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  “I apologize, My Lady. Please do not report me. I don’t think I could take it again.”

  Nova turned slowly in her chair. The maid had sunk so low it was a wonder she could hold the curtsy. Nova’s heart went out to her. She put her fingers beneath the young woman’s chin and lifted so that their eyes met again.

  “What do you mean to tell me?” she asked as gently as she could.

  To her dismay, tears welled up in the maid’s eyes. The girl blinked quickly but several escaped to trail down her cheeks. She lowered her head.

  “I shouldn’t bring you my troubles. You have so much to take care of as a countess. I can’t add to your burden, My Lady.”

  Nova heard the girl’s intake of breath when she took her arm and pulled her gently to her feet. The young woman was small enough that they were nearly eye to eye with Nova sitting. She gave the maid her warmest smile and said, “I am grateful to the care you have bestowed upon me both before our meal and now. Please lighten your burden by telling me what is weighing you down.”

  The maid looked at the floor for a moment, then lifted her green eyes to meet Nova’s. “If I do not have secrets to tell Lady Winden when you depart, I will be beaten to death.”

  Nova’s heart skipped a beat. She shook her head. “Surely you are mistaken. Nobody could possibly—”

  The maid turned and lifted the back of her thin yaken wool white shirt. Nova’s hand rose to her mouth at the sight of the bruises that marred the young woman’s skin. Fresh, bright purple and blue bruises overlay older green and yellow ones. Something the size of a fist, and possibly even that, had struck her repeatedly over her entire back. Nova could see where they wrapped around her sides. It wasn’t hard to imagine that the marks of the beatings lined the maid’s entire body where it was covered beneath her clothes.

  The maid stepped back and lowered her shirt. Her tone was defiant but her voice was soft when she said, “I don’t do anything wrong and still they beat me. It’s the same with the other maids and footmen, but for some reason, Lady Winden has taken a particular disliking to me. I think that’s why she assigned me to you. She’s hoping I’ll mess up so they’ll have an excuse to get rid of me.”

  Nova shook her head without a word. She couldn’t comprehend how anyone would do such a thing to a poor little maid. “Why?” she finally made herself ask.

  The maid’s gaze lowered to the ground. “I’m not sure.”

  Resolve firmed in Nova’s mind. She nodded. “Very well, then we shall have to give you something to talk about.”

  The maid’s eyes widened. “No, My Lady. I won’t tell her anything about you.”

  Nova smiled at the rebelliousness in the maid’s gaze. She smiled. “I appreciate that, but I refuse to let you be beaten on my behalf.” She paused, then asked, “Do you enjoy being my handmaiden?”

  The maid nodded quickly. “Very much, My Lady.”

  Nova smiled. “Then I’ll give you a story to tell her, and tomorrow when we return to my ship, I would love to sneak you away on it so that you can be my handmaiden on Evia. Would you like that?”

  Tears filled the maid’s eyes, but she didn’t let them fall. Instead, she gave a watery smile and said, “I would like that very much.”

  “Very well,” Nova replied. “Here is what you’re going to tell her.”

  The maid drew closer.

  Chapter Seven

  KOVE

  After the little maid left Nova’s rooms, there was nothing to do but sit and wait. My stomach was fuller than it had been in a long while, and a smattering of food still rested on the plate I had set beneath my chair for later. My headache had lessened, probably because of the food. I crossed my arms and sat back feeling more content than I had in a long while. I had a job to do, I was no longer trapped behind bars, and I had a knife hidden up my sleeve. What more could a person ask for?

  Silence settled over the palace. My thoughts wanted to drift, but I knew that was the first step in falling asleep. I had promised Nova that I would watch over her, and I might be a rascal, but I was also a man of my word.

  I thought through the evening. The food had been amazing. I had eaten more than two of me probably should have, but I couldn’t remember the last time my belly had been full. It definitely hadn’t been on Roan Seven. Their motto was that a man focused on hunger wasn’t focused on escape. I felt like the complete opposite was true.

