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  Koli shook her head slightly. In her terror of the unknown soldiers and her reverence for her sister, it was all the disobedience she dared. “I am afraid.” Koli felt her face heat at the whispered admission.

  Her sister looked sad for a moment, before smiling gently. “Sometimes we are right to be afraid. Tell me, what is it that you fear?”

  “The bad men. They will hurt us.” Koli didn’t dare speak above a hush. She was afraid that she would be overheard and the general or one of the others would burst into the room to do just that. She even chanced a glance at the door, but it remained firmly closed.

  Briefly, Persephone’s eyes looked shinier than usual, but then she blinked and they were the same crystal green Koli was so used to. “I promise you they will not.”

  Persephone never lied, but Kolimpri didn’t believe her. “He hurt you.” She couldn’t stop herself. Gently, she reached up and brushed the darkened skin on her sister’s cheek. Grabbing Koli’s hand, Persephone turned her face into it and kissed her palm before bringing both of their hands into her lap. “They are very scary,” Koli admitted with tears welling in her eyes.

  “I know, Little Bird, and I am so sorry that you are afraid.”

  Wrapped tightly in her sister’s arms, Persephone rocked them side to side. The motion was soothing, despite the fact that Koli didn’t want to be soothed.

  “I need you to listen to me carefully, Little Bird.” Persephone stopped rocking and grabbed Koli’s face in both her hands. “Do you remember how I told you we were going on a quest?” Koli nodded. In the beginning she had been very excited about going on a quest. “And I told you that our purpose was to get out of the palace without getting caught?”

  “But we got caught.”

  “Yes, we did. So that quest is over. Now, we must begin a new quest.”

  Koli wanted to be excited. Questing was her favorite game. Maybe the new quest would be more fun.

  “What about the bad men?” The foreign soldiers seemed like the bad men in the stories Persephone told.

  “They are not the bad men,” Persephone said.

  “They have done bad things,” Koli insisted.

  “Doing bad things does not make a person bad. Not always.”

  That was confusing. Koli wasn’t sure she understood.

  “I admit there were misunderstandings,” Persephone continued, “but now I understand. We cannot finish this new quest without them.”

  “What is our purpose?” Koli asked.

  Persephone sniffed. “We will be given a series of tasks. We must complete each of them,” her sister explained.

  “What happens at the end?”

  “We will be free.” Persephone sniffed again. Was she getting sick?

  “Free from what?”

  “Free to move on to whatever quest is next.”

  “What is the first task? Are you going to play the whore? Is that what brother meant?”

  Koli didn’t understand the irritation that flashed across her sister’s face. Persephone’s eyes glanced in their brother’s direction. By the time she looked back the expression was gone.

  Her sister nodded. “Yes, playing the whore will be one of my tasks, Little Bird, but it is a very adult task and I do not want you to worry about it.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it is an adult task,” Persephone repeated.

  “Do all adults play the whore?”

  Persephone took a deep breath. “No, not all adults, but many do at some point.”

  “Will I? When I am an adult?”

  Persephone put her hand over her mouth and looked at the wall for a minute. She was looking at Koli again when she spoke and she sounded like she was sick. “I hope that is a game you never have to play, Little Bird. We do not have much time, though, and I need to tell you about your first task.”

  “Yes, sister.”

  Persephone smiled softly. “When we go down to the courtyard, I am to play a game with Seraphime. This is another adult game and it might look very scary. There are going to be knives and people will be yelling.”

  Koli’s heart started beating faster. “Will you stay with me?”

  “I will be with you part of the time, but while Seraphime and I play this game, you will need to stay with the general. That is your task. Stay with him and do what he tells you.”

  “Will he hurt me?”

  “No, Little Bird. He swore to me that he would protect you.” Persephone’s voice sounded funny again.

  Persephone seemed to hear something that Koli didn’t, because she cocked her head to the side briefly before lifting Koli off of her lap and setting her on her feet. Rather than standing, though, Persephone knelt directly in front of her and held up her hand, every finger but her pinky fisted. A pinky promise. Persephone never broke a pinky promise.

