Enslaved Read online

  “Now…” Betina stepped forward, wearing rich black robes and the ugly, ruby encrusted headdress that made her look like a huge bird of prey. “We are called together today for a Ceremony of Sacrifice. Let the Defiled One come forward.”

  Trin stepped towards her, head bowed, her arms clasped nervously over her breasts. She felt as if every eye in the temple was boring into her, as though everyone, with the exception of Becca and Charlie, was thinking what a horrible person she was, what a disgrace, what a shameful, disgusting embarrassment to all of Zetta Prime.

  “I am here, High Priestess,” she said in a low voice. “I am…am ready to make my sacrifice to the Goddess.”

  “Very good.” Betina gave her a cold look. “Attendants, bring forth the sacrificial implements.”

  Two lesser priestesses brought forward a small stone pedestal and set it before Trin. On it were a short, sharp knife, a heavy cleaver and a long silver needle.

  “Choose,” Betina told her. “What will you give to the Goddess to show your remorse?”

  “I…” Trin’s mouth was suddenly dry, her heart pounding. Though she had been trying to reconcile herself to the sacrifice all night, now that the moment was at hand, she felt sick and faint.

  I can do this, she thought and forced herself to take a step forward, closer to the instruments of pain and sacrifice. I have to do this. I have to.

  Her hand hovered over the three instruments, pausing first over the needle…then the knife…and at last settling on the cleaver.

  A finger, she thought, hefting it in one sweaty palm. My little finger on my left hand. It shouldn’t be too hard to chop off. The blade looks really sharp…

  “Stop!” The voice from the back of the cavernous sanctuary startled everyone—even the high priestess.

  “Who dares interrupt the sacred Ceremony of Sacrifice?” She looked up, her black eyes narrowing in anger.

  “One has come who offers to take the Defiled One’s punishment.” It was a greater priestess speaking—one who was ranked only a step below Betina herself, Trin saw. She wore the deep purple robe of her station and behind her came another hooded figure—a huge, silent shape cloaked in scarlet.

  All around her Trin heard the priestesses whispering among themselves.

  “A scarlet robe—a scarlet robe!”

  “It can’t be! They wouldn’t dare to bring one here—not here to the inner sanctum!”

  “It must be—no other may wear the scarlet robe.”

  “But here? Before the statue of the Goddess?”

  Trin had no idea what the scarlet robe symbolized but she could tell from the size of the figure and the sheer breath of the shoulders beneath the robe that it could not be female. Not a female from any planet or species she knew, at least.

  “Renish, what is the meaning of this?” Betina demanded, addressing the greater priestess. “How dare you interrupt? How dare you bring a scarlet robed one into the inner sanctum of the Goddess?”

  “I could not help it, Your Holiness.” The greater priestess shrugged. “He invoked the Law of Transference, saying he wished to take the blame of the Defiled One upon himself.”

  “He—she said he!” ran the whispers through the ranks of the wide-eyed lesser priestesses. “The greater priestess has actually brought a male into the inner sanctum!”

  Betina’s eyes narrowed further, her nostrils flared and her lips became a thin red line. When she spoke, it was with barely controlled rage.

  “And who is this male who knows so much about our laws?”

  The person beneath the scarlet robe threw back his hood and Trin saw him clearly. Thrace.

  “It’s me,” he said simply, looking at Trin. “It’s me, Trin—I came for you.”

  Trin felt as though her heart had somehow lodged itself in her throat and it wouldn’t go down no matter how hard she swallowed. Thrace…here in the temple…how could it be? He was wearing his black leather pants and the red cloak but something else caught her eye as well. The slave collar Lady Tam-tam had given them—the one with the silvery-blue gems in it—was still visible around his strong throat. He had never taken it off.

  “I…I told you not to follow me,” she croaked.

  He shrugged, his broad shoulder rolling.

  “Forgive me for disobeying, Mistress, but I had to come.”

  “Enough speech!” the high priestess declared. “Male, you say you wish to take the Defiled One’s shame upon yourself?”

  “I do,” Thrace said firmly.

  “And do you understand that the shame requires a sacrifice?”

  “I know that too.” He nodded. “I am fully prepared to—”

  “Wait!” Trin’s mother was suddenly pushing her way to the front of the crowd of assembled priestesses. “Wait!” she cried again, her eyes flashing. “Are you actually allowing this? This male—he is the very one who…who defiled my daughter in the first place! He should not be here no matter what law he invoked—he is male.”

  Thrace took a step forward and looked at Trin’s mother.

  “I know how your people feel about males,” he rumbled. “It’s not much different from how my own people, the Havoc, feel about females. We take a vow when we reach maturity never to bond with a female—never to give our hearts and souls and tie ourselves to one. But your daughter, Trin, overcame my reservations and my determination not to bond. She did that with her bravery, her loyalty, and her compassion. She could have let me die in the slave auction at the Flesh Bazaar but she didn’t—she saved me. For that and for all that she is, I love her and I belong to her.” He touched his collar briefly. “I am hers and I would do anything for her.”

  Trin felt like weeping at his speech.

  “Oh, Thrace,” she whispered thickly. “It’s too much…you shouldn’t have come. I…I don’t deserve such devotion.”

  “Yes, you do.” He looked at her fiercely. “And I’m here to prove it.”

  “Disgusting,” Trin’s mother pronounced before stalking back to her place at the back of the sanctum. But the assembled lesser priestesses seemed to have been affected by the big Havoc’s words. The soft murmurs Trin heard from them sounded almost sympathetic. Several of them had their hands pressed to their hearts and were looking back and forth between herself and Thrace. Clearly they had never heard such eloquent, impassioned speech from a male before—or even believed it to be possible.

  “Enough!” Betina’s voice was steely. “Let us get on with this. You, male—as I was saying—if you agree to take the Defiled One’s shame upon yourself, you must offer a sacrifice. Specifically an eye or an ear or a finger of your choosing.”

  “I’m aware,” Thrace said softly, looking at Trin. “I am more than willing to make the sacrifice if it will clear Trin of all blame and shame and enable her to live a normal life.”

  “A normal life, you say?” Betina gave a harsh caw of laughter. “There is no normal life for a Defiled One. Not after everyone knows she has been defiled.”

  “But will a sacrifice on my part pay for her sin?” Thrace demanded. “Will you at least tell her she’s forgiven and absolve her of guilt?”

  Betina’s voice was grudging when she answered. “The rules of the Goddess do say that a willing sacrifice pays for the defilement.”

  “Good.” Thrace lifted his chin. “Then do it. I’m ready.”

  Trin, who had been unable to make her mouth work during this exchange, finally found her voice.

  “Thrace,” she whispered. “Thrace, no. You can’t do this for me—I won’t let you.”

  He looked at her, his silver-blue eyes blazing.

  “Anything for you, Mistress,” he murmured. “Anything—even this. Especially this. I cannot see you maimed when I can take the hurt on myself instead.”

  “Very well,” Betina snapped. “Let us get on with the ceremony, then. Bind the male! I will not take the chance of such a huge animal going berserk at the crucial moment.”

  Trin watched numbly as two of the lesser priestesse