Property of Kimra Lelanst, do not duplicate without consent.
Kalika was on edge as she left the prophets caves. Her stomach fluttered with nerves she hadn’t felt for years. She had forgotten what it was like to be afraid, strange as it seemed but through the entire ordeal of being in the enemy’s camp she had not experienced this kind of fear before. This was a lingering fear, the kind that made her want to look over her shoulder every step she took to be certain she wasn’t being followed. It was a fear she was so used to that it made her despise the feeling all the more.
The tiny tears where still trickling down her checks. Of course the fear wouldn’t have sustained her wretched emotions on it’s own, so confusion and memories had decided to take up their parts in tormenting her. As she pushed through the thick foliage she could do little but remember Iria’de’cen’s words. They swam through her mind like a foreboding warning she couldn’t prevent and a part of her tried to demand why she would try and prevent it.
Like some omnipotent creature wanted to punish her for existing she found herself repeatedly wondering if anyone had heard the creature. She wouldn’t have minded everything else, but her name… It had rang through her jumbled thoughts with alacrity and honesty, ready to betray her the second the opportunity arose. She couldn’t help but remember that it was Seres lair, a place he had been discussing things with his spy only days before. How unguarded could they be? She tried not to think on the possibility of listening spells spread through the cave system, but those where exactly the things she found herself thinking.
Had she not been so determined to go and wake up Allen to distract her thoughts, she would have skimmed the edges of the camp to avoid notice, instead she decided to take the shortest route possible, straight through the slave camps.
She meet the pitiful fence that had been erected to keep prisoners in with mild amusement and scaled it’s height with ease. Landing on the other side in a smooth flow of muscles and agility she was still amused. It was a wonder anyone was kept within the camps confines when it took so little effort even for her to scale the walls.
Shaking amusement from her thoughts she breached the distance between fence and tents in a quick run, her eyes flicking about in case anyone was watching but found nothing. Moving through the passageways between tents she made her way in a near straight line to the other side.
She was invigorate as she hide herself in shadows from passing guards, and slid past lit tents. It had been such a long time since she had been forced to do anything as reckless as this and she hadn’t realised how much her body had missed the motions. Strange that her training had been so well built into her that she would forever want to do things like this. Even now when it was more for convenience then necessity she found herself being lost in the actions. Her ears strained to the limits, her body moving with smooth coordination as she avoided every sign of life.
It wasn’t a straight line she was travelling, it wasn’t even close, but she would get where she wanted to. And she found herself wanting to prolong the experience, because it took her whole being from her and there was no space for absent thoughts on life’s dilemmas.
It was somewhere near the middle of the camp she slipped a little, nearly walking into the back of a guard she hadn’t noticed. She jerked away from him, waiting for him to respond to her nearness, but he was muttering to himself obviously, too absorbed to notice her. She took three steps back and dived into the nearest passage leading away from him.
Her eyes moved around the small passage curiously, there was a tinge of distrust in the air, and a silence permeating through the air. She slinked deeper into the shadowy passage, aware she couldn’t turn back, her senses alert.
She heard the person behind her only in time to feel the force of them strike her, propelling her forwards.
Her body slammed against he wooden wall, her forehead smacking with a greater force as it followed the rest of her. Dizziness immediately threatened to engulf her existence, but with resistance and determination she remained conscious.
She went to push backwards against the strong weight pressing her into the building from behind, but felt the unmistakeable cold line of a metal blade against her neck.
Her body went rigid in response.
“What’s your name, girl?” The man snapped into her ear. His breath was sticky against her skin and the feeling sent shivers of disgust down her spine.
She wondered what answer to give him, her name or her relevance to Seres, in a Slave camp however either answer to the wrong person would get her killed. She grabbed at the closest and safest possibility.
“Ri’isa Tulaven.” She managed to say, then immediately cursed herself. It had been her last prolonged alias, but it hadn’t gone unnoticed in it’s time of use.
He turned her around sharply, the dagger forgotten as it dangled by his side in a lose grip. He looked her over carefully, lingering eyes pulling her apart.
“The Ri’isa Tulaven who stole the King of Jasret’s Silver Opal Sceptre?” He was dubious.
Kalika couldn’t help smiling lopsidedly. There was no way to take the name back, she knew, so she didn’t fight the smirking expression she displayed in her pride. It wasn’t often she got to boast anyway.
“I hadn’t realised I was famous.” It came out as a drawl, her body poised and relaxed as her eyes lazily skimmed his body. “And you?” She moved closer to him, despite the dagger still in his grip. She employed every sexual subtlety she knew in those two step and when she reached him rested her hand over his heart. “What’s your name?” It came a husky purr that set the heart under her hand into a furious rhythm as the man’s eye darkened with temptation.
“Does it matter?” He sneered.
She jumped when the dagger point jabbed into the side of her body. She hated him for remembering the weapon, but for the sake of pride she pouted instead of lunging for his throat.
Professional pride. Yes. Pride Seres had damaged merely by disorientating her every time they spoke. It shouldn’t have happened, not to her.
“But what if your famous too?” She used a voice to match the pout and set her fingers to the task of drawing ideal patterns through the thin fabric of his shirt. He stiffened again and she held in her laugh. God she loved it, some men where so easy to manipulate. The promise of sex, the mere suggestion of it could shatter some men’s senses.
She knew without a doubt as he tried to catch himself that she could take the dagger still digging into her side with ease, but she needed this. She needed to get away from everything she had been since arriving. For one moment she wanted to be the predator, certain of a victory. Her life had revolved around that feeling ever since she was six, and it was the only real release she could find for the turmoil of emotions raging behind the flood gates of her mind. She needed to get those emotions out, Iria’de’cen was right, before they consumed her or became so overbearing that they broke out on their own and left her a shell of a person.
“I’m not.” He replied, the dagger bitting a little more. She was pleased he had gotten his wits back, the pain in her side doing little but waking her up. It occurred to her then that they might not be alone, but that didn’t matter right now.
“But how do I know if I can trust you?” It was a fatal question, something only an idiot would ask. In a situation like that, with the dagger still bitting into her the question shouldn’t have even crossed her mind.
“Who said I want your trust?” He sneered again his eyes dark with determination.
Her expression twisted rather quickly at the words but she had control of it before he could see what the expression was. The expression she let him see was the complete opposite of her thoughts and she leaned in a little closer, ignoring the dagger, she curled her lips less then a breath from his own, eyes locked with his. She continued to trace ideal patterns on his chest with the hand resting over his heart, gauging his response to her actions. “But you do, you know.” The other hand slide down his chest, passing his abdomen she hid a smirk, she was probably stronger then him.
His breath was getting hotter against her face, god’s she could feel the breath pressing in against her making her want to gag. His eyes slitting that little bit as his hand relaxed it’s death grip on the dagger.
“So what’s your name?” She asked as she stopped her hands decent at the top of his right hip and began tracing absent circles again. She never released his eyes, refusing to let him follow her movements with anything but his mind, knowing his mind would travel faster without the assistance.
“Paiul.” He replied his expression soothing into tense relaxation, his heart pounding faster then she could count and all the while her own heart kept it’s stead rhythm.
“You’re a Karaiki brat?” She hissed with as much distaste as she could falsify, though she didn’t move from him and hoped he didn’t notice the discrepancy.
“No.” He replied, and she felt him shift a little under had fingers, edging her hand closer to where he wanted it. She found herself getting bored.
“Oh.” She replied, her hand moving to his waist and she felt his attention return to her again. “But your in the slave camps.” She added casually then dropped her voice to a near whisper. “Are you a guard?” The awed sound that escaped her lips was complete mockery yet completely convincing.
“No, I’m from Pripados I just happened to be travelling the wrong roads.”
And her interest in the event dropped away. She no longer felt like tormenting the boy, and decided to take the easiest way out of the situation. She had him so riled up, there was little chance of escaping from his clutches without violence.
So she acted quickly, one hand slamming into his right shoulder to drive it back while twisting him around with the other. She put his body into motion before he was aware of the change in her mood, using momentum to return his favour and slam him face first against the wall. The second her body pinned him she pinched at his wist. He was still too surprised by the change and at the first sign of pressure released the weapon into her waiting hands.
Kalika brought the dagger to his throat, but with much more skill and alertness then he had used.
“Don’t-“ The word’s didn’t get out of her mouth before she was deafened by his amazingly shrill voice calling for the guards. She would have let it go, having drained enough of the bitter feelings from her system merely by the ease with which he had crumbled. But the second the noise left his throat he left her two choices. Be caught or complete what the motions had promised.
The dagger in her hand shifted and she found the soft stop at the base of his skull driving the blade up and in with as much strength as she could. She was glad it wasn’t her dagger, because suddenly she didn’t think she had the strength to put the weapon out.
It was a shame she had hesitated, because even as she stepped backwards letting his body crumple to the floor, not quite dead, she could hear the guards responding to the summons.
She turned sharply ready to escape the way she had come only to find she wasn’t alone.
A quick glance and she knew he wasn’t a guard. A quick glance also told her he wasn’t a slave leaving her baffled.
“Kalika de’Leriarge.” His voice was deadpan betraying nothing and everything at once, and even with the guards quickly approaching she found herself lost.
“Boe.” Her voice was equally void of emotion, but she breached the distance between them quickly, flinging her arms around him in a hug she did not want to release. The familiarity of the contact was everything she craved at that moment.
“Guards.” He warned into her ear as he drew her clinging grip away. She looked over her shoulder towards the noise, gave a little nod of her head as the clattering of approaching weapons resounded through the air, grabbed his hand and began her run tugging him behind her.
He did not protest, she never expected him to.
* * * * *
Kalika didn’t say anything as she pulled the dark eyed man to a stop, staring around them edgily only for a moment before she devoted her attention to him.
“What are you doing here?” It was a struggle keeping her voice even as she stared into his eyes. She found along with the comfort of familiarity her walls where beginning to crumble.
“By the Princes command I was attempting to retrieve the Duke of Botearal.” Had his voice not been so emotionless she knew she would have surrendered to the raging emotions pulsating through her body.
“Defying the Prince, that’s unlike him.”
“He didn’t defy anyone, he just didn’t tell anyone what he was going to do. Your brother knew though. He made sure the seekers where complimentary to Ivian.”
“He shouldn’t have. He should have stopped it before it began.” Kalika spat in distaste though she could see the merit in her brothers actions.
“Stop Ivian?” Boe gave a mock laugh. “Did you know the man at all? Besides he had everyone in Skiara on edge. When the news finally filtered through the ranks that you hadn’t reported in over two months Ivian’s worry sort of took hold of everyone.”
“The entire castle was worried about me?” She was almost amused by the thought, had Ivian been telling her she probably would have managed a real laugh. “That has to have been novel to witness.” A half laugh punctuated her words and she looked to the ground in thought.
“So your brother in his optimistic wisdom allowed Ivian to start the journey to find you. He knew as well as I that royal commands to retrieve the duke would be issued the second the King knew about the disappearance. And they where. I would have caught up as well, given another day or two, I wasn’t expecting hostility until the other side of the thieves passage. But there was no sign of the seekers having travelled the path.” Bland voice, blank emotions, Boe was reporting not retelling an embellished story.
“So you back tracked and found this place?” Kalika’s voice as just as bland as she watched him considering the words.
“No I felt him die. Or something. I felt his emotions, anyone who’s known him even a little bit would have pinned who’s emotions they where immediately. So I just followed their pull, and they got stronger.”
“So you didn’t see?” She asked carefully, her control slipping on the last word. Boe reached out and brushed strands of her fringe behind her ear, losing the appearance of emotional stability.
“Some of your guards did the retelling for me, every little detail, including your entrance.” Boe heaved a heavy breath and tilted her scowling expression towards himself. “That was stupid.” He hissed suddenly and she jerked her head out of his grip staring him in the eyes.
“I didn’t ask you.” She growled in reply and saw the immediate resignation in his eyes. She looked around her, she had unconsciously taken him away from the Prophet’s cave so they stood in the depths of the forest.
“I can get you out.” Boe told her, and from him she knew it was not a promise it was a certainty. He would never have uttered the words if they where untrue.
He watched her expressions intently ready to respond to what ever emotion she settled into. His body was alert, ready to move the moment she whispered her response.
“No.” Kalika whispered her brow crinkling as she spoke. Temporarily her eyes fell to the ground then snapped back onto his face.
His expression hadn’t changed and she wondered if it was because he had predicted her response or because of his training. It amused her ever so slightly that it might have been her fault that she couldn’t read him.
“Why?” A flicker of emotion passed through his narrowed eyes.
“I have to stay.” She felt uncomfortable, slowly admitting it to herself was not the same as telling someone she had known for a long time.
“Why?” His voice was dead pan, she knew he was struggling to remain bland and a small mocking smile slipped into place before she pushed it away.
“Have a girlfriend yet?” She was pleased her voice didn’t betray her thoughts, and she was pleased he did not protest the change in conversation.
“Mezira.”
Kalika frowned, trying to remember the name, but it didn’t quite click. “A kitchen hand?” Her voice wavered a little.
“One of the gardeners.” His voice was strained, she could hear it through his falsified casual accent.
“What’s she look like?” She met his eyes and offered him one of her best smiles, the kind that she knew would distract him for a little while.
“Her height, below your chin. Her hair two shades more gold then your brown. And her skin a nobles white.” He wasn’t even thinking about the girl, Kalika could tell from his expression.
“And her eyes?” Kalika prodded. His expression of control broke making him look haunted.
“There not yours.” He replied, his eyes dropping from her to the ground his hands clenching into fists and releasing. Kalika examined his pose for a second before he was looking back at her. “I can get you out.” He sounded more earnest, desperate to let him help her but she shook her head, suppressing her anger with him that he had remembered so quickly. “Why?” He asked one more time and she knew he wouldn’t let it drop.
