to him, studying the dark bruise under his right eye, the abraded
patch on his temple and a swelling cut on his lower lip. He moved stiffly,
suggesting other injuries hidden by his clothes. “Are you all right?”
He shrugged and nodded. “No serious damage.” He watched her.
His gaze held concern, plus hunger and longing, just barely kept in check.
“They didn’t hurt you.”
“There wasn’t any fight. They threatened to destroy my ship
and crew, so I turned myself over to them.”
“I was in dock on Alster. They grabbed me on the street.” He
drew a deep breath and looked at the two lawyers. “Can we speak privately for a
few minutes?” He nodded toward Devonne.
Whetlock threw a quick questioning glance at Devonne. She
nodded to him, and he turned to the other lawyer. “I believe we need to discuss
strategy for a few minutes.” The two of them left.
A hush filled the small room for a moment after they
departed. Raje crossed the room to stop close to her. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“For what? It’s not your fault we’re both here.”
He shrugged. “I fought with the Sangari. I baited him.”
“He tried to slug me. Would have, if you hadn’t been there.
I’m the one should apologize. If you hadn’t tried to defend me, you wouldn’t
have been involved.”
He winced as he smiled with the undamaged side of his mouth.
“But then I would have missed out on the best year of my life. If this is the
price for that year, it’s still worth it.”
“Raje—”
“I’m sorry. But I’m not lying.”
“About this maybe.”
He winced and made an odd sort of shrug, half acceptance and
half impatience. “We need to have a long talk, but we don’t have time for it
now. Let’s deal with the matter at hand and worry about the rest later.”
She drew a long breath to steady herself and nodded. “What
do you know about this “challenge” thing?”
“Not much. It seems to be a series of contests. Different
things. Sports, fighting, sex, eating, whatever takes someone’s fancy. Pretty
much if you can imagine it, they’ll have someone do it.”
“We may have to fight each other.”
“That’s a possibility.”
“To the death.”
“I doubt it. And if that’s what they want, we’ll figure out
a way around it,” he said.
“Are you always this optimistic? I missed that about you.”
“Only under serious pressure. It keeps me sane. Devonne, I
think we ought to do the challenge. My lawyer has consulted with some Sangari
sources. He’s pretty sure the Tribunal won’t be sympathetic to our story and he’s
entirely sure we don’t want to spend any time in their labor prisons.”
“My attorney said the same thing. I just wish I knew what
they’d ask us to do in this challenge thing.”
“They don’t give out the agenda in advance.”
“I know.”
“Do they play fair?”
Raje lifted his shoulders. “According to my lawyer,
basically yes. You might not like what they ask you to do, and there’s no
telling what it could be. But if you do satisfy them they’ll acknowledge it and
reward it.”
He moved closer to where she stood, stopping just a step
away. Her hormones reacted to him as they always did, going into overdrive,
driving up her pulse and her breathing, rousing the pressure of desire in her
core. Something else overlay it, though. Concern and fear for him woke,
bringing with it anger about his injuries and a desperate desire to touch him,
to reestablish the close connection they once had.
He reached out and put his hands on her upper arms. Heat
exploded where he touched but she controlled the urge to flinch back. His
expression was serious. “Devonne, we can do this together. Whatever the
challenge might hold. We always worked well together as a team. We’ll manage
whatever we have to do to beat this thing.”
He had a point. They did work well together. If they could
just get past the hurt and anger—check that—if she could get past the hurt and
anger, they had
patch on his temple and a swelling cut on his lower lip. He moved stiffly,
suggesting other injuries hidden by his clothes. “Are you all right?”
He shrugged and nodded. “No serious damage.” He watched her.
His gaze held concern, plus hunger and longing, just barely kept in check.
“They didn’t hurt you.”
“There wasn’t any fight. They threatened to destroy my ship
and crew, so I turned myself over to them.”
“I was in dock on Alster. They grabbed me on the street.” He
drew a deep breath and looked at the two lawyers. “Can we speak privately for a
few minutes?” He nodded toward Devonne.
Whetlock threw a quick questioning glance at Devonne. She
nodded to him, and he turned to the other lawyer. “I believe we need to discuss
strategy for a few minutes.” The two of them left.
A hush filled the small room for a moment after they
departed. Raje crossed the room to stop close to her. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“For what? It’s not your fault we’re both here.”
He shrugged. “I fought with the Sangari. I baited him.”
“He tried to slug me. Would have, if you hadn’t been there.
I’m the one should apologize. If you hadn’t tried to defend me, you wouldn’t
have been involved.”
He winced as he smiled with the undamaged side of his mouth.
“But then I would have missed out on the best year of my life. If this is the
price for that year, it’s still worth it.”
“Raje—”
“I’m sorry. But I’m not lying.”
“About this maybe.”
He winced and made an odd sort of shrug, half acceptance and
half impatience. “We need to have a long talk, but we don’t have time for it
now. Let’s deal with the matter at hand and worry about the rest later.”
She drew a long breath to steady herself and nodded. “What
do you know about this “challenge” thing?”
“Not much. It seems to be a series of contests. Different
things. Sports, fighting, sex, eating, whatever takes someone’s fancy. Pretty
much if you can imagine it, they’ll have someone do it.”
“We may have to fight each other.”
“That’s a possibility.”
“To the death.”
“I doubt it. And if that’s what they want, we’ll figure out
a way around it,” he said.
“Are you always this optimistic? I missed that about you.”
“Only under serious pressure. It keeps me sane. Devonne, I
think we ought to do the challenge. My lawyer has consulted with some Sangari
sources. He’s pretty sure the Tribunal won’t be sympathetic to our story and he’s
entirely sure we don’t want to spend any time in their labor prisons.”
“My attorney said the same thing. I just wish I knew what
they’d ask us to do in this challenge thing.”
“They don’t give out the agenda in advance.”
“I know.”
“Do they play fair?”
Raje lifted his shoulders. “According to my lawyer,
basically yes. You might not like what they ask you to do, and there’s no
telling what it could be. But if you do satisfy them they’ll acknowledge it and
reward it.”
He moved closer to where she stood, stopping just a step
away. Her hormones reacted to him as they always did, going into overdrive,
driving up her pulse and her breathing, rousing the pressure of desire in her
core. Something else overlay it, though. Concern and fear for him woke,
bringing with it anger about his injuries and a desperate desire to touch him,
to reestablish the close connection they once had.
He reached out and put his hands on her upper arms. Heat
exploded where he touched but she controlled the urge to flinch back. His
expression was serious. “Devonne, we can do this together. Whatever the
challenge might hold. We always worked well together as a team. We’ll manage
whatever we have to do to beat this thing.”
He had a point. They did work well together. If they could
just get past the hurt and anger—check that—if she could get past the hurt and
anger, they had
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