The Ivory Star

Chapter 30

"What was the step-daughter of Sneev, the Snake on the Crag, doing in Uhr's palace?" Capian asked, his face an immobile mask, suspicion harsh in his voice.

Tamarra snarled at him. "What, did you not see? I was a palace slave!"

Capian, startled by her venomous response, stepped back and stuttered, "I am sorry ..."

Eric said, trying the salvage the situation, "My lady Tamarra, if I may ask, how did you became one of Uhr's slaves?"

Her voice was quiet and shuddering, "Uhr took me and my mother as slaves to punish my step-father."

"To punish him for what?" Eric said.

"Allowing you and your friend to escape."

For a long moment, no one said anything. Eric stared at her, unable to speak with mixed guilt and outrage stewing in his belly. Months of suffering had taken a terrible toll on her. She turned and sat gracefully before the crackling fire. Her face was drawn and haggard from malnutrition, and bruised from Stakkarr's abuse, and her shapely lips were split and bloody. Her auburn hair, once long and flowing, was cut short, undoubtedly for catapult cord and bowstring. Hair as long and thick as hers was a valuable commodity in wartime.

Capian said, his voice softening just a bit, "What of your mother?"

Her reply was terse and painful. "Dead."

Eric said, "My lady, I am sorry. My freedom was not worth the cost to you and your mother."

Capian said, "Yes, Eric, it was. More than worth it. We may all live longer lives because you escaped from the Snake's den."

Eric stared at Capian incredulously. "What a callous thing to say!" he exclaimed, glancing at Tamarra.

She just stared into the fire rocking back and forth slightly. She said, "Ooh, the things they made me ..." A sob choked her off.

Eric regarded her. This woman was very different than the one who had slapped his face so long ago. She was still shaken from Stakkarr's rape, traumatized. He wanted very much to comfort her somehow, offer a touch of reassurance that she was safe, but he knew that right now probably that last thing she wanted was the touch of a man, so he made no move toward her.

The gratitude shone in her tear-filled eyes. "Thank you, sir, for freeing me," she said, her contralto voice husky with emotion.

He smiled at her, warmly. "The least I could have done for you, my lady."

She wiped a tear from her cheek with a trembling hand. "So now I may ask you," she said, trying to regain her composure, "what were a foreigner and Son of Andorus doing in Uhr's palace? Not just visiting, I hope."

"A short visit," Eric said. He pulled the Ivory Star from where it hung in his belt, more a burden than anything in the course of their escape. "We came for this."

"A sword. I noticed it before. That's all?"

A smile touched his lips again. "It is the Ivory Star."

She looked away, almost laughing. "Surely you jest! That would mean ..." Her voice trailed off as her hand rose to her lips. "Dear gods!" she whispered. "I struck The One!" She stared again at Eric. "How can this be?"

Capian harrumphed, obviously a little disgusted. "How can the sun rise? How can the grass grow? My lady, how can he be the One? He simply is."

Tamarra gazed silently at Eric, her emerald eyes unreadable behind the porcelain facade she had built around her soul. He sensed her jumbled emotions, her tumultuous, wounded consciousness, and realized that she was so traumatized she was still not thinking clearly. "Come," he said, "let us rest. Tomorrow's journey will be difficult."