“They have my arrow.” Kalika replied, she saw a flicker of anger in Boe’s eyes and prepared herself for the onslaught.
“He has your arrow.” He corrected looking ready to kill. She nodded her head curtly refusing to dignify his anger with a response. That had always been his flaw, and she had never liked flaws. “Damn it Kali!” Boe burst suddenly his hands swinging into the air above him. He reigned in his control, trying to look calm, but she knew how to read his emotions better then he did. “We leave.” He hissed. “We go, we tell the king about this place.” Her head was shaking in a negative as he spoke but he refused to stop. “He comes here, with the army’s and wipes the bastards out.”
“And what of my arrow?” She demanded, although she knew what he would say.
“Then you get it back.” He snapped at her, though she was not afraid of his anger.
“I will not leave it in his hands!” She warned in response, her voice tinged with a growl.
“You’ll get it back!” He shouted at her, his face close. She wondered what he was thinking and wondered how easy it would be to shut him up. She went to kiss him and he withdrew before she could. “Don’t do that!” He shouted at her.
“Why? You’ll never get another chance.” She moved closer and he retreated again.
“Your trying to distract me. And I told you before. I wont. Not with you.”
“You only say that because I don’t love you.”
“What about you?” He growled, his anger becoming more obvious. “You always treated sex like a weapon, one to be used when ever for what ever reason.”
“And you only ever failed two tests set for you.” Kalika returned with a smirk. “You refused to fuck me, and you refused to stop protecting me. That is why you never progressed past 7th command.” Her eyes where glued on him with amused hatred.
“Just because I refused to ignore my emotions for you, doesn’t mean I wasn’t any good at the job.” He refuted still angry.
“Emotion is a weakness, love is something that will get you killed. I would not risk important information on a man who can’t control himself.”
“Love is not something that should be controlled.”
“Does she look like me?” Kalika demanded hotly. “I bet she does.”
“Differing only in the things that make you perfect.”
“Good. Keep her, she’ll make you dinner every night, she’ll sooth your wounds when your too stupid to hide. She’ll cry when your dead because you were too concerned about your reputation to fuck your way out of a situation.” His hand raised to strike and she didn’t flinch. Before the hand could strike he let it drop, as weak as he always had been.
“I can get you out Kali.”
“I don’t want to be out!” She screeched it unintentionally, her blood pulsating with fire and determination. “It want’s me to be here, for what ever reason I will not deny that.”
“The arrow?” She hadn’t though he could be more angry, but his eyes had an amazing amount of disbelief that shifted into pure rage. “Gods above Kali! It doesn’t have a will!”
“Yes it does!” She had lost her own control, the emotions of the last few months be spewed onto him because there was no other solidity she could find. “You’ve never held it, felt it stirring in your veins like your own blood, heard it murmur secrets you have no right to know.” She breathed deeply gaining a little control. “It has a will, and it wants me here.”
“Phoenix’s aren’t real Kalika!”
“There have been sightings of Phoenix’s in our kingdom.”
“When was that?”
“Less then twenty years ago!” Kalika snapped, wracking her brain for information. Her grandfather had told her about it when she was very little but she could vaguely recall the story.
“Damn that senile old fool!” Boe growled.
“You’ll watch your tongue.” Kalika warned her fist curled and ready. “Or I’ll give you those lash’s you deserve.”
“Don’t you get it? He was lying. There are no Phoenix’s. They don’t exist, I’ve been studying them since you first showed me the arrow. There’s nothing about them that’s real. There’s no real details about them. They don’t exist.”
“Fine, now tell me Prophets and Dragons don’t exist.” She wasn’t in the mood, and she found herself wondering exactly how long she had before Allen woke.
“Don’t joke about this. The old man’s filled your head with garbage.”
“And with this respect for my beliefs you wonder why I never loved you?”
“He used you, as some screwed up -” She cut him of with a warning hand.
“This conversation is over.” She stated bluntly, staring him in the eyes and daring him to try.
“No it’s not!” His voice reverberated off the forest canopy.
“This conversation is over.” She repeated her voice slipping into imperialistic strength. She saw realisation cross his features and his mouth draw into a thin line. “And you will tell the 2nd that I have ordered you ten lashes.” She watched his expression for a short time. Knowing full well that he would do as she commanded because she would check on him, one day. “I need a message delivered to my brother.” He went to sputter a response when she glared at him.
For all she mocked it, he was one of the best trained under her command. She had put so much effort into training him she hadn’t thought of that one fatal repercussion and he had fallen in love with her before she could even think of it as a possibility.
“As your superior officer you will remember that you must obey me before even the king. You say one word out of place and I will know.”
“Your brother deserves to know.” He snapped daringly.
“No.” Her voice hardened with fierce determination. “I will not risk him as well. Ivian was enough.” She took a calming breath. “You will tell him of Ivian.” She reached down and slipped the Dukes ring of her finger and held it out to Boe. Boe accepting it reluctantly. “You will omit me from the tale. He will make sure the king knows.” Another breath, she found it hard, even with the decision being her own, to let her freedom go. “Tell him I’m safe, tell him I’m still looking.” She could see Boe ready to betray her, strange since he would never have considered it for any other order. She suspected she could order him to kill the king and he would do it sometimes. “Swear.” Her voice was rigid with the demand, her eyes glowing with intensity and she refused to release her hold on him.
Boe lowered his eyes slowly.
“All your commands shall be carried out without hesitation. Kalika.” He gave a slight bow and she knew he was making a point with it, but she ignored it as much as she could.
“Good. Leave today, I don’t want to see you again.” She could have ordered the camp be kept a secret, but she was not ready to interfere for anyone. She left Boe standing in the forest as she once began circling the camp, no longer feeling like tempting the slave camp. There was a tightness at the pit of her stomach. Boe was weak, he always had been and she was afraid his weakness would betray her in the end.
She had time to brood on it as she walked, even when she knelt next to Allen and woke him up she was thinking about the exchange. But the second Allen started talking she was drawn from thought, after all, he needed a very good lie about what had happened and she hadn’t thought that far.
* * * * *
Kalika swirled her glass in contemplation, her eyes clouded.
“Maybe you should stop?” Di’ark hinted watching Kalika intently from across the table.
“Why would it concern you?” Kalika sneered as she drank the last of the liquid. Automatically her hand reached for the bottle of rice wine before her. Two bottles and she could still feel the chill in her bones. It was slowly driving her insane, the nagging thoughts that had plagued her since her confrontation with Boe.
She had practically thrown herself at him, as she had done before. But she had wanted him to shut up, and she knew the best ways to distract him. Of course it hadn’t worked. She wanted to spit in disgust but instead poured another glass and swallowed the burning liquid down.
Still it plagued her, if she was so willing to throw herself at Boe, a man she tolerated more then she liked, why was she so unwilling to allow Seres near her?
“Are you even listening?” Tesh demanded her red eyes locked on Kalika in agitation.
“I’m sorry.” Kalika muttered staring across the table at the girl. Tesh’s red hair was braided in circles above her head, in a fashion that amused Kalika endlessly. Though her own hair was little better, they had nearly tied her into the chair to keep her from leaving when they had mentioned styling her hair. Then Elgaron had presented her with a silver and green dress which had been roughly styled on her peoples fashions but had the dress makers own embellishments. “But why would I be listening?” Kalika raised her eye brows at the girl questioningly. For a second there was a flabbergasted silence that ran through the four other girls.
“Well I’m not going to sit here and listen to this.” Rel declared as she jumped from her seat and left the table. Kalika followed her movement as she disappeared into the crowed a little curious. She hadn’t said anything to really insult the blue eyed girl, and the dramatic exit tickled her sense of wrong for only the smallest of seconds.
“You could be nicer.” Liza growled her fingers digging into the wood beneath her as she fixed angry green eyes on Kalika.
Kalika shrugged off the comment hardly looking beyond her glass as she filled it for the hundredth time that night. In the corner of her eye the boy who she had harassed into getting the drink for her waiting. Rice wine was not a very common drink after all.
“Get me another two bottles, and I’ll be done with you.” She informed him stormily and watched as he disappeared into the shadows like a frightened mouse.
“I really think you’ve had enough.” Di’ark said firmly, going to take the bottle away. Kalika, for all the alcohol she had consumed moved fast enough to capture the dainty hand in her own and slam it against the table top.
“Mind your own business.” She hissed. For the first time all night she saw Allen shift in his spot and she guessed he thought she had, had enough as well. Damn them. Kalika growled to herself and poured yet another glass. They had dragged her to the forsaken celebrations tonight. They had forced her into a dress, and fixed her hair, it was there fault she was there and they would just have to deal with her attitude.
“I give up.” Di’ark snatched her hand out from below Kalika’s and stood from the table. “Liza?” She rubbed her hand protectively and looked to her friend who nodded and stood.
“See you when the funs over Yan.” Liza called over her shoulder as she disappeared into the mob of dancing soldiers.
Kalika frowned after there retreating figures. The crowd was far from hostile, but she wondered if even Seres would trust his women within it.
“We get good guards on night’s like this.” Yan stated casually, her eyes withdrawing from the crowd to a spot behind Kalika which she politely nodded to. Kalika turned to see Allen was standing there still. She gave a chuckle and turned back to her drink.
“Yan?” Tesh asked as she pushed herself away from the table violently. Yan shook her head with the same calm air.
“In a bit. I’m sure.” Yan reassured Tesh. Kalika couldn’t help watching the red head disappear either, until she found herself alone with Yan. She glanced over at the white haired beauty with curiosity.
“Why are you still here?” She demanded, her voice slurred the smallest bit and she pushed the feeling of sloth away from her. It was intriguing how good she was at pushing the signs away. Yan offered her a kind smile and nodded to the bottle. Kalika glanced, some time when she hadn’t been paying any attention the boy had slipped two more bottles onto the table.
“May I try that? I don’t believe I’ve had any… what did you call it ‘rice wine?’ …before.” A thin eyebrow rose in questioning and Kalika with a frown poured a second glass and pushed it towards the girl. Yan was only two years younger then her, maybe three, Kalika hadn’t bothered to figure it out in that much detail, but Yan was defiantly the eldest of the harem. Kalika found it was almost pleasant being around her.
“Knock yourself out.” Kalika snickered at the high possibility that it was exactly what the rice wine would do for her. Yan again raised that eyebrow, making her look as regal as a queen. A silence ensued, one that made Kalika uncomfortable but Yan seemed quite content to sip her drink with not thought to it.
“What makes you drink into stupidity on such a fine night?” Yan’s pleasant voice enquired.
“Maybe I just don’t want to be thinking.” Kalika retorted quickly. She grumbled a bit the second the words where out, realising she was a little more drunk then she had thought.
“You could dance you know, no one would protest, and it would distract you effectively.” Yan continued to sip the drink, her piercing golden eyes making Kalika a little uneasy.
“Why are you being nice to me?” She made it a demand, she was feeling to uncomfortable to make it anything else.
“Why are you being so jumpy about it?” Again the calm voice, the cool exterior. Yan could have been trained to perfecting and Kalika didn’t like that much. She was the second person to try and hide things from her that week.
“People don’t like me. It’s the natural order of things.” Kalika made a tipping motion with her hand. “When the natural order’s not right, I worry. It’s only fair.”
“Not many friends?” Yan put the drink down and pushed it to the centre of the table.
“I suppose you have tones right?” Kalika gave up on her cup and pulled the bottle towards her only to have it tugged very gently out of her grip before it touched her mouth.
“Enough of that for now. No I have only eight friends, I am working my way to a ninth.” Her look was pointed, and Kalika released the bottle to her hold. “I have known no kindness beyond the harem, and believe me I looked.” Yan shook her head, nursing the bottle protectively. “It is a rare gift this harem, there is one thing that binds as together and we respect that and treasure it. We are friends and kin alike.”
“His love holds you together?” Kalika jeered, she was getting very sick of hearing there foolish devotion.
“We are all prisoners, by choice or by circumstance it does not matter. We do his bidding and he offers us love, not physical love, but real love in return. We are precious in his eyes and that is something we have in common.”
“Until he gets his next whore and disregards you?” Kalika teased, Yan was the first, she knew it well enough, the order they had joined the harem had been explained to her before they had decided they hated her.
“How old do you think he is?” Yan snapped in anger, Kalika saw a flash of insanity and found herself captivated and intrigued.
“His twenty five, born on the eagle moon, in the third quarter.” Kalika snapped back in response, highly interested by that small glimpse of what Yan so effectively hid most the time.
“Do you know how many women he should have in his harem? Considering his station he should probably have at least four women a year, forty eight women, approximately of course. And wives?” Yan rolled her eyes. “He should have at least one per year.”
“Wives?” Kalika felt her back tingle with, what she knew was jealousy.
“Oh. Well he should have at lest ten. Fifteen is the absolute limit for them to not be married at. But his only got the-“ Yan stopped, her expression going blank and looking sharply at Kalika. “I shouldn’t tell you.”
“His married?” Kalika demanded. She fleetingly wondered why that was so much more of an evil in her mind then if he wasn’t.
“You’ll find out soon enough I’m sure.” Yan replied, her eyes shifting to a soft pleading expression and Kalika knew the girl was begging her to drop the topic.
Firmly reminded herself that she didn’t care one way or the other Kalika nodded her head sternly and managed a smile.
“So what are we supposed to do at these things besides drinking our selves into unconsciousness?” Kalika eyed the bottle still clasped by the girl.
“We dance.” Yan’s eyes glittered with mischief, and a tinge of that same insanity streaked through. “Come on Kali!” Yan grabbed her arm, drawing her into the crowd without a chance for argument.
