elias-veturius

When did you star here?_ I ask her.__hree days ago. Sir. Aspirant. Um__ She wrings her hands.__eturius is fine.__he walks carefully, gingerly__he Commandant must have whipped her recently. And yet she doesn't hunch or shuffle like the others slaves. The straight-backed grace with which she moves tells her story better than words. She'd been a freewoman before this__'d bet my scims on it. And she has no idea how pretty she is__r what kind of problems her beauty will cause for her at a place like Blackcliff. The wind pulls at her hair again, and I catch her scent__ike fruit and sugar. __an I give you some advi

Exhaustion is temporary. Pain is temporary. But Helene dying because I didn't find a way to get her back on time__hat's permanent.

You__ou were like me. You were a child. A normal child. And that was taken from you.___oes that bother you?___ell, it certainly makes you harder to hate.

Are the Trials starting?_ The girl claps her hands over her mouth. __'m sorry,_ she whispers. ______t's all right._ I don't smile at her. It will only scare her. For a female slave, a smile from a Mask is not usually a good thing. __'m actually wondering the same thing. What's your name?___-slave-Girl._ Of course. My mother would already have scourged her name out of existence.__ight. You work for the Commandant?_ I want her to say no. I want her to say that my mother roped her into this. I want her to say she's assigned to the kitchens or infirmary, where slaves aren't scarred or missing body p

We match each other stroke for stroke until I get a hit on her right arm. She tries to switch sword arms, but I jab my scim at her wrist faster than she can parry. Her scim goes flying, and I tackle her. Her white-blonde hair tumbles free of her bun.__urrender!_ I pin her down at the wrists, but she trashes and rips one arm free, scrabbling for a dagger at her waist. Steel stabs at my ribs, and seconds later, I am on my back with a blade at my throat.__a!_ She leans down, her hair falling around us like a shimmering silver curtain.

I don't smile at her. It will only scare her. For a female slave, a smile from a Mask is not usually a good thing.

You__e sure this is what you want?_ I search her eyes for doubt, fear, uncertainty, but all I see is that fire. Ten hells____ sure___hen I__l find a way

Rage colors her every movement. Rage that has nothing to do with her so-called bodyguards and everything to do with me and her and the confusion rolling around inside the both of us. This should be interesting