  Lady Winden’s advances were mere annoyances. It was easy to see that the woman was used to getting her way. She hadn’t appreciated being told no. It gave me pleasure to be able to say so. Back in the Palladium, women were often given the chance for favors from the gladiators if they had the status and marks for it. There was no opportunity to say no. To anger Sir Calladar or scorn him in any way would have meant a death sentence.

  The other Imperious gladiators took the occasions as their due for making it so far; I hadn’t found any pleasure in the attention and the hollowness of such events had marked me as someone who was cold and not to be messed with. While it actually helped my reputation, there were those who didn’t appreciate my lack of zeal. I had wondered during my time on Roan Seven whether it had anything to do with the course my life had taken.

  The ornate clock across the hall read three hours past midnight when I heard the first sound. Most would have regarded the quiet snick to be nothing, but every nerve in my body awoke. I knew the sound of a knife pulled from a sheath like I knew my own heartbeat. I slid my hand up my sleeve and listened.

  A quiet, womanly gasp brought me to my feet. I put a hand to the door.

  “Nova, are you alright?”

  A muffled yell made me reach for the handle, but the door didn’t budge. Adrenaline spiked through my body. I wished for a skull beetle. With it, the door would have been nothing but splinters. Without it, I was left to my own resources. Unfortunately for the furniture, this meant the chair followed by the clock in its thick green wood case. The second blow sent the clock through the door. I tore the rest of the panel aside and shouldered my way in.

  “Attack!” a male voice yelled.

  “Gladly,” I replied.

  I pulled the knife from the strap on my arm and let my muscle memory take over.

  My knife cut through flesh with ease. I sliced the inside of the first man’s arm when he raised it to stab me. A twist of my wrist brought the knife back along his ribs followed by a stab to his stomach. He dropped to his knees. I finished him with my blade across his throat. Experienced had long taught me never to leave an enemy at my back; there was one less for me to worry about.

  The next two attacked without letting me get my bearings. The metal of their weapons flashed in the light of the open window. I managed to parry one long knife to the side and then duck before the other attacker could take off my head. I parried another lunge for my heart, slid my hand up the blade, and removed the man’s thumb with one quick slice. A yell tore from him which I silenced with his own knife.

  I spun and felt a hot line of fire trace across my back before I could catch the other man’s knife with my own. A flick of my wrist tangled the hilt of his blade with mine. The man tried to pull it free. I ignored the weapons and kicked his instep followed by his buckled knee. The moment he let go of the knife, I sent it into his eye. He fell to the floor without a sound.

  Three more attackers advanced. They had the advantage of knowing the layout and carrying multiple weapons, but though the knives they had chosen were long and serrated, they also had to take care not to stab each other. I took advantage of that.

  They no doubt expected me to cower in the face of three assailants armed to the teeth; instead, I attacked. I kicked up the knife of one of the men I had already killed and caught it at a run. I closed the gap between me and the assailants in three steps, then dropped to my knees. My momentum took me past them as their knives struck empty air. I sliced backwards, cutting deeply through the back of the leg on either side. Shouts of pain and surprise rent the air.

  I
spun on one knee and rose in a lunge. My knife stabbed deep into the chest of the man on my right. I used the serrated blade to remove the middle assailant’s hand. His knife fell to the ground with the dismembered unit. He let out a cry of shock and grabbed the bleeding stub. I drove the blade beneath his chin. Two more stabs made the man on my right a corpse. I pulled the blade free and turned to face the last of the three.

  He stumbled backwards with one hand out and the other holding his damaged leg.

  “No, please. Mercy!” he begged.

  Red filled my mind so thick I barely heard him as I advanced.

  “No, wait!”

  The words came in a breathless gasp. I looked up to see Nova huddled against the far wall with the blanket wrapped around her. The dim lighting gave me no way to know if she was injured. The thought infuriated me further. I was supposed to be her protector, her bodyguard, yet these six men had attacked her as she slept. It was the worst and lowliest possible action a man could take. There was no honor in it; he deserved to die.

