“We’re alive,” she replied. “And you’re welcome, my lord.”
Reva wondered why Varulek hadn’t taken the flower from her. The Master of the Arena had been silent on their journey back to the cell, his expression more tense than before and his eyes continually straying to the flower in her grasp. “Did I spoil the story?” she asked him as they came to the chamber door. “The legend had a different ending, I suppose.”
“Morivek and Korsev stood at the entrance to the fire pits and held back the harbingers for a day and a night.” The black-clad stood back as the Kuritai removed her shackles with their customary caution. “Morivek, the eldest, fell mortally wounded and beseeched his brother to flee. But Korsev stayed, possessed of such a rage that he killed every harbinger to emerge from the pit and, seeing his brother now dead, cast himself into the bowels of the earth, seeking yet more vengeance, never to be seen again. Though, as with any legend,” he added as the door swung open, “the tale changes depending on the author.”
“In the arena,” she told Lieza, holding out the orchid. “Take it if you want.”
The girl shrank back, shaking her head. “Not for me.” She glanced again at Reva’s bloodied form and moved towards the far end of the chamber. “I make you bath.”
Reva sat on the marble steps as the water gushed from the ornate bronze spigot in the wall, massaging her wrists as the steam rose. “I wash that for you,” Lieza said, pointing to Reva’s bloodied clothing.
“You are not my slave,” she said.
“Not free either.” Lieza shrugged. “Nothing else to do.”
Reva stood, staring at Lieza in expectation. The girl seemed puzzled for a moment then laughed and turned her back. Reva kicked off her shoes then removed her blouse and trews, leaving them piled on the floor as she stepped down into the water, sighing at the soothing warmth.
“Who you fight?” Lieza asked, grinning a little as she knelt to retrieve the clothes, gaze still averted.
“Cats with big teeth.”
“You kill them all?”
“All but three.” Reva recalled the sight of the three surviving cats, busily gorging themselves on the body of their fallen master, fangs and faces red from frenzied feeding. Despite the horror of the spectacle she couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity. For all their fury these were wretched creatures, continually starved, brutalised and denied the role the Father had ordained for them. This is what they do, she decided. Twist the world out of shape according to cruel whim.
She spent a few moments unpicking her braid and sank under the water, working her fingers through the tresses to dislodge the matted blood. The bath was deep, allowing her to fully submerge herself, sinking down until her feet touched the tiled bottom. The feel of hair on her fingers stirred memories of Veliss, how she loved to comb her hair, shape it into one of the thousand designs she knew. Veliss, Ellese . . . So far away and most likely lost for good.
A disturbance in the water caused her to resurface where she started at the sight of Lieza sinking naked into the bath. “What are you doing?” she demanded, looking away.
“Clothes need washing.” The girl reached for Reva’s piled garments and dumped them into the water, a faint smile on her lips.
“Do it later.”
“Not your slave.” Lieza’s smile broadened as she reached for a cake of soap and began to scrub at the clothes. Reva turned away, moving to the edge of the bath, wanting to climb out but knowing the girl’s gaze would follow her if she did.
“Your people have no respect for each other,” she muttered. “No regard for life, or privacy either it seems.”
“Privacy?” Lieza asked.
“Being . . .” Reva struggled to translate the concept, finding it harder than expected. “Being alone, keeping secrets. Protecting modesty.”
“Modesty?”
“Never mind.” She heard Lieza stifle a giggle as she returned to scrubbing her clothes. “Not so afraid now, I see.”
“No, still afraid. Comes like a . . .” Reva heard her splash at the water.
“A wave?”
“Yes. Wave. Big wave when I try to kill the Empress. Smaller wave now.”
Reva found herself turning in involuntary surprise, then averting her gaze again at the sight of Lieza’s breasts protruding just above the water. “You tried to kill her?”
“With poison. Didn’t work. Kept me with her.” Lieza’s tone darkened. “Found me . . . funny.”
“Why did you do it?”
“My master . . . not just my master. Father also. My mother a slave. She die when I’m little. He raised me, loved me. Couldn’t free me, the law. Didn’t like the Empress and said so. She gave him the three deaths, took all his slaves as her own.”
“I regret your failure. Though, on behalf of my queen and people, I thank you for the effort.”
“Queen is also word for Empress, yes?”
“I suppose, though they are very different.”