  “Little Bird, I swear that I will do anything it takes to keep you safe, but you have to promise me that you will stay with the general and you will do everything he says.”

  “Do you trust him?” Koli asked because she still didn’t.

  Persephone never broke eye contact. Her hand never wavered. There was only a short pause before she answered. “Yes.”

  Koli locked her pinky with Persephone’s. “I promise, sister.”

  She heard the key turn and the door swing open right before the man they all called Captain stepped into the room.

  * * * *

  Augustine watched as Seraphime was marched into the courtyard. As they always were, her eyes remained downcast. Her clasped hands and the tight set of her shoulders advertised her anxiety. That was well; Persephone would see it. This charade was for her, after all.

  “May I speak with her before we start?” Persephone directed the question at him, but her eyes never left the slave.

  “No.” Augustine did not give the reply a second thought.

  A muscle in her cheek shifted as she clenched her teeth, but she did not press further. It pleased him to know she was distressed. This was not supposed to be easy for her.

  “Let us proceed,” he ordered.

  When Augustine would have grabbed Kolimpri’s hand, Persephone dropped to her knee to address the little princess at eye level, effectively dismissing him and all others.

  “Alright, Little Bird, you are going to stay with the general. Do you remember what we talked about?”

  Kolimpri was nodding along attentively. “You are going to play a game.”

  “Very good. Yes, I am to play a game with Seraphime. You like games, do you not?”

  “Yes!” The little princess’s eyes lit at the prospect.

  “I know you do.” Persephone smiled warmly. “And if you behave and do as I asked, then I will play any game you like when we get back to our room.”

  “Truly?!” Kolimpri asked eagerly, to which Persephone nodded. As if seeking a binding confirmation, Kolimpri raised her small pinky, which Persephone immediately linked in her own, sealing their promise with a kiss to the back of her own thumb.

  “Get on with it!” Augustine wasn’t sure which of his soldiers yelled it, but he could feel their impatience.

  Certainly Persephone felt it as well, because all semblance of warmth melted away.

  “I need to start, Little Bird. Remember what I said. This is an adult game, and it will look dangerous. Maybe even scary. It is just a game, though, so despite appearances, we are all very safe.” She articulated the lie convincingly.

  Was she foolish enough to believe it herself? Naiveté did not seem to be one of her faults, so he doubted it. Persephone opened her arms and Kolimpri immediately stepped into the embrace.

  “I remember. The general will protect me. You promised,” Kolimpri whispered, her words obviously intended for Persephone alone. Still, they carried.

  Kolimpri was too young, too trusting, to recognize the way Persephone’s breath hitched, or the way her grip tightened. But Augustine noticed it.

  “Yes, Little Bird. The general will protect you.” Words spoken
to Kolimpri; however, her expression and the intensity of her stare let him know clearly the message was for him.

  With great reluctance, Persephone relinquished Kolimpri to his care. Holding her small hand in his own, he walked them to a bench set roughly three meters behind where Persephone stood. After seating himself, he easily lifted her small form onto one knee. Distracted by what likely seemed to her an unusual pattern, Kolimpri immediately started tracing the design on the chest of his armor with a finger.

  Unbothered by Kolimpri’s selection of entertainment, Augustine had eyes for Persephone alone. He slowly and deliberately unsheathed the dagger from his hip, bringing it to rest on the knee opposite Kolimpri. Persephone’s mouth twitched – a sign of trepidation, maybe – before she nodded her understanding.

  It seemed that Kolimpri noticed the threat as well, because her hand stuttered before dropping into her own lap, her eyes locked firmly on the weapon.

  Augustine broke eye contact with Persephone to look at her small sister. “Do not be afraid, Little Bird, is it?”

  Kolimpri’s eyes flicked to his. “Only Persephone calls me that.”

  “Little Princess, then?”

