“Ah, so he is to be a member of my guard.”
Darabin and Khaza instantly fell silent, dropping their gazes respectfully to the ground as King Nameer spoke. Kyla knew that she should look down too, but she couldn’t resist letting her gaze lock with his. His bright green eyes widened slightly, but he looked surprised rather than angry. A breeze blew a whirl of sand against them and he replaced the fabric he’d removed to speak to the crowd. Kyla looked down.
“Yes, my lord,” Darabin said. “We’ll see to it that his training is--”
“He seems very well trained already,” King Nameer looked at her critically. “You are much more capable than you look.”
“Yes,” Kyla answered. “I am.” She’d been underestimated for her size back home in New York too. That was why she spent so many hours training. Taking someone down wasn’t about size, it was about strength and she’d honed that to a razors edge. Khaza nudged her and she added, “My lord.”
“We will have a banquet tonight,” Nameer announced, still looking at her closely. “You will sit at my right hand.”
Kyla was starting to sweat. Did he suspect that she wasn’t what she said she was? Why else would he be staring at her that way?
Khaza laughed. “He is speechless, my lord. I am honored that my newest recruit has already served you so well. I will make sure it continues.”
“Very well.”
Kyla held back a sudden shiver as the king’s eyes met hers again.
“Until tonight,” he said.
Both men bowed and Khaza guided Kyla in the motion too as the king walked away.
“Follow me, Kyla Dean,” Khaza said as they joined the rush of the crowd. “We have much to speak about.”
She followed him to a deserted section of alleyway. “How did you know who I was?”
“My wife told me about you. She warned that you might call attention to yourself.”
“I called attention to myself by saving your king,” Kyla pointed out. She wondered if she needed to tell him about the gun and then decided not to. It would be her ace in the hole for negotiating with the king. Surely he would invade Seeba for the world hopping technology to defend his own people. And then she could get the hell out of there. She pushed the guilt down. Seebans obviously weren’t the greatest people. Tulimad had killed that poor researcher and the other man had made an assassination attempt.
“I didn’t say that I wasn’t grateful,” Khaza said. “What you did was impressive.”
Nettled by her own thoughts, Kyla snapped, “For a woman?”
“For anyone,” he said mildly. “There are many in Khaytab that would say that a woman is worth less than a man. I am not one of them.”
She looked at him. His eyes were a warm, chocolate brown and they were completely sincere.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s been a hard adjustment. Where I’m from...”
“Afani said that you were confident and decisive. Like our men are allowed to be.” He glanced away, making sure they weren’t seen or overheard by the people that passed by the alley from time to time. “King Nameer is a good king. He has made many things better for us. But he is not aware how much more change we need. I am putting my hope in you.”
Guilt filled her. “Listen,” she said. “I don’t know what Afani told you, but I’m not here to start a revolution. I just want to go home.”
His smile was kind. “Why not do both?
******
They served dinner very late in Khaytab, but Kyla wasn’t complaining. She’d needed the time to rehearse the story Khaza had given her. She couldn’t risk giving it all away on the first day. She took her seat at the king’s right hand. Darabin was on the left. From the look on his face, his opinion of her hadn’t changed in the hours they’d been apart.
“How do you like your quarters?” Nameer asked.
“They’re fine.” Khaza had managed to get her into a section that didn’t have any other inhabitants yet, but he’d warned her strongly about dropping her disguise. It would mean death, not just for her, but for him, and for Afani as well. No pressure. “My lord,” she remembered to add.
“You seem to have trouble with that,” Darabin pointed out. “Remembering to show him respect.”
Kyla clenched her teeth to keep from saying anything. A plate was deposited in front of her and she glanced around for cues on what to do. No one touched their food until the king began to eat. She dipped her bread in the thick stew and took a deep breath. She had no idea what they ate here, but she was prepared to choke it down and pretend to enjoy it so that she didn’t stand out.
After one bite, she didn’t need to pretend. The stew was rich and delicious, almost like beef stew, but even more flavorful. She ate in silent pleasure until the king spoke again.
“Khaza tells me you’re from the southern regions of Khaytab.”
Kyla swallowed quickly and said, “Yes, my lord.”
“Why did you decide to come to the city?”
“I wanted to join your guard, my lord.” Ending every sentence with “my lord” was going to get annoying.
