East Read online

  “My family has waited for you for many years.” He didn’t appear concerned about the wound. He moved away, towards the wine on the table.

  Oh, shit. My world was growing fuzzy around the edges. Of all the places to pass out, now seemed more dangerous than in the castle.

  I sank to my knees. “Why?” I managed, struggling to stay focused on my surroundings. I stared at the throbbing wound on my hand. Black streaks were in my blood, too, the lingering effects of Carter’s magic pills. That can’t be healthy. I made a mental note to ask him what he’d done to me, assuming I ever spoke to him again.

  “You brought victory and great wealth to the empire. Your appearance saved the lives of every man in the tumen headed for battle. There was an ambush waiting for my grandfather, but he stopped when you fell from the sky, and the ambush was discovered a day later.”

  “That’s … good.” I was having trouble making out his words.

  “I would not be here, if not for you.” He knelt beside me with some effort, given his weight. Tilting my hand, he squeezed blood into a goblet filled with wine. “You will save my life from the poison.”

  Ugh. Why do I end up with the crazies? I shook my head. Even the pain of him squeezing more blood out of my wound couldn’t pull me back.

  “You will be given a place of honor in my council, and you will serve me, a living goddess at my command,” he said more quietly. “This is what is meant to be.”

  I didn’t think gods and goddesses served men, but I also suspected he was drunk.

  Maybe when the alcohol wore off, I’d be better able to convince him I wasn’t a goddess. He wasn’t buying it now. My eyes closed. I heard movement around me without understanding exactly what happened. Unable to pull out of the in-between place, I drifted into restless sleep.

  And snapped awake sometime later, groggy and disoriented.

  I was surrounded by men, whose talk silenced when I pushed myself up in alarm. It took me a moment to recall where I was and another to register what was going on. I was dressed all in white, in layers of silk, if I had to guess, with my hair in a long braid and my feet in slippers so light, they almost tickled. Something dangled on my forehead, and I touched the delicate metal, filigree tiara encircling my head and held in place by pins. I wasn’t able to see what was on my forehead, but it felt like a pearl.

  A little self-conscious with everyone staring at me, I shifted into a sit, afraid to test my temperamental body by standing immediately.

  A tug at my neck made me frown, and I felt the choker style necklace with my fingertips before realizing I was connected to a silver leash. At the other end, seated in a wide chair, was Batu’s uncle. He pulled at me again, and I slid closer to him, uncertain what exactly was going on.

  I almost laughed at the random image that flashed in my mind: that of Princess Leia chained to Jabba the Hut in his court.

  Laughing didn’t seem like the correct response, though I had a feeling The Doctor – or maybe Carter – would find it amusing if no one else did. My gaze returned to the men before me, and they all dropped into deep bows.

  “Hair like moonlight and eyes like the Eternal Blue Sky,” Batu’s uncle said triumphantly. “Did I not tell you? I am blessed, as was my grandfather.”

  He wasn’t slurring today, and his eyes were clear. I studied him. He appeared much healthier than he did last night when we met. I never recovered from a hangover so quickly; I was tempted to ask his secret. A closer look at him revealed the jaundiced appearance from last night was also gone.

  Doubting a night of sleep fixed him, I couldn’t guess what helped him, unless I was too traumatized last night to see him right.

  “Cease your bowing and join me in a toast to our guest,” Batu’s uncle said to the others.

  They rose. Tomeid, the servant from last night, circulated among the men handing out goblets of wine.

  “To new levels of wealth and victory,” one of the men said and raised his goblet. “Welcome, Goddess. You have brought new life to Chaghan already.”

  Several murmurs of agreement went around, and they toasted and drank.

  Tomeid gave me milk. I frowned at it and then at my hands. Both were bandaged instead of just the one that had been cut. Not only that, but the bandages extended up my arms. My body was dimly aware of distant aching and pounding, of pain kept at bay by some sort of sedative, the way it was when I had my appendix out. If I was drugged, it definitely explained my grogginess.