  I took another step toward him. The back of his legs hit the couch and he fell onto it. He raised both hands above his head; fear twisted his face.

  “Have mercy!” the man begged.

  “Give him mercy, Kove. Please!”

  Her use of the name those closest to me called me made me blink. I looked up at her.

  “Why? He attacked you and—”

  A grunt of pain escaped me when a knife sunk into my shoulder just to the left of my heart. A startled scream was rent from Nova. I glared down at the man on the couch who had thrown the knife. He fell back at my expression. I pulled the blade from my shoulder and sliced soundlessly across his throat. He fell to his side, motionless.

  A sob came from Nova. I glanced up in time to see her legs give out. I put a hand on the couch and vaulted over it, reaching her just in time to catch her before she hit the ground.

  “It’s alright now,” I said in a low tone. “You’re safe.”

  She turned her head toward my chest and held tightly to the lapels of my uniform. Tears quickly damped my borrowed shirt as another sob wracked her body. She was shaking like a leaf. I held her closer and leaned back against the bed for support.

  The doors flew open.

  “What’s going on?” Lady Winden demanded. Her red hair was askew and her robe flapped open as though it had been hastily tied. I lowered my gaze.

  “They-they….” Nova sniffed, then began again, “They attacked me. They said they were going to kill me!”

  Lady Winden nodded. “Of course they did.”

  I stared at her. “Of course they did?” I repeated in a low growl.

  Both women started at the vehemence of my voice, but I didn’t care. My hands were coated with the blood of fallen Amarians. Something dripped down my chest, and I held a woman in my arms who wouldn’t be alive if I hadn’t broken through the door.

  “What kind of palace are you running here?” I demanded.

  Lady Winden’s eyes narrowed. She harnessed all the power of her position and replied haughtily, “First of all, you are a guest in my home.”

  “No, thank you,” I muttered.

  “Second,” she replied without making any indication that she had heard me, “You will address me as Lady Winden or I will have you decapitated.”

  Her eyes turned to the woman I still held in my arms. “And third, if you do not release the Countess from your savage grasp, her reputation will be tarnished and no one will trade with the Loreandian Star System ever again.”

  I lowered Nova onto the bed more out of shock than anything else. My hands shook with barely controlled fury as I slid them out from beneath the Captain of the SevenWolf. Her eyes held mine for a brief moment before they turned back to Lady Winden.

  “Don’t you think this was a little too far?” she demanded.

  I was proud of the way her voice barely shook despite all she had just gone through.

  Lady Winden lips twisted into a humorless smile. “I had to be sure he would defend you. I had to have proof. Space is dangerous and the life of a high society woman is even more so. I had to know for sure.”

  I stared at her in disbelief. “You had your men attack Lady Ardis to prove my loyalty?” I motioned to the bodies strewn around the room. “Don’t you think this was a little much?”

  Lady Winden gave a small shrug. “If it’s any consolation, they were all criminals to be hanged tomorrow.”

  I watched her closely. “And what did you promise them?”

  Her eyes held mine without any sign of intimidation. “That if they managed to kill you or Lady Ardis, I would pardon their sentence.”

  Nova’s intake of breath made the fury rise again, but I was fully aware of our precarious situation. We were in the far reaches of the known ‘Verse on an outlier planet beyond the justice of the Accord Systems. The only law here was Lady Winden’s. If I made a wrong move, she could carry out her threat of decapitation and include Nova as well.

  I willed my heartbeat to slow. My breathing sounded loud in my ears. Everything hinged on my next words. It felt as though electricity danced along the small, blood-covered hairs of my arms. I lifted them slowly; I gave my own shrug and shot her my most charming smile.

  “Couldn’t you have just asked me?”

  Silence filled the room for the space of a heartbeat.

  Lady Winden broke it with raucous laughter. She crossed the room, stepping around patches of blood and bodies as if none of it bothered her sensibilities. My muscles tensed, but I didn’t let it show as she crossed to the far side of Nova’s bed. Four armed guards stayed close to her.