“I don’t know how to dance like this!” Kali cried as Yan swung her into a dance. Kali followed Yan’s steps feeling awkward dancing with a girl. If there was one thing her father had effectively taught her it was an aversion to such things. It made waking every day so close by a woman unsettling. However there was no romance’s between the women of Seres harem, he had chosen them too well for them to want anything but him.
Yan grabbed her waist lightly a humoured smile making her look more real then ever before.
“If you can not learn the steps, make them up.” Yan advised, then again without warning spun her away, driving her against an unmistakably male chest. Kalika looked up at the boyish grin startled. The stranger gripped her quickly stealing her into the dance without permission.
She tried to decide why Yan would want her dancing but could think of nothing. But she was getting used to this blatant manipulation the harem seemed to practice.
“And who would you be sir?” Kali asked defensively. She was still playing by the rules of the deal for Seres, and she could not imagine him letting her dance with just anyone. She couldn’t even imagine Yan letting it happen.
“I would be the lord Rohen.” He smiled again and she was a bit taken by the smile, it was full of charm and amusement. But she did not remember hearing of a lord within the camp.
“Why am I dancing with you?” Kali asked not caring for subtleties at that point in time. Rohen looked down at her feet as he twisted her away and back.
“I wouldn’t call that dancing.” He mused just as bluntly not seeming to be aware that she was there as he watched her feet. Kali blushed at the insult in spite of her training. With thoughts only on his observation she straightened her back and ordered her feet into the motions she had been drilled on so many months before. She had never practiced the dancing, there had been no need, they where going to Rawn as commoners of Deistical. Latter she would have needed to know, so she had paid attention just not practiced. Rohen’s expression changed as she fell into the unfamiliar patterns.
“I’m impressed.” Rohen muttered and pulled her deeper into the throng of dancers. She did not know the dance so well as her trainers would have hoped, but she kept her eyes open and as time went by she picked up and remembered the steps she did not yet know. “I’m very impressed.” He added. She noted the more professional manner in which he treated her and smiled. She picked things up faster then most, that was her job. “I was told you had not danced here before.” Rohen moved her without pause, but she was glad for it, she had to think less with him leading.
“I haven’t.” She was content to leave her response at that. He had his charming smiles and amused laughs but the hold he kept on her was purely professional. Shame she thought tiredly, he was the kind of man she would enjoy seducing. And as always after Boe’s rejection she always felt challenged to prove she could seduce who ever she wanted to.
“You have danced in your own lands then?”
She nodded absently leaning a bit into him. His strong grip did not change nor his expression. “Perhaps you could show me one of there dances? It’s not really what I was told to do, but you know our steps well enough to suit.” She guessed she was being tested, as always, by Seres. Glancing quickly she found him dancing with Yan who seemed to be enjoying herself more then she ad ever seen her do before. “A faster song!” Rohen called over the others and the drums took up a strange rhythm. Kali drew closer to him, her hold shifting to keep him in place. He did lead the dance, but he was not as certain as before.
Kali put to test one of the more obtuse dance moves she had learnt and stole the lead before he knew she had done anything. Then she lead him through one of the most provocative dances she knew, pleased that he was starting to look ruffled towards the end of it.
A hand took her arm and drew her from Rohen, who looked almost relieved. She found herself pulled in snugly against Seres chest as he stole the lead from her.
He smiled. “That was mean.” He chided her seemingly amused. Briskly she tried to steal the lead and he twisted her slightly, drawing her closer to him. She remembered the deal, and knew from his words that he was aware she had been flirting with Rohen.
“What? If he doesn’t like dancing he could have said something.” She replied vaguely aware that he was dancing a Karaiki dance with a level of precision most of her cousins lacked.
He lent his lips down to hers stopping short of them, then his smile grew and he pulled back. Kali swallowed to fix her suddenly dry throat. “Was that fun?” She demanded when her voice would not crack. The fire flickered to her side as she noticed how deep into the crowd he had drawn her. They where close to the centre.
“It could have been more so.” He replied thoughtfully. Her instincts where to pull away, her reaction was to draw closer eyes widening in a show of falsified innocence. She realised it was the dancing, she rarely danced without an intent of some kind, and often among her own people she danced to seduce.
“Could it now?” Her voice was perfectly soft as her hands curled around his neck, fingers entwining his hair. She drew his mouth the short distance to hers. Then carefully parting his lips with her own she drew in the warm air he breathed into her. Then he caught up with the moment, turning her teasing kiss into a passionate one. She did not object to the intensity of the kiss as the dance was forgotten. Even his hands, tight on her body, awoke her expectations. Then it stopped, he pulled away to breath his own air, and released her entirely. His smile of amusement did little to hide his invigorated eyes.
“I think you are drunk, Kali.”
She hated his calm voice, so well controlled considering the look in his eyes that said he wanted to repeat the kiss. “I am not.” She defied in a whisper, she went to pull him back but he resisted unaccountably. “What?” She demanded as she pulled her hands from him, the resistance hurt more then she would ever admit.
“Your drunk.” He repeated.
“You don’t want to because you think I’m drunk?” Kali snapped, no man she had ever met would have cared, except possibly Boe, and it frustrated her that he of all people did. She forced his head down for another kiss which he responded to with as much desire as before.
“My dear royal spy.” He began out of breath for the passionate exchange. “Do not do that again, unless you are prepared to follow it through to the end.” His voice although soft had a hard edge that sobered her enough to make the single decision. She unhooked her fingers, letting him go and stepping away from him, fearful of the warning. Aware that she did not want it to continue, and uncertain why it had begun. His expression was grave as she backed away afraid to look away from him.
For the third time that night a pair of hands grabbed her pulling her against a foreign body.
“If he don’t want you pretty girl, I could use some company in my bed tonight.” Ruff hands spun her to face the owner of the voice. She had time to be sure she didn’t recognise the voice before her hand was clenched in a tight fist. She used her movement to enforce the blow as she faced the stranger. She heard his jaw break below her fist before she was pulled out of the mans hold and into Seres. It took her a moment to realised Seres had both hands to catch her with, and that Allen had pulled her away from the stranger. Without a word Allen grabbed the man and pushed him through the crowd, being quickly joined by two other guards who detached themselves from the shadows around the party.
“Are you okay?” Seres whispered and she realised as she lent back into his chest that his arm encircled her waist protectively. She wanted to revel in his hold, but wondered how long she would do so before it was taken as a sexual suggestion.
“I’m not the one with a broken jaw.” Kali retorted amused, then she frowned. “Is Allen going to kill him?” It was an idle question, she did not really care. “He wasn’t even a real threat.” She added. She had killed many men like him before, though she suspected he would have been deterred by the broken jaw.
“His only a private.” Seres murmured his lips near her ear, his warm breath comforting on her ear lobe. She found her eyes closing, relaxed in the security of his hold, forgetting everything else.
“Lord Mage?” Allen’s voice broke through her serenity and she frowned at Allen’s blank expression.
“Escort the lady Kalika back to the tent, take any of the others who wish to go.” But his hold did not relinquish. “Sleep in my bed tonight, Kali.” He whispered it, so Allen could not hear.
“Hold me all night.” Was her only demand in return, and she felt him nodding as his arms reluctantly released her. And he did not kiss her, for which she was thankful. The prospect of him bedding her still terrified her, and she knew it was not what he was asking for. “Take me home, Captain.” Kali announced amazed that even after this time she could think to call the tent home. It was not really her home, and she doubted it ever would be. Allen started without waiting for her, though she had to guess, as always, he knew exactly how far behind him she was. Kali followed him through the crowd and some of the harem followed her.
Kali barely noticed as Di’ark and Pilly gossiped about the dance, or as Tesh skipped along whistling one of the tunes that had been played during the festival, even Selen’s silent presence at the front of the procession was ignored. Her mind kept returning to the moment Seres had caught her in his arms, not the dance, that had been nothing, the moment when he had caught her. The hold had promised an eternity of protection she had no doubt a mage as powerful as Seres could produce and he had never lied to her, not for any reason.
“We had guards for things like this a long time before you.” Tesh called over at Kali, slightly drunk and wanting to make a show of belittling her. Kali glanced about them and noted with approval the number of guards, she did not doubt Seres had never taken a chance with them before on such occasions.
“I have his bed tonight.” Kali replied stonily, glad for a way to really annoy Tesh. Her words she knew made them all angry. She had, had his bed one three nights before, and even they had picked up on the weekly pattern she made no effort to hide. They had all suspected one of them would get his bed that night. Allen raised an eyebrow watching the other girl’s reactions. “What?” Kali asked quickly noticing the expression. “Don’t you have a harem waiting for you back home?” He looked flustered for the question and a few of the guards despite there excellent training chuckled.
“A harem is a costly expenditure, my lady. Especially when one sees the road more then there own home.”
“But my lord brings his harem with him.” Kali wanted the pursue the conversation, Allen showed few moments of conversation lenience.
“Your Lord is the equivalent of a king, my lady. I doubt even your king would travel without his women.”
“My king has no women.” Kalika replied steadily. The queen had died nearly fifteen years before.
“But your kings no older then forty, why doesn’t he have his own harem?” One of the guards asked with peaked curiosity. Some of the other guards motioned for him to shut up but Kalika was amused.
“My people believe in one marriage per man, and affairs, which is bedding women you are not married to, are considered as disrespect to the gods. Though affairs are common, I admit. The king himself does not have any lovers, and his wife is dead.” Kalika realised when she stopped she had every person’s undying attention.
“Only one woman?” Di’ark asked bluntly her expression rather passive. Kalika inclined her head amused.
“Can you imagine the attention that woman would get from her husband!” Pilly demanded with an uncharacteristic giggle.
“Not all marriages are happy marriages, so not all women, despite being the only one the husband can legally touch, are happy.” She saw Pilly nod in understanding.
The rest of the trip was nearly serenely quite. The guards where there usual self, but the harem where each deep in thought. As they pushing into the tent, and separated Pilly stopped and faced Kalika.
“Is that why you don’t like our lord? Because he breaks the laws of the gods in the eyes of your people?” Pilly tilted her head thoughtfully eyes fixed on Kalika. Kalika shrugged her shoulders pulling the strange dress over her shoulder leaving the small underdress to sleep in. She didn’t respond as she curled into his bed inhaling the scent of oranges that always lingered there, and feeling secure.
* * * * *
Kalika woke slowly, her head pounding with what she knew was a hangover. She went to groan in frustration when she felt the arms tight around her waist, hands resting perfectly on her stomach. Her body stiffened but she forced it to relax quickly.
This is becoming a habit. She chided herself mentally. She couldn’t say she was uncomfortable lying beside him, especially in his hold as she was, but she could say it was a vulnerable position she didn’t like being in.
That it was how she had awoken only days before did little to calm her down. So she focused instead on trying to remember exactly what had happened that had her in his bed again so soon.
She could remember drinking rice wine, the amount didn’t bother her, she had been drunk before. Slowly she went through the entire evening, people forcing her into nice clothes and make-up for the Silver Moon celebration. Insulting the harem more the usual, getting drunk, talking with Yan. All the conversations and moments where well embedded in her memory. After all she hardly forgot something when she wanted to remember it. It was the dancing that took a little bit of work to reconstruct, all the spinning around after so much drinking had made an impact.
And then she had been talking to him, to Seres and he had…
Her eyes shot open her body snapping into complete alertness she did the only thing her mind could think, she grabbed his shoulders in a fierce grip and slammed him onto his back, straddling his waist so he couldn’t escape as she forced her nose in against his own. He didn’t wake up immediately so she did something she had been inching to do for a long time, she pulled back and slapped him. A punch would have been more satisfying but she just wanted him awake.
“I could get used to waking up like that.” Seres muttered and shifted his weight below her thighs in explanation to his unexpected words. She ignored the motion and went to slap him again, angry that his eyes weren’t open. He caught her hand mid motion and opened his eyes to look into her burning green eyes. “I love your eyes.” He mumbled and reached out tracing a line beneath them, she again didn’t flinch.
“What did you call me?” Kalika demanded and batted his hand away with frustration. She lent down against him, making sure there eyes where so close he would know she was furious. He quirked a smile, his hands settling on her waist, which did make her flinch.
“I told you, you where drunk.” Seres added. His smile broke into a grin and he flipped her over pinning her to the bed with his body. Her breath caught, they hadn’t been in a position that perilously close since her very first night in his tent.
“No I wasn’t.” It was a lie, she didn’t care she was on the defensive, especially with his weight supported by the arms resting by her head.
“If you weren’t drunk-“ his grin got larger “-then why don’t you remember?” He lent in closer to her, his lips closing in on hers. She ignored his movements her mind too haphazard to process his movements.
“I remember. But I need to hear it again.” She bit through her teeth, her body trembling from his presence and her memory.
“I said.” He smiled and his lips lightly brushed hers. “My dear royal spy. Do not do that again, unless you are prepared to follow it through to the end.” He mock repeated his eyes fast on hers brighter then usual. Her eyes widened with shock, she tried to hide the shock but she had no chance, she couldn’t even turn from him to hide the expression, he was pressed in to close to allow her movement like that.
“How long?” She gasped, she hadn’t registered the little kiss, she found it hard to register his body. Her own body was trembling with several fearful realisations.
“How long have I known you’re the kings personal spy?” He laughed a little. “My dear, do you know how well you hide?” He shook his head, his eyes filled with admiration. “I sent Beraloe of a month ago to find out about you. Do you think I just let anyone in my harem? Any one who could be an assassin or a spy?” He gave another laugh and she closed her eyes fighting the tiny tears that came.
“Do I die now?” Kalika asked with amazing casualness. His full throttle laughter was her response this time.
