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Chapter Ten

Havelen walked in the warden's shadow.

The monster who had once been a man strode slowly at her side, heavy, escorting her on orders of King Vincet Leopol-át. It took time, the warden taking the opportunity to speak to her.

"I've watched you," the warden raved quietly as they approached the Sanctuary, taking forever, passing through the arch. "You're always calm. I like that. I get so tired of the crying and the screaming and the bargaining and the begging. They make me angry."

Havelen barely heard him. She was thinking about hate. What did people hate? They hated what was a threat, even if it was only that it threatened their sense of the rightness of things in the world and their own place in it. They hated what had hurt them, or what they feared would hurt them. She hated the warden walking beside her, and for good reasons. But while he was broken and he was evil and he would do all manner of unspeakable violence to her and enjoy it, he didn't hate her. Why not? Because he didn't believe she was a threat to him.

Vincet hated her, and for a long time, Havelen hadn't thought to ask herself why.

Ashi

, he'd always called her, that way he'd said it. Havelen hoped she was right about Vincet, and that it was not desperation coloring her judgment. If that were so, things were going to go very wrong for her very quickly.

They probably would anyway.

But she'd lain awake next to Kohl the night before, thinking about the Rangisin woman Vincet had brought to Herun, the one he'd tried to make his inka. There were so many women he could have shown Havelen who would have been better behaved. But he'd wanted Havelen, the ashi, to witness a Rangisin being humiliated. Instead, a Rangisin had forced Vincet to his knees.

And Vincet really hadn't liked being on his knees in front of Havelen. She suspected, from all the things he'd said over the years, that it was because she, unlike him, was the first bloodline. She was a queen. But she wasn't his queen. And while the Sadun had kept the memory of the Rangisin ashi alive, she believed the Leopol-át remembered Amel, too, even if they believed he no longer existed.

She thought that Vincet hated her because every time he looked at her, he was reminded of what he was and who he wasn't. He wasn't the real king. He was a proxy, in someone else's place, a hollow echo and a perversion born to be married to his ancestor. He would never be Amel, no matter how many lies they told, and no matter how many fake portraits the Leopol-át hung on the walls.

Her arm was numb in his grasp as the warden went on with his insane talk. She didn't speak to him, but she was going to have to break her rule and speak to Vincet. It had always been Vincet who had talked, and Havelen had always been the one who'd had to listen, not reacting, to his endless self-important blathering, the heir going on and on.

Her face was calm when the warden brought her through the door to the Sanctuary Hall. A servant stood just inside. Vincet was there, standing by the familiar posts with the irons, waiting for her. He was in his forties now, still handsome, a lush head full of dark brown wavy hair. Green eyes.

An Alethean guard came to retrieve her from the warden. When the warden released her arm, his fingerprints were livid, everything pins and needles as the limb woke up. The guard brought her to the poles, putting the irons on her wrists, first one and then the other. They were the same irons that had held so many others as Havelen had watched. The same ones that had held Kohl.

The guard cranked them, her arms spreading, a tight stretch.

"Havelen," Vincet said lightly, walking to face her. "You're alive. Where have you been all this time, you little whore?"

"I came to speak with you," she said.

Vincet's eyes flickered. His observations and questions had become a routine patter. He didn't expect her to answer because she never had. She'd never spoken to him unless she absolutely had to, and then only briefly, silence her answer to all of it.

As a result, Vincet had told her everything about himself over the years. But she hadn't told him anything. He'd never met her, and he was about to.

He laughed. "Is this a joke? What are you wearing?"

She'd put on the Alethean dress the Rangisins had made for her. His laughter died when he saw her bands. There was anger there, his stolen queen wearing the bands of a Rangisin man. But there was something else, too, his eyes lingering on the pattern on their surface. His nose flared.

Havelen thought he might recognize them. If he'd seen any records of her before the attack on Shosa, she would have been wearing these bands. He had to be wondering if they were the same bands and how she could have gotten them. The Leopol-át believed Amel hadn't returned this cycle.

In this way, she planted the first seed of doubt in Vincet's mind merely by standing in front of him. Didn't everyone have a place of darkness where their fears lived? And what broke earth there could be nurtured, made to grow, its roots deep. Vincet had nurtured her darkness. She thought she might know the pattern of his, if she wasn't wrong.

