Sapient Salvation 1: The Selection (Sapient Salvation Series) (12 page)

“It is not a straight contest of strength,” she said. “I don’t know the specific nature of this challenge, as the guides aren’t informed of the exact details, but it will be something in which a strong young woman will have just as good a chance at surviving as a strong young man.”

My chest seemed to contract, squeezing the air out of my lungs. “Some Obligates will die.” I barely managed to whisper it.

Part of me felt foolish even saying it. I knew some stages of the competition would be deadly, but knowing such a thing back on Earthenfell and hearing it now on Calisto were somehow two entirely different things.

“Surely you expected this? It is not a secret, even on Earthenfell.”

“No, I knew it. It’s just—why? Why must the overlords
kill
some of us?” I shook my head in frustration as cold fear gripped me. “Why can’t Lord Toric simply look us over and pick his favorite woman for his harem, pick an able man to serve him, and then send the rest back? It just seems extremely cruel and unnecessary.”

“There are several reasons,” she said. “You must understand that from the Calistans’ perspective, it is not about
killing
anyone. It is about sorting the worthy form the unworthy. When the Lord leads the Calistans for the Return to Earthenfell after all enemies have been vanquished, the women of the harem will bear his children, the first children of the new Earth. Those women must be worthy of a responsibility so important and sacred to the Calistans.”

My jaw dropped in surprise. This was the first I’d heard of this. As far as I’d known, the harem existed just to serve the pleasure of the Calistan Lord.

“And second, your suggestion is forbidden by the Calistan sacred texts,” she continued. “No one from Calisto may set foot on Earthenfell until all others who claim rights to the homeland are defeated.”

“What sacred texts? I’ve never heard of these. And I’m not
from
Calisto. Earthenfell is my home. I was born there and breathed every breath there until today. I’ve never even read these sacred texts you speak of! Why must I follow their rules?” My fingers dug into the cushion of the divan, every muscle in my body tightening in outrage.

“The Calistans live by their sacred texts, and they handle Earthens according to what the texts direct. Maya, Earthenfell
was
your home, but not anymore.” Iris’s eyes hardened. “They only possible way you may step foot there again is if the Calistans defeat their enemies within your lifetime and the Lord leads the Return to the homeland.”

I sat there, rigid with frustration and fear. “And how long have the Calistans been fighting their enemies?” I whispered.

“Over a thousand years.”

I squeezed my eyes closed as anger churned through me in a dark torrent. I wanted to tear through the walls, to scream, to find the so-called sacred texts and shred them and burn the pieces. It was not fair.

It was not fair.

But I could change nothing if I died in the competition. I had to get close to Lord Toric to have any hope of influence.

“I can guess what you are thinking,” Iris said.

I opened my eyes and cast her a stony look.

“But you’d best take care to control your feelings because the overlords
know
what you are thinking.”

A chill crept up my back and over my scalp, cooling my anger. “What do you mean?”

She reached up to touch the metal disc at the back of my neck. “They will be alerted to any traitorous thoughts. And traitorous actions will bring immediate punishment.”

“They can read our thoughts?” My stomach tightened and bile rose in my throat. The idea that my mind was no longer my own was so horrible, so invasive. I clenched my hands together in my lap to keep from clawing at the implant.

“I don’t think it works exactly like that, no. Or if they can read our thoughts, I don’t think they have any interest in examining every whim that passes through our minds.” She gave a short, mirthless laugh. “I imagine that would get very tiresome. But there are certain thoughts they’re interested in. Traitorous or murderous ones, for instance. Thoughts that might interfere with the practices outlined in their sacred texts.”

I stared at the floor, trying to process the information. Regardless of what my implant did or did not reveal to the overlords, I didn’t have time or energy to waste on anger. Squaring my shoulders, I turned to my guide.

“Okay. So tell me: how do I win?”

She smiled, her eyes crinkling at the outer corners, and patted my knee, clearly relieved to be moving on to a different topic. “I do like your spirit, Maya. You had a physical job on Earthenfell, is that correct?”

