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Not like that this time, she whispered, her eyes wet. Kiss me like you don t hate me.
He hesitated. How could he?
A voice whispered in the back of his mind. You have her.
Basha s eyes screamed her need for something to fill the space her loss had left behind. If he gave it to
her, she could be influenced, even by a mere slave.
Whatever it takes.
He lowered his head to brush his lips against hers, softly. She moaned.
Yes. Basha took his hand and drew it up her waist, over her breast. Touch me like you don t hate
me.
Though Marek thought his hands would burn her with loathing, he obeyed, banishing his soul where it
couldn t crumple in her hands like a sheet of discarded paper. Without it, his body could do what it had
to do, could respond to her touch as if it didn t repulse him.
When he was ready to enter her, she stopped him. One more thing. She gazed up at him. Tell me you
love me.
He rolled off her as tears swelled his chest and eyes. I can t do that. It s the one thing I can never do.
Please. Her voice stopped short, as she must have realized she d never spoken that word to him
before. I m so alone.
I don t love you.
Of course you don t. Just let me pretend.
Pretend, he thought, and it came to him, the secret he d been missing. He would pretend Basha was
Rhia. Though her hands, legs, voice and scent were different, maybe his mind could fool his senses long
enough to fulfill this task. If he could give Basha this, she would be his, and he could find a way to
escape.
He turned back to her, and it was Rhia s skin he touched and kissed, Rhia s mouth on his neck and
shoulders, Rhia s hands stroking him back to readiness.
It was in Rhia s ears he whispered, I love you, but as soon as the words left his mouth, they lost all
meaning.
33
U sing his crutches, Filip hobbled to his place at the foot of the stairway to the long stone Senate building.
He sat next to one of two small shrubs flanking the stairs. Their shiny leaves were the only green he could
see, though they looked black in the dim predawn light.
He placed his begging bowl on the white stone pavement and waited. Everything about this endeavor felt
wrong, down to his core, but he told himself his unease came from the preconceptions of his youth.
Soon dawn leaked blue around the buildings and over the white courtyard. The war monument stood as
a dark void, a reminder to all who passed of their countrymen s sacrifices.
They would get a few more reminders soon. Adrek, Arcas and Lycas had spaced themselves around the
square, along with about a dozen regular Leukon beggars.
The clear sky blushed pink and orange, and the tops of the buildings glowed. He watched as his city
came to life. Soon the streets bustled like anthills. Senate staffers in blue uniforms, most a few years older
than Filip, hurried through a side courtyard to his left, ready to prepare the building for another session.
He spotted the first senator crossing the street from the market, a few hundred paces away. He was
dressed in the goldenrod robe of his office, a red sash at his waist, and looked to be in his late fifties. He
used a wooden cane, favoring his right side.
Filip sat with his back to the wall, his half leg extended before him, with the empty part of the trouser
tucked under his stump so that there could be no mistaking what had happened to him.
His mouth went dry at the thought of his countrymen seeing him like this. They would wish he d hide
himself like a proper man. No, a proper man would have died in battle or ended his own life rather than
continue this way.
The senator hobbled across the courtyard, on a path that would take him past Filip. Surely this man
would understand what infirmity meant. Upon closer look, he looked more like sixty or sixty-five years
old. Lines etched his face like a map of the Four Rivers region. The metal tip of his cane clicked against
the stones as he approached the building. Then Filip saw a blue patch on the man s shoulder, signifying
that his wounds had been garnered in victory. He leaned around the small shrub to get a better glimpse.
The senator stopped at the foot of the steps and looked straight at Filip, who stared back. For one
moment, they were brothers-in-arms.
Suddenly the older man roared and waved his cane at him. Filip s stomach twisted. After telling his
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