Darabin sneered, but he knew better than to interrupt.
“It’s an interesting decision for someone of your...” the king paused. “Stature.”
“Strength isn’t a matter of size,” Kyla said firmly. “I’ve learned to use my size to my advantage against any opponent.”
Nameer smiled. “You are extremely confident.”
“I’m extremely skilled,” she corrected. When his smile widened she saw that he had an elongated dimple in his left cheek. He was really a very handsome man, but he wasn’t her type. There was an air of danger about him. She preferred the steady type. Danny came to mind and she cleared her throat when it went tight. She missed home.
“And you chose to lend your skill to me,” he said.
“Of course, my lord.” She’d been forgetting to say that, but he hadn’t said anything about it. “Tell me, what happened to the prisoner?” Maybe Tulimad wasn’t the only Seeban soldier with a world hopping device. If she could get it from this new soldier...
“He is being questioned.” The second course was set down and Nameer leaned back for a servant to refill his water glass. “But we likely won’t get any information from him. I doubt you know, but he is from--”
“Seeba,” Kyla cut in.
The king looked at her. For a split second his expression was annoyed, but then amazement wiped that away. “How did you know that?”
“I saw his tattoo.”
“You are extremely skilled.”
She shrugged modestly. “I am sorry for interrupting you,” she forced herself to say. “I am merely eager to find out why he was there.”
“Seeba has been in opposition to our ways for many centuries,” Nameer said. “You know that.”
Damn. “But,” Kyla said, bluffing now. “They aren’t usually so bold.”
“No,” Nameer agreed. “They are not.”
She sank back against her chair in relief. “Has he said who sent him?”
“No. Musqua will likely head for the gallows a silent man. Seebans are almost immune to torture.”
He said it so casually that she went cold. “Torture?”
“Of course.” He looked at her. “You are pale.”
Kyla picked up her water glass. “You have the right to do as you wish, my lord. I would think that there are better ways to get information from our captive.”
“If Amir can’t extract the information, no one can,” Nameer said offhandedly.
“And when will he go to the...the gallows?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Isn’t that a little fast?”
“Are you questioning my decision?”
She gritted her teeth again. “No, my lord.”
Kyla struggled through the rest of the meal, forcing down enough food to keep up appearances. The sooner she got out of this medieval, chauvinistic hellhole, the better.
******
It was a lovely summer day. The wind wasn’t blowing for once and the sun was glinting off of the snowcapped mountain peaks. Nameer couldn’t concentrate on any of that though because he couldn’t stop staring at the new guard.
Bidani had been in training for a few days now and he was exceeding all expectations. Even Darabin hadn’t been able to make a bad report and Darabin was still angry with being shown up at the speech. He was barking orders at Bidani right now, in fact.
Nameer leaned onto the balcony railing and watched as Bidani tightened his grip on the sword hilt and stepped into the correct stance. Darabin stalked off. Khaza stopped by, slapping Bidani on the back and laughing. Bidani swatted him away.
Nameer caught himself smiling at the spirited response and then he caught himself. Hadn’t he spent enough time thinking about the other man? He’d practically memorized the color of his eyes. They were unlike any Nameer had ever seen. He couldn’t even name it.
Bidani’s eyes seemed to shift colors. They’d been golden in the low lights at first, but they’d gone grey, and then green during the course of the meal. How was that possible?
That wasn’t the only thing he didn’t really understand. How could Bidani be so skilled when he’d grown up farming the outskirts? There was no law, but most of the guards were sons of previous guards. They typically grew up in the city and went into the king’s service as soon as they’d reached legal age. Bidani was well over legal age, from the outskirts, and the son of a farmer. And his eyes changed colors and his mouth...
Nameer shook his head hard. He tried to tell himself that he was only curious about the new guard, but then thoughts about his mouth snuck in. He’d taken one of his concubines every night since that dinner and still it hadn’t sated his restless urges.
Bidani dropped his sword and then bent to pick it up. The movement pulled his uniform pants tight to a full, perfect ass. Nameer’s cock surged hard and he pressed his hand down on it, glancing around to make sure no one saw. Luckily he was alone.
But what the hell was wrong with him? Men had been killed for acting on what he felt for Bidani and certainly no king had ever been so foolish or dishonorable. He walked back into his room and collapsed onto the bed. He would have to be more disciplined. He would avoid the other man in both thought and action.
