Akella barked out a laugh. “So I guess we’re all sea angels, then?”
The other woman didn’t answer.
“You know what a sea angel is? A holy messenger of Preyla, sent to save lost sailors.” Akella wiped a hand down her face and sighed. “I know I’m no sea angel, Commander. You’re right – I’m a pirate. A criminal. But at least I know that’s what I am. Kings and queens, emperors and empresses, they’re all alike. They make others their weapons and then think they don’t have blood on their hands. Don’t you get tired of being the blade she wields?”
“The Empress doesn’t wield me.”
“No? Because she’d never use her lover like a common Imperial short sword?”
Akella had to hand it to the Commander. The resulting flinch of shock that flashed across her face when Akella said lover was almost imperceptible. Almost. Which meant that her guess had been right.
Akella laughed. “You know, Commander, I only stayed in Port Lorsin because I heard there was a royal wedding on. The Empire never throws a better party than when one of its royals gets married. How does it feel to know you’ll soon be pushed aside by some delicate highborn boy who probably can’t even wipe his own arse?”
“You know far less than you think.”
“Is that right? I’ve seen enough women put aside to make room for men to know it never ends well.”
The Commander moved towards the door. “One of my guards will be posted outside your room at all times. Don’t even think of going anywhere.”
“Lovehow I’m being treated as an ally instead of a prisoner now. Is your Empress so hospitable to all her guests, or am I just particularly lucky?”
“I’ll send a chambermaid with fresh bedding and a meal,” said the Commander.
“And a hot bath.”
“Fine. A bath, too.”
With that, the Commander was out the door, leaving Akella alone with her thoughts once more.
She went to the window, gazing out at Arun’s Quarter and trying, unsuccessfully, to catch a whiff of the sea on the air. Then she kicked her boots off and laid back on the room’s small bed. She’d been right – it was small, but it was as comfortable as anything she’d ever slept on. The only thing missing was the gentle rock of the sea and she could’ve been back in her quarters on Preyla’s Vengeance. Her crew would be long gone by now, sailing for the Islands with a tale of how their rizalt had been dragged from a Shipper’s Quarter brothel by the Imperial Army, never to be seen again.
Akella closed her eyes and fell almost immediately into a deep and dreamless sleep.