Blood Harvest

"Come in, Travis."

Travis entered, still blushing brightly. He sat down across from Isranon. "Should you be doing that?"

"Doing what?" Isranon smiled with a touch of mischief.

Travis grew a bit more flustered. "Should you be playing Jack in the Orchard when you're married now? What's Anksha going to say?"

"You don't begin to understand our culture," Isranon poured himself a glass of wine and handed the bottle to Travis. "Nibari don't count as…" Isranon searched for the word. He spoke three languages fluently; unfortunately common was not one of them, although his fluency was increasing. He had spent most of his life in his homeland of Waejontor. When he found the word, Isranon started the sentence over. "It is not regarded as adultery among my people. A free woman, sylvan, human, or whatever. That would be different. Now, what brought you?"

"Daree. She went back for another look and says she smelled something nasty there. You were right, Isranon. Something strange is there. Something Daree's never smelled before."

"Find Nevin and tell him I said the scouts were to be kept at camp until I can ride with them."

After Travis had left, Isranon sat for a long time thinking. Farris' words about Stygean Loosestrife came back to him. He had not known that the boy had had a birthday that recently. Stygean was currently one of twenty-eight child slaves of sa'necari origin. The children ranged from six to thirteen years in age. When Isranon defeated Liuthan Loosestrife's coup in Ocealay, the rulers of that city-state had butchered every sa'necari they could lay hands on, adults and children alike. Out of several hundred households and estates, Isranon had only been able to rescue these twenty-eight children.

Anksha had collared the children and declared them to be slaves, but she had not ordered them branded. Isranon planned to free each child that could be turned to the light and away from the sa'necari rites of rape and death, but he had not told them that and did not intend to. Their parents were among Anksha's blood-slaves, and only death freed a blood-slave from Anksha.

The oldest two, Stygean Loosestrife and Jingen Scathwick, were his greatest concern: especially Stygean. Where Jingen was being eagerly cooperative, Stygean was openly defiant and hostile. They already had their fangs and sa'necari learned to kill at a very young age. He had to find a way to reach them. A belated birthday party might make a very good overture of friendship to Stygean. Isranon decided to hold one, and to also have Randilyn and Nainee collect all the children's birthdays into a list so that they could all have parties.

GODWAR CENTRAL

Blood Harvest