Nightmaster

They made no sense to him. Had he not just told her that Trinity would never fill her role in his life? Yes, he wanted his new serf, and badly. But it was all part of the experiment to test Trinity...and himself.

Wasn’t it?

* * *

The next morning—or what passed for morning in this city of perpetual darkness—Trinity woke to the sense that she had been asleep far too long. She kicked the sheets away and rolled off the bed, instinctively ready to fight.

But there was no one here to be afraid of, not even Ares. She was already in a position that would make it much easier to do her work, as long as she didn’t goad Ares into the kind of jealous possessiveness he’d briefly displayed when he’d shown her the city.

I intend to keep you, Trinity, he had said. You will never hold any secrets from me.

Little did he know just how well she was keeping them.

She yawned, sat down on the edge of the bed and glanced at the ornate clock on her bedside table. It was just past 5:00 a.m. She’d fallen into a fitful sleep not long after Ares had dismissed her, though it had still been early in the evening and only ten hours since Ares had claimed her.

Just before Trinity had given into exhaustion, Elizabeth had brought a selection of sleeping shifts, loose tunics and pants and another gown from Abbie. She had informed Trinity that she was to remain in her room until Ares summoned her, but had seemed relieved that Trinity appeared well and unafraid in her new surroundings.

As if for the first time, she glanced around the room. It was luxurious, with attractive paintings above the bed, a small Persian carpet and furniture that might really be Louis XVI. Several dozen books stood on a small shelf against one wall. A dresser, supplied with various kinds of makeup and skin lotions, supported a large mirror. A side door led to a private bathroom.

Fully awake, Trinity went to shower and prepare herself for her second day as Ares’s serf. She sat in front of the mirror and, ignoring the facial enhancers, combed out her hair and pulled it behind her head. She didn’t intend to make herself look seductive; she had to play this out carefully, because Ares was bound to make the next move in their “game.” The one he’d told her she couldn’t win.

She put on the serf’s tunic, pants and slipper-like shoes, tying the tunic with a colorful sash that marked her “uniform” as slightly different from the ones she’d seen most of the other serfs wearing. The neckline of the tunic was low, exposing her throat,

All the better to bite you with, my dear, she thought, still dizzy in the midst of such contradictory feelings. She thought she might actually have to lie down again.

Someone knocked on the door and Trinity shot to her feet. Daniel stood in the doorway.

“I’ve been told to escort you to breakfast,” he said.

“Am I...dressed properly to meet Ares again?” she asked, pretending unease.

“You’re not going to Ares,” Daniel said. “He’s ordered that I take you down to the serf’s dining area.”

For a moment Trinity was completely startled. Was it really going to be that easy for her to make contact with the other serfs and scope out the Household?

“Is he dismissing me?” she asked as she joined Daniel at the door.

“I told you I don’t know his mind,” Daniel said stiffly, leading her toward a side entrance within the empty harem quarters. “He didn’t take your blood, did he?”

“No, but—”

“Did you refuse?”

“No. I offered. He still wouldn’t take it.”

Daniel snorted. She stopped him with a touch on his shoulder.

“You don’t want me here, do you?” she asked.

“Not if you disturb his peace and give him nothing in return. He’s been happy as he is.”

“Are Opiri ever happy?” she asked.

He began to walk again. “Until you know him,” he said, “you can’t understand him.”

“Then help me know him,” she said, catching up. “I have to live here, and I don’t know what I—”

“I’ll help you enough so that you don’t make too many stupid mistakes,” he said, “like interfering in a Challenge.”

“Ares already warned me about that,” she said. “You care about him, don’t you?”

“We’d all be much worse off in any other Household.”

Which wasn’t much of an answer, Trinity thought, but she’d begun to realize that she might learn a great deal about Ares from Daniel. If he was willing to tell her.

Still, she remained silent until they entered one of the narrow side corridors reserved for servants. Soon they reached a back staircase that descended to the floor below. Trinity memorized their path.

Instinctively she turned toward the delicious scents she knew must lead to the kitchen, but Daniel hung back.

“I have other duties,” he said. “The mess is through that door. Try not to make any trouble.”

Then he was gone, and she was left angry and frustrated by his unwarranted hostility. He was clearly very protective of Ares, and for some reason he thought she would be a detriment to the master’s life. The question was...why would he jump to such a conclusion?