“This is true,” Silvanus replied quietly. “You do not know, and in truth, my friend, I hope you never do. It is a lesson learned with great difficulty. If you are forced to live in fear of those around you who do not understand you, do not like what they don’t understand and act on it, you have but two choices. Buckle under the tyranny of their actions or find a way to make them fear you. Your warrior knows, do you not, princess?” he asked me.
“Perhaps we should avoid politics,” I murmured into my goblet.
“She is beautiful, powerful, mighty and wise,” Silvanus said to Cassius and I smiled at him. “You are very lucky.”
Cassius grunted.
I turned my head and frowned at him.
Cassius’s gaze dropped to my frown and he scowled at it.
I looked away and took a sip of wine.
“Please tell me you do not force the Airenzian wedding on this creature,” Silvanus cut in. “I see her beauty blooming in pink. Perhaps blue. Maybe lavender. Not the dreaded Airenzian wedding black.”
“I was going to wear my tunic,” I told him.
His lids drooped.
My belly swooped.
“And you should, for you wear it well,” he hummed to me.
Cassius suddenly reclined against the cushions at our backs which were up against a boulder.
And he took me with him with his arm snaking about me so that I ended up mostly reclining against him.
Silvanus smiled a knowing smile.
I turned my head again and shot my betrothed an annoyed glare.
He endured that but half a second before he turned, set his goblet to the ground and then came back to me.
I held my breath as he used the very tips of his fingers to trail my cheekbone before they sifted into my hair at the side and his face came very close.
“In mourning, the Firenz shroud everything in black,” he murmured. “Windows, mirrors, murals, fountains, doorways, horses, heads, covering anything they see that could bring joy and depicts beauty, for they cannot bear to gaze upon it in their despair.” He shifted just his eyes in the direction of Silvanus before he said in a louder voice. “Apropos an Airenzian bride should wed in that color, don’t you think?”
“Indeed,” I heard Silvanus agree softly.
Cassius’s attention returned to me, he was again murmuring, and I was again holding my breath at the expression on his face.
“The Dellish bride wears white, pale pink, pale green. The Firenz bride wears whatever color she wishes.”
My lungs started burning so I dragged in a breath but held it again when his hand in my hair shifted to cup the back of my head and his beard scraped my cheek as he put his lips to my ear.
I could feel them brushing my skin as he said, “You, my lamb, will wear pale lilac. You will herald a new beginning for all Airenzian women by wearing a color of light and hope. By showing them through your reign as their princess, and then their queen that they face a future where they will know choice.”
His arm about me curled tighter, drawing me nearer.
I gasped softly when his teeth nipped my earlobe before he growled, “And if you flirt one more time with that Zee, before the night is over, you will know the stroke of my cock so you will have no doubt who you belong to.”
It was then I realized I was panting and pressing my until-then forgotten goblet tight to the leather at his chest.
“Am I understood, my princess?” he asked.
“I’m not flirting,” I whispered.
He drew his head back and the firelight danced on his face.
But I saw nothing but the night sky in his eyes.
Oh my.
Prince Cassius was furious.
Those night eyes moved over my face and then he murmured, “You do not know the allure of your smiles, and thus you did not understand their potency or your actions.” His gaze captured mine. “Now you do. So I will ask again. Am I understood?”
I felt it wise in that moment to answer, “Yes, Cassius.”
“Good,” he whispered, the stars blinked out of his eyes and he drew farther away, but still held me close as he reached for his chalice.
I dragged in deep breaths, lifting my goblet to my lips to hide doing so.
“And I shall repeat, you are very lucky, dark prince,” Silvanus said low.
“We shall see,” Cassius replied before taking in some wine.
“Ah yes!” Silvanus suddenly shouted. “Now we dance.”
And as if he willed it, music filled the air from guitars and fiddles playing across the glade.
Three women approached me.
Cass’s arm disappeared as one woman took the chalice from my hand and set it aside then the other two took my hands and pulled me to my feet.
“Music! Wine! Dance! Beautiful women!” Silvanus cried while the women dragged me away from the cushions. “Life is for the living! Thus, we must live!”
One woman lifted her arms in arcs over her head, keeping eye contact with me as much as she could as she whirled, her skirt swirling out in a wide circle around her, then she stopped, stepping forward side to side, before lifting her arms and twirling again.
“You! You!” the other women called, clapping and pointing at me while stepping and swirling.
I did not look back at Cassius and Silvanus.
I was confused.
He told me he did not wish to be with me and then moved to protect me, behaved with jealousy and shared in no uncertain terms I belonged to him.
I did not understand him, and I had a strong feeling it had little to do with the fact I had not lived amongst men and I had little contact with them throughout my life.
He was naught like True.
He was also naught like what I had noted of Mars, or any of Cassius’s men (or True’s).
But as I swayed to the music, caught up in the bright skirts, firelight, clapping and laughing, I emulated the movements of the women around me, heartened by their encouraging smiles, and lost myself to the dance, deciding not to think on this.