  Kolimpri shrugged in silent assent.

  “Do not be afraid. Your sister promised I would protect you, did she not?”

  Mouth twitching in an almost smile – her guarded expression uncannily reminiscent of Persephone in that moment – Kolimpri nodded.

  “How am I to do such a thing without a weapon? Do not fret, Little Princess, this is not meant for you.” It was only half a lie. The threat was intended for Persephone, but Augustine never made an empty threat. He would follow through if necessary.

  Still looking uncertain, Kolimpri smiled marginally.

  “Are you one of the bad men?”

  Kolimpri’s question startled him. Both in its blunt honesty, and also because he did not know who the bad men were. Some specific force? Or had he and his troops been named thus because they were invaders of her home? With a four-year-old, it was hard to know.

  “Who are the bad men?” he asked.

  “Like the ones in the stories. They do the bad things.”

  “This is not a story, Little Princess.”

  “You’ve done bad things. Does that make you a bad man?” she asked, still trying to make the parallel with something she was already familiar.

  Augustine was silent for a moment as he considered her question.

  “Doing bad things does not make someone a bad person.”

  Her little lips pressed together in discontent before she sighed. “That is what Persephone said.”

  “And do you believe her, Little Princess?”

  She shrugged. “Persephone never lies.”

  He found it interesting that she believed so, because he suspected Persephone lied quite frequently. The more he learned, the more he came to believe that secrets flowed through her blood as drops of water in a stream. Each indistinguishable from the other.

  “But?” Augustine supplied the implied connective when she didn’t continue on her own.

  “But I do not understand.”

  “Well, sometimes good people do bad things,” he explained.

  “Why?”

  Bested by a four-year-old, and with a question as simple as “why?” no less. It was shameful.

  Fortunately, he was spared the necessity of contemplating the philosophical implications of her question when Cato relinquished a quiver of throwing daggers to Persephone and stepped away. Distracted from her question, Kolimpri watched her sister with rapt attention. At least as rapt as a child her age could muster. She sat kicking her feet in the open air. He suspected she was unaware of the action. A soft hum vibrated in her throat. He didn’t recognize the tune.

  Together they watched Persephone take each dagger out individually to test their weight and rotation. One by one she held each of them by the end of the blade before a slight flick of her wrist sent each spinning experimentally into the air. Every one of them stopped point down, creating a neat cluster in the ground at her feet. The effort may have seemed insignificant, but Augustine understood the meaning behind the gesture: she knew exactly what she was doing. Everything she did only served to reinforce the knowledge that her training had been extensive.

  But why? That was the part that didn’t make sense. It was not completely unheard of for a woman to have some knowledge of weapons and fighting. Typically, though, that knowledge was exclusive to the lower classes and restricted to self-defense strategies, as muggings and violence were common among the plebeians. To have an offensively and defensively trained female was virtually unheard of, especially in such places as Galilae. That it was a member of the royal family was, to his knowledge, completely unprecedented.

  The soldiers around them grew restless. Those that did not have duties until morning had started drinking. Allowing drink had not been ideal, but the demonstration was meant to be a form of entertainment. Refusing to allow it would have left their soldiers with the impression that either they were not trusted or the princess was somehow a threat. Neither was acceptable, though after the debacle in the Grand Hall, it would seem both might have their merit.

  Finished testing each of the daggers, Persephone gave Seraphime a nod to indicate her readiness. While she collected the blades, Seraphime removed her pieto and stepped into position. Even if she hadn’t been beautiful, Seraphime’s nudity would have triggered excitement in the crowd. As it was, the catcalls and jeers surged to a crescendo. Even from the distance, Augustine could see she lacked the triangle of pubic hair that should have covered her cunt. He was aware of the obsessive hygienic and cosmetic practices famous in Galilae, but had been under the impression that the removal of body hair was restricted to only the very wealthy. Seraphime was certainly too old for her age to explain the absence of hair, but nothing about his knowledge of Galilae or its customs would suggest that a slave would undergo the same treatment as her mistress. Automatically, he found himself wondering if the similarities between Persephone and Seraphime extended to what lay hidden underneath their clothing.