“You are the King of Derishmikal's chief Spy, the Royal Spy. Your job is protect the royal family no matter the cost. You where probably trained from birth to be perfect for the role, unfaltering loyalty, perfect skills of deception.” Another laugh, short hardly existent. “Yet your still here. And I can’t help but think, since Beraloe told me yesterday of his findings, that you could be gone the second you wanted to be.” He stroked the side of her check, his eyes as amused as the rest of him. “And that intrigues me.”
She felt distracted and wanted to remove him, and when she pushed at his chest he didn’t respond, his expression moving into more solemn lines.
“I want to leave.” Kalika spat at him, glaring into his eyes with her defiance.
“I had someone looking you up the day you got here. They couldn’t find a thing. Just that you lived in the King of Derishmikal’s castle.”
“Skiara.” Kalika hissed at him. His smile wasn’t as honest as it had been before, his eyes a little sad.
“Yes, Derishimikal’s Castle, Skiara. He couldn’t discern what you did there because the few times he dared to mention your name he was forced to kill who ever he had been talking to. They seemed rather reluctant to part with information.”
“I really don’t care.” Kalika spat her anger again trying to push him away. She reached inside herself and drew forth her strength, strength she hadn’t used for a long while, and pushed him again. This time he was forced from her body and tumbled to her side with another laugh. She gritted her teeth, angry that he was enjoying himself.
“So I sent Beraloe, with a few other tasks, and he came up with the information after a very long time, and if I heard him correctly purely by chance.”
She went to leave, not wanting to partake in the mocking conversation. He caught her arm as she went to stand unbalancing her and as she fell back he pulled her onto him again. She wondered if he was right, if her eyes changed colour, because she suspected they would be burning red at that very moment.
“Let me go sir.” Her voice was crisp with demand and he shook his head gently.
“You and I are talking. You will not walk away from that.” Seres clasped a hand behind her neck and tugged her face closer to his.
“Talk then.” Kalika growled and tried to push out of his grip again. It was a half hearted effort, her weight resting on him felt as comforting as his on her.
“You’re a Royal Spy. If the generals find that out, your dead for sure. No questions asked, dead. I also don’t think you should attend the general’s meetings any more.” His voice was firm, his eyes shifted to the dark grey they often where when he was serious.
“Then you break our deal, and I deserve compensation.” She growled the words, still angry with the power that held her so close to him. He rubbed he left thigh but his eyes didn’t leave hers.
“Do you? You lied to me.” He betrayed anger for the first time.
“You never asked. And do you think I tell everyone my profession? It’s not the safest way to survive.” She bent in lower, her nose once more pressing with his. “I go to those meetings or the deal requires tweaking.”
A half smile played on his lips. “Define tweaking.”
“No guard. I don’t need a guard. I never have and I don’t understand why the prince forced that guard on me when my journey began.”
“What was your journey?” He lifted his head closer to her, making sure his lips brushed hers for just a second. She hated the movement, it nearly distracted her, but this conversation was her life and something in her body told her not to contemplate anything but the haggling between the two.
“You.” She growled, one hand slammed into his shoulder pushing his lips away from her own. She might be able to ignore them, but it was distracting her enough. She didn’t need to explain, he knew as well as she, if not better, how little there was to know about him. And as a potential invader it was only sensible the Karaiki people would want to know more about him.
“I’m flattered.” He smirked. “But you don’t get rid of Allen that easily. You are still susceptible, no matter how you pretend you aren’t.”
“I visit Iria when I want, without Allen. I wear what I want. I am allowed to ride beyond the camp.” He went to talk and she forestalled him, putting pressure into his shoulder again. “When the time comes escape will not be a question, if I am in the forest when I begin or in your bed will make no difference to the outcome.” She shook her head a little. “And I’ll think of more latter.”
“So much to get you out of my hair.” Seres looked to be considering. “I want you in a dress once a week. No less. Whatever you think of latter will be discussed then, and I do not guarantee I will agree with it.” He sighed and relaxed under her restraining hand. “It would be so much easier if you where no one you realise.” His hand slipped from her thigh, she had forgotten it was there.
“It’s not my fault I remember everything said around me.” She snapped in response. She felt strangely and unaccountably guilty. His mouth twitched again, his eyes a little darker.
“So you know our plans?” He asked carefully. She snorted without thought at the stupid question.
“You call those plans?” She gave into laughing and fell against his chest, not quite able to support herself in her amusement. “You give all those little boys a few army’s and think because of that you’ll win?” She pulled back and kissed his check quickly. “That’s so cute.” She chirped as she jumped away from him, having surprised him enough to give him no chance to draw her back. “Now. I am going down to the dress maker to scold her for that dress she made me wear last night. Then I’m going to tell her to make me some more casual clothes, because I don’t want to wear out what I’ve got already. And then, I’m going to ride Jasaper outside of the camp confines, come back here and fall asleep on the sleeping pallets.” She pointed to where the harem slept.
“Not going to visit Iria?” Seres raised an eyebrow, he was curious about what initiated that as a demand but more curious that she wasn’t using it immediately.
“No.” Kalika scolded like a mother picking on a stupid child. “I did that yesterday.” She smirked as she disappeared behind the curtain to the harem’s sleeping area and searched for her clothes. The prophet had been, although useless once more, a good conversation the day before.
“I want you back before sunset.” He told her sternly.
“Fine.” Kalika replied casually and returned from behind the curtain. She was amazed the rest of the harem where sleeping, especially since it had been she who had gotten drunk. She was dressed in black leather pants and a loose red top. “But only because you didn’t take advantage of my stupidity last night.” She made a little bow at him before disappearing out the door. She wanted him to know she remembered it, if nothing else.
* * * * *
Kalika didn’t make a pause for Allen as she stormed out of the tent and down the main street. She felt him jump into motion after her and paid little more attention to him. Her mind was frizzled with anger. Strangely not for Seres, though she was angry that she had to keep Allen two steps from her every minute still. She was angry with herself.
Her grandfather, if he weren’t already dead, would kill her. She could feel the shame he would feel that she had been discovered to easily. It had been his life’s mission to train her, and all that training had just fallen flat. She hadn’t even the ability to deny it, she doubted it would have helped, but she should have tried.
Her pace was fast, matching her rampant thoughts, so she was at Elgaron’s tent before she had any time to contemplate more then her grandfathers reaction.
“It’s a bit early isn’t it dear?” Elgaron asked, looking just a little sleep dishevelled. The lady was setting a pot of water to boil but Kalika paid no mind. Elgaron looked up at Kalika and Allen standing more then five steps away and managed a smile. “Especially after the celebrations last night. Why the whole camps going to be sleeping.”
“Good. The less I have to deal with others right now the better I’ll be.” Kalika snapped, she couldn’t help the anger in her body, more directed at herself then anyone else, it fuelled her existence at that moment in time.
Her brother would tell her it wasn’t her fault. Her father would have been looking down his nose at her, telling her it was what she got for choosing such a perilous lifestyle. Kalika shook the thoughts out of her head, she always referred back to her family, and it was never any help.
“Already having a bad day?” Elgaron raised a brow as she sat and poured the water into a teapot.
“Give me some of that” Kalika managed cheerfully “and I might survive.” She flashed a smile so separate from her present mood she wondered if it was obvious. Elgaron returned the smile appearing not to notice.
“Good. Shall I give your guard some as well?” The old lady’s eyes shifted to Allen. Kalika snorted, she wanted to say no, run him off with rudeness but it was still beyond her. It where those characteristics that reminded her of her brother that spared him from her bad opinion more then half of the time. She tried to tell herself she was being to sentimental and that she shouldn’t have cared less, but it didn’t work.
“If he wants it, give him tea.” Kalika replied jokingly, but she couldn’t help the sharp undertones from seeping through. She didn’t take a seat or lessen her angry stance. Something she was aware of but didn’t care about. Elgaron raised another eyebrow and nodded her head.
“Perhaps I’ll wait outside?” Allen offered as he shook his head at the offered tea.
“No boy, take a cup out with you. And there’s no harm in you staying in the waiting section I’m sure.” Elgaron smiled and poured a quick cup handing it to Allen who gave a slight bow before leaving through the folds of curtains.
Kalika found herself immediately locked under the dress makers stern gaze.
“Care to talk?” It came out so casually that Kalika wondered at it. No one but Ivian had ever been interested.
“Not really.” Esarel would always be interested, or he would listen when she spoke, but she had to volunteer the information, Ivian had pried it out of her.
“Sure you don’t dear.” Elgaron held out a frail cup which Kalika retrieved quickly setting it nearly in her left palm as she considered her options. Her mood was bitter, hardly surprising. The last person who had discovered her position in Dreieshmikal she had cut into pieces and fed to the sharks. It had been an interested day. But she knew without a doubt, that no matter how powerful she thought she was there wasn’t a hope in all the realm of her doing anything like that to Seres. Not only because he was powerful enough to repel her but also because she didn’t think she could bring herself to complete the action.
That sickening feeling that always came when she was compromised was settling in. She had no doubt he wouldn’t tell anyone, giving himself another thing to use against her. And the power he held over her frustrated her the more it intensified.
“What’s wrong with me?” Kalika snapped of Elgaron, her eyes blazing with fire as she tried to fathom the answer merely by staring at the old lady’s mildly surprised expression. Elgaron slowly lowered the cup from her lips, her eyes calculating and Kalika shook her head not really wanting to hear the dress makers guesses. “It’s funny. I’m trained for this, for these moments, and it’s falling apart around me.” She took a breath, to keep her voice as steady as she could manage. “It’s all falling apart.” A tear escaped, she hadn’t known it was being held in. Darn. She wanted to scream again. Only he ever did that to her.
“Trained for what?” Elgaron’s eye’s had a caring expression that effected Kalika. It took less then a second for Kalika to sit before Elgaron, bringing there kneeling forms to eye level.
“You’re my friend aren’t you?” Funny how it wasn’t a question, more of a realisation Kalika had as she stared at the lady. It was the smallest piece unsettling to think of friendship in a place like this.
“I’d like to think so.” Elgaron replied calmly, her eyes spoke of compassion.
“So I should trust you?” Kalika insisted her eyes a little glassy as she tried to recall something she had been taught.
“You should trust who ever your gut tells you to trust.” Elgaron supplied and sipped the tea, her eye’s level with calm.
“My father would cut you down for telling me such a thing.” Kalika gave a little laugh. “He told me once that the worst thing a person can do is believe their instincts because instincts have no basis, no foundry.” Another little laugh as she stared into the lady’s eyes. Her laughing died quickly and she lowered her head, not breaking eye contact. “Ivian told me once that my father was full of lies, and I knew he was right. Does that mean though, that he lied about my instincts? Because he lies to so many other people, does it mean he lied to me?” Kalika shuffled closer to the lady, their knees touching as Kalika searched for answers in Elgaron’s eyes. These weren’t the questions she was striving to answer, but they where a start.
“What do you think?”
“Now that’s a stupid question. It would require me asking my instincts if it thought my instincts where trust worthy.” Kalika shook her head a little, wondering vaguely if she had even said the sentence properly.
“These are questions of morals, and philosophy. Questions you have to answer yourself. All I know about is dressmaking.” Elgaron reached out and captured Kalika’s hand giving it a reassuring squeeze.
“It’s not if I should trust you. Because I do trust you, and I can’t figure out why. I’ve never had trust for anyone.”
“You didn’t trust your friends?”
Kalika waved the question of flippantly. “I never had friends to trust.” She smiled at Elgaron. “But your different, I know somehow that I should trust you. Maybe it’s because your separate from this all. But your not.” Her mind caught up suddenly. She hated it when she was slow to pick up on things. “Because that day he’d ordered me into dress’s you had already begun making them for me. He’d already told you, or ordered you to make them, and you hid that from me.” Kalika bit into the bottom of her lip her eyes no longer raging with confusion, settling instead into a calm acceptance.
“You are in his world Kalika.” Elgaron gave a quick sigh. “When I killed my husband to protect my daughter it was the Lord Mage who intervened on my behalf. And I don’t lie, he did that because I was the best dressmaker in Rawn. But many other men would not have blinked for my death. No matter what I think of him, I serve him unquestionably, I am another fixture in his world.”
“I am not a fixture in his world!” Kalika retorted hotly, standing quickly and pacing from Elgaron. “I am not a fixture in any world. I was not created to exist in any place, but to blend into all.” She bit into her bottom lip her eyes starting to loose focus, like when she used to hold the feather and it would steal her attention. Her head tilted as she accepted the unfocused vision and listened to her thoughts, but they where jumbled and what ever it was made no sense.
“Are you okay?” Elgaron’s shaky voice surprised Kalika and she turned to stare at the older woman still seated just before her.
Kalika blew out a long breath of air, blowing against the fringe that slipped across her face. Her mind was a bit of a jumble, her eyes slightly more focused but she had missed what ever it had been.
“Fine.” She managed a dazzling grin at the lady and wondered if it actually did anything. “I’m just disappointed that he knows something I did not want him to know.” She smiled again at the dressmaker.
“Maybe it’s a good thing.” Elgaron smiled at Kalika and stood.
“How can it be good? When a secret hidden is revealed?” Kalika shook her head a little disappointed with Elgaron’s response.
“It can be good, because what ever it is he now knows, and you no longer have to hide it.” Elgaron’s words drew a real smile from Kalika, it was possibly the only benefit.
“How long can you talk?” Kalika asked in a whisper, her eyes locked on the ladies face and her smile impish.
“Sorry?” Elgaron was startled by the change in Kalika’s expression and stared a little at her.
“How long can you talk before you need a response?” Kalika enquired her eyes sparkling with mischief. Elgaron was right, she would get the only reward she could out of this.