For Silvanus was right.
Life was for the living.
And in that moment, I decided to let all that was happening go.
And just live.
Prince Cassius
In a Glade, One Hundred Miles from The Northwest Border of The Enchantments
WODELL
“We cannot stay long,” Cassius said into his goblet, though the words were directed to Silvanus, his eyes were on Elena dancing with the women by the fire. “Our party will grow concerned.”
“Ah, but you should let her have a few dances,” Silvanus urged.
Cassius took a sip, tore his gaze from Elena’s supple movements, and looked to Silvanus, noting a number of male Zees were dropping cushions about them in order to join them.
He again looked to Elena.
His intended was still dancing.
She was also smiling.
He turned to Silvanus.
“A few,” Cassius allowed.
Silvanus grinned.
But through it, his eyes were strangely intent.
“I know of lost loves,” he declared abruptly.
The men assuming cushions glanced about each other.
Cassius braced.
Silvanus sat back, drawing a hefty swig off the bottle before he lowered it, his attention now on the dancers.
“I am surrounded by beautiful women. I have been all my life, and this did not change after I found the one who was the only one for me nor did it change after she was lost,” Silvanus said. “When I had her, and then after she was gone, I did not even see them.”
Cassius watched him closely and therefore saw the Zee’s face get soft.
At that, Cass turned his head and looked to the dancers to see the one who had brought him the wine, the one who had showed Elena their dance, was smiling at the leader of the Zees not brightly, not widely, but contentedly.
“Until I did,” he heard Silvanus finish.
Cassi
us turned back to the Zee.
“I felt guilt,” he said in the direction of his woman. His eyes moved to Cassius. “And then I did not.”
Cassius drew breath into his nose.
“I felt fear,” Silvanus carried on.
Cassius’s chest started burning.
“And then I did not,” Silvanus went on. “I learned. Happiness is very powerful, my man. I understand you fighting it. It is instinct. A protection of ourselves. A defense. Something we men know very well how to do. But as I said, life is for the living. And happiness always wins. You shall see.”
“She’s a warrior,” Cassius reminded him.
“And a good one.” Silvanus also did some reminding.
Cassius turned his attention to his chalice.
“We will speak no more of it,” Silvanus said.
“I would be obliged,” Cassius muttered.
“Except…” Silvanus continued.
Cassius sighed and looked to the man.
“Do not hurt her in your quest to protect yourself. This is important advice, dark prince. A fragile, precious thing broken can never be mended. It will never have the beauty it had when it was whole. Heed this, I urge you. Regardless of what lies in your future, I can promise you, if you listen to my words and take them to heart, you’ll be glad you did.”
He had been cruel to Elena earlier.
Purposefully.
His intent, to drive her away.
Silvanus had heard it.
And now, after witnessing them together, knowing who they were, he understood it.
Cassius held his gaze a long moment.
And then he nodded.
More wine was brought, and the men did not avoid discussing politics now that Elena was not with them.
They argued agreeably, if at times heatedly, for some time, alternately watching the women dance or glancing to where they had set up their own cocoon of cushions to laze upon, drink wine and chat when the music slowed after much more wine had flowed.
Cassius did not miss Elena drooping.
He also did not miss when her eyes closed.
Silvanus’s woman gently took the chalice she still held in her hand away, and still Elena did not wake.
“My bride needs her tent,” Cassius murmured.
“And mine needs my cock,” Silvanus replied.
The men stood, and when Cassius offered his hand, Silvanus looked at it, seeming perplexed for a moment, before he grasped Cassius’s forearm in a tight grip.
Cassius returned the odd clasp.
“I do not know king or prince, outside our True, who would extend his royal hand to a Zee,” Silvanus said, not letting go.
“I am not prince or king you have met, until now,” Cassius replied.
“And I am glad of the meeting.” Silvanus extended his free arm wide over his head. “It has been our pleasure to host you in our home.” He gripped tighter, dropping his other arm “And I hope we meet again, my friend.”
“That pleasure was mine, and I have the same hope, my brother,” Cassius returned, meaning it and seeing Silvanus knew it.
Thus Silvanus, quick to do so often, did it again, this being smiling broadly.
They gripped each other’s flesh for another moment before they let go.
He walked to the women, who did not appear ready to break up as the men did, going directly to Elena, though doing it nodding respectfully to the others.
He received their return nods, and when Elena didn’t wake, simply mewed when he gently shook her shoulder, he equally gently lifted her in his arms.
A true warrior would not allow this, even after wine, battle, dancing and worry.
Unless she was entirely comfortable in the company she kept.
She knew the Zees were no real threat from the start.
She knew a great many things.
Including how to handle herself in a variety of situations.
Many of them, much better than even he.
Her head fell on his shoulder, sliding forward, so her forehead rested against the side of his neck.
She felt heavy at the same time light in his arms.
Warm against his chest.
And her smell was bloody heaven.
One of the women came to him, and careful not to wake Elena in the doing, put his princess’s staff in Cass’s hand.
