.

“You take Earthens from their homes and bring them here to send some of them to their deaths. I did not expect such kindness from someone who subjects Earthens to such brutality,” I said.

When his eyebrows rose and his face clouded, my heart lurched as my courage faltered. I’d overstepped. And now I’d have to face the consequence.

“You do not believe that the Tournament of the Offered is a fair payment for the protection of Earthens? For the very survival of your people?” he asked, his voice calm but chilly.

I took a breath and looked down at my hands, trying to summon back some courage. “I used to think it was fair, to be perfectly honest. Or maybe I just never really questioned it.” I looked up at him. “Until I became one of those who might die.”

A wave of great pain passed over his face, and he leaned forward and looked intently into my eyes. “You cannot die, Maya. I need you. I need you to win, to stay here with me.” He spoke so softly for a moment I wasn’t sure I’d heard correctly.

I could barely breathe. “My Lord?” I tilted my head in question, but I was hypnotized by his eyes, by the deep emotion etched on his face.

As if observing from outside my body, I watched as he gently covered my hands with one of his. The fingers of his other hand reached out slowly to trail across my cheek.

At his touch, I closed my eyes and a soft sigh escaped my lips. When I opened my eyes, my body was brimming with a heady rush of adrenaline. In spite of what I’d just said, I could not deny how deeply and intensely I was drawn to this man.

“I know I should not put this burden on you, but you must win,” he said, his eyes turning passionately fierce. “You
must
.”

As if pulled by an invisible force, I leaned toward him just as he moved toward me. My breath stilled as our lips met, and it was as if every emotion I’d ever felt surged through me on a hot tidal wave that cleared my mind of every thought except the sensation of his Lord Toric’s lips against mine.

Time stretched out as he pulled me deeper into the kiss. As in the moments just after I’d awakened with my implant, my senses seemed to explode. I could hear the movement of the breeze across the balcony, feel the vibrations of the soft yellow-taupe color of the walls, smell the subtle earthy scent that had been sprayed over Lord Toric’s hair and skin. Sensations thrummed through my body, welling up like a storm building on the horizon.

When we parted I saw only his blue-green eyes.

Slowly, as if surfacing from deep water, I realized that a new truth had taken root inside me. He was right. I had to win the Tournament. With every fiber of my being, I knew that it was my destiny to become his. Even as I fiercely disagreed with his sacrifice of Earthens, I could not deny this truth.

The rush of emotion that had momentarily brought a surge of energy now drained me of strength, and I leaned back against the pillows, trying to catch my breath.