Catherine Asaro - The Night Bird

Stubble handed the bag to him. “Its mostly just clothes. Theyre worthless.

Her desperation surged. If they took her pack, she would lose her letters of introduction to the guild and the hexacoins she had saved for this trip.

Fist dumped her tunic and leggings onto the ground and tossed out the letters as if they were trash. When he found her bag of coins, he shook it, making the silver rattle, then unfastened the strings and peered inside.

“Not bad. Looking down at Allegra, he held up the bag and grinned. “A little something for our efforts, eh? Then he tied her money pouch to his belt.

Allegra swore at him, but the gag turned her oaths into grunts. She strained to pull her wrists free, and the ropes bit her skin.

One of the men leaned down and grasped her necklace. When he yanked, its cord snapped. He tossed the pendant to Fist. “Thatll be worth a bit.

No! She struggled futilely. Without the pendant, she couldnt make spells. Although she could do little more than make light, she felt even more vulnerable with that ability stripped away.

Fist studied the garnet. “Nice workmanship. He untied her coin bag and stuffed the pendant inside. Then he picked up her clothes and letters and crammed them back into the pack. “Well leave this on the other side of the border, as proof we found her in Jazid, in case anyone looks for her.

“She was by herself, another of the men said, incredulous. “Any man stupid enough to let a woman who looks like this bathe alone in a river deserves to lose her.

“Of course he does, Fist said. “But the laws here dont care what we think. Its only legal if we catch her in Jazid. He looked down at Allegra. “Pity you were foolish enough to ride there by yourself. But that isnt our problem, is it?

Allegra wanted to spit at him. As she fought harder against her bonds, the scrape of metal on leather came from behind her. Then what felt like a dagger pricked her spine. She froze, breathing hard, too scared to move.

“Calm down, Fist said. “Do as we say, and you wont be hurt.

They heaved her to her feet, and the man on her right turned her toward him. His face was wide and weathered by the sun, with lines at the corners of his mouth. His breath smelled of onions and whiskey. Grasping her around the waist, he hefted her up, over his shoulder, so her legs hung down his front and her torso against his back. Her bound wrists fell painfully downward, away from her spine, and she groaned. Someone looped a rope through the bonds and tied it around her waist to hold her arms against her body. The man holding her carried her through the trees, also bringing her horse. It all felt unreal, a nightmare that was happening to someone else.

Within moments, they reached a wagon with rigid sides and a cloth top dyed in green and black triangles. Gold tassels hung from the corners of its roof, swaying in the breeze.

Hanging over the nomads shoulder, she could barely see as they pulled aside a flap at the back. Inside, the wagon was filled with crates, chests and rolled-up rugs tied with tasseled ropes. When they laid her among the carpets as if she were just another rug, she lost what little calm she had left and struggled frantically with her bonds.

“Shes going to cut her skin if she keeps doing that, one of the nomads said.

Stubble took a small bottle and a cloth out of a pocket in his shirt. When he opened the bottle, the pungent odor of suffocating-salts wafted into the air. As he poured liquid onto the cloth, the smell intensified.

“No, dont! Allegras cry came out as a grunt.

Stubble leaned over, one hand braced behind her head, and pressed the wet cloth against her nose. She couldnt breathe. She gasped, and the repulsive smell of the salts saturated her. Panicked, she fought to pull away, but someone held her in place. The smell intensified until she truly was suffocating. Darkness closed in and she knew no more.

Allegra floated in a haze. Pain burned her wrists and ankles. Eventually one of the nomads untied the strap around her head and pulled out the gag. He offered her wine from a water bag. She drank thirstily, her mouth parched from the cloth. When he laid her down, dizziness took her and she fell back into the haze.

The next time she drifted awake, they were cutting the cords off her wrists and ankles. She groaned as they massaged the circulation into her limbs. The salve they smeared into the burns stung at first, but then soothed the pain. When she instinctively began to fight, though she was only half-conscious, they tied her wrists behind her back and bound her ankles again, this time with soft cloth that didnt bite into her skin. Stubble put another cloth soaked in the salts over her face until she lost consciousness.

Time passed, several days maybe. They tended her, gave her too much watered-down wine and too little water, and twice fed her a thick soup. She was dully aware of her hunger.

Allegra awoke into darkness. Groggy and disoriented, she took a moment to realize she was on her side with someone lying next to her. He had pulled up her tunic and was stroking her breasts. When she gulped in a breath, he put his hand over her mouth and pushed her onto her back, pressing down so she couldnt speak. Her wrists were still bound behind her, and pain shot through them.

He held a dagger by her face. “Quiet, he mouthed.

She froze, able to see the blade even in the dark, it was so close to her face. When the man shifted so he lay on top of her, the pain worsened in her arms and she cried out against his hand.

“Vardok? a voice asked. Someone dragged the man off her. She could just make out who had helpedStubble, the one with the salts.

“Leave her alone, Stubble told him. “I meant it when I said I wouldnt let you touch her.

“Why the hell not? Vardok said. “Theyll never know.

“Forget it, Stubble growled, rubbing his eyes.

Vardok scowled at him, but he moved away from Allegra, at least as far as was possible in the cramped wagon.

Stubble leaned over her. “Are you all right?

She stared up at him, too scared to answer, too dizzy from lack of food, and too drunk from the wine. He pulled her shift down over her body. Then he took that bottle out of his shirt, the bottle she hated.

“No, Allegra said. “Please. Dont.

“Shh, he murmured. “It will help you sleep.

She tried to turn away, but he held her in place while he covered her nose and mouth with the suffocating cloth.

Allegra groaned as she became aware of the bumpy ride. Each bounce added to her nausea. Opening her eyes didnt help; all she saw was a wooden wall a few handspans away. The carpet she lay on felt rough under her legs and smelled of the heavy yarns used in the Jazid rugs traded throughout the settled lands.

After several aeons, or maybe a few moments, she eased onto her back. Her eyes watered as pain stabbed her wrists. Her muscles had stiffened miserably, and the roof swam in her vision.

She rolled onto her other side, facing the interior of the wagon. The bottom half of the walls were wood; the top half had cloth patterned with green and black triangles, like a bizarre chessboard where the “squares were the wrong shape. Red dragons curled on the triangles, and red tassels hung from bars where the walls met the roof. Goods crammed the wagon: baskets of fruit and dried food, large chests with ornate fittings and bolts of cloth shot through by metallic threads.

The wagon also contained three nomads crammed in among the boxes. Stubble was leaning against a large crate, dozing. Vardok sat by a chest across from her, looking bored. The man who had carried her to the wagon was near the front, sprawled on a pile of carpets, holding a green bottle by the neck. From the strong odor of whiskey, she suspected he had been drinking for a while. When he burped and took a swallow from the bottle, she decided to call him Sot.