“I don’t know.” Elgaron stuttered. Kalika grinned.
“Let’s find out.” Her expression suddenly became serious as she stared at the lady. Elgaron made a motion to show she didn’t understand and Kalika’s grin broke out again.
“And that dress last night!” Kalika blurted out her grin taking the sting of the sharp tone of her voice. Elgaron jumped back startled. “What where you thinking?” With a hand motion at Elgaron the woman started to respond, briskly at first then a little more defensively. Kalika grinned gave the lady a wink and before anything could be said she had crawled out under one of the tent walls and was standing in the midst of heavy rain. She didn’t think the dress maker would be able to hold very long on her own, so she wanted to be lost from sight quickly.
She skidded into the main street, surprisingly conspicuously considering the number of people who could have noticed her odd behaviour and she grinned again. She was going to enjoy this day and she didn’t care what it cost her.
* * * * *
Kalika slid smoothly through the crowd, careful to keep herself hidden from searching eyes. There was a surprisingly large amount of things to do in the camp. Things she doubted Seres wanted her to do which made them oddly more fun then they usually would have been. The rain had stopped some hours ago, revealing a welcoming sun.
It had taken little time to steal one of the unsuspecting soldiers uniforms. And her hair, though she had been tempted to cut it off, had been tied up in one of the few hairstyles that were acceptable for men in Seres Country’s.
Finding the gaming tents had been a little challenging, though altogether fun. Allen had been reluctant to allow her in what was considered the friendliest drinking tent in the camp. So she knew he wouldn’t have let her near the places she had been that day. And she had played well at the gamming tent, losing just enough to be ignored, winning just enough to stay in the game. The roll play the other players had made was enough to occupy her mind completely for several hours, so she tucked the memory safely away for analysis another day.
The distinct feeling that she was being watched trickled through her amusement a little to slowly. A strong hand had grabbed her and spun her around sharply but no viciously before she could even register the feeling.
“Are you insane?” Allen hissed at her, his eyes displaying shock and fear, his expression haggard. “He’ll have my head you know? The second he knows, if he doesn’t already.” A shaky hand passed through ruffled hair as he stared at her with accusing brown eyes. “God’s he’ll have my head.” His voice shook.
“I was bored.” Kalika murmured thoughtfully.
“We’ll I like my life!” Allen shouted abruptly. He released her to throw his arms in the air to emphasise his words.
“I don’t like it here.” Kalika whispered, taking a small step from him and watching as his eyes snapped to her feet. “I’m all wrong here. I have no control and I’m slipping.” She didn’t notice the tears in her eyes, they where of little consequence but her gut was constricting with a pain that she knew would drive her to sickness.
“We should get you back, to the tent.” Allen’s voice trembled with a different fear, though she couldn’t understand the change. She focused instead on his words.
“To him?” She spat out with loathing. Herr head began to throb and she wondered briefly what time of year it was. “Don’t you people get it?” She didn’t even pause for a reaction. “It’s him! His driving me insane. Toying with me. I can almost feel him inside.” She tapped her head fiercely. “Like he’s slowly prying his way in and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I’m not meant to be weak. I’m not meant to be stagnate.” More unnoticed tears made there way down her checks. “This place is driving me mad. It’s because it’s his, everything to do with him is tainting me.” She glared then, at the eyes that had frozen on her, half the passer byres had stopped to watch her display. “See?” She screamed snapping back to Allen. “This!” She waved at the crowd. “This is not supposed to happen. I’d get ten lash’s for saying if I was feeling unwell. I shouldn’t be-“ She shook her head ignoring that problem, she was already broken down, very little would change that. “I should be at home, listening to my brother prattle about his latest lover. I should be practicing archery in the yards until my father reprimands me. Sneaking off to Botearal to make sure there are no threats on Ivian’s life. I should be hunting down assassins, flirting with the new nobles. I should be-“ Pain flushed through her thigh, and she pressed her hand into the front of her right abdomen. “Curse the Dragon.” She growled. The pain intensified blanking out her thoughts and driving her body down to it’s knees. Her left arm shoot forward as she buckled, preventing her face from hitting the ground as it supported her upper body weight. Her right hand still pressed into her abdomen trying to push the pain into submission.
“Kalika?” Allen shoot down to the ground before her, immediately trying to locate the problem.
“Leave me alone.” She growled, her trembling voice doing nothing to detract from her sudden anger. Allen shook his head in a negative still trying to locate the problem.
“Come on Kalika. Tell me what’s wrong.” He cajoled at her gently trying to pull her hand from her waist.
She didn’t move, didn’t allow him to move her. She let the pain in, knowing the futility of fighting it.
“It’s the Dawn of the Sun right?” Kalika mumbled as she pushed him away from her sick of the distracting antics.
“What?” He stared at her blankly, to surprised by the question to remember she was possibly injured.
“Your calendar?” She gritted, resisting the urge to crawl into a ball against the pain. The tears from before had altered and where a now a slow steady stream that had nothing to do with emotional distress. Sharp pains pierced her right thigh, her body trembling from the acute feelings. She was surprised she hadn’t remembered it before. It explained why the arrows influence had been on her recently despite there separation. “What turn of the sky are we on?”
“What? Err.. It’s God Flames.” Allen hastily responded.
“Dawn of the Sun.” Kalika mumbled, translating the Fureyiashan calendar to that of the Karaiki people’s. “I should be home. Asleep.” Kalika breathlessly whispered as another pain shoot through her. If she hadn’t been used to it, she would have thought someone was stabbing her quickly repeatedly with a long thing blade, it had nearly sent her insane the first time it had happened. She released her abdomen and with shaky hands brushed her fringe back and gave a smile to Allen. “It always happens.” Her smile became more sincere as the pain ebbed a notch.
“What does?” He demanded looking her form over quickly trying to find injury. Kalika shook her head and drew herself onto her feet, clutching onto his arm only for a second when balance refused to do as she requested of it.
“Surely you know enough about women to know they just get pains at times.” She glared into his eyes daring him to question her and he took the dare.
“I’ve known you for over a month, I think I’d remember if this had happened before.” He gritted his teeth at her, his expression dark and untrusting. She shrugged her shoulders and a wave of nausea passed through her making her grab at his arm. He caught her before she hit the ground again, supporting her surprisingly light weight until she pulled away from him.
“Yeah well.” She pushed her fringe back again. “We don’t all work on a monthly basis.” She managed only to grimace when the next round of pin point stabs flushed through her. “Don’t put a thought to it, I’ll have a word with Master Swan before I go back to the tent.” She went to walk away and he gripped her arm. She looked at his hand first then up into his brown eyes. She could see restrained anger.
“Don’t lie to me.” Allen warned and she saw the flicker of worry. She stepped back to Allen and pushed one of his errant locks of hair behind his ear. She could see Allen’s expression change to that of uncertainty.
“He controls me you know. Seres. Manipulates me in such subtle ways I suppose it’s good I notice them. Like you.” She caught his chin with her hand and lifted his face so she could stare at it. “I trust you, I honestly can’t help it. I’ve trusted so few people in my life, and he throws two at me that I can’t help but trust, and there both so loyal to him that my trust is unfounded.” She traced her finger across his jaw bone noticing that he flinched a little at the contact. They where eye level, normally, but he was down the smallest decent making her appear taller. “I trusted my brother for everything I was worth. I trusted Ivian, because he couldn’t hide his feelings from me, and he never wanted to. I trusted my grandfather, because he promised me the chance to live.” She released his head and turned her face away. “You remind me of my brother. I, I don’t understand why, but you do. And I could never help trusting him.” Her voice was getting weaker and she hated it. Another round of pain shoot through her and she made a noise of discomfort at the back of her throat trying not to think about it. Her eyes closed involuntarily as she tried to focus on nothing.
She wasn’t sure how long she stood there with her eyes closed, but when they opened she was staring into Allen’s brown eyes again.
“If you trust me, then why do always feel the need to run away?”
“I hate cages.” Kalika replied calmly. There was no real way to explain what she somehow knew he wanted to know. She couldn’t explain a second time that it was all wrong somehow. If the arrow had wanted her there, it could have at least remained to guide her so that she knew why. Bitting into the inside of her mouth she stared at Allen considering her next movement, and she was sure he was doing the same. Another pain, less then the other ones though not a sign that they would subside soon, told her that she probably wouldn’t be able to function properly the next day.
“So what’s really wrong?” Allen asked once more not flinching from her sharp eyes.
“Are you stupid Allen?” Kalika demanded staring at him. “I trust you. No matter what, I’m more likely to kill you then lie to you.”
“That’s comforting.” Allen growled still not moving. Kalika shook her head at him a little disappointed.
“My grandfather was a great man. He was bastard. But never to me. I remember walking into a room one day when he was beating one of the castle servants to death. I knew the boy well. I went to leave, and grandfather stopped me and told me to finish the job off. I was eleven at the time, and I killed that servant, Jacaib Ritiki died a fast death. I never questioned why I killed him, I trusted my grandfather. He would not request something of me unless there was a reason.” Kalika gave a little laugh at the memory. “My grandfather prepared me so I could do anything, anything at all that was necessary. My trust for you is powerful and I can’t fight that. But I can kill you, it would eliminate the problem of unfounded trust.” Another laugh from her at Allen’s blank expression a half smile slipped onto her lips. “So no matter what, I’m more likely to kill you then lie to you.” She shrugged at his still blank expression, wondering if he understood what she was saying, uncertain if there was a real way to explain it.
Deciding that she really wanted to be elsewhere at that moment she snatched the hat off his head and dived into the crowd, covering up her light brown hair and fading into the seamless movement of people before he could react. She did hear the string of curses that followed her and smiled. Except for complete stupidity on her own part the day was working out well.
As she weaved through the crowd knowing she had lost him disgustingly quickly she considered her words. It wasn’t exactly comforting to know she had just told him that she was capable of killing him despite any emotional ties. It was disturbing to think she had broken down before two people that day. Obviously stress was getting to her. Pain shoot through her and she ducked into a notch between tents to hide her sudden reaction. He was still looking for her, it wouldn’t be that hard to find her if she made a spectacle of herself.
Bracing herself against a create she allowed the pain through her system, shutting her mind from it until she reeled from the sensation and threw up.
“I hate the Dawn of the Sun.” She growled pressing in against the pain with a frown of concentration. She waited until it had subdued just enough for her to be able to move and continued down the lane. There was no point returning to the crowd if she was going to collapse again. A small part of her sanity questioned why she would be going anywhere if she was going to collapse again but she brushed it aside.
She continued to walk around the camp after that, effectively evading Allen a second time, though she suspected that was more from luck then anything else. The places she walked there was no one, though that was slightly surprising considering the rain had let up for the afternoon for the first time in over a week. She knew where she was most the time, and didn’t care when she didn’t.
It was after about an hour of stumbling around she found herself standing between some of the stolen caravans. She had been here before, where the harem often went when a new capture was made, but it had never been of any real interest to her. The lingering silence of the air relaxed her, almost drawing some of her pain away.
With a gentle sigh she lay her head back against one of the carts tall sides her hand still pressing against her right abdomen. It had been her left side last time, but that held little of her thoughts. What she repeated to herself as a certainty was that she had to see Master Swan before she returned to the tent. Another wave of nausea passed through her and she waited it out before she began moving again. Her feet where a little shaky and her path she was too disorientated to think about.
Turning around one of the carts the silence was invaded.
Kalika stoped in her tracks, her eyes locking on the scene before her with alertness. It took hardly a breath to register exactly what was happening in the scene. One of the soldiers, a colonel judging by the insignia on his disregarded jacket, was enjoying his lovers amorous company. There was something animalistic about the scene as the man pushed himself deeper into his lover driving her back harder against the carts side. It held Kalika’s attention for a few more seconds, then she shook the odd fixation away, unsure exactly why she had given it pause.
She went to walk away from the scene when something inside her clicked. She turned her sharp eyes back onto the couple, a frown threatening her expression as she stared at the soldiers female companion. For Kalika recognition was incredibly slow, the light brown hair, and half lidded blue eyes where familiar but it took her a little while to find the name to go with them.
Kalika’s eyes grew wide with shock. “Rel.” It was a breath of a whisper, far to quite for the loud couple to hear but Kalika regretted the noise none the less. Sharply she turned from the scene realising it was something she had not wanted to see and knowing it was something she did not want to see more of. Desperately as she walked away from the lovers, and she tried to push it from her mind, tried to forget it. She didn’t care after all, it wasn’t her place to care if Seres women where loyal to him, but she wished she hadn’t found out.
And as her feet silently carried her away from the scene she felt hard eyes boring into her back.
* * * * *
Kalika rested her head back against ruff bark, the tree behind her arched against her back comfortably. The shade the tree provided was comforting although it was not a hot day, warm at best, her body felt like it was burning up.
Through slitted eyes she watched the blurry movement of the harem as they played in the sun light, relishing the rarity of it although the day before had been the same.
“Kali! You should join in!”’ Kalika couldn’t see which had said it, but judging from the tone of voice she assumed it was Togne.
Her trembling hand made a shooing motion as while she shook her head in a no. The sharp pain’s had levelled out into a continuous throbbing that spread through her abdomen and gut. Leaving her feeling weak and pathetic, something she was far to used to at times.
Her eyes slipped shut again, her shallow breath’s in rhythm with the painful throbs. Whispers in the air caressed her senses, drawing brief smiled from her pale lips. In the midst of the whispers she sensed Iria’de’cen but she was only a flicker in the multitude.
