The Spacetime Pool
angry, he will
retaliate against his brother. And you. He knows this palace. He gave it to
Prince Dominick-Michael. He could destroy everyone here. Is that what you want?”
     
    She went still, then
shook her head.
     
    Dominick was watching
his brother. “Max.”
     
    The emperor brought
his biaquine around to face him. “We will let the women go when we finish with
them.”
     
    “This isn’t done,”
Dominick said. “You went too far.”
     
    “You have my warning,”
Maximillian told him. “I give it for our mother’s sake, in her memory. But it
is the last I will give you.”
     
    With that, the
emperor wheeled around and set off at a gallop. His men went with him, stirring
up a great cloud of dust, pounding out the great gate and away from the palace
of shattered arches.
     
    * * * *
     
    V
     
    Maximillian
     
    The raiders followed
a trail that switch-backed across the face of a cliff. They rode on the edge of
the world, a sheer wall of stone to their left and an abyss of astonishingly
clear air to the right, with endless, verdant mountains far below. The line of
biaquines clung to the cliff like a fragile string that could snap any time.
     
    Janelle saw why
Dominick had avoided this route. The path was barely wide enough for one
biaquine, with nothing to catch anyone who stepped off the trail. It was also
obvious why Maximillian used it; the trail offered a faster path to the
flatlands, insurance against Dominick’s pursuit when his army arrived to defend
their liege.
     
    She shivered as her
reaction to the raid set in. She had never witnessed anyone die before, let
alone in such violence. Even with so little knowledge of Othman, she could tell
Dominick wasn’t ready to take on Maximillian. The ramifications went much
further than a violent argument between brothers. Would the people here
tolerate a challenge to their emperor? She didn’t doubt Dominick would come for
the women of his household, but she had no idea how far he would go to rescue
them or what he would do when he discovered she was gone.
     
    They kept a grueling
pace, and around noon they reached a meadow at the foot of the mountain. The
grasses and wildflowers had been trampled earlier, probably by the passage of
this same party. Cliffs rose starkly behind them, and hilly fields stretched to
the south, swirled by yellow and blue blossoms.
     
    The emperor finally
called a halt. With a sigh, Janelle’s captor reined in his mount. He slid his
arms around her waist and leaned against her. “Maybe we can get to know each
other better now, little bride. You were wanting a man tonight, eh?”
     
    She pulled away from
him. “Don’t touch me.”
     
    He yanked back her
head and pressed his lips and teeth against her neck. But when she twisted
away, he didn’t wrestle her back. Instead he froze—and released her as if she
had a plague. No one paid them any heed; the other men were dismounting,
checking biaquines, taking out trail rations. An older man with a gray beard
rode through the group, stopping to confer with various people.
     
    Still behind her on the
biaquine, Janelle’s captor spoke sharply. “What is your name?”
     
    “Salima.” She even
managed to keep the tremor out of her voice.
     
    “You’re lying.”
     
    She had no chance to
answer, for the bearded man had reached them. “How goes it, Aker?” he asked her
captor.
     
    “Fair enough,” Aker
said, his voice cautious.
     
    The other man
indicated Janelle. “You can have a few minutes with her. But be ready to ride
when the call comes. Maximillian wants to leave the women here, so they don’t
slow us down.”
     
    Aker answered in an
oddly subdued voice. “I think His Highness will want to take this one.”
     
    Ah, hell. Janelle spoke fast, grabbing her thought from before,
doing her best to use their dialect. “I’m sick. I’ll give a killing fever to
anyone who touches me.”
     
    The bearded man
cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t look sick to me.” His

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