Page 25 of What Fury Brings (Wrath and Fury #1)

Andrastus dragged his feet as they returned to the carriage.

Olerra bought him lunch, though he didn’t eat it.

She wasn’t surprised that he’d lost his appetite after their last stop.

She enjoyed the chicken skewers on her own, handing out the extras to anyone on the street who looked hungry.

The prince was quiet, which she knew by now was not his natural state.

She worried for him but left him to his thoughts.

He didn’t speak until the carriage was halfway back to the palace.

“Why did you show me that? So I would know what awaits me should I misbehave again?”

She turned to him in alarm. “Andrastus, no. No. I told you. We believe the punishment should fit the crime. The point was to show you the ugliest side of both your gender and mine. To punish you by making you watch, yes. But you would never be sentenced to such a thing unless you first committed the crime.”

He didn’t seem convinced.

“Let me remind you that you lost your breakfast when you learned of the man’s crimes. Not when you saw what happened to him. Did you think the punishment unfitting?”

“That man is permanently scarred,” Andrastus said.

“And you think the children he hurt aren’t? Their scars might be internal, but they are still there and just as lasting.”

Silence spread between them, but Olerra broke it once more.

“One thing I wish I could make men understand,” she said, “is empathy. Most men will never understand the horrors of rape. It happens, but not nearly so often to them. So most never even think of it. You do not realize the pain and shame and fear that women in the world carry with them.”

“But in Amarra, surely that doesn’t happen often,” he said.

“No, not often. But it was only five hundred years ago that our goddess blessed her daughters with her strength. It was not so long ago that we don’t remember the way things were, especially when we can still see it in our neighbors.

So many women flee to our borders to escape their lives.

We make room for them. Because this is a place where all women should feel safe and cared for.

And not just them, but all the minorities: amise, madae, madereo, madorn, siro, turé, and even sirem, who are not revered as they are in our country. ”

The prince said, “Everyone except men with a preference for women.”

“You’re learning.”

“So I’m to be hated and treated like trash because of my preference for women?”

Olerra leaned forward until their knees were touching.

She was pleased that he didn’t move away from her.

“No. If you let me, Andrastus, I would be so good to you. I only wanted to help you understand. To punish you, yes, but, more importantly, to help you compare your country to mine and see the world through our eyes. I’m not saying it’s right.

Just that there is a reason for it. Most in my country believe that if we don’t dominate men, then they will go right back to oppressing us.

We must behave this way to protect ourselves. ”

Quieter, she asked, “What reason is there for the way the men of your country treat women?”

He didn’t answer.

When they returned to the palace, Sanos was relieved, thinking that would be that, but no, she had one more torture for him to endure that evening.

“Who the fuck is that?” he demanded.

A woman was waiting in his room. On his bedside table, she unrolled a leather case containing all manner of needles. There was also a bucket of ice, a burning candle, and vials of ointments.

“Sit,” Olerra instructed. When he resisted, she motioned for the eunuchs to strap him to his bed. He fought, but as usual, it did no good when he was so outnumbered.

“I’m honored that you sent for me,” the new woman said. She looked to be in her mid-thirties and was riddled with tattoos on her throat and arms.

“Thank you for coming, Ersha. We’re going to do a single piercing on the right lobe, I think.”

Piercing. Only now Sanos recalled her saying that word earlier. He hadn’t associated it with this, because why in the world would it mean this ?

His protests went ignored.

“And for the earring?” Ersha asked.

“Let’s do an onyx stud, please.”

“To match the armband. How perfect.”

Sanos watched her bring a hollow needle into his line of sight. She held it over the candle flame first. Then she put some sort of ointment on it. She cleaned his ear with the same ointment, using a warm rag.

“Ready?” the piercer asked him.

“Fuck off.”

“Breathe in,” she instructed. “And breathe out.”

“Fuck!”

“Just a moment more,” Ersha said.

He felt a lesser pinch, which must have been the earring going in. Then came the ice, which soothed his heated skin.

“Keep it clean. Use these vials twice a day. You know the routine,” the piercer said.

Olerra leaned over him to inspect his ear. Ersha removed the ice for her.

“Oh, it’s beautiful.”

Beautiful.