His eyes shifted to hers. "Those bands are difficult to remove, but I'll have them melted down and made into a pretty collar by tonight."

"I'll be free by tonight," she said, calm.

The Alethean guard gave her a startled glance from behind his mask and then bowed to the king and retreated, leaving.

Vincet came closer, a smile trembling on his mouth. "And just who do you think is going to free you, little wife?"

"The Rangisins are going to bring you to your knees. But I forgot, Vincet. You already know about that."

The blow to her face didn't surprise her, although it hurt. Her head turned. Half of her face was alive with pain and then it went numb and then it was hot, throbbing with her heartbeat.

"I've decided I liked you better when you didn't speak." Vincet came close. "You think you're special, Ashi, but you're just an animal for breeding."

"What does that make you?" she said, breathing a little fast. "Don't you want to know what I came to talk to you about?"

"Are you trying to play some kind of game with me, little wife?"

She didn't have any choice. For this part, she had to rely on luck. "Your hunter warden didn't come back, did he, Vincet?"

Vincet went still, and she saw it, feeling a rush of elation she didn't let show. The hunter warden might be dead in the sands, or still trapped. He might even be swimming in it, for all she knew, and still trying to find up. He might have gotten free and was on his way back to the Sanctuary with no way to call in. But he wasn't here yet, and that was all that mattered.

"What are you talking about?" Vincet said.

"The hunter warden is dead. I saw him die."

"Don't be stupid. Nothing can hurt a warden."

Looking into Vincet's eyes, she drew on all he'd taught her, all the darkness, and spoke his fears to him. "Can't it? The warden found me, Vincet. He found me in the desert and he died there."

What she was doing was dangerous. The sixth ashea had done the same thing, goading Alcen Leopol-át into killing her. Havelen knew that because it was what she would have done. And this was exactly how she would have done it.

Vincet's face tightened, breathing. "You're lying."

"Amel is alive. He's coming for you."

Vincet's eyes flickered again. Amel wasn't supposed to exist anymore and she wasn't supposed to know about him. Vincet wasn't any good at keeping things from his face. He'd never had to. He stepped closer. "I don't know how you learned about that, but your little game isn't going to work."

"Then where is the hunter warden?"

The blow came, the same side of her face. The pain was bad. She couldn't see for a moment, the world going away and then coming back. Blinking, she slowly faced him, tasting blood. Vincet's face swam into view, her eye on that side tearing up, blurry.

"Out there somewhere murdering for me, Havelen," Vincet stepped forward, his fingers going to the buttons of her dress. "Enough talking."

It was why she'd worn the dress, for this moment. "Amel found me. These are his bands. I'm his promise. When the hunter warden came, Amel killed him."

"You'd better shut your mouth or I'll make you regret it so very much, little wife," Vincet said through his teeth, still working on the buttons. He lost patience, shoving the cloth aside and taking her camisole in his fists, ripping it open, and then he froze.

Vincet stared at the metal symbol on its chain between her breasts, two ovals on their sides, connected. It was the badge from the warden's peaked cap on the plain.

The heir's hands were still holding the cloth open, his eyes fixed on the token. He shook his head, a tight movement. "Where did you get that?" Vincet breathed, his nostrils flaring again.

Havelen smiled at him, his eyes shifting to her, one side of her face on fire. "I wore it for you, Vincet, so you would know the warden is dead. Amel took it off his corpse."

Vincet's lips cleared his teeth, but his eyes went back to the necklace.

A different Alethean guard entered the Hall, walking to stand by them, waiting, seeming agitated.

Vincet finally looked at him. "I told you I wasn't to be interrupted unless it was urgent."

"Forgive me, King Leopol-át." The guard bowed again, speaking fast. "Rangisins have taken our outpost at Sedik Village. We estimate they have a thousand fighters."

"Amel is coming for you," Havelen said in a singsong voice.

Vincet glanced at her. "Shut up." His eyes went to the guard. "A thousand? The tribes don't have that many fighters."

"They have many times that," she said. "They're armed."

"Shut your mouth, little wife, or I will split your tongue," Vincet said, not looking at her.

The guard glanced at her and then looked at Vincet. "They are armed, King Leopol-át."

Vincet gave a humorless bark of a laugh. "With spears?"

The guard leaned in. "King Leopol-át, this is a coordinated attack with modern weaponry."

