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Maybe more than one, she said. With the tips of her long fingernails, she tilted his chin down and away.
Don t look at me like an equal. She turned to the basket. Let me see my child.
Instinct made Marek step between them. No.
Her eyes flared. Say no to me again, boy, and I ll have you killed.
Sareb cleared his throat. With all respect, Your Honor, you can t kill him if he doesn t belong to you.
Two thousand.
Fifteen hundred, she said, her gaze locked with Marek s. You d only get five from the miners.
The captain chuckled. Fifteen it is.
Pay him, Petrop. She gripped Marek s chin again. I ll take my child now. Step aside.
It was the hardest thing he d ever done harder than killing Skaris, harder than withstanding a day s
beating in the Descendant army camp. He moved away and watched the soldier ease Nilik out of the
basket and into the arms of the nameless woman.
Her face transformed in an instant. Oh, he s lovely. Her eyes glistened, then she turned away with her
new bundle. How do they make them so beautiful?
Marek s arms already ached with the urge to seize his son, who didn t even gurgle in protest at another
stranger holding him.
The captain winked at Marek as he unbound his wrists and unlocked the chain. Remember, be a good
boy, he whispered. He exchanged coins and papers with Petrop before swaggering out.
Fetch the wet nurse, the woman said to Petrop, then flicked her fingers toward Marek and her guards.
Have this one washed, shorn and fed, in that order, then return him to me.
Marek nearly fell to his knees with relief. He would stay with his son. He knew he should already hate
this woman for making him a slave, but she had spared him the one fate that would have killed him as
surely as a sword to the heart.
Thank you, Your Honor, he whispered as the two men led him away.
As he reached the door, he looked back to see her staring at him in surprise.
25
R hia hurried to keep up with Damen, trying not to stumble over the slick cobblestones that made up the
Velekon streets. They had left the others at the dock to negotiate a price for Koli s boat. Damen, of
course, couldn t wait another moment to make sure his child was safe.
Her Crow brother s powers had continued to ebb and flow throughout the day, and rain had slowed
their progress to an agonizing pace, so that it had been nearly sunset when they arrived. Rhia didn t want
to admit it, even to herself, but she still clutched the hope that a mistake or a miscommunication had
occurred with the pigeons, that Marek and Nilik would be waiting for her here in Velekos.
Damen s pace increased as they turned down a narrow street, past a grizzled old man with a half empty
fish cart. From the directions Damen had given the others, she knew they were near his home.
He stopped before a rough wooden door, reached for the latch, then hesitated. Rhia caught up to him.
It s odd, he said. This is my home, but after all this time, I feel like a stranger.
Rhia knocked softly.
After several moments, a panel in the door slid open and a bright blue eye peered through.
Damen! cried a female voice. The latch clicked, then the door swept inward, revealing a pale pregnant
woman.
Damen spread his arms. Reni, thank the Spirits. He took her into a careful embrace, then pulled back
to examine her. You all right? The baby? His breath came quick. Felt it almost die.
Listen to you, sounding like a Kalindon still, heh? Her musical voice held a tenor of exhaustion. I m
fine now. We had a bit of a struggle, but the Turtle woman says if I rest and take care what I eat, he
should make it to full term.
He? It s a boy? Damen looked past her. Where s Nathas?
He s at market, I imagine. The Horse woman told us to expect you, so he s buying food for everyone.
She turned her wan, shadow-eyed face toward Rhia. Is this the mother of the child that was taken?
Damen held his arm out. My Crow sister, Rhia.
Welcome. Reni smiled and smoothed the loose strands of red-brown hair that had fallen out of her own
braid. You ll forgive me if I don t bow, right?
I understand. Rhia bowed. It wasn t long ago that I was pregnant. Her throat tightened around the
word.
Damen took Reni s hand. You should lie down. The others will be here soon.
Reni beckoned them in and motioned toward the kitchen to the left. Please, dry yourselves, make some
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