More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
"He does na respect ya, and I refuse ta ignore it."
"Then who's controlling you?" Sal smiled. "No one, now. For the first time in history, when my leash was put in a human's hand, that human gave it back to me. That's why we're winning."
They say she can kill men with a touch, heal wounds that should be fatal, and that anyone around her will fall in love." "I'm not so good at the healing," Sal admitted. "That's mostly others doing it." Jase crossed his arms over his chest. "Ya notice she did na deny the rest."
He bends the truth, Jase thought, but his hand on her back guided her forward. He is not lying, but it's not the full story, either. He wanted ta be noticed, and he wanted ya ta be impressed. Then he's got a lot of work, she promised, because he's got nothing on you.
"No," Razor said flatly. "That is not at all what you were doing, and she's not dumb enough to believe it. I may be tame, Corporal, but I'm not human."
"It's hard for people to understand what it's like to be unique in the world. For almost twenty years, I thought no one else would understand, and then I saw him. We never talked, never met, but we both served in Fort Landing." "It mattered," Razor said softly. "And never feel bad for that, Sal. You're allowed to need things, too."
She looked up at him with a smile, and for the first time in many, many months, he didn't drop his eyes. She smiled into the stormy color. "Thanks for having my back, Razor." "That's why I'm here, Kaisae. That's why I've always been here.
Fuck off, Kolt snapped. Seriously, you're being a dick right now. I, Zep insisted, am diffusing Sal's jealousy with humor. See, that crushing feeling in your chest? Yeah, that's her worrying that this slave took something that had always been hers.
Beans! Kolt almost snarled through the link. These fucking humans think they can keep a child alive on nothing but beans. Passive, Sal corrected. It has protein, but not enough, and the plant matter doesn't settle well, so we're not in any shape to run. It's a very effective chain.
Some days, I feel like everything is moving just a little too fast. Like I can't keep up with it all. Thank you for making it easier, Dom.
Doesn't matter. My point is that I know, so you two can stop feeling whatever thing iliri feel about it. You don't need to hide it. It's taken me a bit to realize you made the right decision, and I'm still not sure I like it, but I'm a better king for Anglia, and the iliri are a lot better ally than Terric. We've all lost someone in this war, and I'm not going to let it fuck up the good things I've gained along the way. Like my friends.
"Thank you, Dominik Jens. I don't deserve half of what you've given me." "Then let's agree to disagree on that, Sal. I think you do. I also think that you owe it to Anglia to stick around long enough to help me clean up the shit you and I are going to find back home when this war is over." She nodded. "I'm going to try." "That's an order, Kaisae,"
I do not understand that girl, Roo thought at Sal privately. How can she mate with such a creature? Jarl? Sal asked. Roo bobbed her head in a nod. He is not fine to look at. He does not hunt well. I can't even imagine how they breed! No! Sal shot back. I did not need to think about that! But you did, Roo teased. I mean, if it were your Jase, I could at least understand. He is a strong hunter and well- muscled. He is fast and kind. I do not think he is attractive, but I am getting used to the way you iliri look. Humans, though? It's like they have mange. There is hair in some places and not
...more
He does not smell like a friend,
Do I have a chance, Sal?" "I don't know," she told him truthfully. "I will probably be insane in a few months and dead in a couple more. You need to know that. I want to live, and I'm hoping I beat this thing that happens to every Kaisae in history, but humans worked it into our genes, so it might be impossible." "Yeah," he breathed. "That's not exactly what I expected you to say,
Razor removed his hand from Hax's throat, but not without one final warning. "I am hers. I will always be hers, and the next time you try to come between us, you'll be dead before you can tell me to stop. Am I clear?"
I don't even want to think about how you know that. I do not want to hear about how many times this has happened to you or anyone else. It's wrong, it will always be wrong,
"Pretty sure she's not your sister."
"Man, right about now, I love you. My everything hurts."
"And you need to remember to fix your own neck. Are those human bites?" "Fuck off," Shift grumbled.
Shift just smiled. "And you are not her first mate. Trust me, Tyr, I already have a very long line of people to answer to. I'm not fucking her over. Right now, it's just a mission." "Until it's not," Tyr pointed out. "And first mate implies you're hoping there's a second." Shift's smile got a little bigger.
Perin leaned over his saddle to see Tilso better. "So this is Risk's boyfriend?" "Mate," Tilso corrected. "Blades are iliri, sir." Perin's eyes ran over him. "I see. Explains a lot."
"Risk would gut you, and you know it."
"Or share," Hax
"First, because I have a dick, Sal. They are inconvenient when it comes ta thinking. Catch the right smell - and yers is the best of them all - and they give us ideas. Na always ones we can do a thing about. Second, ya do na read as well as me. He thinks ya smell like the Viraenovan River delta, sweet and salty in the best way. It reminds him of where he grew up, kitten, back when he was free."