Havelen spoke. "Amel has found a way to kill the wardens. He has armed his fighters, and there are thousands of them. You won't be king for much longer. Without the wardens, you're nothing but a cheat, a sham king from a line of sham kings. A pathetic imposter and a pervert who disgusted his father."

Vincet turned to her and his finger came up, touching her lips gently, a shushing motion. She held her breath. It was everything she had, and now she had to rely on Vincet's malice.

His eyes roamed her face. Turning to the guard, Vincet's voice was light. "You heard her. The Rangisins are a threat. Tell the wardens to get on their skimmers and go out there and kill every single living Rangisin on Iskel. Kill every man, every woman, and every child. All of them. Tell the wardens to start with the Rangisins who are attacking with their pathetic little army. When they're all dead, they are to kill the Rangisins in the villages, and when they're all dead, they are to kill the Rangisins in the tribes, and in the desert, and whatever other hole they're hiding in. The

Rangisin people are to be a memory, and then I'll kill that, too."

The guard eyed the king and then bowed. "Yes, King Leopol-át." He turned and left.

Vincet turned to her. "See what you've done? You've inspired me. It will be my wedding gift to you, Havelen." He looked pleased, looking at her face.

She didn't have to hide her reaction, although he misread it. Her heart was pounding. She'd done it. Vincet had sent all the wardens. But that was only part of her task, and not the most difficult.

She had to stay alive until Kohl got to her, and she had to stay sane, regardless of what Vincet did to her. While she might want to be like the brave young Rangisin woman who had chosen torment and death rather than to live in slavery, that wasn't an option for her. The Rangisin people needed the shield room door open, and Kohl couldn't do that without her.

Havelen was composed, but her breath was shuddering out on the exhale. She couldn't help it. She hadn't liked this part of her plan, and now it was on her.

Vincet held up a small chip, showing it to her. "Remember this? It's the record of King Alcen and the sixth ashi, filmed on Herun in the royal quarters one hundred years ago. I have the only copy. I reserved my favorite one for our wedding day. It's been delayed, but now I don't see any reason not to celebrate." He hit a button and the record appeared, rising around them.

As always, it was like they were there, the sound of the talking and the faint smell of liquor and stak smoke. The sixth ashea was wearing Havelen's face and form. Vincet drew a plunger from his pocket, sinking it into the meat of Havelen's arm. She felt the drug immediately, a heavier dose than he'd ever given her.

"This record was from early in your training," Vincet said.

Havelen watched, since doing otherwise would only mean he would find a way to force her. And, after all, as long as she was watching this being done to the sixth ashea, he wasn't doing it to the seventh ashea.

King Alcen was there, a young man in this record, already naked. In front of her, Vincet's breathing was getting heavier as it ran.

The sixth ashea was naked on a short table, tilted back, her knees tied to her chest and her legs spread. Immobile, peeled back completely. Several wardens were in the room, but the wardens didn't have their vests on, moving freely. Havelen hadn't understood how that could be when she'd watched the records before, but she did now. They were in the royal quarters, with sweeping rooms and fine upholstery, polished wood floors and graceful furniture.

There was a servant by the door as there was a servant by the door now, his eyes just as carefully blank. The sixth ashea's head was hanging off the table backward, her red hair touching the floor.

There was a metal device in her mouth, a cage that prevented her from biting down, with a round opening in the center. She was panting around it, her throat working, swallowing.

It was all familiar to Havelen, these images. The only things missing were her older female attendants trying to ignore all of it.

Vincet reached out, dragging his fingernail across her nipple, an outrageous bite of pleasure. "You were drugged, of course, like you are now, giving you that itch that needs scratching. Making you come and come. I like this part the best. Watch what he does here." His hand withdrew.

Havelen watched, her face calm, as two wardens approached the table, King Alcen at the top, near the sixth ashea's head. The sixth ashea wouldn't have been able to see anything except an upside-down view of the king's crotch.

One of the wardens had a stiff whip, short with a square end. He came to the sixth ashea's side.

The second warden went to the bottom where she was spread and pulled open his pants, clearing the cloth. His sex was hard and arcing, his hand just meeting around it. He reached into his pocket and got a container, dribbling oil on it, coating his huge sex.

