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The entrance was easy to find with the white silk cloth that had been tied around one of the bars on the gate that was closed over the opening. “Fala, the key,” Jacob whispered, who unlocked it as soon as he was handed the key and pulled the rusty hinged gate back. At the entrance on the inside, two torches leaned up against a large rock that looked like it had been purposely placed there just for that reason and to keep them out of the water that ran down the middle of the tu
Derek handed Fala the second torch and he tilted it into the one that Jacob was holding and took the back. The deeper we made our way in the worse the smell thickened. It felt like the rotting death of the pile that we had climbed through was just the begi
Torsos, with more on the outside than in, lay grotesquely up against the tu
“Someone’s coming this way,” he said in a normal voice.
“The torch, put it out,” I whispered as softly as I could.
“It’s…” he began to say, once again in a normal tone.
“Not so loud,” I hissed.
“They know we are here,” he turned, looking at me with frustration on his face. “If I can see their torch, they can surely see mine.”
“Well you don’t have to get so pissy about it.”
“And you do not have to question my decisions, either,” he whispered.
“Oh, that you whispered,” I smirked, putting my hand on my hip.
A young man came around the curve of the tu
“Where is your companion?” Jacob inquired, making me think he was going to receive the same question.
“The mistress was ordered to the high mistress’s castle, to go over the coming of, what they seem to be calling, the ‘demon seed of Martin’. Bernard was taking her to her coach when I headed down here. We were hoping you would come this night and not last night. Our owners had us very busy and there is no way we could have played. But we are as free as any slave could be this night.” The way he looked back and licked his lips was almost enough to make me lose what the stench of the dead had not.
“Do you know what they mean by that?” I asked, keeping my head low and behind Jacob.
“We were drawing the mistress her bath and heard her arguing with her sister…as if that was anything unusual. It was then that the phrase came out. Angelica claimed she knew for a fact that the one traveling to London was the very creation of Martin Vegee Lebrun himself,” he stopped, turning slightly around. “Your master!”
“He has been away for a while. I wonder if they got the bastard?” Derek blatantly asked, with me spi
“Excuse me?” I grabbed the front of his shirt before I even realized what I had done, causing Derek to take a step back. “I wanted that son-of-a-bitch to be taken by us,” I quickly added as soon as I caught on to my own actions.
“Too late, flesher…if that’s what you really are?” Alex asked. turning to the right and heading up a set of stone steps. “I told Bernard you were more than just fleshers, or Martin would not have you. He is far too picky. Hell, he won’t even allow slaves in his home.”
I think we all let out a breath that we were holding when he made that first comment, thinking he had made us for what we really were. He went on to tell us that he and Bernard had argued after we had left the first night about whether or not we were fleshers made breeders or breeders made fleshers, but neither could figure out how the breeder part of us held down the meat. I snickered out loud at not only the thought of them arguing about it, but the thought of seeing Derek actually trying it back in the begi
Bernard met us at the top of the stairs scaring me right out of my humorous thoughts and right into the defensive mode. Bernard was holding a sword that had to be four feet long with red tassels hanging off of the gold swirled handle. “She may not let me touch these when she’s here…” he smiled “but, she’s not here now, is she?” he stuck it out in front of himself and said ‘en garde’, stepping out, moving away from the door in strange looking steps, putting the same foot forward every time. Almost like short hopping moves, while swinging the sword in circles. To me, he looked quite silly, but I was glad to see he was dancing with the thing and not trying to drive it through one of our bodies.
“Did you hear Inara talking about the elders and the two they sent?” Bernard asked Alex as we exited from the stairs.
I was looking at the elaborate surroundings, while Jacob spun Bernard around by the shoulder. Bernard yelped out in more of a feminine tone than masculine, dropping the sword on the ground, showing he would be no problem taking back to our home. “Tell me what you know of these two of which you speak,” Jacob demanded not caring for a second what either of them may have thought about his aggressiveness.
“She…she said she heard word that the elders sent two assassins out from the counsel; that they now sought the ones coming this way as we speak,” he explained in such a nervous reply that his hands were visually shaking.
“She told you this personally?” Jacob asked, yanking him closer by the lace on the front of his shirt.
“No, of course not. You don’t discuss orders with things you consider your pets. She was talking to her lover while I painted her toe nails. I forget your name,” Bernard said, touching Jacob’s hand lightly.
“Jacob,” he replied, removing his grip from Bernard’s shirt.