  I set down the goblet and pushed up the sleeves of one arm. The bandages ran to my elbows. Blood spotted several places, mostly red but with flecks of black, too. Not one to willingly go to a doctor, I had the urge to have the weird stuff in my blood checked out. Was it normal after being put into cryo-sleep for seven decades?

  Was cryo-sleep normal in any era?

  Dammit, Carter. Couldn’t tell me straight up what you were doing, could you?

  “Shall we tell them?” Chaghan asked me with a small smirk.

  I glanced up from examining my arms. “Tell them … ?”

  “My sudden turn of health, the healing of my liver, was a gift,” he told the others. “It was brought by the goddess. I have conveyed the magic to all of you as a sign of my gratitude for your service to the Empire.”

  The men appeared pleased, while I bit back a snarky response. Batu’s uncle knifed me up to drug his men. There were nine of them, dressed in furs with signs they had come from battle in the city recently. Only one wasn’t drinking his wine. He was frowning as he listened to the uncle of Batu.

  Seeing him, Chaghan lowered his wine goblet. “What troubles you, nephew?”

  The man didn’t look similar enough to be Batu’s brother. Aside from his size towering over the others, he had a narrow face and larger eyes.

  “With respect, uncle, I am aware of how this magic was granted,” he said with a nod of his head. “I feel it does not honor the Eternal Blue Sky and the gift he sent us.”

  “This” Chaghan yanked on the chain connected to my neck “is a gift for us to use as we need. Her language skill, her knowledge. Her blood, if it grants us life.”

  “Blood, Chaghan?” Another asked and peered into his cup. “Blood is sacred.”

  “Did you have her permission?” the frowning nephew asked, leveling his dark gaze on me.

  No way in hell. A glance towards Chaghan, however, made me swallow the response. He was giving me a look that made me want to protect my ears. It didn’t help that he began pulling me closer by the neck.

  “Did you have her permission?” the nephew asked again.

  “I did not need it, nephew,” came the icy response. “When you all awake tomorrow, you, too, will benefit from the magic of her blood. It is the gift from a commander to his loyal warriors.”

  No one spoke. I was almost relieved to see the warriors were as uncomfortable with the idea of drinking my blood as I was. It wasn’t normal, then. I had managed to attract yet another crazy man.

  “Uncle,” the nephew tried again.

  “Enough!” Chaghan’s shout made me jump. “Leave! All of you!” His face was flushed and his eyes glittering.

  I had no idea what was going on except that I was chained to a madman. The men left quickly. Not one of them took the goblets with him. I remained where I was.

  Chaghan paced, fuming at the rejection of his disgusting gift. He jingled the leash as he walked.

  I straightened and climbed to my feet. For the first time since waking, I felt the pain of what he’d done to my hands and arms.

  “You really believe my blood cured you?” I asked cautiously, unable to understand what might be going through his mind.

  “I know it did. I was a dead man.”

  I shook my head. “It doesn’t seem possible.” Unless there was something weird in the sleeping agent Carter created.

  “It was not only me.” He appeared to be calming, tolerant of a goddess where he wasn’t of his men. “Tomeid! Bring him!”

  No one else was i
n the tent, but I sensed his servant was never too far, either. Less than a moment later, Tomeid entered, all but dragging a young warrior who didn’t look much over fifteen.

  They both dropped to their knees.

  “Last night, the boy was brought in, close to death from his wounds,” Chaghan explained. “He drank your blood as well, and we both awoke healed.”

  I was balanced on my feet, a little lightheaded. “Those are … miracles. They aren’t because of me,” I said.

  “You are a miracle,” he reminded me.

  I wanted to roll my eyes but didn’t. “Listen, Chaghan, I believe these healings happened. I don’t think they’re tied to me.”

  His face was growing red once more. “You do not bleed like any other!” he snapped. “There is magic in your blood. It is visible!”

  To demonstrate, he yanked me closer. I stumbled and landed on my knees in front of the two men waiting silently to be dismissed or acknowledged. Chaghan pulled up one arm and slid the blade of his knife across one finger. I flinched.

