Slave to Sapphire
Chapter 15

Iris made it back to her room but sleep never found her. Samson sensed her mood and spent the night beside her keeping watch. When the night sky started to turn gray, she got up from her bed and limped to the bath house on her swollen ankle. She shed her clothes and eased herself into the hot water. The throbbing pain in her ankle decreased slightly once she was in the water. Iris used a bar of soap to scrub off the sweat and stress from the night before. She couldn’t stop replaying the conversation that she had overheard last night. Lucious had crossed her, and the Grand Ruler had given him back the shipment of azure. Iris knew that the Government and the Grand Ruler turned a blind eye to the usage of azure, mainly arresting those who sold it. She also knew that the widespread addiction to azure contributed to many of the poor’s inability to save coin to purchase enough source for another year of life. What Iris had overheard showed that the Government was actually supplying azure for distribution to the poor. There was only a set amount of life source provided by the population, in order for the rich to achieve immortality the poor had to remain poor so they would not consume life source. The Grand Ruler needed to make a big show of Maddox’s trial and execution. If the poor knew about the Grand Ruler’s and Lucious’ agreement, they would surely revolt.

Iris glanced down at her blue source stone. Iris had long ago come to terms with the part she played in the azure trade and it had caused her to develop a self-hatred that she nurtured. Iris reasoned her choices for survival had been limited and at least she had been able to keep Cora alive. What the Grand Ruler was doing was far worse. She inhaled the steamy air and cleared her mind. She needed to focus on a plan to free Maddox. The small amount of freedom that she had gained via her new position working for Ezekiel was essential. She would continue working with Ezekiel as if nothing had happened the night before. This evening she would visit the stables and replace Julian. She had to know if he had recognized her the other night and what his plans were. Iris got out of water and changed into the simple brown kitchen dress that she loathed. After last night’s adventures her blouse needed to be washed. She pulled her boot on to her left foot, her right foot was so swollen it barely fit into her boot and she was only able to loosely lace it. The dress and boots did not go well together but her ankle could use the extra support the boot provided for her. She braided her wet hair and left her blouse to be laundered.

She forced herself to walk to Ezekiel’s study without limping. She couldn’t let him know of her injury, there was no way for her to explain it. When she reached Ezekiel’s study sweat beaded at her forehead from the effort and her jaw was clenched in pain.

Ezekiel looked up at her from his desk. “You look unwell, are you okay?”

Iris sat heavily on the couch. “Just what every woman wants to hear in the morning. I didn’t sleep last night; every time I closed my eyes, I was back in the mines.”

There was a sadness in Ezekiel’s eyes, she hated when people pitied her, but she needed to come up with some excuse for her haggard appearance.

Ezekiel cleared his throat, “I wanted to talk to you about yesterday.”

Had Ezekiel found out about her late-night explorations? His eyes fell to her lips. Thoughts of what had xhappened on the couch yesterday flooded her mind, and heat rose along the back of her neck.

“We don’t need to talk about it, it was a lapse in judgment,” Iris blurted out. “Since I am now officially your assistant, we should keep our relationship professional.”

Ezekiel’s face dropped, “Of course you are probably right. I hope that you will at least consider me a friend though.”

“I will consider it,” Iris said as she stood up and held her hand out to Ezekiel.

Ezekiel stood from his desk and grasped her hand firmly in his. His soft hand warm against hers. Their eyes met, the heated stare between them was more than friendly. Iris dropped his hand and stepped back.

“So, boss, what is the plan for today?”

Ezekiel had a desk and chair from the library brought into his study for her. He gestured for her to follow him to her desk and discussed how he would like her to copy all the fraudulent transactions and the corresponding details so that they were organized in one place. Iris sat down at her new desk and got to it; she was thankful for the mindless work. As she worked quietly besides Ezekiel, she was able to breathe a little easier around the anger that she still held within her.

They shared lunch together and Ezekiel even managed to make her smile with a story about one of his escapades in Scarlet Town.

It was late in the day and the sun was low in the sky.

“I am done for the day,” Ezekiel said. “I can have dinner sent to your room.”

“Thank you, I would appreciate that.” Iris nodded goodbye and awkwardly moved to the door.

