before. She twisted free of his grip.
"I-I'll be back with the bag." Marissa fled the cave.
Brace was waiting when she returned. Marissa lowered herself beside the fire and extracted parcels of journey bread and meat sticks.
"Here, content yourself with these." She tossed Brace two packages.
He arched a dark brow and unwrapped the food. At sight of the meat sticks, he smiled. "Thank you, Marissa."
His rich-timbred voice slid over her, soothing her jangled nerves. She smiled, then caught herself. "You had it in your stubborn head you'd never recover without meat. I simply gave you what you wanted."
A smile quirked Brace's mouth. He bit into a meat stick, savoring the texture and tangy flavor of the highly seasoned food. Intense pleasure filled him. Brace swallowed, then sighed.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like to try one?" he asked, offering her a meat stick.
Marissa choked down the gorge that rose in her throat. "No. No, thank you."
Brace noted the sudden pallor in Marissa's face. With one last, longing look, he set aside the meat stick and took up a slice of the thin, crisp journey bread.
"I'm still awaiting your plan for the Simian," she said.
He paused to swallow the bite of journey bread. "It's quite simple, really. I made him a better offer."
"Oh?" Marissa arched a slender brow. "And how did you manage to come up with something valuable enough to appease a Simian? Have a stash hidden somewhere?"
"In a sense, yes. I know where a cache of Imperial treasures are held here on Bellator. There's an air duct that will get us inside the building to the treasure rooms, once I've disabled the alarm system that guards it all."
"Sounds a little too easy."
Brace grinned. "It's a very sophisticated system. I just happen to have been around when it malfunctioned and was able to catch a glimpse while it was being repaired. The Imperial Academy prepares you for more than war, you know. The majority of my academic studies were in mechanical technology." "How convenient. I still find this all too easy."
"Well, there are a few guardbots about, if it's action you're wanting. Of course, once the alarm system's deactivated, it does hamper the 'bots' communication with each other. Not as even a fight, but the best I can provide."
Marissa shot him an exasperated look. "I thought as much. Now tell me, how did you 'happen to be around' when the system was repaired?"
Color spread up Brace's neck to flush his face. "I led several military expeditions to other worlds to 'appropriate' many of the treasures now housed in the Repository. I was delivering some of the booty one sol when the repairs were being done."
Marissa stared at him for a long moment, then gave a bitter laugh. "You've had quite a full life at the expense of others, haven't you, Ardane? I'm amazed your High King would have ever thrown such a valuable asset into prison!"
"Obedience can only go so far," he muttered. "Even I had my limits."
Disdain twisted her lips. "But how can that be? Limits to unthinking, unwavering obedience? Why, that's unheard of in Bellatorians! Your people recognize only one possible motive for disobediencecowardice." Marissa's eyes narrowed. "Were you a coward, then, Brace Ardane? Was that your crime?" "Careful, femina. My imprisonment is not the issue."
"Isn't it? Don't I deserve to know whether my partner in this quest is a coward or not?"
Even as she spoke, Marissa knew she shouldn't be taunting him like that. Assurances of his courage would settle nothing. Lies came too easily to most Bellatorians. Only actions would prove the truth of the matter. Yet the realization that Ardane was probably as mindlessly cruel as the rest of his kind was as unsettling as the contemplation of his cowardice. Either way, Marissa was strangely disappointed.
And it had nothing to do with her conception of him as a person, she was quick to assure herself. All that mattered was her quest. Ardane's true value would always be as trade for Candra's life.
Yet,
"I-I'll be back with the bag." Marissa fled the cave.
Brace was waiting when she returned. Marissa lowered herself beside the fire and extracted parcels of journey bread and meat sticks.
"Here, content yourself with these." She tossed Brace two packages.
He arched a dark brow and unwrapped the food. At sight of the meat sticks, he smiled. "Thank you, Marissa."
His rich-timbred voice slid over her, soothing her jangled nerves. She smiled, then caught herself. "You had it in your stubborn head you'd never recover without meat. I simply gave you what you wanted."
A smile quirked Brace's mouth. He bit into a meat stick, savoring the texture and tangy flavor of the highly seasoned food. Intense pleasure filled him. Brace swallowed, then sighed.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like to try one?" he asked, offering her a meat stick.
Marissa choked down the gorge that rose in her throat. "No. No, thank you."
Brace noted the sudden pallor in Marissa's face. With one last, longing look, he set aside the meat stick and took up a slice of the thin, crisp journey bread.
"I'm still awaiting your plan for the Simian," she said.
He paused to swallow the bite of journey bread. "It's quite simple, really. I made him a better offer."
"Oh?" Marissa arched a slender brow. "And how did you manage to come up with something valuable enough to appease a Simian? Have a stash hidden somewhere?"
"In a sense, yes. I know where a cache of Imperial treasures are held here on Bellator. There's an air duct that will get us inside the building to the treasure rooms, once I've disabled the alarm system that guards it all."
"Sounds a little too easy."
Brace grinned. "It's a very sophisticated system. I just happen to have been around when it malfunctioned and was able to catch a glimpse while it was being repaired. The Imperial Academy prepares you for more than war, you know. The majority of my academic studies were in mechanical technology." "How convenient. I still find this all too easy."
"Well, there are a few guardbots about, if it's action you're wanting. Of course, once the alarm system's deactivated, it does hamper the 'bots' communication with each other. Not as even a fight, but the best I can provide."
Marissa shot him an exasperated look. "I thought as much. Now tell me, how did you 'happen to be around' when the system was repaired?"
Color spread up Brace's neck to flush his face. "I led several military expeditions to other worlds to 'appropriate' many of the treasures now housed in the Repository. I was delivering some of the booty one sol when the repairs were being done."
Marissa stared at him for a long moment, then gave a bitter laugh. "You've had quite a full life at the expense of others, haven't you, Ardane? I'm amazed your High King would have ever thrown such a valuable asset into prison!"
"Obedience can only go so far," he muttered. "Even I had my limits."
Disdain twisted her lips. "But how can that be? Limits to unthinking, unwavering obedience? Why, that's unheard of in Bellatorians! Your people recognize only one possible motive for disobediencecowardice." Marissa's eyes narrowed. "Were you a coward, then, Brace Ardane? Was that your crime?" "Careful, femina. My imprisonment is not the issue."
"Isn't it? Don't I deserve to know whether my partner in this quest is a coward or not?"
Even as she spoke, Marissa knew she shouldn't be taunting him like that. Assurances of his courage would settle nothing. Lies came too easily to most Bellatorians. Only actions would prove the truth of the matter. Yet the realization that Ardane was probably as mindlessly cruel as the rest of his kind was as unsettling as the contemplation of his cowardice. Either way, Marissa was strangely disappointed.
And it had nothing to do with her conception of him as a person, she was quick to assure herself. All that mattered was her quest. Ardane's true value would always be as trade for Candra's life.
Yet,
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