  “Just ask him!” she repeated, laughing again. She shook her head at Nova and said in a high voice, “Can you believe it?”

  “No, I can’t,” Nova replied.

  I took one quick glance at her face before lowering my eyes. She wasn’t looking at Lady Winden; she was watching me with an expression of disbelief.

  “Well, I guess that would have made things simpler,” Lady Winden continued. “Hey Gladiator, will you defend Lady Ardis with your life?” She deepened her voice and said, “Of course, Lady Winden. I’m glad you asked instead of attacking me with six armed criminals to prove it. Words carry just as much weight as actions.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her wipe the tears of mirth from her face.

  “Couldn’t you imagine?” she asked Nova.

  “No,” Nova replied in a whisper.

  Another moment of silence filled the room. It was broken by the moan of a dying man.

  Lady Winden sighed. “I wish I would have accounted for the mess. We can’t have you sleeping in a tomb now, can we? Come with me.”

  At her motion, Nova rose from the bed. I saw the tremble of her fingers when she reached for her dressing gown.

  A gasp sounded at the door. My eyes found the little maid from earlier. She was dressed in uncomfortable-looking yaken sleeping shift and her blonde hair stuck up in all directions. Dark circles showed beneath her eyes as if she had been just accosted from sleep.

  “Don’t just stand there gawking, Ivana. Escort Lady Ardis to the pearl rooms so she can get some proper rest.”

  The maid gave a low bow. “Yes, My Lady.”

  My hands itched to pick up one of the knives on our way out, but Lady Winden’s guards watched me too closely. I did manage to snatch a decorative white stitched doily from beside a lamp and shove it beneath my shirt to slow the bleeding from my shoulder. I’m sure whoever made it would be appalled at such a macabre use.

  The maid, Ivana, led the way down another long hall and opened the doors to a room that immediately smelled of safikden petals and the gentle spice of the purple wood that burned in the massive fireplace. It was a costly touch that told me Lady Winden had indeed planned on moving Nova’s rooms. My nerves tingles and my muscles remained tight as I checked the room thoroughly. I double checked the window locks and placed a vase in front of the big set near the bed that would be kno
cked over if anyone attempted to force them from the outside.

  “It’s clear,” I told Nova quietly.

  “Thank you,” she replied. Her voice was strong, but her eyes darted around the room despite my reassurances.

  “Can I help you into a clean sleeping gown, My Lady?” Ivana offered.

  I had hoped Nova wouldn’t notice the stain of my blood along the front of her night shift. She followed the little maid’s gesture and her face paled. I half-expected her to faint or swoon or whatever it was ladies did when they were overwhelmed. Instead, Nova glanced at me and then straightened her shoulders.

  “That would be most welcome,” she told the maid.

  I left the room but refused to go any further than the sitting room beyond. When the maid suggested that it was inappropriate for a man to be in a single woman’s quarters when she was changing, I asked if it was more appropriate for her to be attacked in her sleep.

  Ivana lowered her gaze. “No, sir. That must have been completely dreadful.”

  She glanced over her shoulder at the closed door to the bedroom. “I feel like we should keep the doors open after I leave.” She shook her head. “I don’t think Lady Ardis will get a bit of sleep if she’s left alone this night.”

  The little maid’s accession made me relieved. She could cause trouble if she brought word of the open door to Lady Winden, but I had planned on it being that way regardless.

  “I think that’s wise,” I agreed.

  She went back into the room. Soft talking followed, but I couldn’t make out what was said. I needed to sit and allow my nerves to calm down, but I couldn’t bring myself to do so. I had trained to fight my entire life, but never had I been put in a situation where I was defending someone as helpless as Nova had been.

  A strange, fierce protectiveness filled me that refused to leave. I felt as though if anyone messed with her, I could tear them apart with my bare hands even without a skull beetle. But at the moment there was no one left to fight. I felt powerful and helpless at the same time. Unable to contain my restless energy, I paced back and forth across the room.