About Brown: Grisaille in Sand and Sunset
by Molly Church
43 pages / 20100 words
ISBN: 978-1-60370-978-1
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc, epub, and Sony Reader pdf
Corvo is a historian working for the Tiberian government diplomatic
service when he's sent to the planet Biryan to make peace between his
homeworld and the Biryani nation of Balcon. The peace-making process
presents problems -- and potential -- of its own, in the person of Ardán.
Ardán is the Balcon sacrifice offered to Corvo as a slave in order to
assure peace. While Corvo knows he must accept this man as his slave, it
is not the way of his people and he must balance carefully between his
morals and his duty to keep the peace. Will he be able to navigate the
diplomatic waters without setting off any mines?
Sample
The sun had risen and was warming the valley when Corvo saw the glimmer
in the sky.
All eyes turned toward it, and behind him, he could hear guards confirming
the glimmer as a Tiberian squadron.
The shuttle carrying his mother was small, though Corvo was surprised to
discover it was small enough to fit inside the Residence walls. The pilot
put it down only long enough for his mother to disembark, dressed in
civilian clothes, but with her military decorations on full display on a
hip-sash. Her hair, normally worn loose, was pinned up severely, in the most
formal style. She looked, he thought, a bit like the warlords of old -- and
perhaps that had been a calculated choice.
As she swept up the purple silk that lay on the on the warming sand, Corvo
hoped someone was watching, and regretting, very much, the decision to
attack the Tiberian Embassy.
She greeted him briefly, formally, and moved past. He caught a glimpse of
her about face out of the corner of his eye, and heard the tiniest rustle as
she sat down, the only person present who would be allowed to do so.
The costuming was Tiberian, it was true -- but the script was Biryani.
Almost immediately, at a discreet distance, a Balconite ship came to rest.
All breathing stilled for a moment as the hatch on the shuttle opened. In
matching pairs, Balconite soldiers marched out, and formed twin columns
facing their enemies. Then, from the darkness, emerged the final figure,
dressed, like the Tiberians, in his own national costume, a style borrowed
heavily from gladiatorial armor.
The young man barely paused as he disembarked, striding across the sand as
though his destiny was one of his own choosing.
Well, we are all putting on a quite a performance for one another, aren't
we? Corvo thought. Still, it was hard not to get swept up in it; as the boy
passed his guards he began to strip, as though entirely unconscious of the
audience. He unbuckled his baldric, tossing it aside. Strong hands worked
the straps at his shoulders; the torso piece, too, was flung aside. No
greaves covered his legs, though his sandals laced to the knee, but the ones
on his arms were discarded like everything else. Then, without slowing, the
boy unfastened the short quilted silk tunic that protected his skin from his
armor, and pulled it over his head.
Dressed only in sandals and skirt, he passed under the arch and into the
courtyard of the palace.
Corvo, mesmerized by the performance, moved toward him. The boy -- young
man, really -- was stunningly beautiful, Corvo saw. His face was youthful,
it was true, but bearded slightly, around the mouth. His curled hair was
cropped, but not too short. His muscles were large and strong, and had
flexed beautifully as he'd stripped.
It occurred to Corvo to wonder if this slave had been chosen for him
carefully, and if so, why. He filed that thought away for later.
The boy came to a stop in front of Corvo, not two arm-lengths away.
Silently, he pulled a ring -- a signet ring, Corvo realized from its size
and design -- and thrust it toward Corvo. Proof of credentials, Corvo
thought with a pang. He accepted it with a bare glance. It bore the seal of
Zer Darah, contained inside a beveled border. Corvo raised his eyes back to
the boy's, and the boy stepped back a pace, and smoothly dropped to his
knees.