Remembered Read Online Free Page B

for her, as they would a tribal chief. Some bowed deferentially. Galia was just thinking that such a woman was sure to have a bodyguard when she saw the pure white wolf trotting at the woman’s side. Before Galia could look away, the woman looked up, and their eyes met. The effect was immediate and electric. Galia felt as if her entire body had been doused in cold water. She jerked back, barely stifling a cry.
    The drover glared at her. He might even have struck her for making a fuss, but the woman in purple approached. Galia was startled to see that the woman was not nearly as old as she first appeared. Her hair was black as jet, and her brown eyes were narrow and quick. It was the haughty air that made her seem old. Instead of surveying the line of slaves, she spoke directly to Galia.
    “And what good are you?”
    “Me?”
    “Ah, but madame has chosen the finest slave of the lot,” said the drover. “A beautiful girl, and sweet tempered–”
    “When I want to hear the braying of an ass,” the woman said, “I will go to a slaughterhouse. Be silent. Your tongue is not as attached to your head as you would like to think.”
    Galia took a savage joy in the way the drover fell back.
    “Well?” the woman said.
    “I come from the northern lands,” Galia said, as clearly and as proudly as she could. “I am skilled in all matters of housework. I brew strong beer. I weave–’
    The woman looked unimpressed. “Brewing and weaving. At your price? Come, girl. What good are you?”
    Galia felt an iron spear of anger drive through her.
    “I’m the daughter of dead traders. I’m willing to work, I will not falter.”
    The woman’s gaze was ice.
    “Unimpressive. To me, you look like a ripe girl fit for the brothel. Perhaps you will be lucky, and they will buy you at the Pleasure Inn. The work is easy there. Perhaps you can find a noble who will buy you out and beget his brats on you.”
    “I don’t know what you want,” Galia said, her voice strained.
    “You could be a household drudge and brood. What would you think of that? Every year, forced to lie underneath a stud until you were made barren with weariness.”
    Galia knew that the words the woman spoke were only the truth. But a deep well of something cold opened up inside her. If she could kill with a glance, the woman would be dead ten times over.
    “I will be the death of you,” she whispered.
    The drover’s hand was around her neck, pulling her back. He shouted his apologies, promised a whipping, and said she would be sold to the lowest brothel he could find.
    Then there was a white whirlwind, and the man was off her. He lay with his back on the ground and a hundred pounds of white wolf on his chest, snarling. The woman stood in front of Galia, amused.
    “There it is,” she said, looking into Galia’s eyes with just the hint of a smile. “I would have accepted nothing less.” Shaking, Galia stared at her. “Drover, how much?”
    From underneath the wolf, the man mumbled a price. The woman didn’t even bat an eye. With a gesture, she summoned her wolf, who bounded to her side.
    “Release her and come to the palace for your money in the morning.”
    The drover didn’t even protest. As he unchained her, he muttered platitudes that didn’t even make sense.
    Galia glanced at Mina and Strayke. They stood with their eyes wide, looking at her. A longing that felt as bottomless as a canyon opened insider her. This might be the last time they saw each other.
    “Please, Lady,” she said suddenly. “Will you buy more slaves today?”
    The woman looked up, startled. “What?”
    Clumsily, Galia pointed at Mina and Strayke.
    “They… They’re very good,” Galia said. The idea of her trying to sell her friends made her sick to her stomach, but she forced herself to continue. “Mina is… Mina is quick and smart, and she weaves and brews. And er, Strayke, he’s a fighter, a good one.”
    “Oh. So you have friends,” said the woman, sniffing. “Very