Pirate's Gold - S.J. Sanders Page 0,23

her contemplatively through slitted eyes. His eyes left her only long enough to acknowledge the presence of Azan as she took her place between them. Almost on cue, a thin male—a young Blaithari if Terri wasn’t mistaken, not more than a child—drew to the side of the table and began to serve them in a careful, measured manner before scurrying out the door.

She drew back startled. “I really don’t think…”

“Good. Do not think,” Egbor interrupted, his expression hard.

She glared back at him. To her disgust, her stomach grumbled as the aroma of the food on her plate hit her nose. It was a wonder that she could eat, but her body was demanding the nutrients and letting her know.

A small smile tugged at the captain’s lips as his expression suddenly lightened, and he gestured to her plate. “Despite what you may think from your current surroundings, we do not stand on ceremony here. Eat.”

She did not reply other than to grab the two-pronged utensil sitting beside her and dig into her food. She felt a pang of guilt as the tender meat melted on her tongue. There was little doubt that Veral wasn’t getting anything this good. She cut a quick glance to Azan, and seeing her engrossed in her own meal, she ventured to broach the topic.

“Did anyone bring food to my mate?” she inquired cautiously.

Egbor paused, his two-pronged fork halfway to his mouth as he stared at her. “Yes,” he answered shortly before placing it in his mouth. He chewed as he regarded her. “He is being given a portion of what was sent to my upper crew. Nothing quite as fine as this, naturally. In fact, Azan hasn’t enjoyed such fare herself in many revolutions, but he will still have food of filling and good quality. The Argurma is a fine tool, and I will care for him as long as he continues being useful to me.”

Terri stared at him in surprise. “But you put him that a tiny, dirty cell.”

“That is to remind him of his place and his dependence on my good graces. In any case, it will not hurt him. Argurma are resilient. He will care more about the food than he will about a comfortable place to sleep.”

She couldn’t argue with that. On Earth, he seemed to sleep easily even in the worst surroundings. Still, she hated to think of him caged down there while she got to enjoy a comfortable room.

“It is necessary to cage him,” Egbor continued as if he were reading her mind. “An Argurma will only be under my control as long as I have complete control of you in his presence. Alas, I have to sleep, and cannot spend every moment threatening you. Even Azan, as fear-inspiring as she is, needs sleep on occasion. It is for everyone’s safety that he is kept caged where he will not put everything at risk. Unlike Azan, when she came into my service, he has nothing else to lose but you.”

From the corner of her eye, Terri noted the way the female’s hand tightened around her fork, her expression hardening at Egbor’s observation. The Blaithari second-in-command was not pleased by his comments. Whatever the history was between them, it lurked with a weighty presence behind those few words.

Terri directed her attention to her food. This was, without a doubt, the most uncomfortable meal she had ever shared with anyone—and given the way that she and Veral had shared a tense meal of lizards in the ruins of a building, that was saying something. Azan didn’t speak, and Egbor watched her, a frown marring his brow as he seemed to realize that she wasn’t going to perform for him.

Fuck that. She was here eating with him. She was doing only as much as she was required to.

He seemed to change tactics as he sat back and wiped his mouth, one hand gesturing to his surroundings.

“What do you think of my quarters, female?”

Setting her spoon down, Terri didn’t miss the soft sigh from Azan but pretended not to hear it just as Egbor seemed to do after he cut his eyes in the other Blaithari’s direction. Instead, she made a show of slowly looking around the room in admiration before finally allowing her eyes to meet his.

“It’s nice,” she said flatly.

His eyes blinked in surprise, and she was certain that she heard an amused snort come from the second-in-command.

“Nice?” he echoed. “All this splendor, the remainder of my fortunes as the younger son