In that case, if I escape – when I escape – I’ll be left with a two hour walk north to get anywhere back to the city center. I’ll be walking through the most destitute parts of the city, and I’ll have no identification on me – which is probably a good thing, since that means no opportunistic crime families or corporations will snatch me up the way the Aurelians did.
As the daughter of Carani, the merchant, I have value.
As just a girl, lost in the slums, I have none.
Except the same value that the Aurelians see in me – as a young, virginal woman. The Aurelians have restrained themselves. If I encounter anybody on my journey back, they might not show me the same restraint. After all, why would they?
It’s in the Aurelian’s best interest to keep me safe, unhurt and… unmolested.
Whoever I meet out here, in the slums of the southern industrial sector, will have no such compunction. They have nothing to lose – and my innocence and body to gain.
Gods! I’d be escaping the lion’s den, only to make myself vulnerable to who-knows-what as I struggle back to the city center.
Once I even make it into the city – assuming I do - I’ll have to go straight to the main police station. Marn is a corrupt society, in which crime families rule – but it still maintains a veneer of independence and justice. The police will protect me – and from the station, I’ll contact my father, and this nightmare will finally be over.
How do I feel about that?
I’m not going to lie. There was a certain thrill when I was trussed up in a penthouse. I’ve been trained from a young age in how to act during a kidnapping, and on Marn they’re such a common occurrence that it’s more exciting than terrifying. Out of a thousand kidnappings on Marn, probably nine-hundred and ninety-nine go smoothly.
But that was before – in the comfort of a luxurious hotel suite – not some abandoned, danger-filled industrial ruin. The danger wasn’t so real then – just the excitement of it all.
Now – especially because I suspect these Aurelians have never done anything like this before – I’m suddenly feeling the full weight of the risk crushing down on me.
That’s not the only thing that’s crushing down on me. So, too, is Brennan’s arm as I’m bounced up and down across his shoulder with every stride.
Oh, Gods! I feel so trapped – pressed against his shoulder, unable to even use my own arms to balance myself.
Brennan’s boots clunk as he descends a flight of stairs. The meager warmth of the summer night turns cold and damp as he carries me inside… somewhere. I strain my ears and hear the steady drip of water.
Then, I’m set down on my feet.
“Close your eyes.” Brennan’s voice is a low rumble.
I close my eyes, trusting him. He roughly pulls the blindfold from me.
“You can open your eyes now.”
I open them slowly, expecting to be blinded by light. Instead, though, the illumination in this room is ominous and faint. My eyes are already adjusted to the darkness after being blindfolded for so long, and despite the gloom I can clearly see my surroundings.
We’re in a cellar, or a basement. It’s a dump.
Not a literal dump, but about as far removed from the luxury of that penthouse suite as its possible to get.
Four sleeping bags are set up in a row on the floor. Near them is the faint light of a glowing lamp. There’s a small tent erected in the far corner of this gloomy chamber, which I suspect must be a portable toilet made by the Aurelian Army. That’s why it’s so huge – designed to accommodate the seven-feet-tall frame of muscular Aurelian warriors.
Otho is with us, setting up a contraption beneath the dripping water. I’m not sure if that water is condensation, or the leak of some long broken and forgotten pipe, but Otho’s contraption appears to catch the drips of water and purify them.
The Aurelians are digging in for the long haul.
I shudder. I’d have much preferred the penthouse.
Now I can see, at least, I turn to face Brennan. He peers down at me imperiously.
“You may speak now.”
Oh, can I? How fucking magnanimous of you.
“Thank you,” I say through gritted teeth, acting politely though I resent him with a hot, passionate anger. “I don’t know if you’ve ever been handcuffed before, but after an hour, it starts to sting.”
Otho grunts from across the chamber, where he’s still setting up the water catcher.
“It was only half an hour.”
Brennan grins. His cruel, arrogant face softens for a moment – but then it returns to his signature, implacable intensity.
“She knows that, Otho. She was plugging us for information. She wanted to know how long we were flying, so she can judge the distance we’ve traveled. She’s probably already worked out roughly where we are from that alone.”
Brennan’s eyes flash as he turns to me and warns: “Don’t make me put that gag back in your mouth, Natali.”
I look down, but not out of shame. For some reason, I actually feel pride. The Aurelian isn’t looking at me like I’m an idiot – he was actually impressed.
But why do I care about impressing one of my kidnappers? It’s stupid!
I should be doing the opposite – working to make him think I’m dumb…
…yet there’s a warm satisfaction to know he thinks I’m smart.
But he’s smart, too. Brennan was clever enough to see straight through my ploy.
I dare to lift my eyes, and I find myself staring up into Brennan’s slate-grey gaze.
“Admit it,” he growls, his voice flat. “That’s what you were doing, right?”
I crane my head to look up at the seven-foot-tall beast of a man. I can’t keep the defiance out of my voice as I respond:
“Damned right, I was.”
He nods, the corner of his lips twitching with the tease of a smile.
Then, the towering Aurelian twirls his