  Seraphime positioned herself as directed in front of the large wooden target, her arms fully extended straight out from her shoulders, her feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart. The distance had been measured with approximation, so Persephone stood about three and a half meters away. Not an impossible distance for the task assigned her, but certainly not an easy one either. Persephone obviously knew how to handle the weapons, but now that the time had come, Augustine was eager to see what she could actually do with them. With barely any preparation and absolutely no flourish, Persephone suddenly released the first knife. She was very good. The spinning blade embedded itself a mere finger’s breadth to the left of Seraphime’s face.

  Not surprisingly, pandemonium erupted among the watching soldiers. Augustine was well aware of the numerous bets in the works. Those who had bet for Persephone’s success were shouting their support while her naysayers taunted just as loudly. To her credit, she seemed not to hear any of it.

  Just as suddenly as she’d thrown the first, the second blade went flying, planting itself in the wood on the other side of Seraphime’s head. Though she blinked when the knife hit, Seraphime remained completely still, a testament to her faith in her mistress – or, more precisely, her probable sister. Fortunately for her, it seemed to be well placed.

  Persephone threw the next two knives in rapid succession. It wasn’t clear if her confidence was growing or if she was just getting into a rhythm. Regardless, both knives implanted on either side of Seraphime’s exposed stomach, drawing an even line with her naval. The final throw wrested a cringe from the crowd when it hit the wood at the apex of Seraphime’s thighs. Just below her cunt.

  Uproarious cheers quickly followed. All five daggers had been thrown. Each had hit within four fingers of Seraphime’s delicate skin. And every one had been thrown with expert precision. Persephone’s confidence in herself was obviously well
deserved, though he still didn’t understand it. Why did Persephone have these skills?

  The courtyard was bursting with enthusiasm over the demonstration. Kolimpri was bouncing enthusiastically on his lap, clapping and cheering with the soldiers.

  Relief was evident in both Persephone’s and Seraphime’s postures. Despite her outward confidence, it would seem Persephone had been sufficiently anxious about the whole ordeal. Augustine found himself smiling along despite himself. He certainly hadn’t hoped for failure, but Persephone had far exceeded his expectations. He was debating whether or not he wanted to command a repeat performance when his mind was made up for him.

  Tricas stepped in front of Seraphime, a good soldier, but at times still overly young. He threw his arms into the air triumphantly. “Again!”

  The clamor rippling through the audience confirmed popular agreement with his declaration. Only Tricas – who had obviously partaken in many libations – did not wait for orders. Or approval. He had already approached the target and was leaning casually against it, halfway blocking Seraphime. Framed in daggers, she had no room to retreat. Even were she able to, Augustine wasn’t sure if she would or not. By Galilae’s own laws, she was not supposed to, and for the most part she had been extremely consistent in behaving according to the dictates of the law. What she would have done had retreat been an option was irrelevant. She could not, and Augustine watched the foolish soldier dip his head and place his lips on Seraphime’s neck as his fingers traced their ascent up her stomach towards her breast. Persephone was already running their direction. Cursing, Augustine hurriedly set Kolimpri onto the ground. Taking aim as he stood, he threw.

  * * * *

  Persephone didn’t know what she was going to do when she got there, but she had to get to Seraphime. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She was sprinting, but it didn’t feel like she was getting any closer. Like a dream. The kind where she was running, but her destination kept getting further and further away. Only this wasn’t a dream. The nightmare was real.

  She heard the soldier cry out in pain and watched his body flinch to the side before realizing what had caused the unexpected reaction. As she finally reached the target and grabbed Seraphime’s hand to pull her to safety, she saw the dagger pinning his hand to the wood. Thinking only of collecting Koli and ushering the two to safety, she would have to worry about how it got there later.