“I worked in the orchards picking fruit.” I wasn’t sure if that qualified as physical work or not. Most work assignments required some moving around.

“Ah yes, I had friends who were fruit collectors. That’s good. I can tell that climbing trees has made you lean and strong. You will need to use what you know in order to survive the first challenge. Your body knows how to climb and how to carry heavy collection bags while you balance in precarious places, right?”

“I suppose that’s true, and maybe it will be of some use,” I said slowly, barely daring to allow a bit of hope lift my heart. “But what advice can you give me?”

“You need to be careful of the other Obligates. Be very careful of who you trust. They’re all trying to survive, too, and some will try to manipulate you. Some may even try to kill you.”

My eyes widened. “But you said the implants would alert the overlords if we had murderous thoughts.”

“During the challenges, they care only if your murderous thoughts are directed toward Calistans. Among the Obligates, almost anything goes. Outright attempts at murdering other Obligates will figure into the standings of favor, however.”

“Standings of favor?”

“You all will be ranked. Boys against each other and girls against each other. Cold-blooded murder, although not literally forbidden, would hurt your standing. Lord Toric would not want a murderous woman in his harem. But being too nice to the other competitors, or being too gullible, will weaken you at best and at worst could kill you.”

I snorted a laugh. “So I need to be something less than a cold-blooded killer but more than a doormat.”

She smiled faintly, but her eyes were intent. “Yes. Keep in mind that Lord Toric wants not only a woman who can skillfully serve his pleasure in his harem in the near term, but a woman who is worthy of bearing his Earthly children in the event of the Return to the homeland.”

I looked at her curiously, wondering about the skills that had won her a place in the harem. “Were you one of the Obligates who was prepared for the competition, or did your clan select you by lottery?”

“I trained for nearly three years,” she said. “In return for my sacrifice, my clan mates funded my training with a variety of coaches as well as compensated my family.”

That’s what my clan had done for Belinda and her family. She’d spent nearly two years in training.

I was afraid to ask the next question, but knew the answer was critical. “And how big an advantage will the trained women have over me?”

“Part of my guidance involves honesty, and I will always be honest with you when I am permitted, Maya. So I will not mince words. Their advantage is significant.” She paused, watching my face closely. “They don’t have any more information than you do in terms of the exact nature of each phase of challenge in the Tournament, but they’ve been trained for a wide range of possibilities. You will find that the women who were prepared for this are every bit as strong an agile as you are even though they haven’t been doing your type of work. They’ve been coached in strength and agility, charm, wit, poise, and the arts of seduction and pleasure, among other things.”

Seduction and pleasure . . .

I bit my lower lip, considering all of what she’d said. “I’m not . . . experienced.” My cheeks heated, and I clutched the fabric of my dress against my palms.

Iris’s eyebrows lifted. “You’re a virgin?”

I nodded. “I’m um, I—had a boyfriend for a time. So I’m not completely unfamiliar with what goes on between men and women.”

She nodded, but peered at me with an assessing gleam in her eye.

“Is that another big mark in the disadvantage column for me?” My entire body seemed to be blushing, but I forced myself to return her steady eye contact.

“Possibly . . . but maybe not.” She pressed her lips together for a moment, and then her gaze softened and she leaned in just a bit. “But you know what? That is a worry for another day. For now, I want you to focus only on the challenge ahead of you. You must make it through this phase before we concern ourselves with your sexual inexperience.”

A cold sweat sprang to my chest and prickled over the rest of my skin. Yes, the first challenge. If I didn’t survive it, all else was irrelevant.

9

Toric

WHEN I’D RETURNED to my chambers after surveying the Offered, my mind swirled with images of the dark angel.

Maya.

Her name was the beat of a drum in my brain, the rhythm of a primal chant.

And she’d opened her eyes. In spite of what the doctor said, I knew that she’d seen me.

Her eyes were the gray-flecked blue of a stormy Calistan sky. I couldn’t get the texture of her skin out of my mind. Heavy cream with a dollop of browned butter to warm it from neutral to . . . something I wanted to touch with the tip of my tongue.