The constant throbbing in her ankle had slightly eased after spending the entire day sitting. The pain returned fully by the time she made it to her room. If she lay down on her bed she wouldn’t get up until morning. She pulled her dress over her head and put on her clean blouse. It was a struggle to tug off her boots and pull her leggings over her swollen ankle. Having changed, she put her boots back on and made her way to the stables. Samson clung closely to her as she walked, the pain was excruciating, and her limp was evident by the time she plopped on a bale of hay in front of the stables. A groom who was cleaning one of the carriages looked at her with suspicion. Samson pranced off into the stables as if he owned the place. Iris was still catching her breath when Samson returned with a piece of jerky in his mouth and Julian in tow. Julian smirked at the sight of Iris. Iris failed to avert her eyes at the sight of a shirtless Julian. The setting sunlight caused the sweat to glisten on the well-defined muscles of his chest and abdomen. Iris’ eyes dropped further to appreciate the angled muscles that led below the waist of his pants. She quickly lifted her eyes to see his smirk turn into a grin.

“Have you returned to feed Tempest another apple?” Julian asked as he grabbed his shirt from where it hung on the side of the stables. Iris was relieved when he pulled the shirt over his head and tucked it into his pants.

“I would love to, but I actually came to speak with you.”

“Now, did you?” amusement filled his honey-colored eyes.

Iris turned her head and glanced at the groom cleaning the carriage. Julian understood her need for privacy. “Come on, let’s head into the stables and you can feed Tempest that apple.”

Iris forced herself to stand without grimacing and walked, hiding her limp as best as she could. Once inside the stables Julian motioned to a bench for Iris to sit.

“Please sit Iris, it’s painful for me to watch you pretend not to limp.”

Iris growled and sat down.

“How did you even manage to hurt yourself? Working with Ezekiel must be more strenuous than I thought.”

Iris glared at him and leaned back against the wall crossing her arms over her chest. Did he really not recognize her the other night? Julian looked down at her from where he stood. Mimicking her he crossed his arms across his chest. The position accentuated the strength of his biceps.

“Or maybe you hurt yourself when you knocked me on my ass the other night? My tailbone is still very sore by the way.”

Iris tensed and raised an eyebrow. “Why haven’t you told anyone?”

He tilted his head, gazing at her. “You interest me Iris, and I wanted to see what you planned to do with the rope.”

Despite the tension in her muscles Iris kept herself from straightening. She wouldn’t let Julian intimidate her. Her voice even as she spoke. “And have you figured out what I plan to do?”

“I am thinking you have already used it, which is how you hurt yourself.”

“Maybe I hurt myself like you said, dropping your heavy ass to the ground.”

“If you had truly injured yourself when you took my legs out from under me, I don’t think you would have been able to run as fast as you did.”

“Why would I tell you my plans?”

Julian unfolded his arms, stepping towards her. He bent down caging her with his arms, his hands placed on the bench on either side of her thighs. Iris leaned forward to meet his stare, their faces inches apart. “Because if I can’t figure out what you did with the rope then maybe I will lose interest in you and there will be nothing stopping me from informing the Inspectors on what I saw.” The amusement was gone from his honey-colored eyes. Iris’ nostrils flared with his smell of sweat and leather.

“Are you threatening me?” Iris snarled.

Julian’s eyes sparked with excitement at Iris’ ferocity. They stayed locked in their position, inches apart, breathing the same air for several breaths. Julian straightened, returning to his previous position with his arms crossed over his chest. “Iris, you do know how to keep my interest.”

Iris scoffed. She didn’t know what to make of Julian, but he already knew enough to get her thrown into the dungeon. She decided to give him some information to keep him at bay.

“I used the rope to sneak into Capitol Hall last night. On my way out, I fell and landed wrong.”

“I guess I will have to use my imagination to figure out how you were able to break into the Capitol Hall using only a rope. What I would really like to know is why you would risk sneaking into the Capitol Hall. My guess would be to break into the dungeon.”

Iris kept her face neutral, refusing to give him anything.

“Considering your suspicious arrival to the Palace was only a week after a man was gravely injured and arrested during the seizure of a large shipment of azure, I would bet it was him who you hoped to replace in the dungeons.”

Iris’ jaw twitched. “That is quite the theory, and how do you think I convinced Ezekiel to bring me to the Palace?”

“I could think of a couple of ways,” Julian said with a wink.

They stared silently at each other, and the seconds stretched by. Julian unfolded his arms running his thumb along his jaw in thought. Before he finally broke the silence “I can see you are not going to give me any more information.”

“Brains and muscles, what a surprise!” Iris said dryly.

Julian chuckled “Fine, I will tell you a secret in exchange for more information.”

