surveillance. We have every legal right to remove him to Onoria, based on that.”
“And what if he comes back?” Chrisen asked.
Merrell snorted. “We’ll break his legs before we dump him. No one, not even a Hauk bastard, can survive an environment that hostile with no working legs. He’ll be dead in less than a week.”
Talyn came awake with a fierce groan.
“Shh… take deep breaths.”
He was in so much pain his teeth chattered. Someone lifted his head and held water to his lips.
“Drink slowly.”
He obeyed as the dimly lit cave and the eight Andarions around him came into focus. Confused and hazy, he tried to make sense of this. “Where am I?”
“Hell,” the female who was holding the water murmured as she lowered his head back to the dirty pallet where he lay.
A male came forward to check Talyn’s bandages. “We found you on the Dying Plains after you were dumped.” He tapped the tattoo on his neck that was given to every prisoner, to permanently mark them with their crimes. Like Talyn, he was designated as a traitor. “Everyone in the colony has been falsely accused of treason and dumped on this shithole by the royals. We assume, especially given what was done to you, that you’re one of us.”
“Done to me?”
“They broke your legs,” the female whispered. “They only do that to the prisoners they’re afraid might make it home with proof of royal corruption.”
“Viper was always getting himself into shit with the royals.”
Talyn scowled at the familiar voice as another female approached from the shadows. “Nightdice?”
She came forward with a grim nod. “After Anatole shot you down, Syndrome and I tried to report him for what he did to you and to us.”
Sure they did. “I was told you recanted your statements.”
Impudent rage darkened her eyes. “You would have recanted, too, had they tortured you the way they did us. I promise you.”
He dropped his gaze to the vicious scars on her neck that corroborated her story. In that moment, he felt like an ass for accusing her. “Sorry.”
Self-conscious, Nightdice rubbed at the scars. “Yeah. Me, too. At least you tried to help us. That’s more than most did”
Fat lot of good it’d done any of them. Trying not to think about that, he narrowed his gaze on their small group. “Where’s Farina?”
Nightdice winced before she answered. “After we signed the papers to stop our torture, Anatole shot her in the head and then dumped me here before I could tell anyone about it. By your presence, I’m assuming you filed a report, too?”
Talyn nodded as anger went through him. Lorens would have been the only one who’d seen it, which meant he’d gone straight to Anatole with it. So much for thinking he had an in with command. He should have known better than to trust anyone. Even Felicia’s brother. “I never meant to get either of you into trouble. Or hurt. I didn’t even list your names in my final report. Just mine.”
“Relax. You didn’t cause this. You’re the only one who ever tried to help us, and you got blown apart for your troubles.” She glanced around. “And banished here, to boot.” Nightdice, whose real name was Berra Altaan, knelt beside him and held her hand out in friendship. “Sorry we dragged you into this.”
Talyn laughed bitterly as he shook it. “My mouth is what dragged me into this.”
She snorted. “Pretty sure our mouths are what dragged us all into this.”
Talyn slowly sat up and looked around. Counting himself, there were seven males and three females. “Are we all accused of the same crime?”
Nightdice nodded. “You and I are the only two who were active duty when dumped. They usually kill AD, but my father’s a satrapehs to the tadara. They couldn’t afford for my body to be found. Too many unfortunate questions would have been asked. I’m guessing with you being the Iron Hammer, they were afraid of an investigation.”
Not really. “My mother’s a personal friend to the tizirahie.”
“Ah. That would do it, too.”
The other female handed him a small bowl of porridge. “I’m Terisa. We call this place the colony. It’s a hole, but it’s relatively safe from the drones and others.”
“Others?”
Nightdice clenched her teeth. “The real criminals. They roam in heavily armed gangs. There are too few of us to fight them or make a stand.”
“It’s why there are too few of us,” the male broke in. “We’ve tried. They obliterate us or throw us in their pits to cockfight. The females,