  My red blood was dotted with black.

  Damn you, Carter. What the hell did you do to me this time? I knew nothing of science or medicine, but I was almost able to rationalize some sort of preservative in my body that kept me from aging or deteriorating while I was under for so long. I woke up perfect – not one scratch.

  “So maybe there is something unusual about my blood,” I murmured.

  “I only took a few drops.”

  “It’s potent.” I glanced up, and my whole body went rigid. He was looking at me the way I imagined a starving vampire considered his victim. “I have many other talents.”

  “Languages. This I know. But you can heal an army. Surely this gift weighs far more than speaking to our enemies!”

  This was not going the way I planned. I sought some sort of reasoning without really understanding the culture I’d been dropped into, aside from the fact they seemed to be always at war.

  “What other gifts do you have?”

  I sat back on my heels, wracking my brain for an answer that would matter to him. My brain wasn’t working quickly this morning. My gaze fell to the two men listening from their positions groveling.

  He yanked on the chain.

  “The uh … sky god doesn’t always tell me,” I managed. “I am here for a purpose, one he hid from me.”

  Chaghan appeared to be considering this.

  “And this? Does it contain more of your magic?” He pulled my cell phone from a pocket and held it up.

  I sucked in a breath. If I’d been a little less numb from painkillers, I’d feel the panic I was certain was racing through my blood at the thought of my only connection to my time and home in the hands of a madman. “It’s a … a tool,” I stammered. “It can only be used by me.”

  “What does it do?” He was watching me with the same penetrating look Batu had given me, one I took to mean they were trying to determine whether I was truthful.

  “I can’t really explain it,” I replied.

  “Does it affect your blood? Your languages?”

  “No.”

  “Will it help me win the war?”

  “No.”

  “Then it is of no use.”

  Before I could react, he had dropped it on the ground, drawn a curved sword and stabbed it through. As if that wasn’t enough, he then ground his heel into it until the circuits and glass screen formed a puddle of chards around it.

  And I stared, unable to react, not sure how to react to the sight of my way home being destroyed.

  “Uncle.” The same nephew from earlier, who had refused to drink his wine, peered into the tent. “May we speak?”

  Chaghan didn’t appear pleased. “Go,” he barked at the two men near me.

  They scrambled out of the tent. Chaghan tied my leash to a pole before approaching his nephew at the entrance of the tent.

  Barely aware of them, my attention was on the remains of my cell phone. Of all the things to think about now, my mind was on Taylor again.

  If there’d ever been a place where I wouldn’t have minded being stuck, it was probably with him in the large farmhouse on the plains. I had been struggling not to think of him at all, because of my ambivalent emotions, but it was impossible not to see my way home destroyed and recall what he’d told me the night after we were married.

  I was the only woman in ten thousand years he had chosen to stay with. While true I hadn’t loved him, it was also possible for me to believe that one day, I might’ve been able to. With quiet strength and a sense of honor I’d never seen before, he was a good man to the core. I cared for and respected him, even if the emotion of love hadn’t yet formed.

  I didn’t understand how I became the person to erase his existence from the universe and all of space and time when I couldn’t kill a spider in my bathtub. I didn’t pull the trigger, but I was nonetheless the tool that killed him.

  I deserve to be trapped here. Was that what this was? Penance for hurting someone like him? Was my fate to be cut daily by a madman to keep his army on the warpath?

  What was I thinking the night I met Carter and agreed to go back in time? In a matter of weeks to me, I’d gone from carefree with no regrets to wishing with all my heart I could go back to that day and walk away.

  “It is settled!” Chaghan’s near-shout pulled me from the trance I was in. I opened my eyes to see him angrily striding towards me from the direction of the entrance. “There will be no consulting the council.”

  “Uncle – ” his nephew objected once more.

  Chaghan yanked me up and hauled me towards the entrance. “You will drain all her blood by evening.” He thrust me at the warrior.

