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A yawn rises in me. I let it emerge. I am tired. I suspect he will let me sleep, as it is in accordance with his current agenda. I know the pain will return eventually. I know exactly what I am in the company of, and all of this is ephemeral. It can and will disappear when I displease him.
“Sleep,” he says, predictably. I understand Sithren. I know his game, and that gives me so much power.
I shake my head. I can’t make it too obvious. I need to keep up my token resistance to give him the satisfaction and distraction of overcoming something.
“Rest,” he repeats himself. “When you wake, your training will begin.”
I wonder what my training will be. I know too, that he wants me to wonder. This is a game of many layers; chess being played in real time between two opponents. I think Sithren enjoys the game. If he did not, he’d just throw me into a deep cell and toss away the key. That’s not his play style. He wants to make me a compliant possession. Anything less than that is a losing proposition for him.
“How do I know you won’t do something terrible while I’m asleep?”
He narrows his eyes at me slightly, and I suspect I may be overplaying my hand.
“Because I’d prefer to see your horror while you’re awake,” he says. “Get some rest. I won’t offer the chance again.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Keep watch.”
“Make sure I don’t run away, you mean?”
“Something like that,” he admits with a smirk.
I crawl over the covers and lie down amid the pillows. This is the most comfortable I have been in a long time. The rest that follows high stress is the best and most satisfying rest you’ll ever have. I’m out like a light before my head even hits the pillow.
3
I wake up alone. For a moment I forget where I am. I am very comfortable, and the smell of hot, fresh baked bread is curling up my nostrils. My mouth waters. My eyes open when something tickles my forehead.
There’s a squeak and a flash of movement. I am wide awake now, and very much aware that there’s a young Dinavri girl in the room with me. She’s probably around nine or ten. She’s very pretty, and she’s looking at me with great curiosity. I am horrified at the idea she might be part of Sithren’s harem.
“Hello,” I say. “Who are you?”
“I’m Tethys,” she says. “I’m Sithren’s last daughter.”
That makes me breathe a sigh of relief.
“The last?”
“The last,” she says. “The final.”
“Oh. I see.” I inject an impressed note into my tone, as she is clearly very proud of the fact herself. Sithren implied he’d not had any offspring for twenty years, but apparently, he was off by a few years.
Tethys has pink scales, and her father’s golden eyes. She also has more than a little of his haughty bearing. There’s something in the way she holds her shoulders and her chin, so she’s looking down at me even though she’s shorter.
“Father says you need to eat,” she says. “And he says this is the sort of thing your kind of animal likes to eat. It’s butter and ground up plants baked in a hot box with some kind of little animal that helps it get bigger. I like to make food. I am good at it.”
That may be the best description of bread I’ve ever heard. She’s quite sweet, this young thing. I am surprised Sithren has allowed her in here with me. I could quite easily take her hostage, and…
The bedroom door swings open wide. Sithren comes striding through, looking absolutely furious. His eyes are narrowed and focused squarely on his daughter, who has performed another squeaking jump hop around to face him.
“Tethys!” Sithren thunders. “What are you doing!?”
“I’m feeding the animal bride,” she says. “I heard you saying…”
“I didn’t say come in here alone,” Sithren lectures. “These animal brides are dangerous. They can hurt young things.”
“She doesn't look like she can hurt me. Her teeth aren't even sharp,” Tethys argues. “And I brought her bread. I was doing a nice thing!”
She drops the bread onto the nearest surface and runs away crying, evidently overwhelmed by the unfairness of it all. I am reminded of a simpler time, when such a thing might have also brought me to tears. It takes a lot more than that now.
“Teenagers,” Sithren says with a sigh. The appearance of Tethys has done more to humanize him than any of his previous attempts to be nice.
“Indeed,” I reply.
“Thank you for not killing her or attempting to use her as a bargaining chip to secure your own freedom.”
“You’re welcome,” I say, as if I had time to make that decision on my own.
He has truly brought me into the heart of his family. I am beginning to wonder if he is a fool. I am not safe to have around. I will escape, and there is a very real chance someone could get hurt in the process. I should be kept in a proper jail facility, that way when I inevitably get out, only soldiers and their ilk will be in the firing line.