Darafina had been waiting when I returned, as I’d requested of Victor. At first, my heart leapt at the sight of her dark waves of hair, as my mind momentarily transposed Maya’s face onto Darafina’s. For the briefest of seconds, I’d almost believed that the dark angel had somehow come here, raced ahead so she could wait for me in my bed chamber.

Of course, reality quickly straightened me out. My heart and mind knew the woman in my bed wasn’t Maya, but my body did not seem interested in receiving the message.

I extinguished every light in my bed chamber except a single candle on a stand near the door. I stripped off my clothing and went to the woman who spread herself before me wearing only her inviting smile.

“I’m delighted to serve at your favor, my Lord,” she purred. And she did look extremely pleased.

When she reached out to stroke me, I caught her wrist and pushed her hand away. Her pleased expression faltered. She recovered with a seductive lowering of her eyelids, but I read a wisp of confusion in her energy.

I closed my eyes, and with Maya’s face and vibrant energy in my mind, I coupled with Darafina once . . . twice . . . three times.

After I collapsed on my back, sweating and satiated for the moment, Darafina sat up with glazed eyes.

“My Lord, someone has been urgently knocking at your door for some time,” she said. “With your permission, I think it best that I leave you to your duties.”

I nodded and waved her away. She quickly slipped on a robe and, walking a bit unsteadily, exited out a side doorway. I hadn’t even heard the door, but suddenly aware of the time that had passed, I guessed it was probably Victor, there to get me ready to receive the newly arrived Offered. Even if I was late, it was worth it. I couldn’t very well go into the throne room with my arousal pointing the way.

I rose, stepped into undershorts, and went to the main door of my bed chamber.

Victor emanated anxious concern that quickly turned to relief. “My Lord, give me just a moment, and I will have your clothes ready.” He gestured toward the dressing room.

That he did not mention bathing first told me I was even later than I’d realized.

In my undershorts, I sat at a mirrored counter to wait for one of my personal medics, a man named Tanning. Darafina had inflicted no wounds on me, but it was protocol for the royal medic to check me before I made a public appearance. Tanning quickly looked over my limbs and torso, and then asked me to stand so he could finish his check. Satisfied, he left without having to activate his healing devices.

I put on immaculately pressed white linen pants and tunic, and then stood on a squat stool in front of a full-length mirror. Victor entered the dressing room and circled me, making small adjustments to the drape of my clothing. He clipped simple iron bands around each of my ankles and wrists. Then he took a cologne sprayer from a small wall cabinet and puffed it at me several times from all sides. It was a distillation of seven sacred plants from Earthenfell made in water from the homeland’s seven seas. It was a complex, subtle scent of things newborn and green, old and aged, fresh and floral, an indescribably organic richness that was unlike anything else in the world—on our world, at least.

I ran a hand over my mussed hair, short and spikey but wavy when it was allowed to grow, and then Victor held up a crown of two metal bands—one iron and one copper—twisted together. He placed it on my head and I adjusted it, settling it into place.

I turned to him. “How do I look?”

His brows twitched up in a barely-noticeable shift of his expression. He peered at me, uncertainty flickering in his eyes. “I don’t believe you’ve ever asked me that before, my Lord.”

I allowed a grin to widen my mouth. “I don’t believe I’ve ever felt quite the way I feel this evening, Victor.”

“Well, you look . . . as a Lord should.”

I gave a short laugh, stepped off the stool, and nodded to him. “Let’s go, then.”

*

I waited in a room tucked under the throne while the audience entered the throne room and settled themselves.

With me were Calvin and Palovich, dressed in their royal guard uniforms of black trousers tucked into black boots and smart gray jackets that bore the circular Lord’s Seal in metallic silver.

Akantha, the Mistress of Tournament, also waited in the room, clad in a stylish and flowing dress made of the same synthetic black material as the guards’ pants. It was fitted to show off her thin waist, and its wide bell sleeves fanned out when she moved and draped gracefully when her arms went still at her sides.