  His nephew caught and steadied me. “You risk displeasing the Eternal Blue Sky, not to mention the Khan.”

  “The Khan will see what I do: a means to increase our ability to fight. Heed my order, nephew, or you will follow her!”

  The warrior holding my arms glanced at me. I sensed his unease, though his face was stoic.

  I cursed myself for not paying more attention to their discussion, for letting my thoughts get pulled into emotions I couldn’t afford to humor.

  “As you command,” the nephew said finally.

  “Wait!” I cried. “I would ask you to … spare me. For a day, so that I can … prepare myself for what comes.” It was the stupidest excuse I probably ever made. My heart raced, and adrenaline began eating away at the numbing effects of whatever drug they gave me. My arms were hurting.

  “To pray,” the nephew said.

  “Yes, to pray. You asked, Chaghan, if there were some other purpose for me being here.” I faced his uncle. “If the Eternal Blue Sky reveals one during my meditations, then I will tell you. If not, then in the morning, you can … do as you wish,” I rushed on. In the meantime, I’m getting out of here.

  He looked from me to his nephew.

  “I believe this to be wise,” his nephew added. “The battle for the city is over. One day will not prolong our plans.”

  Chaghan drew a breath. “Very well, goddess. You will meditate here, in my tent.” He indicated a cubbyhole between a bed and a table. “You will have all the milk you need, and candles.”

  “Thank you,” I breathed.

  He didn’t appear happy and brushed by us, out of the tent.

  “My uncle is not evil, goddess,” his nephew whispered. “Forgive him, and plead for Father Sky to forgive him as well.”

  “Bleeding me to death isn’t going to win him any favors,” I replied.

  “I know.” He released my arms. “I sent for Batu already. He is your sworn protector, and my uncle is obligated to heed his advice when he will not take mine. But …” He glanced over his shoulder and moved closer. “… do not wait until morning. My uncle’s mind is less well when he drinks, and he will celebrate his victory this evening. When he has drunk himself to sleep, leave.”

  “To where?”

  “The river is east of here. Follow it to wh
erever the Eternal Blue Sky wishes you to go.”

  I had no time to thank him let alone tell him how frustrating his answer was before he backed away into the sunlight visible outside the tent. Needing time to think, I went to the cubbyhole to sit and at least pretend to be praying while my mind raced.

  The quietness of the tent had the opposite effect of what I hoped. Rather than hammering out an escape plan, my thoughts returned to Taylor too often. I forced them away multiple times to focus on my predicament.

  Batu’s cousin was right; I had to leave. I had nowhere to go and no idea where I was, but if I stayed, I’d die.

  My eyes went to the pile of pieces leftover from my phone. I crossed to the mess and picked up several of the larger fragments.

  There was no fixing this. There was no going home or escaping to some other time period. I replaced the pieces and sat back to stare at them, the ache in my chest growing stronger as I realized I really was trapped here.

  Did it matter if I escaped Chaghan tonight? He’d unleash hell to find me again, and I was out of tricks. I’d make it half a mile on foot before they chased me down on horseback. Was there something at the river that might help me? A boat? A crossing?

  I was completely blind to my surroundings. It was an adventure, for sure, but a very dangerous one.

  I can do this. I drew a deep breath. I was the sole survivor of the doomed eighteen forties trip. I was going to live through this, too.

  If Taylor’s people found me in the past once, surely they would again.

  Assuming my purpose wasn’t already served by saving the girl.

  My stomach churned. With fear joining the regret in my belly, I stood and returned to the cubbyhole, hoping to remain unnoticed while I spent the day waiting for my chance to escape.

  When I was free of Chaghan, I’d figure out what to do next.

  Chapter Five

  The day passed more slowly than I wanted. It didn’t help that whatever drug they gave me wore off around mid-afternoon. Pain kept me from the amount of thinking I needed to do and instead, I floated in a rather miserable place. Chaghan kept his word and had Tomeid bring me candles and milk. Without him present most of the day, I was able to sit and meditate or nap away the pain and worry.