Iris gave him a hard stare back. She had found that the less one said in situations like this, the more the other person felt compelled to compensate.

Julian pulled a small dagger from his boot. Iris’ body tensed ready to fight. He then lifted his left arm and wedged the dagger beneath his blue source stone. The stone popped out of his cuff and fell to the ground. Iris’ jaw dropped. A source stone could not be removed from a cuff and even if it could a person would die once disconnected from it.

Julian was unphased, he bent down to the ground and picked up the stone. He wiped the dirt off the stone with his shirt and handed it to Iris. She turned it over in her hands, the stone maintained the clear blue color that it had when attached to his cuff.

“How?”

“It’s not actually source stone, it’s just glass.” Julian retrieved the stone from her hands and fitted it back into his cuff. He took a step back from Iris and leaned against the stable across from her. The horse in the stable didn’t care to acknowledge him. Julian gazed at Iris, intently studying her reaction.

“I don’t understand, how are you alive without a source stone?”

“As long as our life source is not taken from us to begin with, we don’t need the source stone to live.” Seeing her continued confusion, Julian pressed forward. “There is a network of people in Orinth who stand in opposition with the government. They do not believe in the use of source stones. When I was fourteen, I was smuggled out of Orinth to Volos before I could have a source stone placed.”

“But don’t the people of Volos wear source stones?”

“No, the people of Volos are free from the shackles of having to earn each year of life.”

“If they do not use the source stones for the transfer of life source from one human to another, then why do they purchase so much source stone from the Amarath Mines? I have seen the ledgers; I know Volos’ demand for the source stone is great.”

“Volos has other uses for it. Before I tell you more, I need to know who you are, Iris, and what your plans are. I believe you will replace me useful in helping you get what you want.”

“As you hope to replace me useful in getting what you want?”

Julian’s only response was a mischievous grin.

Iris took a moment to consider the situation. She needed help if she was going to free Maddox. The information that Julian had given her was enough to have him executed. Julian had ensured that they knew enough about each other so that there was no choice but to trust him and for him to trust her.

“I grew up in Scarlet Town, the azure shipment was set up by me and was mine to sell for distribution. The man who was captured is my second and I plan to free him.” Iris kept her plans for Lucious a secret.

“What of your time in the mines?”

Iris ignored his question, “If you escaped to Volos, what are you doing back here in Orinth?”

“Fair enough, I am a spy for Volos. Volos has a particular interest in the Amarath Mines.”

“And what do you want from me?”

“Information, your work with Ezekiel gives you access to invaluable information about the mines.”

The thought of betraying Ezekiel caused the sharp taste of guilt to rise in the back of her throat. Guilt was an emotion Iris had grown used to.

“What do I get in return?”

“I will help you free your man from the prisons. But first as a token of goodwill, please let me help you with your ankle.”

Iris looked at him skeptically. Julian walked to the end of the stable and returned carrying a stool. He set the stool down in front of Iris and sat facing her. “Come on let me have a look, I have some first aid training.”

Iris leaned back and reluctantly lifted her right leg. He gingerly took her foot in his calloused hands and carefully removed her boot and stocking. Julian whistled at the site of her swollen ankle that was in the process of turning a deep shade of purple. He gently moved his hands along her foot and ankle feeling for a break. Iris inhaled sharply from the pain as he flexed and extended her ankle.

Julian grimaced “Sorry, it doesn’t appear to be broken though, just badly sprained.”

“I have always been lucky,” Iris grumbled.

“It should be splinted, and ideally you should keep weight off of it for several weeks.”

“That is not going to happen, the trial is in two weeks and the execution directly after.”

Julian didn’t argue. “At least let me splint it.” Julian got up again, setting her foot back on the stool. She heard him rummaging in the back of the stables; he returned with a long leather strap and a thin piece of wood. He held the piece of wood up to ankle.

“I will be back; I just need to cut this.”

Julian stepped outside and Iris heard a loud thwack. Julian came back into the stables holding two narrow pieces of wood. He took his place again on the stool and placed Iris’ foot on his knee. Julian then held the pieces of wood on either side of her ankle while he wrapped the leather strap around her foot and ankle.

Iris eyes watched Julian’s hands move with a practiced confidence. “What kind of information do you need about the mines?”

Julian didn’t look up from his work as he answered, “Anything that you can copy from the accounts and ledgers associated with the mines could potentially be useful. The man being held in the dungeons, why risk so much to save him? Is he your lover?”

