No, she had no desire to go back. Better to stay with Lord Carrull. A rich house. Fine food. A master with a guilty and dangerous secret she could exploit. "I can stay here," she said. "I'll never go out of the house, and no one will ever know you took me."
Lord Carrull looked on her with disgust. "You would stay, wouldn't you? Selfish child."
Her mouth fell open in shock. "You keep slaves. You steal slaves. And you call me selfish?"
"You may hate me all you like, but you have your own sins to answer for. You had no pity for the young man you were supposed to button. No pity for his family, either. Or your own family, for that matter."
Repentance winced.
"Yes, you have so far proven to be a headstrong, selfish girl. And now you want to hide here instead of going back to do your duty."
Repentance couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You think I have a duty to give myself as a concubine to your filthy prince?" He could kill her for all she cared. She would never agree that she had a duty to serve the overlords.
"You have a duty to your family." His eyes were hard—angry. "If you do not go to Jadin, your entire family is forfeit."
She stared without seeing him, her mind clicking through all she'd seen and heard since she came up the mountain. The slaver had said something when they first pulled into the square at the slave market. He'd said they caught the runners and hurt them. And something else. She hadn't really heard him properly. All sound had been drowned out by the deafening drip of blood on ice. She cast her mind back. He's said something about taking the runners' families into service.
That's why Jadin had been so interested in her sister. Comfort would be the compensation if Repentance ran.
She sank back into her chair.
"You didn't realize," Lord Carrull said softly. "I'm sorry. I misjudged you."
She didn't answer. They were going to take Comfort? Oh, holy Providence.
"I'm afraid you must go back," he said. "We have no other choice."
She stirred. "If I go back, my sister will be safe?"
"I think I can convince Cawrocc to say nothing of this event. But I need you to swear not to tell anyone you've been here."
"This event ... what is it? Why would you kidnap the other girl and not me? The girl in the scarlet robe?"
"She has no family. When she runs, no one pays."
She shook her head. "Why would someone who kidnaps slaves for ... for ... to be used as concubines care about the families of the girls he steals?"
"I don't kidnap girls to be concubines! That is a part I play. I have a reputation for having a huge appetite for new girls. I buy them and I smuggle them out to other states where they can go free. To Montphilo, first of all. But many move on from there. The Deliverance Day people help me move some."
Repentance studied his eyes. He looked sincere. "So ... there are cities where lowborns walk free?" she whispered.
"But the fancier girls—the ones dressed as you are—I cannot often buy. It isn't that I'm too poor. I have enough beads in my pocket to compete with Jadin. But Jadin will remember you. She studies you all carefully. If I beat her out on too many sales, she would wonder what I was doing with you all. It would bring scrutiny upon the whole undertaking."
"So you steal us instead. You steal girls like me and set us free."
He shook his head sadly. "No Repentance. Not girls like you. I only steal girls with no families. Girls like you, I'm sorry to say, I cannot help."
The yak-drawn carriage wound through the dark streets of Harthill. Repentance didn't open the curtains. She cared nothing for the evil city and had no wish to see any of it. Not the alleys, not the street entertainers, not the hanging frame. She wondered, briefly, if Sober was still tied at the slave dock. Of course not. That was ridiculous. He was on a farm with a fair mistress. She would always picture him, though, as she'd seen him last, tied at the dock but with an earnest look of forgiveness on his face.
He had forgiven her. She didn't know why, but she was grateful for that and happy that he had found a place on a farm. That relieved much guilt, which was good, because when she lay with the disgusting prince, she would have enough shame to deal with.
The driver halted the yak team rather abruptly, jostling Repentance into Lord Carrull. The iron collar the Lord had put around her neck chafed against her skin and the chain, draped down from the collar, clinked against itself with an empty, hopeless sound. One tear escaped and slid down her cheek.
Lord Carrull patted her knee. "Courage, child," he said, "I'll protect you from the worst of it."
He descended the carriage first, holding the chain.
Inside the slave market, a disinterested clerk looked up from his book. His eyes popped wide open at the sight of Repentance.
"I'm here to see Madam Cawrocc," Lord Carrull said.
"Yes, indeed," answered the clerk. "She's in the dining room. Top of the stairs. First door on your right."
"She's dining? Perhaps I'll wait." He had reverted back to the indecisive, weak man Repentance had first taken him for.
"Oh, I shouldn't think so, sir," the clerk answered. "I'm thinking she'll want to be interrupted. In fact, let me lock my desk and I'll escort you."
He