Ready to go, he turned to Silvanus and bent slightly at the waist.
Silvanus affected yet another grand bow and Cassius’s lips were twitching as he turned and walked out of the glade.
Elena did not stir during the long walk back.
And she did not stir when he made their camp and immediately faced three of their infuriated party, all standing, ready to confront him.
Though two of that party shifted instantly to alarm.
Hera took a step forward, asking urgently, “Is she—?”
“Shh,” Cass hushed her quietly, but sharply. “She’s asleep.”
Hera stopped dead and stared up at him in shock. “Asleep?”
He had been correct.
Elena would not allow what was currently happening.
Unless she was completely comfortable in her company.
His gut got tight at the thought, and it was a feeling like the one he felt at the weight he held in his arms.
Heavy.
And light.
“We encountered Zees,” Cass explained, still speaking quietly.
Her face lighted as she hummed, “Ah.”
Rosehana was grinning.
“Are you joking with that?” Ian bit.
“No,” Cassius answered.
“You were set upon by Zees?” Ian demanded.
“‘Set upon’ might be strong wording,” Cassius prevaricated, for they were, and then they were not.
“You’ve been gone hours.”
“We have. But it was clear from Elena’s behavior you do not spurn a Zee’s hospitality.”
“You don’t,” Rosehana affirmed.
“And they had good wine,” Cassius added.
“They always have good wine. They don’t bother robbing the merchants who transport poor-quality grape,” Hera muttered.
“Wine? Zee hospitality? Again, are you joking with that?” Ian demanded.
He looked to his friend. “I am not. We were fine, but I understand your concern and I apologize for causing it.”
At this, it was Ian who was staring up at him.
“Did Mac and Jasmine go looking—?” he began.
Cassius did not finish this as he heard a low, long, feminine moan coming from Mac’s tent.
He narrowed his eyes on the tent.
Then he did the same at Ian.
“They’ve been at it all night, practically since Elena followed you,” Ian informed him. “Though, I will note, it began with them wrestling an entirely different way. It just changed, not surprisingly, as they rolled closer to his tent.”
Bloody Mac.
Cass nearly smiled.
“Which I hope means he’ll tire her out and soon so the rest of us can sleep,” Hera muttered.
“Hmm,” Rosehana hummed, catching Hera’s attention.
She took one look at her lover’s face before she turned to Cassius.
“You’re here. You’re fine. We’re to bed,” she declared, then, sliding Elena’s staff from his fingers and taking Rosehana’s hand, they headed that way.
Cassius watched them go before looking to Ian.
“Mac and Jazz?” he asked.
“This journey is going to kill me, Rose and Hera at each other nightly, now Mac and Jazz in on the act. I hope there are some Nadirii who do not hate men in the trees we seek, or I’ll need to stop in a market along the way to buy some balm.”
Cassius chuckled.
Ian stared at him again, not angrily, or frustratedly.
With surprise.
“To your tent, brother,” Cassius said, having risked too long waking Elena with this conversation, he was not going to get into
why his mood had been dark for days, and now he was chuckling.
He moved toward Elena’s tent.
“Cass,” Ian called, and Cassius turned back. “You are well?”
He had good friends.
“Better,” he murmured.
Ian nodded, his face in the firelight showing relief.
Yes.
He had good friends.
Ian moved to the fire to bank it and Cassius resumed walking to Elena’s tent.
For their journey to The Enchantments, their tents were much smaller, thus much lighter. They were meant for single occupancy, though two could sleep in one, but without much room to spare.
With one of those two being an Airenzian soldier, there would be no room to spare.
This, Cassius thought, would not be an issue.
He bent low, also crouching, in order to scoot in.
He set Elena on her blankets and removed her moccasins, found the ties over her casings and loosened them, pulling the casings away.
Exposing the lengths of smooth flesh on her legs, Cass swiftly looked away, stowed his sword and dagger close at hand, took off his boots, unbuttoned and shirked his shirt. He was then even more careful in taking off her belt and removing it with her dagger.
That done, he arranged the two of them fitted closely together under the fold of the blanket, both their heads on her rolled-up saddle rug.
Sadly, he awoke his princess doing this last.
However, all she did was press closer and whisper sleepily but with unhidden relief, “You’re back.”
And she again fell fast asleep.
He held her in his arms tight to his frame and breathed her in.
She rode like she was born in the saddle. She bantered with her friends with affection, humor and respect. She had a small tent with but a blanket on the ground, and did not go to it, or rise from it, with even a single complaint. Indeed, she erected it herself without request for assistance.
She could build a fire. She could cook over it.
Her use of her staff was strong, sure and swift.
Her magic was awe-inspiring.
And she learned Zee dancing in no time, which foretold her learning how to do other things with her body, and his, with great ease.
A female moan muted by distance drifted to the tent, but it was drowned out by a loud, long male groan.
And Cassius found himself smiling into Elena’s hair.
The Plan Commences Page 28