Without a doubt she knew Boe would have made it to Skiara and delivered her brief greetings to her brother. Considering her present state she realised the message would not be greeted well, She always got sick at this time of year, and her brother knew it. Boe on the other hand had been kept as in the dark as everyone else. It never did to let people know one’s weakness’s. The only problem was that he would therefore not cover for her or reassure her brother that she was fine. Even if she had remembered, she wouldn’t have told Boe, there wouldn’t have been a chance of him allowing her to stay if he though she would be weak.
“Sentimental fool.” Kalika growled in frustration. Then jumped back to reality when the air around her shifted with a warning of company. Her eyes opened to see Togne standing a foot away, then the girl took a spot in the shade beside her.
“Who is?” Togne asked and Kalika turned her head to view the unwanted guest.
“One of the men from my home town.” Kalika replied. Her tongue felt heavy, her movement languid. Slowly she ran her tongue along her teeth experimentally.
“You spoke with men in your town?” Togne’s awed voice made Kalika grin despite her pain. She could have shocked the girl so easily, she realised as she watched the wide eyed innocent look directed at her. She wouldn’t have even had to go into details.
“Had to, It would have been rude to ignore them.” Her head swivelled back against the tree, looking over the still blurry clearing where the rest of the harem wasted the day.
“I guess.” Togne replied with uncertainty. “My father wouldn’t allow me of our lands. Unless he was in my company. He said I was too weak to defend myself and it was his duty to make sure I was pure when I married.” There was venom in Togne’s voice as she reminisced.
Kalika gave a laugh in thought, and at the enquiring glance she felt she grinned. “And look where you ended up. For all his work your not married and certainly not pure.”
Kalika felt the frown and turned her head to face Togne, forcing her eyes to focus on the freckled face.
“I’ve only ever being Seres lover. Better that then that old man my father had me bound to.” She snapped defensively, her amber eyes flashing.
Despite how ill she felt Kalika grasped Togne’s hand and squeezed it.
“I didn’t mean it in a bad way.” She took a deep breath, the air seeming to escape her far easier then normal. “Your father sounds like a fool he should have taught you to protect yourself from the world, instead of closing you off from it.” The laughing smile came back to her lips. “I was just considering what his expression would be if he was ever told where you ended up.” The laugh escaped her, and she felt dizzy for the action.
“Father wouldn’t teach me anything like that. The mayor, my intended, wanted a submissive wife. And for the gold he gave, my family where more then willing to comply in my training.” More venom spat from the usually perky girls throat.
“I think in a way our fathers are the same. I was not to raise a weapon. I was to be an excellent student in embroidery. To always show interest in the things beyond my reach, but not to reach for them.” Her voice was a little lost as she spoke, her mind jumping back to times almost forgotten.
“But I’ve seen you holding a weapon. I saw when you fought Justin. If your father demanded such things from you how did you learn weapons and fighting?”
“My father demanded, I disobeyed. Not to his face.” A shudder escaped her, she hoped it was the sickness. “Don’t mistake me. I sat properly, used the right fork, embroidered perfectly, cried when I saw a mouse. Everything he said I had to. And when he wasn’t looking I learnt my weapons and trained to fight.”
“How?” Togne demanded, intrigue and excitement radiating from her.
“My Grandmother owned a large lot of land. When she passed on it went to my father, because he was blood and Grandfather wasn’t. But Grandfather had been around a lot longer, he had gained the workers trust and he still had a lot to say in everything that happened. He took an interest in me and he taught me every trick he had ever learnt behind my fathers back. And when my father found out, Grandfather relinquished all claims to the land so he could keep teaching me.”
“A man taught you to fight?” Togne was wide eyed with shock.
“If fighting is restricted to men, then only the men know how to do it, thus teach it.” Kalika’s eyes lit up at the first clear though she had gotten that day. “I could teach you. Teach you to defend yourself. And you could teach everyone you know.”
“I only know the harem.” Togne confided softly.
“I could teach them too.” Kalika looked over at the others, and her eyes lost their focus making her head reel with unexpected vertigo.
“Good luck convincing our lord to let you.” Togne jeered.
A stillness slipped over the two and Kalika considered Togne’s last words. Her eyes where closed, her body still throbbing with pain. And an enticing idea occurred to her.
* * * * *
Kalika waited in the tree’s shelter for some time after the sun had set, forcing queasy feelings from her body. It would do little good to face him feeling ill. Showing any sign of weakness would indeed put her in danger.
When feelings of sickness had been temporarily set aside, Kalika dug into herself for a little extra strength directing it to her finger tips so she wouldn’t shake. Just because she felt less ill did not mean her body had regained control.
Reaching behind her she pushed herself from the ground with the tree’s help. And brushing the dirt off her hands she entered the harems tent.
Nobody looked up as she passed from the darkness to the low lit tent. All of the harem and Seres where sitting about the room occupying themselves. The fire in the middle of the structure flicking tantalizing shadows in the folds of material that protected them from outside.
“The weather was well today.” Kalika sighed in an almost greeting, unabashed that none had noticed her entry.
Nine sets of female eyes glanced at her, their reactions all different and all ignored. Kalika gave a half smile and lounged across some of the cushions by the fire, marvelling in the need for warmth although there was no chill in the air.
Her eyes followed the flicks of flames absently, her body making itself as comfortable as it could be in the position. A chill ran down her body making her shiver then shift her position closer to the fire.
Small flames leapt out at her, winking out of existence before harm could be done, and another smile tinged on the corners of her mouth.
She relaxed onto her side, face close to the flames as she watched it’s intricate dance. Amazing green’s and blues pulsed in the depths of the golden flames. Her mind began to faze from the movement until a cool hand slipped beneath her hair onto the nape of her neck.
She turned her body, surprised, and found Seres kneeling beside her sprawled form a look of concern in his shadowed eyes.
“Are you okay?” Like a healer his other hand went to her forehead and she saw his immediate frown.
She felt lethargic under the fires spell and under the soft touch of his hand still resting against her neck. Her eyes closed and she rested her head back into his hold, her shoulder pressing into the knee by her head.
Wetting her lips she forced herself to respond. “Why wouldn’t I be?” One eye did open to see his response and watched his frown increase.
“Just-“ his frown intensified “-something.” The words were weak with uncertainty and his other hand moved from his side to brush small strands of hair she hadn’t even noticed from her face.
She took a breath her other eye opening as his fingers brushed along her temple and travelled down the side of her face. He paused, his frown disappearing with a look of curiosity. His thumb reached up and traced below the now open eye gently. Her breath hitched with apprehension, knowing she should move but not really having the strength to do so.
“Something’s wrong.” He continued, his head titled staring at her eyes still.
“What makes you say that?” Kalika sneered as hurtfully as she could, he didn’t seem to notice.
“I’ve never seen your eyes that shade before.” He responded.
She waved her hand at the fire absently, her mind cursing the Dawn of the Sun. “It’s probably the light.” Her arm was getting tired so she let it fall back to the ground. Seres eyes followed the hand then came back to her face. Her eyes threatened to close.
“Selen. Get Master Swan.” Seres ordered, and the girl was out of the tent before Kalika could even consider a response. Seres remained silent as they waited, and she didn’t really care. But as much as she wanted to close her eyes and go to sleep, she couldn’t manage the task with him sitting over her as he was. It didn’t take very long for Selen to return looking confused and a little uncertain.
“Well?” Seres demanded in a deadly voice. Kalika couldn’t raise her head to gage Selen’s response to it but she could imagine.
“He says she’s already explained it to him and not to worry.” Selen’s meek voice declared to the whole tent, but it had that usual strength to it that told the tent she hadn’t made a mistake and she would be damned if anyone tried to second question her.
“And he didn’t tell me?” Seres voice held icicles of danger, and Kalika felt the hand she hadn’t noticed on her arm tighten a fraction. She could see his expression, at least, her head refused to tilt to see Selen but she could see him.
There was a pause that poured tension into the room, and Selen continued her voice meeker then before. “He also said he belongs to the Sorcerers Assemblage not you.” And the air was sucked straight out of the tent in anticipation of Seres’ response. The fingers around her arm tightened once more, and Kalika couldn’t prevent the sharp breath the pressure drew from her. Immediately her arm was released and her closing eyes could see Seres watching her uncertainly, the tinge of anger hidden in the grey obvious.
“Very well I’ll deal with that latter.” Seres mumbled, and brushed hair from her face once more.
Even moving into the darkness of unconsciousness Kalika reminded herself to deal with the issue of training the harem in combat at a latter time.
* * * * *
Kalika gave Allen a quick and mocking smile before slipping in through the tent doors of Seres work tent. He would growl about it latter, of course, it seemed a pass time of his to complain about the things she did. But for now she was revelling in her good health.
It was a blessing, god like in its proportions that she had woken hours before feeling refreshed and invigorated. She knew it wouldn’t last she had hardly tipped the edge of what could be expected as the days progressed but she had been glad for the reprieve. And the lull gave her the chance to conduct business that would otherwise have to wait.
The tent door fluttered shut behind her plunging the room into a soft darkness. Her eyes came to adjust quickly, using the glimmer of light that penetrated thick material walls to see by. Seres sat with his back to her, the tents fire before him.
She approached him slowly, seductively ensnaring his attention although his eyes remained fixed on the book before him. She knew men, she knew them better then anything else in her life. Because men controlled power, it was her job to control men and she had made an art of it, a skill that most women would have being sick at the thought of.
She had trained for so long to achieve her goals she had long ago forgotten what those goals where, except at night when things where quiet and her mind had time to recall brighter thoughts.
Kalika stepped closer to him and she noticed the way his thumb carelessly crinkled the page below it, how his eyes did not move along the page of scrawled writing, how his body had shifted ever so slightly to give him better protection against her should she decide to attack. She smiled at that, and turned the smile into something less condescending.
“Seres.” Her voice was almost childish with the innocence she wove into her tone. It would not go unnoticed by him, he was far too astute to be distracted by such trickery, but it was important he knew the trickery had begun.
“Kalika.” He replied his voice the stony calm she had expected. He was used to attacks like the one she was making. With nine other women in his possession he knew the signs of seduction. But she suspected he was still vulnerable to them.
She knelt to the floor beside his chair as close as was possible, his scent invading her senses. Her hands slide onto his left arm as she bit her bottom lip ordering herself to concentrate. She looked up through her lash’s at him and tried once more to gain the attention she already had. “Seres.” She added a little playfulness to her tone for good measure, letting him know she would not leave until he had given her his full attention.
Without so much as a breath to show he had surrendered to her first plea he turned his head and looked at her, book still open in his hands. “How can I help you Kalika?” He was mild with his question, his eyes showing a small sign of annoyance and she wondered what he was reading.
With a winning smile she tugged the book from his hold, and shifted her eyes to the cover. A tiny frown sprung to life when she realised it was in a foreign language but she traced the covers markings thoughtfully.
“What’s this?” She asked carefully, that innocence still in place, but by his exasperated raised brow she could tell he wasn’t impressed by the play.
Her finger traced over the patterns on the book, licks of flame engraved along the bottom, an image of the sun lingered at the top and in the middle a symbol that seemed vaguely familiar.
“It’s a book.” He replied blandly and took it from her hold. Then catching her chin he turned her eyes from the cover to look at him. “What do you want Kali?”
She noticed he was using pet names again, but didn’t care, she was ready to be treated like a pet for a few more minutes. She smiled as winningly as she could.
“I wanted to talk to you.” She thought about giggling and put it aside, she refused to belittle herself that much this day.
He let out a sigh and flicked the book away from himself. Neither blinked when the flying item disappeared mid movement, but a tinge of suspicion built into her because he rarely used magic for trivial things.
“It’s an old game already Kalika.” He gave a tired half smile. “Tell me what you want and we’ll discuss it.”
Her smile became genuine at his sign of surrender. For what she was about to ask required him to give into her this once.
“I want to teach the Harem weapons.” Her voice was deadpan, her expression blank. It didn’t matter what voice she delivered such a sentence in he would have heard it for what it was so she didn’t attempt to hide the words.
His brow’s knit together, his hand releasing her chin. “No.”
“Yes.” She countered before he could look away. She caught his face and held him still, refusing to allow the debate to end before she had won.
“I don’t think you understand Kalika.” He paused for emphasis, eyes boring into her. “No.” He drew the refusal out, rolling the letters perfectly. Even an idiot would have known what he was saying.
“And I don’t think you understand Lord Mage. I’m going to teach them, with or without your consent.”
He smiled at that. “But will they learn without my consent?” His smooth voice trembled with the edge of a laugh and she smiled bitterly in response.
“I suppose it depends on who their more afraid of doesn’t it?” She released him and twined a piece of rusty hair around her finger, she noted he did not turn away. “I can inspire fear.” Her voice was deadly when she spoke, a warning mixed into her soft voice tinged with innocence and determination she did not have to fake.
“You are weak and foolish.”
“You underestimate me.”
“As you underestimate me.”
“You are my captor, you march an army against the country I serve. You have taken countries, killed kings, destroyed civilisations. You think I underestimate you? Perhaps you are so use to success you overestimate yourself.”
“What great feats have you accomplished Lady?”
Her smile was taunting, she would not share secrets with him.
Without pause to let him contemplate her expression she pushed on to another path, a safer path. “Perhaps we should discuss our deal.”
“The next time we look at that deal I’m going to demand your participation not just your presence in my bed.” His voice was toneless, not even the tinge of warning she would have expected and she knew it was a fact he would not relent on.
Anger boiled in her, it was the first time he was denying her anything that she wanted to fight for and the will to fight was strong in her soul. She lifted her hand from his arm, pushing her fringe back behind her ear. Anger pulled strength from deep within, strength she rarely touched. It burnt through her as she pushed it up into her eyes, letting him glimpse one of her more dangerous secrets.
His eyes narrowed on her, his frown shadowing his expression.
