other men what was done to them.'
She said matter-of-factly, 'Booty is many things.'
And the daughter of a slaver would have no trouble finding a market for me. Or Del.
I shook my head. 'No.'
Small teeth glinted white. Even the rim of her lips was freckled. 'She believes you worth saving.'
I shrugged. 'No accounting for taste.'
It startled a laugh from her. I watched her eye me up and down, assessing me; it was what I had hoped to provoke in her, an interest in imagining what might come of intimacy, but now I could not help but wonder if she assessed me as a man who might perform in her bed-or perform as a slave. The chill in my gut expanded.
'So,' she said, 'you are willing to die for your freedom, as you believe death is better than slavery. I ask you, then, will you live for your freedom? If you were offered the choice?'
'I saw the choice you offered our captain in the reefs.'
'But there was a choice,' she insisted quietly. 'I did not require him to sail his ship aground. He could have surrendered to us and saved his ship, his cargo, and the lives of his men.'
'Maybe he didn't want to become a slave either.'
'But that is the final choice,' she explained. 'If you have the means to buy your safety, I do not insist upon selling anyone.' She flicked a hand briefly and eloquently. 'Find a way to buy your freedom, if you would not have me sell it. That is your choice.'
I could ignore the opening, and risk not getting another. Or I could test the possibility while making no commitment. 'And what,' I asked steadily, 'might you count as coin?'
The slaver's daughter smiled. A light came into her eyes. 'There are seven intact men on board,' she said, 'and I doubt you may offer more than they have.'
'Have offered?' I asked. 'Or are forced to surrender out of loyalty?'
'You owe me no loyalty.'
'No.'
'You owe me escape,' she said. 'To prove you are better than we judge you. And that is what you plan even here and now, as we speak.'
'Is it?'
She nodded once. 'I do not rule my men. I understand them.'
'And you believe you understand me.'
'More than you understand me.' She grinned. 'I repeat: I doubt you may offer more than my crew have.'
I shrugged casually. 'There are men-and there are men.'
She ignored that. 'I have seen your hands.'
'So?'
'So. I know what manner of work causes calluses such as those. Not slave labor, but skill. Practice. Dedication. Discipline.'
'I repeat: So?'
'You seek a sword,' she said calmly. 'You believe that with a blade in your hand, it will prove no difficulty to overcome eight men and one woman.'
'I do, do I?'
'It shouts from your eyes. From your body. In every movement you make here, returning your body to fitness.' She was serious now. 'There are two kinds of men in the world: fools, and those who are dangerous.'
I spread my hands. 'Me? Dangerous?'
'As Nihko is dangerous. You are two of a kind.'
'I've got a bit more hair on my head.'
'And testicles.'
That startled me. 'What?'
'Some men pay with more than simple coin.'
I pondered that. I pondered the idea of a man surrendering himself so far as to lose that which makes him a man. But then, there was no certainty Nihko had had a choice.
I cleared my throat, trying to ignore the reflexive tightening of my own genitals. With effort I changed the subject-and the imagery. 'And your price, captain?'
With no hesitation she answered, 'The woman.'
I bit down on my anger. 'Why barter for what your men could take?' Del would account for a few, but in the end superior numbers would undoubtedly prevail.
'For my men?' Her smile was bittersweet as she shook her head. 'Oh, but I want her for myself.'
I stared at her, speechless.
'And now you know,' she said, 'why my father cast me out, and how I came to be a renegada.'
SIX
DEL, in the tiny cabin we'd been 'assigned,' swung around as I shut the narrow door behind me. Her expression was pensive; that changed to studied patience as she recognized me.
I cleared my throat. 'Well,' I began, 'it seemed like a good idea. I just didn't quite figure on this-minor complication.'
Blue eyes narrowed; Del knows all my tones and euphemisms. 'What minor complication?'
I spread a hand across my chest. 'There is, after all, one woman in the world who is not overcome by my manly charms. Only one, mind you-but still. I am crushed. I am undone. I am destroyed. I will undoubtedly never recover.'
'You made your move on her.' She considered my expression. 'I thought you said you weren't rushing anything.'
'I didn't make any kind of move,' I said. 'Well-innuendo. But that's not really a move –'
'Depending on how such things are interpreted.'
'-at least, not the sort of thing I really consider as an official move,' I finished, ignoring her interruption. 'There's an art to seduction, you know.'
'Seduction requires subtlety,' Del said. 'You have none.'
'None?'
'It is one of your charms,' she observed, 'that there is no guile in you. At least, not when it comes to such base instincts as copulation.'
I affected horrified shock. 'Hoolies, bascha, why don't you just take all the romance right out of it!'
'You say what you want, Tiger. I respect that.'
I leered at her. 'Respect this!'
Del sighed. 'As I said, there is no subtlety in you.'
'Well, there was,' I answered. 'At least, I thought I was being pretty subtle. But it's lost on that woman.'
' 'That woman?' ' Del eyed me curiously. 'My, this sounds serious.'
I began again. 'She wounded me. She cut me to the quick. She utterly shattered my spirit-'
'Which will recover,' Delilah put in, arid as the Punja, 'with liberal applications of my affection and attentions, I assume.'
I dropped the pose, took a step forward, hooked an arm around her neck and pulled her close against my chest. Into her hair I said, 'Forgive me, bascha.'
Her breath was warm on my neck. 'For failing to seduce the captain?'
'No. For picking a fight with you. But I couldn't think of any other way.'
