Sword Empire Read Online Free Page B

If sometimes he handled her too roughly, it still seemed a vast improvement over what she would have expected from her former flower-bearing, poem-writing courtiers.
    So she was swept between the dizzy heights of shame and shamelessness. But there were times when all that she really knew was that she could never go back to being the pampered and beloved little girl who had played so happily on Kara-Rashna’s royal knee. She had known the fond tolerance of her uncles and the teasing adoration of her brothers and their friends, but that was all left far behind her. She was Raven’s woman now, but she could not be certain that he would forever be her man. He was, perhaps, as true to her as any Gheddan could be, but how true was that? The woman, Sylve, had been his partner once, but now she was abandoned. Would Raven eventually abandon her in her turn? What would become of her then in this harsh and cruel place?
    Since their arrival in the City of Swords, the questions and the doubts had piled up thick and fast. The first shock had been the cold discomfort of these spartan quarters, so far removed from the lost luxury of her rooms in Kara-Rashna’s palace. Second was the slow realization that Raven was perhaps not so high and important as he had first seemed. He was a Sword Lord, and commander of his ship and his crew, but that seemed to count for little here. They had been escorted to these rooms and simply left to their own devices. At first that had been enough, the opportunity to make wild and ferocious love as often as they wished, but then Raven had become frustrated with the delay and had begun his angry pacing.
    They were not exactly prisoners. Raven had walked with her around the square, and outside the barrack complex to show her the street markets. But he was awaiting the summons to make his formal mission report to the Council of Twelve, and he was reluctant to be absent for too long from his quarters. Now the lengthening delay was becoming menacing and irksome.
    â€œWhy do they keep you waiting?” She finally snapped the question. It was the only one of the many which were troubling her that she dared to ask.
    Raven gave her a dark look. For a moment, she thought that he would ignore her, but then he sat down on the couch beside her, half turning to face her. “Call it empire politics,” he answered grimly. “Normally I would be asked to report within a day’s cycle on even a routine mission. The voyage to your planet was much more than that, a first exploration with possible future consequences for the empire. Receiving the full details of my report should be a Council priority. This delay means that something is wrong.”
    â€œWhat could be wrong?”
    Raven shrugged. “At the very least it means that I am out of favour. I have been away too long and the power balance shifts very quickly here. The Sword Lord Karn, at least, should have sought to contact me. Perhaps he too is out of favour, or removed from the Council. There are always intrigues in the City of Swords. He may have fallen.”
    Maryam nodded understanding. She was familiar with the machinations of palace intrigues, and if her circumstances had not changed, might well have become a mistress of the art. “This man Karn—” She had heard him speak the name before but had not paid enough attention. “He is your patron?”
    â€œSomething like that,” Raven acknowledged. “When I first enlisted in the Space Corps, the Sword Lord Karn was its Prime Commander. He saw my potential and gave me opportunities for advancement. He put my name forward to command the first mission to the fourth planet, despite there being more experienced ship commanders. He also pushed for me to lead the expedition to your planet.”
    â€œAnd you are his champion.”
    Raven nodded. “A sword lord, or any swordsman, is expected to meet his own challenges, but only up to a point. After fifty years,