Rebels of Vulvar (Vulvarian Saga Book 2), стр. 39
The officer at the foot of the throne removed her helmet. Her narrow eyes regarded me contemptuously. She strode forward and faced me.
“Kneel,” she commanded. “You stand before Sola, Anax of Nisa. You must show respect.”
When I did not kneel immediately, the officer kicked my feet from under me, and I crashed to the stone floor, helpless because of the shackles. The officer raised a whip and lay open my tunic and back with harsh strokes.
“Do not strike him,” said Emer.
The officer whirled and looked at her. “Hold your tongue, warrior,” she said. Turning to me, she raised the whip again.
“Do not strike him,” said a commanding voice. The voice came from the Anax herself. I felt grateful.
The officer dropped her hand, then seized me by the arm and pulled me up onto my knees. Hot and sweaty, every fiber in my back screaming in agony, I managed to stay upright.
The Anax regarded me with curiosity.
“Is it true, slave,” she said, her tone cold, “that you joined with the mutineers against my city?”
My body racked with pain from the beating, and my vision blurred by sweat, I cast an angry stare at the woman.
A woman seated on the curule chair to one side of the throne stood up. “Destroy the animal!” she said. “Impale him.”
“Does the law of Nisa not give it the right to speak, councilor?” the Anax said in the same haughty tone she had used earlier.
“Does the law recognize that a beast has rights?” the council member said. It was almost as if she challenged her Anax. She had not bothered to conceal the sarcasm in her tone.
The Anax ignored the woman, and she sat down.
“Has the slave still his tongue?” the Anax asked the officer beside me.
“Yes, Anax,” she said.
“Why did you not kneel, slave?” the Anax said.
“I am not a slave,” I said.
“You are a slave!” hissed the council member who had spoken earlier. “Remove his tongue immediately!”
“Do you give orders to my officer?” the Anax said.
“No, beloved Anax,” the woman said.
“Slave?” the Anax said.
I did not acknowledge her.
“All males on Vulvar are slaves,” the Anax said patiently. “How is it you deny you are a slave?”
“Not all, Anax,” I said. “Five years ago, I performed a service to the Goddess Queens. I pleased them, and they freed me. I am a free man.”
“Preposterous,” said the haughty council member.
“What service?” the Anax asked curiously.
I told her in a few words.
“You are that man?” the Anax asked incredulously. “You claim to be Tobias Hart? The son of the Anax of Thiva?”
“Yes.”
“Did not the Goddess Queens graciously return Tobias Hart to Earth after the mission you spoke of?” the Anax said. “If you are Tobias Hart, how is it you now kneel before me?”
“The Goddess Queens brought me back to this world so I might perform another task for them,” I said.
“Lies!” said the ill-mannered council member. “The beast mocks us with his lies!”
A female appeared behind the throne. I assumed from the way style of her dress that she was an aide of some sort. She leaned in and whispered something to the Anax.
The Anax nodded. “Where is the witness?” she said in a commanding voice.
A figure stepped forward from the shadows at the side of the chamber. “Here, my Anax,” a male voice said.
I glanced at the figure, and my blood ran cold. The man wore a purple tunic with a hood he held tightly about his head to conceal his face. It was the spy who had accosted me when I first arrived in Nisa.
“Do you know this slave?” the Anax asked.
“Yes, my Anax,” the spy said. “I met him in a trog tavern some weeks ago. He told me he was an escaped slave from Thiva.”
The Anax regarded me coldly. Then she turned again to the man in the purple tunic.
“What were the circumstances?” she said.
“As you know, my Anax, I continued my duties as your agent while the knave Cooke unlawfully seized control of the city and cruelly imprisoned you,” the spy said. “My colleague and I kept a watch for all slaves entering the city. We endeavored to track those who joined Cooke’s rebellion.”
“And did this slave join with the criminals?” the Anax said.
“Yes, my Anax,” the spy said. “He told me he wished to get a sword that he might pledge to Cooke’s service. I offered him a bribe to determine whether he truly intended to do so. He gladly accepted it.”
“Liar!” I said. “He left his purse on my table at the tavern and departed too swiftly for me to return it.”
The officer beside me slapped me across the face with her whip. “Silence, slave!” she said.
The Anax regarded me with annoyance. “Do not speak until spoken to, slave,” she said. “Another outburst like that, and I will command that officer to take you to the dungeon where she can properly whip you until you learn manners.” She turned back to the spy.
“Did he join the criminals?” the Anax asked.
“Yes, my Anax,” the spy said. “The same day he reported here to the so-called deputy Dabar. They accepted his service, and they assigned this man to the cohort as an archer. I saw him wearing the tunic of the rebels.”
“Did you learn his name?” the Anax asked.
“Yes, my Anax, from an informer in the cohort,” the spy said. “His name is Tom Gray, my Anax.”
The Anax regarded me. “It seems your fanciful tale was a lie, slave,” she said. “Unless there is an agent of the Goddess Queens present to dispute it. I do not believe you are Tobias Hart.”
“Tom Gray was an alias I used that the Goddess Queens gave me,” I said.
The officer raised the whip.
“Don’t strike him yet,” the Anax said to the officer. Then she regarded Emer.
“You are a warrior of Nisa?” the Anax said.
“Yes, Anax,” Emer stammered. “I am Emer.”
“Did you not appear