The Pathos of Rowan Jun (Pathos, Volume 1) SIGNED PAPERBACK with SWAG and NEW COVER!

1: QUELLTRUTH

Little Ayli was born a slave, like every other human aboard the Slaveship QuellTruth. Rowan Jun gazed into Ayli’s big hazel eyes, saw them crinkle with her innocent smile. He pressed his lips into a tight line. She should never know the snap of a whip on her shoulders nor the humiliation of being inspected like livestock. Rowan ground his teeth, knowing that her treatment would be so much worse as a female. Rowan wanted Ayli to grow up free. She had a chance to do that, but only if he acted soon.

Rowan listened to the infant’s coo, watched her perfect face scrunch up right before she yawned. He held her in his arms so awkwardly, unfamiliar with much in the way of human touch. He stared at her tiny hand as it wound around his finger. How could this perfect thing ever be considered property?

“Out, now, slave,” ordered the Slaver. He gave a point-toothed smirk behind his sallow skin. “You’ve been outside your cell for too long. Imelda will be concerned that you may strain those dark eyes or bruise your perfect skin.” The towering figure laughed heartily, his yellow eyes closed tight, and his green face tilted back. His long black braids shaking with his movement.

Rowan bit his lips together by habit. Without a word, he stood and carefully placed the child in her mother’s waiting arms. The woman nodded an unspoken acknowledgment to him. The ghost of a smile alighted on her lips. The purple splotches beneath her elegantly upturned, dark eyes betrayed her exhaustion. Ayli was his mother’s seventh child in as many cycles, and only the second with his father as sire, making Ayli Rowan’s full sister. At that birth rate, though, Rowan knew her body would give out before her willpower ran its course.

He left the room, feeling his mother’s eyes on him, as little Ayli cried. Don’t give the Slaver reason to suspect you. One foot in front of the other. Step lively. Get where you’re going. Don’t dawdle. Don’t speak unless questioned. And never tell the full truth. He repeated his self-made instructions like a mantra in his mind. It helped him focus on what was to come, instead of the captivity before him.

“Move, now, Breeder!”

An olive-colored, black-clawed hand on his shoulder, an unexpected shove. Rowan realized he had stopped outside the huge plate window into his mother’s cell, catching a glimpse of Ayli, committing her beautiful face to memory. He stepped forward obediently, suppressing how the Slaver’s words rankled him. A breeder he would indeed be if he stayed here, creating child after child fated to slavery aboard the human slaveship QuellTruth, then sacrificed to the mysterious and terrifying fate of those who are purchased from the Slavers for purposes beyond Rowan’s full understanding.

He moved on, again maintaining his silence and, as the Slaver perceived, his ignorance. The Gangre-tan employed by the Slavemaster as his Slavers possessed all the tact of a metal floor panel, and half the use. These had about the same intelligence, as well. Rowan heard rumors of elite Gangre-tan fighters taking over and occupying entire cities with far fewer numbers than occupied the QuellTruth. But Slavemaster Imelda’s employees were just big, strong, and dumb.

Occasionally, they reveled in a power trip and he set them to rights for damaging company property. But overall, he only permitted them to be violent when unleashed by the Slavemaster for his own reasons. Rowan simply knew his limits when dealing with them.

The cold metal shocked his bare feet with each step, sobering his thoughts. The Insurgency he led swelled in numbers among the surly youth who had never seen the green of a mountain nor the blue of the sky with their own eyes. Just like Rowan. They often spoke of how the metal above and below felt like a cage that shrank with each passing day. Their hopes and dreams rested on his shoulders as much as their strength in numbers made his lofty plans possible. They placed complete trust in his ideals, it seemed. Smothering though their expectations felt, he remembered the shining eyes of his biological sister and knew her freedom would be worth any price.

Deep in conversation with his cellmates a short time later, he discussed his next step in moving forward with the Insurgency. When the opportunity arose, he would use his stolen access codes for the navigation module and adjust course.

“We will make for whatever free planet we’re near,” he whispered, with a glint in his eyes born of determination, “and by their planetside rules, we should be liberated.”

The stern young faces around him flashed with excitement. One young man leaned forward with a harsh whisper. “I should be able to access the manifest tomorrow, when I’m scheduled to serve on the bridge. I’ll know then where we are headed.”

“Good, Cadin,” Rowan answered. “We have but one chance, with the right free planet, so we must gain every bit of information we can to act at the right time.”

Rowan cut his voice when a Slaver banged on the door with a thick fist. “Slavemaster wants to see Rowan Jun. Now.”

“Yeah,” Rowan said with a bright tone, eyeing his co-conspirators warily as he stood to comply. “She’s absolutely beautiful. Hazel eyes and my mother’s smile. Surely, she’ll be an asset aboard the QuellTruth!” He doubted the dumb Gangre-tan would catch the acid Rowan infused in that last line, nor the instant change of subject he employed.

“Now, Breeder.” The Slaver slid open the door with a frustrated sigh. “Keep your thoughts from the Slavemaster’s property, lest he takes notice.” His yellow eyes gleamed even in the brightness of the white room.
Rowan followed obediently, dropping his chin to his chest in a fake show of submission. He stared at his bare feet, counting each step until he stood before the Slavemaster’s quarters. He raised his eyes on the closed door, waiting for the monster to answer the Slaver’s rapping on the door.

At long last, after several moments and muffled sounds behind the door, Dargin Imelda stood before them in all his casual finery—an open red velvet robe, darkened loose-fitting pants of soft material, and sandals that tied at the ankle. He took a long draught of the purple liquid from the glass stemware in his hand. He tossed back his long brown hair and, with a grand gesture, indicated that Rowan should enter.