“Doing things like that can be deadly.” His voice wasn’t so empty now but she was too stubborn to listen to what emotions he was showing.
“For whom?” Her voice crackled oddly in her ears, and his expression became darker.
“Stop it.” He ordered, she ignored. “Stop.” Something pressed in against her, something commanding, something magical, something scented of him. She went to push back, ready to fight it all with the primal instincts in her taxed body, and logic made her reconsider. Pulling a breath of power up to her she pushed a little, fighting for only a second before the battle was lost. What she had drawn forwards of her power faded into the atmosphere forgotten and out of reach.
She turned angrily to him, letting him see what he expected to but his expression showed weariness not the triumph she had assumed would be there.
She did not want to linger on the moment, nor did she want him to. “Why can’t they be taught?” She choked a little on the words, re-catching breath that had been stolen with magic.
His expression did not waver. And she noticed in a moment of confused magic he had moved. His body now turned towards her, their knees pressed, her right hand still on his left arm breaching the distance between them. Her breath hitched as she considered breaching the distance further. Thoughts of what was possible waring with an annoying sense of logic that persisted she did not want anything to happen.
Below her clenched hand his muscles moved and her eyes jumped to the contact between them. Images of the muscles beneath the material of his white shirt assaulted her thoughts, to many mornings graced with seeing his bare waking form leaving no work for her over active imagination. She tried to stamp the thought out, releasing his arm and shifting away form him ever so slightly.
It didn’t matter if he saw the retreat, because the action was necessary she wasn’t in control. She wasn’t sure how to stop her body shaking. Everything in her body was running on instincts, and instincts where a dangerous thing when confronted with vices.
The heavy scent of his magic lingered around them, magic he had used to sedate her. She wondered who would win, if they where ever pitted against each other, and the terrifying truth that had always haunted her returned. She wasn’t sure.
Forcing thoughts of distraction away she turned once more to thoughts of training the harem in weapons. Now it was no longer her desire to do something it was her desperate need to concentrate on something other then the man before her.
“It’s not like-“ She began, her voice wavering. She cleared it lightly, her eyes way from him, fixed on the far tent wall. “It’s not like they would ever use it against you. There all far to loyal for something like that.” An image of Rel with her anonymous soldier struck her thoughts but she pushed it away. It was not her business if his harem was loyal to him or not.
He remained unnervingly silent.
“And how can you deny them the ability to protect themselves?” She felt the rhythm of argument begin to settle into her. “By denying them the ability to use weapons your putting them at risk to people like Justin.” She took a deeper breath, controlling her voice a challenge as his eyes continued to fix on her. She wondered with a tinge of fear if he had sensed her thoughts only seconds before. “You can’t be there all the time, it doesn’t matter how much power you have and eventually someone else is going to slink through your little net of protection and take what they want from you.” She hated that her breathing wasn’t regular, that she couldn’t think beyond the images of him that filled her head. A little anger returned to her, anger that he effected her, anger that she couldn’t push it away this once because she was too susceptible right now, anger that she had been foolish to try and ignore what her body and mind was doing, had always done, to her.
Her shaky hand passed through her hair, her eyes still searching for points of rest through out his tent.
“Fine.” His voice was calm and dismissive all at once and her eyes jumped to his silently conveying a thanks she hadn’t meant to show him. That he had surrendered didn’t really penetrate her mind as she jumped to her feet and began for the door. All she knew was that she had to leave his presence and remain away from it for as long as she could.
* * * * *
Kalika stared at the harem with a mixture of amusement and apprehension. Never before in her life had she been so foolish as to attempt to teach someone something. At least, not the way she needed to teach these girls. Teaching men who worked for her was an entirely different experience to the one she now realised was before her. In normal situations the incessant chatter that rang through the air would have been silenced with the threat of beatings, or if that failed it would be made more then threat. But she doubted it would be an effective or acceptable form of discipline in this case and she doubted they would hear the threat over their own noise anyway.
She realised as she watched them that perhaps it had been why Seres had conceded so quickly. It hadn’t felt like a victory not with the way he had agreed as if unaffected by the outcome. Though he had seemed adamant enough at first that she would not be able to teach them.
Rubbing gently at her brow, eyes not straying from the nine girls before her, she pushed thoughts of Seres away. There where some stupid things she had done in her life, and most of them had happened during the Dawn of the Sun, but actually walking into the presence of a man she wanted to keep her distance from had to win over all the others. One day, she would tell her brother and watch him try and hide the laughter as he reprimanded her. He knew the problems the plagued her, and he had a tendency to find the humour in all her problems.
“What are we doing here exactly?” Liza asked, her eyes fixed on the weapon in Kalika’s hand with uncertainty.
Kalika smoothed her hand over the bow and felt the warmth seep into her fingers once more. She had always loved this weapon. She smiled at Liza quickly, not bothering to make it reassuring, the last thing she wanted to be as a teacher was companionable, especially when it was not an emotion between them any other moment in time.
“I thought Seres told you.” She kept her voice pitched a little lower then usual, letting the sound of it resonate around them. It was a technique she knew all too well, a way to be certain they all heard her.
“Your teaching us weapons?” Togne’s eyes where bright and fixed on Kalika the grin on her lips was indecipherable.
Kalika ran her eyes over the harem as she nodded. That they where all there was surprising considering she had heard Seres tell them himself that they didn’t have to but they could. Selen looked alert, interested, her plaits where tied into a knot at the back of her head and she had disregarded her usual clothes for a pair of pants and plain shirt. Yan had a look of curiosity in her golden eyes but she hung back in the group, a viewer not a participant.
“Why the bow?” Rel’s tone was venomous, her demand sharp and her posture ridged. Kalika absently stroked the bow as she stared down the angry green eyes that fixed on her.
“I don’t want to learn how to shoot arrows, that’s men’s work.” Tesh’s disgusted words drew Rel’s attention and eyes from the moment.
Kalika frowned lightly, obviously the girl knew she had seen her with her lover. Sometimes knowing a secret wasn’t worth the trouble of it, from the hostility that had just been directed at her Kalika knew this was one of those secrets she didn’t want to be privy to. She reasoned she would just have to pull the girl aside latter and tell her quite plainly how little she cared about her trysts.
“Then don’t learn.” Kalika replied to Tesh, turning her frown into a scowl just for the red heads benefit. “Seres certainly wont care either way.” She hadn’t expected her words to have any effect but the flash of emotion in Tesh’s eyes that looked similar to pain was unmistakable. Kalika was flustered by the response. From a girl who had unfailing insulted her very culture and upbringing since they met*(1) she was taking a small gibe far too much to heart.
“Can we use swords?” Liza asked, gnawing at her lower lip eyes apprehensive. “I like swords better.”
“I don’t like swords.” Kalika swatted quickly unwilling to barter.
“How can you dislike swords when you’re a warrior?” Pilly asked in her soft voice, almond brown eyes fixed with a frown to prove her incomprehension.
“One, I’m not a warrior and Two? If you had ever picked up one of those dragon muddled things you’d know how easy they are to dislike.” Kalika shuddered at the memory of the last time she had been forced to use a sword. “So-“ She breathed, regaining control “-I’m teaching you archery.”
“But it is a mans tool for fighting.” Deril was smoothing out the front of her dress out of nervous habit.
“Most of them are.” Kalika conceded calmly. She was ready to resign herself to talking the reluctant one’s into the practice when Rel interrupted them all.
The Ynralaan*(2) stood with her hands on her hips darkened eyes fixed on the bows Kalika had laid out on the ground for them. “Just show us how to do this.”
* * * * *
Kalika lent back against the bench that had been set up behind the harem’s tent. Pilly sat upon the table by her side, watching the failing attempts of the rest of harem to hold their weapons.
“Even if they learn nothing of weapons, I will forever find amusement in their attempts.” Pilly whispered conspiratorly and Kalika could not help the grin that cracked at her lips. When the training had begun the week before Pilly had refused straight out to touch any weapon no matter its purpose. Over the week Kalika had managed to wheedle out of her exactly why that was and had been surprised to discover the Second Lady of the Lord Mage’s Harem had been a priestess in training before her capture.
It seemed Pilly still maintained the high moral code of no violence that her sisters had taught her and even Kalika couldn’t bring herself to fight against real beliefs.
Kalika glanced once more to the seven girls who where each trying valiantly to correct their stances and grips so the arrows would fly true. Selen was the closest to hitting the target, her posture and hold where almost perfect, but every time she drew the string back she would simply lose the perfection and the arrow would fly erratic. All it would take for her to get it right would be to hold the pose longer and Kalika could tell from Selen’s determined expression that it wouldn’t take that long. Rel on the other hand managed to hit the target, when she participated, but never close to the centre and any attempt at assisting her errors where rebuked with hostility.
“I think I like Yan’s attempts the most.” Kalika murmured as she scrunched her eyes up against the glaring sun. Her pulse paused then jumped back into action at double pace. “She’s absolutely terrible, but she does it with grace and style.”
“I think she was born with the ability to be graceful no matter the circumstance.”
“Says the Moon Priestess.”
“My past is my past, it is gone and it is no longer relevant. Please don’t bring it up again.”
“Sorry.” Kalika mumbled, her attention shifting from the conversation as Rel walked into the clearing from the tent. Scrutinisingly Kalika looked the girl over an was degusted with the lack of effort that was put into hiding her recent activities. Rel’s general appearance could be described as little else but ruffled. Her hair was a mess, her skirt twisted around at an odd angle, and her top was settled poorly over her bust. Besides that Kalika could pick up the more subtle hints that the girl had just been off with a lover like the sheen of sweat across her body, and the pleased blue eyes. Obviously the harems trust in their own equated to blind stupidity in some areas, and obviously Rel relied on that.
Kalika turned away with a mild shake of her head, not really caring but a bit disappointed by the failure on both the harem to notice and Rel to try and hide the indiscretion. She pushed away from the table and walked to her own target, lifting her bow off the ground with her foot in a brilliant display of balance and laziness. She didn’t really care. It wasn’t her bow and therefore she had no respect for it. She raised the quiver of arrows in much the same way but slung it over her shoulder carelessly.
She knew she should have been helping the others, but so far that day she hadn’t touched the bow or arrow and even when the bow was poorly made she still felt the pull to use it.
Fitting her arrow in the notch she sighted her target and released the string. It was a breath of aiming but it was enough to make her aim perfect with the target so close. Mindlessly she aimed for the small marks on the target board from someone else’s previous attempts and released a few more arrows pleased when they embedded themselves where commanded.
She drew another arrow back, aiming for the centre of the board where her first arrow already lay.
The first sign she had that anything was wrong was the sudden silence. She knew it was her silence alone, not that of the people around her and vaguely she could hear them through it all. Pain struck her the next second, slicing through her body and sending sharp jolts to her brain. The third sign was when her legs buckled beneath her and body tumbled after them. Her hands flung out to stop the fall reflexively and a breath from the ground she stopped. She blinked trying to piece together what had just happened her nose almost pressed to the dirt.
Her arms began to tremble supporting her own weight becoming a task she was unable to maintain, her mind started to fall into a hazy fog. It was harder to draw breath, harder to keep herself stable but she refused to let her body drop until she could understand what was happening.
She pushed at the fog that was trying to cloud her mind, pushed as hard as she could while she let the analytical part of her take control. She was in pain, she knew that, her chest hurt, and her veins felt like acid had been poured into them burning her from the inside. She tried to ignore that narrowing her attention down onto the pain in her chest, where it had begun, ignoring the haze of her thoughts and the shouting that was going on about her. She forced the breath’s into her lung laboriously wondering why the task was suddenly so difficult. She lowered herself to the ground unable to maintain that control while thinking.
And slowly deep inside she found the focus she needed to sort the moment out.
* * * * *
Seres folded his fingers neatly on the table as he watched the generals bickering over minor details. The rain season was over, had been over for some days now but they where still holding off, letting things dry out before any attack began.
Their spy’s around the country said there where murmurs of bandits near what they called the Thieves Passage and all nobles where being advised to avoid it, but there where no murmurs of army’s or invasions. He was still waiting for reports from the spy’s who had been sent Moon-wards*(3) but he suspected the people of Derishmikal where ignorant of their danger no matter which direction they lived in.
Driken thumped at the table, shouted something across the room at one of the stupider of the generals. Seres wanted to sigh in agreement with an assessment Driken had made earlier when they where talking alone. Some of these generals needed to be cut down a few pegs. They where getting cocky, if they won one war they assumed they could win them all and he didn’t like when people assumed they would win instead of preparing to fight.
“No! No! This is all pointless. We discussed this Lord Mage Seres! We must attack Tuthar as quickly as possible once we have declared the war. That is there main city of trade with neighbouring country’s. If we take that not only do we cut of a great supply of money and power we fortify and prevent the chances of Derishmikal's friends assisting them.”
Gorsan gave a sigh that even the loudest of them heard. Not because it too was loud, because everyone was cautious of the cattish man. “We have plans Drom, we are not going to suddenly change them because you once more want to bring up feeble arguments that we had sorted out meetings ago.” Drom went to argue and Seres suspected it would be a loud argument so he chose to intervene. He raised his hand and the silence Gorsan had managed was dwarfed by the immediate and focused attention that fell on him.
“Derishmikal has no ally’s, and Gorsan is correct, the plans have been laid. Unless you have new protests or information they shall be followed as closely as pos-“ Seres stopped silent when the door was flung open and everyone’s attention shifted from him to the panting girl in the door way.
Liza clung to the door, her eyes jumping around the room quickly and assessing. He rose from his set and met the girls eyes when they finally found him. She took two stumbling steps forwards and Driken grabbed at her arm steadying her.