The warden brought himself to the edge of the table. The sixth ashea couldn't see and didn't know what was happening, or what was about to happen.

Watching, Havelen felt her nipples twinge and harden, Vincet laughing softly, looking at them.

"Yes," he said. "Some filthy Rangisin might have touched what's mine, but I made you what you are, little wife." He stepped closer to her and his hand felt all around the shape of her breast, and then he touched her nipple, squeezing, turning to watch with her. His other hand came up, offering rhythmic tugs. Havelen's nipples hardened painfully, more sensitive than they'd ever been before.

In the record, the warden at the bottom of the table lined himself up. He grabbed the sixth ashea's hips and thrust into her butt, grunting, his hips jerking fast, her predecessor unable to move.

"You'd never had a cock in your ass before," Vincet said, touching her other nipple, squeezing it rhythmically. "In the record, King Alcen said he wanted to see your face when you first felt it."

Havelen was trying to ignore the pleasure, keeping her expression calm, but her breathing was ragged.

The sixth ashea's eyes widened, frantic, and she drew in her breath forever and screamed, open-mouthed, upside down. Her cry was stopped as King Alcen, his sex jutting in front of him, laced his hands behind her head in her hair and spread his legs. His manner was excited as he watched her face. He bent his knees and thrust his sex into her mouth past the cage and then deeply into her throat, pumping. He nodded and the warden standing to the side began striking her nipples with the square end of the whip.

The sixth ashea was too interested in breathing when the king would let her to protest. The warden at the bottom grunted with pleasure, rough thrusts, the sixth ashea's breasts jiggling with each one. They were getting red under the blows. At the king's nod, the warden at the bottom paused to reach into his pocket and pull out a vibrator, spreading the lower lips of the sixth ashea's sex as he continued to thrust into her ass. He turned it on and put it against her clitoris as he brought his other hand in, shoving his fingers into her channel, pumping.

The warden who'd been whipping her nipples stopped and leaned down to suck them, tugging, using his fingers on the other.

"Orgasm like a good slut," the king panted, thrusting into her throat.

Havelen watched, not looking away as she felt Vincet's hand creeping up under her skirt and her inner thigh and between her legs. He pressed on her over the cloth of her underwear, a sharp twinge there, aching.

"You learned so many new things," Vincet said in a low voice. The tips of his fingers were stroking the cloth of her underwear, brushing against her clitoris, swollen. "While the wardens violate your body today, I'm going to make you come just like she does here, over and over."

In the hologram, the king pulled out of the sixth ashea's throat and the sixth ashea drew a long breath and cried out, the warden at the bottom still holding the vibrator to her clitoris as he climaxed with her, grunting and grinning.

The sixth ashea's eyes were blank, elsewhere, still coming, jerking in the ropes. The king thrust back into her throat, deep and then fast, stabbing and moaning. He finally grabbed the hair behind her head and pulled her, grinding her against himself, burying her in his groin. His face was transported with pleasure. He grunted deeply, his eyes closing, his thighs trembling.

When he slowly drew out, opening his eyes, the sixth ashea heaved her breath and coughed around the cage gag. Liquid dripped out of the sides of her mouth.

Her efforts to catch her breath wavered and then were muffled, first with the thrusts of the second warden, who left her side and went to the bottom of the table and thrust into her sex, and then by the king moving forward to straddle her head. Her face was between his legs, the king rubbing himself on her below, slow humps as he pinched her nipples, slapping her breasts as her climax ended. The warden climaxed in her, his face savage.

Vincet's fingers pressed between Havelen's legs now over the underwear. "You bad girl. Disgusting slut. I feel you getting wet. This is just the beginning. When I'm done with you, you'll come on command just like she did." Leaning forward, he licked her nipple, sucking and going to the other, small moist pops in the room. The pleasure was dark and obscene and so good. Unlike the sixth ashea, Havelen had never been touched while she was under the influence of the drug, and it was so much worse.

In the holographic record, all of them stepped away from the sixth ashea, a servant handing the king the whip and removing the sixth ashea's mouth cage. The king walked around her. Her head was still hanging backward. He began to strike her body, his hand stroking himself, the whip landing between her legs, on her belly and breasts, on her nipples. She was crying out with them, red blooming on her skin, the king becoming erect again. The king went to the top of the table, nodding, the warden coming back with the vibrator.