"Hax is handsome and arrogant. He is dominant, brazen, and foolish. He has big plans and is sure that if he just fights a little harder, he can make them happen. Remind you of someone?"
"I don't want to be the hope of an entire species and the breeder of it. I don't want people to be counting down until I pop out the next Kaisae with some guy whose pedigree looks good beside mine. I'm not a pet anymore Jase, and what if I end up wanting Zep's kid - or none at all? I'm the fucking Kaisae, and I'm done with letting everyone decide my future for me."
"And you're twice the man as Hax, even if you aren't a purebred. Killer, I have never," she reminded him, "thought our ancestry should determine our worth. You know why? Because of you. Because I can't imagine a single thing better than you."
She either had to meet their demands, or they'd refuse to help save themselves. A small part of her wanted to see how well that worked out for them.
"Even when I look like a human, huh?" One corner of his mouth turned up, giving him a lopsided smile. "Ya know, that could be fun. Always thought a human could na get me hard without the maast, but I think I found a way around that..."
"I'm starting to think ayati's a bitch." "Then make her your bitch, sweetie. I think you're the only person who can - and you've been doing a damned good job of it so far." "That," she told him. "That's who you need to be as a husband." "Sal, this is just me." "Yeah," she agreed. "And I kinda like the you I see when you let me."
And Garot still hasn't given us the chance to talk about a deal, which makes me think he's playing us. Something's up, bro, and I don't like it. Somewhere, we have a leak.
"One, Two, Three, and then the time will be right. If you move too soon, everything will backfire. She needs to believe in herself for this to work. She needs her past to convince her none of this is a mistake. She will need you, but patience is the key. Stability is the desire. Count to three and then it's your chance. Move too soon, and the horseman will be the answer."
"And what if we live?" "Then I really want to get this right."
"Because I've waited long enough. Now, I finally get to do something about it, and where I'm from, we don't have stupid rules about what men should and should not do. Fuck waiting for you to notice me. I don't care if it takes until we get to Terric City, I have every intention of being the most romantic man you've ever met. Brace yourself, sweetie."
"Thank you," she whispered into his shoulder. "I don't know why, but that matters so much." "Because you deserve a little hope, too."
Tyr? Yes, beautiful?
and the
At the
Granted, I asked him what her ears did when she got off. You?! Sal gasped,
I have no intention of pushing where I'm not wanted, but my daughter is not happy with the idea that her mate might leave her for a better match. I wouldn't be either, Sal said. Nor I, but I also know that the more pure, the more they are drawn together, and I don't want her heart to be broken. She's my daughter, after all.
The rumors had been whispered among the slaves, and they could all smell her, nothing more. Clearly, the scent of a Kaisae was distinctive, which meant she wouldn't be hard to find. The strange thing was that she'd gone unnoticed for most of her life, and only in the past year or so had her pheromones turned into a rallying call for her people. Then again, that had started in Anglia when she'd accepted her fate. The two things were probably tied closely together. It seemed to be how ayati worked.
your host, who I prefer to think of as walking-meat,
Ghost's response was a rush of approval. Good. About time he found his skill. Here's hoping this is ayati's version of a peace offering.
"I'd say bite me, but you might enjoy it too much."
Sal, he tried again, I'm not dying. If you tell me to make a break for it, I'm there. Ok? You'd better be, she told him, because I'm not fucking interested in a man who wants to be a martyr. I've already done that.
"I'll get your horses, Tane, but don't ever forget that a slave did this." "You do know that my Kaisae was a slave, right? I may not have been, but she was, and in this very town. What humans do to you doesn't define you. What you do about it, however, makes all the difference. This?" He gestured back to his partner and the stall tools. "It matters, Baeli."
The air almost rushed out of her lungs as knots, lines, and streamers all flared. In that moment, Sal finally understood what a Kaisae was. When Jase had first tried to explain it, she'd called her gender puppet masters, but she'd been wrong. She'd been so wrong. The Emperor called himself a god, and that was closer. Still, she was neither. She wasn't the leash to hold all iliri back. She was the rallying cry. She was the dream of something better.
She was the promise that a boy chained in a tavern or a girl starving in a basement could become something more. She was true love and complete determination. She was an example to follow and a cheerleader to encourage. Most of all, she was the voice. She was the one who could see it all and show others the way through their hardships. Her place wasn't to make their decisions for them, but to show them other ways. She was the lantern in the darkness. The warm embrace of a friend when everything else had failed. She was hope.
Have hope. The battle lines are drawn, not between us and them, but between her and so much more. The call has been heard. Just don't let go of hope because she holds the key to the right victory, she quoted.
That's the one. Now we just have to figure out what it means. I'm hope, she thought. I've given ayati my ultimatum. I'm hoping the last part means she'll agree to my terms? I fucking hope so, Razor said, smiling to prove his choice of words was intentional. Because waiting this long to die without my kiss? Not fucking cool, ayati. Not cool at all.