Seres made a mental note to thank Driken latter for an action no other man in the room would have bothered with. “Liza?” He asked carefully even as he crossed the room to her. There was a slight worry, worry that she was hurt or something was wrong. What ever had happened she had run to get here, probably as fast as she could.
“The tent!” she gasped out clutching onto Driken her emerald green eyes unwaveringly locked with his “You have to be there now!”
He stopped his approach and looked at her carefully. She looked panicked, nearly frantic and he knew she must be because there was no other way she would act so bluntly, especially in the presence of his generals.
She didn’t like his pause as she caught her own breath and lunged at him, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the door. He didn’t fight it, too shocked to actually think properly. “Yan told me to get you! We have to go! I don’t know what Selen’s going to do!” Her tone was becoming more frantic, and he caught up with himself getting past the shock of the interruption, the imprudence of her display, and realising that something was seriously wrong for any of his harem to act like this.
Having control of himself again he grabbed at Liza’s arm, pulled her up against him and recited the first relocation spell to come to mind. He envisioned the tent, empty space and the ground beneath there feet so mishaps would be avoided. Using such levels of magic certainly wasn’t something he would do often, but he didn’t have the patience travelling by foot would require. After all magic was for emergency’s and it seemed that this was just such an event.
The world around them spun for a second then settled down and they where standing in the middle of the tent. Liza sagged for a moment and he wished it had been someone else sent to get him. Liza was too sensitive to the forces around her some times and he had just used far too much magic on what should have been a simple spell. But he didn’t know if he had the luxury to pause and focus the magic properly.
He shook the girl lightly making eye contact to be sure she was okay and she pointed out to the yards behind the tent. He had to pause to be sure she wasn’t going to fall over the second he stepped away but when she flicked her hand in the direction impatiently he took the hint and willingly abandoned her.
The moment he stepped into the yard he knew any haste he had used to get to the scene was justified. He saw Yan first, perfectly poised in the centre of it all and he knew she had reverted back to her princess mind frame, something she never did unless the situation was serious. Selen he saw second and below the warrior he found Rel cowering against the floor, blood gushing from her broken nose.
Rel’s eyes found him and she went to move. Immediately Selen intercepted the movement and kicked Rel back to the ground.
“If she moves again break her legs.” Yan ordered her voice lofty and he saw the hesitation in Selen’s eyes but also the firmer stance that was taken. As always Yan’s orders would be obeyed.
He realised that wasn’t the problem, perhaps the cause, not the problem. He looked past them ignoring what ever Rel had begun to shout out and found the reason Yan had ordered him summoned.
He cursed swiftly and moved across the yard without even glancing to evaluate anything else. Pilly was kneeling in blood, a man next to her he didn’t recognise and between the two there was Kalika, an arrow in her chest. She wasn’t sitting up, that wasn’t good, and the blood, he knew how much blood was in a man and didn’t think she had much left.
“Where the hell is Swan?” Seres shouted, knowing without looking that the other harem where there. He stood next to the stranger, and even his distracted thoughts noticed the apprentice healer robes he was wearing.
“It looks like it missed her heart.” The healer babbled his hands shifting about the broken arrow shaft with uncertainty. Seres watched the fumbling for a moment before he realised even with his lack of training he could do a better job. Angry not only that the man was completely incompetent but that no one better had been sent Seres shoved the man aside and took his place next to Kalika.
“Where’s Swan?” He demanded of them.
“Togne has gone to get him.” Yan replied with perfect calm.
“Wake up.” He ordered the unconscious girl, pushing a jolt of magic into her system to try and sustain her limp body. At the same time his hands shifted about Kalika’s chest wound seeing the splintered wood protruding from below her left breast. He swore again and reached below her to test if it had gone through and what was left of the arrow on that side if it had. Again he met splintered wood and cursed, they had broken it off which meant he couldn’t even pull it out without splinters getting into her wound.
Something wet curled about his left wrist and gripped tightly. He looked quickly and found a delicate blood stained hand. His eyes jumped to met Kalika’s and he could see the wild in their blue-green depths. She was taking quick breaths, fighting for the air she needed. He hadn’t even thought she was conscious.
“Ca’siantu iempirantiael dombad ori.” Her words where fracture by the breaths she couldn’t take properly, her eyes not really fixed on him as she spoke and he wondered if she had any idea she had just spoken a completely different language to any he had known in his life. She took a ragged breath and all focus left her eyes.
“Curse the Seventh Stream!” He shouted even as he tried to get Kalika to look at him, tried to get her to focus. But if he knew anything as a healer it was when the task was beyond him, he pushed more strength into the girl, feeling the resistance and overpowering it. “Get Liza!”
“I’m here!” He glanced and found her in the door way, looking only a breath better then she had when they arrived.
“Get down to the healers tent. Tell Swan not to move. And mark me a pallet, the whole thing I need it exact.” He saw her pausing, knew he was asking a lot considering how out of breath she already was but didn’t care. “Now!” His voice brooked no argument and Liza was gone from sight before he swung his head back to the bleeding girl. She was unconscious again and he hesitated to force her awake once more.
“You can’t move her!” Pilly insisted and he met her panicked eyes.
“I can’t not.” He replied firmly. He paused to draw in a breath reaching down his link to Liza, waiting for the appearance of her magic that would tell him where they where going in co-ordinates he wouldn’t allow himself to get wrong.
He looked across the yard and found Selen still standing over Rel, Yan still watching the two with regal control. Cold anger settled into his veins. He knew the women of his harem better then he knew his generals, and he knew without asking that what ever had happened had been Rel’s fault. And she might not have thought it, but he knew Rel enough to know not to doubt it was far from an accident.
“Deril, Tesh, get the guards.” He heard them disappear as his eyes moved calmly to met Yans. “Yan, the guards are to have Rel. Tell them they can do as they please, so long as she’s alive when I’ve decide what to do with her.”
What ever protests where voiced by Rel he paid no attention to his focus on the feel of Liza’s magic as it began to appear. He waited impatiently while her magic settled into place knowing he had to wait or risk the effort being pointless. The moment Liza’s magic stilled he reached for a more advanced spell, twisting it in his head and readjusting it for the situation. Then carefully dropped his magic into Kalika’s bleeding body.
This was a far more intricate spell then he had used to come to the tent, and the co-ordinates had to be more precise. He needed to get her to the healers tent, and on the pallet bed that was waiting for her, but in her current state any movement could complete what the arrow hadn’t and kill her.
He envisioned the magic Liza had spread through the pallet, used the magic in Kalika as the focus for her body then in his mind placed her directly above the pallet making sure that the gap between the two was as small as possible. As sure as he could be he let the spell go and she vanished from sight.
Getting to his feet, still ignoring the commotion going on around him he followed her to the healers tent with a much more clumsy spell. Once more making sure only that his feet where on the ground, the space was empty and he was in the healers tent.
The world twisted and spun and when it fell back into place he was standing within eye sight of his quarry. A slither of relief pushed past the calm control he was exerting when he saw Master Swan at her side and that his spell had not mislaid her.
“Seres.” Swan greeted, his attention focused on the once more unconscious girl.
Seres stepped up beside the pallet trying not to look at her. “What do you need?” He could see the convoluted healing spells the elder man was twisting into her body and knew he could do nothing like it on his own. His skills did not reach this far into the healers realm. But he could not help the demand in his system that he offer any assistance possible.
“Wake the girl up, if you can.” The healer’s attention fixed on the arrow shaft and before Seres had even reached to force Kalika awake the wound was empty. More blood pulsed from her body but he ignored it, focusing instead on the task set him. Swan was a Master healer and knew far more of the art then anyone else in the world. If the man couldn’t fix her then Seres had no chance.
Forcing himself to focus on the task before him Seres made contact with the skin of her neck and pushed another jolt of magic into her system. Across from him Swan hissed but more importantly the girl below him stirred. He let more magic go making sure to keep reign on the power that seemed to want to follow the rest of it into her. The girl was dangerous to work magic around because he wasn’t sure how it would react.
A hand clamped to his wrist again and he met her eyes and found instead of the usual blue or green he was staring into red. She tried to speak, her voice was breathy, getting weaker and he couldn’t hear what she was saying. He leant in closer to hear the words as she continued to repeat them. “Ca’siantu iempirantiael dombad ori.”
He met her eyes again. “I don’t understand.” He told her carefully trying to reason with her. He could see though from the way her unfocused eyes continued to skip around that she was no longer conscious in the conventional definition. Only the grip on his wrist seemed to be a sign that she was really talking to him. “Try another language.” He pushed but her words repeated and even as he paid head to her he heard the cursing behind him.
Automatically he pulled away and turned to see Swan. He scanned her body and found the wound closed, the blood had stopped falling but Swan was still fussing.
“What?” Seres demanded. He went to take a step towards the healer but the grip on his wrist was tight and unyielding and he would not fight against or hurt her today.
“I don’t know.” Swan snapped, “the spells aren’t working properly!”
“You’ve closed the wound?” Seres demanded his eyes going once more to confirm it. “What’s the problem?”
“If I knew that it wouldn’t be a problem!” Swan shouted in response. “I’ve set the spells for healing and their almost working but there’s something fighting against them.”
The grip on his wrist became crushing and he swung around to face Kalika, marvelling that she had the strength even as she gritted out the words again. Her eyes focused on him for a moment, the red shifting to an almost blue violet and he could see the pleading in them. His stomach dropped as her focus disappeared and her head fell back against the pallet. He didn’t understand-
“Get the Karaka translator!” Seres ordered not looking away as he tried to get her attention again.
“That sounded like a sun country’s dialect.” Swan rasped.
Seres frowned and a troublesome idea struck him. He looked up from Kalika his eyes landing on the two of his harem who had proceeded him. Liza was unconscious on one of the beds, Togne was fussing over her. “Togne!” the dark skinned girl’s eyes jumped from her friend to the scene and he saw her fact go white. “What did she say?”
“It didn’t make any sense my lord!” Togne protested. “She’s just rambling.”
“I didn’t ask if it made sense. I asked what she said!”
“It was hot or angry blood, and something about-“ She paused, fumbled. The grip on his wrist was getting weaker.
“Yes?” He tried to keep his voice steady, tried not to rush her, he could see her confusion.
“I don’t know. The rivers eye maybe? It could be pain. And it might have been two, but I’m not even sure that was the last word!” Her eyes where troubled, bewildered. “It’s not my native tongue. It’s like a corruption of it. I don’t know what she’s saying, and I don’t think she’s saying anything!” He looked to Swan who was still pouring spells into her body and he could see as each spell as it unthreaded and faded into nothing. Some of the spells where frayed but holding but those where the weaker spells the ones that wouldn’t keep her alive.
“Ca’siantu iempirantiael dombad ori.” Kalika whispered and with her words he felt the current of power that dragged it along. It burnt through his vein and pushed past searching for some sort of purchase. He heard things being dropped, the soft rumbled to the air that proved it was uncontrolled magic but he didn’t turn away from her, watching instead as every single spell Swan had managed to weave shattered with the power of her whisper.
He was impressed by the healers determination as immediately the spells began to weave again, but he could see the strength leaving the old man.
“It’s sick.” Togne said slowly unexpectedly interrupting him and taking his eyes from Kalika. Her amber eyes where fixed on Kalika with awe. “She’s not speaking a corruption of my language, I know a corruption of hers. It’s hot blood, sick blood. It’s a poison.” Togne’s confused eyes became suddenly determined. “The arrow was poisoned.” There was bitter anger in her voice.
Swan’s concentration snapped his spells collapsing as his attention shifted to the angry girl. “Hot blood, sick blood? Oh god’s.” He looked to Seres quickly. “It’s Cordan Powder. It burns the blood like fire in the veins. The general remedy is to bleed it out or cut the infected limb off. But she’s had it in her for so long now, and it went in so close to her heart.”
Seres didn’t like the hesitation he heard. He grabbed the edge of Swan’s robe making sure he had his attention. “If she dies old man, so do you!” His voice was full of promise, the anger unabated. He would not allow this man to give up on her when he still wanted her.
Swan turned to look at him. “I know that.” His expression was calm, professional but there was a hint in his eyes that showed he knew it was not an ideal threat so Seres released the mans robe. Swan turned back to the dying girl and examined. “It will have been in there long enough to infect what blood she has left. Which means it all has to be taken out so the blood her body is still producing doesn’t get infected. Oh gods.” Swan settled shaking hands on the edge of the pallet then turned uncertain eyes to Seres. “I have the precision and skill to do this Seres, but I am already drained and even on my best day I don’t think I would have enough.”
Seres’ looked to Kalika slowly letting his eyes wonder her features and cursed himself for every weakness in his body as he drew a dagger from his boot. He knew what the healer was saying.
“I want her back.” Seres warned as he drew the blade across his left palm. He whispered the unlocking spells as blood slipped from his hand to the floor, heard three protection rings crumble, felt the links to his harem fade but latched onto that precious one still connecting him to Kalika offering that and his bleeding hand to the mage healer. “Take what you have to.”
“You better sit down.” Swan whispered, looking uncertain and shaken. Seres grinned at the man’s expression a careless sense of abandon overwhelming his senses. He looked behind him and found a chair. When he sat he kept his hand held out to the healer, blood sliding down his arm tickling his senses. Swan reached forwards with trepidation.
“Be careful.” Seres warned almost amused. “It’s a killer.”
The moment Swan touched his blood Seres sensed the invasion and forced the instincts in his body that wanted to defend to allow it. He didn’t hear what ever noise Swan made, didn’t notice when the word started to go black around him but he did notice the ropes of power that where being yanked from him. He tried to control it for the healer, still fighting his instincts, he tried to make the power calmer and easier to meld but there was only so much that he could do and all things where beginning to fade.
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Property of Kimra Lelanst, do not duplicate without consent. |
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