Kept by the Zandian (Zandian Brides 5)

“And they will take you, and they will say yes, because the ship you get on”—she picks up the syringe and slides it into a protective tube—“is a ship of Zandians. They take humans to breed, to mate, even. It is said their queen is human, though some say she is just a slave. My dreams show me she is far more. And she has the sight, like me.”

“But an escaped slave—”

“No.” She shakes her head. “You will be a dead slave. You will fall into the river and drown. Rannah will see it and tell everyone. She will be happy about it.”

“I don’t understand. You just said I was going to get onto a ship.”

She puts the syringes back into the silver box and closes the clasp. “I will fall down and die in the market, in the stall closest to the river. You will scream and be upset, will lose your footing in your grief, and will fall into the river and be drawn away. Once you swim upstream, you come up and get out of the water, retrieve the clothing and pack you will stash, and get onto the Zandian ship.”

I shake my head. “You mean you’re going to pretend to die, right?” I stand up and take her hands in mine. “Right, Leylah?”

She meets my eyes. “No, lei. It’s my time.”

“It isn’t.” Anger and fear twist in my gut. “Nobody knows when their time is. You can’t say that.”

She coughs. “Last planet rotation, I overheard Master talking with his visitor. The visitor is quite taken with you and your skin, your hair. Your face. He wants you for himself. He spoke of incredible amounts of stein. They are going to trade for you.”

I suck in air, dizzy. “Oh, no. No.” The visitor inspected me today, just before the young fell in the river. I think of that warted hand, those rheumy eyes. The promise of pain and torture. Mating with that disgusting being. “I cannot.”

“No, you cannot. So I must get you to safety. I had thought to wait another solar cycle, until you were stronger. But we must do this now.”

“But you can’t die to do it.”

She gets up and hobbles to the corner. “Here is a pack with your new clothing, which you will stash at the corner of the fencing. After you come out of the water, you run here, fetch it, change and then head for the ships. I have loaded the syringes for you to use. And the rest of what you will take is in here.”

She comes back and touches my head. “You will take those stories and legends and ideas back to Zandia, to the beings there. Their noble king. Oh, Mother Earth, I just wish I could send you all.”

Her eyes flood with tears. “But at least I can send one. And some planet rotation one will lead to a million. You will be that leader. You will tell them what they need to know, and it will be helpful. More helpful than you even know.”

“I’m not a leader, Leylah. I’m not anything.” I bend over to vomit, but nothing comes. “And I’m not going to let you die just so I can escape.”

She takes my shoulder. “You have a new life in front of you, and it starts tomorrow.” She sees my eyes and adds, “I’m dying either way.”

I sit down, overwhelmed with adrenaline and fear. “I don’t understand.”

She comes beside me. “My time is coming, I feel it in my bones. And it’s your time, too.”

She touches my face. “Your skin makes you different from the others. But what’s in here”—she taps my chest—“is what makes you even more extraordinary.”

I blink at her.

“You have something in you that the others don’t have. A strength, a kindness. An ability to rise beyond. Do you see that?”

I don’t know if I see it. I shake my head.

“Tell me: Why did you save that young?” She challenges me with her stare. “Was it for security, because you were afraid of what might happen if you did not?”

I think about the fear in his eyes, the hope. The way he watched us, with no hate in his eyes. “No. It was an as of yet innocent life. I needed to help him. I don’t know how to explain. Maybe it was because he wasn’t evil yet. I couldn’t let him die.”

She nods. “You have a special spirit, Taisha. A power you don’t yet understand. You feel things in your bones, sometimes, like I do. And you have the courage to do the unimaginable. That is why of all the females here, I’ve chosen you to carry our stories and our legacy out into the galaxy. Some planet rotation, maybe a cycle, or maybe a thousand solar cycles from now, you or your kin will return to save us all.”

“But you’ll be gone.”

“Humans will still be here, waiting for you, Taisha.” She puts her hand above my heart. “Carry that in here with you. Not the death of a young in your past. But the salvation of a young, in the future. That’s what I have, and what I pass to you.”

She adds, “It’s better than hate, you know.”

“What is?”