“It’s been a long time, my lovely,” Imelda said, his velvet voice crawling under Rowan’s skin.

“Less than five days, Slavemaster,” Rowan whispered, his voice held even and smooth.

“Ah, I must’ve forgotten.” Imelda pursed his lips and stared deep into the wine in his glass. “Work has kept me busy beyond measure of late!”

“Work?” Rowan snarled. “Do you mean the business of trading your fellow humans for financial gain?”

“Ah, that spirit rises in you again! I terribly miss our discussions, Rowan Jun.” Imelda eyed him with genuine mirth. “The concept of a human selling humans still seems bizarre to you, though you were born to it?”

Rowan shrugged, accustomed to such candid discourse. Imelda’s ego allowed him the luxury of humor to distract him from Rowan’s real motives. The man seemed to enjoy Rowan’s jabs at his profession, having Rowan disciplined only twice regarding his sharp tongue.

Two men—Imelda’s constantly attending slaves—cleared Imelda’s enormous bed and placed clean sheets on the surface. They wore underwear and sheared their heads for his preference. Their hollow expressions displayed neither pain nor discontent. He saw nothing of the several, much younger slaves Imelda kept for his humor. Rowan suppressed a shiver of fear.

“I have pressing chores this afternoon,” Rowan said, allowing his annoyance to surface. He stood at attention in the center of the large room. “What brings me before the Slavemaster today?”

“Concise, as always.” Imelda laughed, throwing his head back in a carefree way. “Very well. I understand that your sire and dam produced their first mutual offspring, since you, today?”

Rowan’s stomach churned. “Yes, that is my understanding as well.”

“A lovely product, I do believe.” Imelda studied Rowan. “She will make a fine breeder one day.”

“No doubt.” Rowan forced his tone to be level. “She is from the finest stock aboard the QuellTruth, in my understanding.”

Imelda laughed. “I suppose you are encouraged to believe just that. Which brings me to my point. I believe that both this new property and you are the future of my breeding program here on the QuellTruth! I have reports of perfect health and incredible genetic results in both of you.”

“I don’t follow, Slavemaster.”

“Well, the combination of physical beauty and spirit in a slave is of great interest to my investors and clients. You’re my future, Rowan Jun! You’ll lead the QuellTruth Program into a glorious new direction. We’ve tried to duplicate what we’ve achieved in you, and now finally we have a female.”

“I see,” Rowan answered. His stomach roiled in protest to what Imelda implied.

“Oh, I doubt you see just yet,” Imelda said, gloating over the secrets of his great human trafficking operation. “But soon.”

“Ah,” Rowan managed past the fear in his throat. “Then soon, Slavemaster.”

“Yes, Rowan Jun.” Imelda leaned into his face, his chest rising and falling. Rowan closed his eyes. “I’ve received some hefty offers for you, just as you are. But I wanted to tell you personally, that I’ve turned them all down. And do you know why?”

Rowan shook his head, feigning ignorance.

“Because you are mine, and shall be mine until the day I die.” Imelda’s voice came sweetly and calmly, a mere statement of fact.

Rowan shivered inside, his nervous stomach tensing. Then die, he thought fervently. The only thing worse than being sold as a slave was being kept aboard this horrid ship as the personal property of Dargin Imelda.

“Now don’t think you get that gift for free, Rowan Jun.” Imelda studied his face. “You will still be considered a breeder, but in a much more expansive system. A true position of honor. How does it feel knowing that generations of perfect property will be created from your seed?”

“I…I have no words to express how that makes me feel, Slavemaster.” Never tell the whole truth, Rowan repeated in his mind. “No words at all.”

“Speechless, for once? I’m impressed!” Imelda drained his glass and dismissed him. “When you reach the age of maturity in the next cycle, we’ll convene for a more formal meeting.”

“Yes, Slavemaster.”

And then, to Rowan’s immense relief, Imelda dismissed him to leave by the escort of the Slaver waiting outside the door. Again, he stared at his feet, counting the steps and turns until he stood outside his cell again.

The Slaver didn’t talk to him this time, which was just as good, since Rowan sank deep into thought. Rowan’s mind felt tangled with threats of fathering masses of slaves. His sister’s future threatened by a worse fate than simple slavery—by the same fate of his Breeder mother—Rowan let the sense of urgency refine his plan to lead all ten thousand souls aboard the QuellTruth to freedom.

He patiently waited for the next day, which would bring word from Cadin on their current trajectory in space. He waited, and he planned.

THE PATHOS SERIES:

Tamara Henson's ever-expanding Pathos universe spans space and dimensions beyond the waking world to bring fresh life to mythologies, folklore, and legends, spinning epic original locations and memorable, multi-dimensional characters in rich detail with her playful dialogue and direct writing style.

Join Rowan Jun in his path toward redemption from slave to warrior. Walk the path of Briescha, a born diplomat so dedicated to her sister that she would shatter the cosmos to keep her safe.

Follow Solana into the wilderness as she escapes those who seek to harm her, and follows the voice of the mysterious Taiyo of the Flames.

Let Ariana guide you through her new life in the Mansion in the Mountain, where the mystery of her family is finally revealed, and her true trial begins. 

Tread the path toward life and redemption, where suffering and pain hold the promise of a brighter, more joyful future.

The Pathos Series!

Seek out all these books in the Pathos Series:

The Pathos of Rowan Jun (Pathos, Volume 1)

Silver Empress (Pathos, Volume 2)

Solana: A Pathos Sidetrack (Companion Novella)

Ariana: A Pathos Sidetrack (Companion Novella)