Iris glared at him. A year after Maddox had started working for Iris, they had had sex several times, but Iris put an end to it. The sex wasn’t good enough to make up for the strain it caused on their working relationship. She and Maddox were better as friends anyways. In working together Maddox and Iris had found themselves in difficult situations and Maddox had proven his loyalty to Iris each time. She knew if she were the one in prison, he would be working to free her.

Iris didn’t feel the need to explain the complexities of her and Maddox’s relationship to Julian.

“My reasons aren’t important.”

“What is going on here?” a familiar voice demanded.

Both Julian and Iris turned to see Ezekiel standing at the entrance of the stable, his form silhouetted against the fading sunlight.

“Ezekiel we were just talking about you,” Julian drawled.

Ezekiel walked into the stable, a muscle in his temple twitching when he took in Iris’ splinted swollen ankle. “Iris what happened?”

Iris was searching for an explanation when Julian spoke, “Iris came to the stable and told me she wanted to learn how to ride a horse. She asked so nicely that I couldn’t decline her request. I should have though, because she fell from the horse on her very first attempt and here we are.” As Julian spoke, he finished wrapping the splint and tucked the end of the leather strap.

“I don’t think your foot will fit in your boot with the splint on.” Julian moved his hand up to her calf, letting his hand linger before lifting her foot off of his knee so she could put it back down on the ground.

Iris turned to look at Ezekiel; his eyes were almost bulging out of his head.

Julian coughed. “Can I help you with something, Ezekiel, do you need a carriage readied?”

“No, I actually came to the stables looking for Iris.” Ezekiel turned to Iris, “You seemed so exhausted when you left the study, I wanted to make sure your dinner was delivered to your room and you didn’t need anything else.”

Julian responded with mock admiration, “I must say Ezekiel, you are a very attentive boss.”

Iris rolled her eyes at Julian and looked at Ezekiel. “Since you are here you might as well help me up and escort me back to my room.”

Ezekiel gave her a half smile, “I can carry you if need me to.”

Iris narrowed her eyes at Ezekiel, “Don’t you dare, falling off the horse was humiliating enough.”

Ezekiel offered his hand and helped Iris stand. He was too tall for her to put her arm around his neck for support so she stood beside him and wrapped an arm around his waist. Ezekiel placed his hand firmly on her side for support his fingers resting just below her breast. Iris willed herself not to think of how it had felt to have his hands moving over her breast the day before. With Ezekiel supporting much of Iris’ weight she hobbled out of the stables. She turned back to look at Julian and he winked. “Come back when you are ready for another riding lesson.”

“I thought you were tired; I can’t believe you tried to learn how to ride a horse today,” Ezekiel reprimanded.

“Well, when you don’t have much time to live, there is no time like the present.”

Ezekiel dropped his gaze in shame. “As long as you are with me, I will always make sure you get another year of life, you don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

Iris caught Ezekiel’s stare; she didn’t have anything to say in response. His statement lifted a burden from her shoulders, but it had also stoked her anger. She hated the idea of relying on Ezekiel for another year of life. Instead, she focused on her pain, “I really need to get some crutches.”

“I will have some made for you, you can also take the next couple of days off.”

Iris shook her head, “No I prefer to work; it’s not like sitting at a desk all day is strenuous on my ankle.”

Iris’ body was weak with exhaustion by the time she reached her room. She remained consistent in her refusal to be carried and Ezekiel was practically dragging her. She said her goodbyes to Ezekiel and closed her door behind her. A tray of food had been placed on her small dresser, but Iris was too tired to eat. Iris sank down onto her bed looking up at her ceiling. Now that she could finally rest, she was overwhelmed with the information that she had learned from Julian.

Volos had a society that existed without the cuff system. People worked and experienced life without the strain of worrying about how they would live another year. There were likely still rich and poor people but they all had relatively the same life span. It was hard for Iris to comprehend it. It now made sense to her why the traders of Volos were not allowed to leave their ships at the docks. If the people of Orinth learned that there was a society that had found a different way, Iris wasn’t sure what the effect would be. If Volos didn’t use source stone to hold life source, then what were they using it for? Iris sighed, what was going on in Volos wasn’t her concern, she needed to stay focused on rescuing Maddox and exacting her revenge on Lucious.

Samson leapt through the window and headed over to her dresser, picking through her dinner. Iris drifted off into a deep sleep with Samson stretched out beside her. Iris didn’t dream of the mines, or of her family being murdered, she dreamt of a life in Volos.