That was not a word one should use to describe a man.

Certainly not the crown prince of Brutus.

“I love it, Ersha. Thank you!” Olerra said.

She hugged the woman. Hugged her.

Then they both left.

Sanos fumed in the empty room. He stared at the ceiling, and he was surprised that his thoughts quickly drifted from his mutilated ear. It didn’t hurt at all anymore. Not even when he tilted his head to lay his right ear on the pillow.

Which meant he was left to think on other things. If the story Olerra shared with him was true, then the women of Amarra had made themselves cruel and heartless to retaliate against the abuses of men. Sounded like an excuse to be cruel and heartless. To justify doing bad things.

But the question she’d asked earlier rang in his mind.

What reason is there for the way the men of your country treat women?

Because they could.

Because no one had the power to stop them.

So how could he blame the Amarrans for what they’d done to protect themselves? What he’d seen today was no worse than what he’d witnessed in his own country. The only difference was that the victims were men. It hit harder because it was his own sex being hurt.

Olerra was forcing him to question so much.

Gods, he needed to get out of this place.

Olerra didn’t come for him in the morning. The eunuchs dressed him as usual, thankfully in more clothing now that he wasn’t being punished, and then they took him to what one of them called the gymnasium, which he vaguely remembered Olerra mentioning on their travels to Amarra.

It was entirely bizarre.

Sanos hadn’t thought about what the husbands and consorts did all day while the women went about their work. He never would have pictured this, though.

It was a series of massive rooms with vaulted ceilings.

In one, a track went along the outskirts of the room, and men were jogging it.

In the center, weight lifting equipment of all kinds was spaced evenly apart.

Mirrors covered most of the walls, and Sanos drew closer to one so he could inspect his ear.

He blinked. It didn’t… look terrible. The onyx was small, and he thought it gave him a slight roguish appearance. Gods, but his father would hate it, and that thought made Sanos like it more.

He shouldn’t like it at all, but he reasoned that if he ripped it out, Olerra would only have someone put it back in. He would leave it untouched.

For now.

Continuing his exploration, Sanos found padded chairs and tables in another room. Some of the men played cards or dice. Others simply lounged, talking with one another, drinks or food in hand.

As he traversed deeper, he found a room with easels and paint. Needles and thread. Another with gardening supplies and a glass ceiling. A library with settees and thousands upon thousands of books. Everywhere he went were all manner of arts and crafts to entertain.

His personal escort followed him at a distance, relaxing against the walls of whatever room he chose to occupy.

They weren’t the only eunuchs in attendance.

Many oversaw the activities taking place.

Sanos picked them out because they were the only men who didn’t wear armbands.

There were also female guards, relaxed yet holding spears.

He had a feeling it wasn’t because anyone tried to escape. No, they were there to break up fights.

Sanos had no intention of causing trouble, and he wasn’t there to make friends.

He was biding his time until he could make his escape.

Keeping his body fit seemed to be the best course of action.

He headed for the weights first. The week in the cart and nights spent practically immovable had taken their toll.

He started with his arms, lifting heavy weights until they were too sore to move.

Then he did the muscles of his legs, lying back on a machine and pressing up weights with his feet.

He paused to stretch and get some water before deciding a jog might be nice.

He didn’t know what the Amarrans did to keep the interior of the gymnasium so much cooler than outside, but it felt nice.

After his first loop, another man joined him on the track.

He didn’t have to turn his head. Sanos could see the bulk of him out of the corner of his eye.

Athon.

Sanos welcomed his appearance, especially since the man’s limp was gone. He thought they might run in silence together. Or that Athon might wish to thank him for the things he’d said. Perhaps he might find a soul who hated this place as much as he did.

“Could you stop being such a prick?” were the first words out of Athon’s mouth.

Sanos almost tripped over his own feet. “Excuse me?”

“You think yourself better than me.”

“No—”

“Save it,” Athon snarled. “Glenaerys chose me. I am honored to be hers. I don’t need you speaking like you know anything about us.”

“I wasn’t.”

“You think you’re special because you have Olerra? Because she’s nice? Glen is going to be queen one day. I will be the envy of every man.”

“Except the thirty others who are also sharing her bed.”