Except that he couldn’t. All that day and long into the night, he was haunted by visions of the other man. He wanted to taste those lips, to see what color those eyes were when they were half closed in with pleasure. His cock was unrelentingly stiff and by the late hours of the night he was incredibly frustrated. He couldn't pleasure himself to thoughts of another man, but he couldn't stop thinking the thoughts either.
Finally, toward evening, Nameer couldn’t take it anymore. He was the king, damn it. Didn’t he have the right to do what he wanted? Take what he wanted? Command silence if he needed to?
No. He shoved down the voice of his conscience. With desire hammering at his brain, it was easy to do. Nameer set out for Bidani’s quarters.
He knocked and waited, but there was no answer. After a moment, he pushed the door open. The room was empty.
Nameer stood in confusion. Where could he have gone? He wasn’t on watch and the other guards would have been in bed. Dawn would be coming soon.
As he glanced around to confirm that the man wasn’t there, he saw a small light flicker out the window and up the path. The baths were that way. But why anyone would be there in the dead of night was beyond him.
Nameer pushed the back door open and walked quietly up the path, slipping into the bathhouse. Steam rose from the smooth stone tub in the center and then a woman walked out and stepped into the tub. He had to swallow hard. He had no idea who she was, but she was gorgeous!
Her long brown hair flowed down her back and dipped into the water as she walked out thigh deep before sinking down under the water. When she came up, with her hair slicked back, he had to choked back a gasp of recognition. Bidani! Bidani was a woman.
A stunning woman, at that. Her wet hair had fallen forward over her shoulders, but her pointed nipples peaked through, making his mouth water. She was sleek and muscular, though not like a man. She began to rinse her hair and water snaked down her flat stomach and between her legs. She was shaved bare. He’d never seen anything like it and it was amazingly erotic.
As she tilted her head back, her lips parted in a sigh of relief to be clean. Nameer hissed out a breath as his cock throbbed. He could walk up behind her, he could cup her breasts in his hands, he could bury himself to the hilt in that shaved pussy. He could--
He shook himself out of it. She had lied. She had impersonated a man and if anyone found out, he wouldn’t be able to save her. Though his body clamored for him to step forward, he walked back.
If anything, the situation was more complicated now. Before he’d risked only himself. Now he was risking them both.
******
“The king wants to see you,” Darabin barked at Kyla early the next morning.
She was still tired from sneaking away in the middle of the night to bathe. “Why?”
He cuffed her roughly. “Do not question the king. Go!”
Rubbing her arm, Kyla went. She had no idea what Nameer could want with her, but she hoped to be able to use the situation to her advantage. So far she’d had no luck in tracing Tulimad and she was getting desperate. Khaza was helping, but there wasn’t much he could do now other than wait for his contacts to get in touch again.
“Yes, my lord?” she asked.
Nameer gave her a smile. He was sitting in his throne, slouched down and looking lazy. “Bidani. Thank you for being so prompt.”
What else was she supposed to be, Kyla wondered to herself. He was the king. “Of course,” she said, keeping her tone level.
“I’ve decided that your excellent service deserves a reward.”
Kyla raised her eyebrows, wondering what he had up his sleeve. His smile was strange. It was derisive, but strangely eager.
“You’re going to be my guard from now on.”
“I’m sorry?” she asked. “I thought that I already was, my lord.”
“You’ll accompany me everywhere,” he corrected. “When I travel, when I work, when I eat, when I sleep.”
She bit back a swear. How was she supposed to find Tulimad now? “Has there been some kind of a threat, my lord?”
“No,” he said indolently. “But my counsel says I can’t be too careful. You’ve foiled one assassination attempt; you seem to be good luck for me.”
Nameer seemed to be watching her closely for a reaction so she decided not to give him one. “I see. It’s my honor.”
His smile was short. “Of course. Go and get your things. You’ll live in the palace from now on.”
Kyla knew that she had no choice, so she did as he said. Khaza fell into step with her as she walked back to her quarters.
“What happened?”
“Nameer wants me to be his personal guard,” she said, keeping her voice low.
Khaza glanced back at the palace. “Do you think that he knows?”
She shrugged. “You would know him better than I do. He doesn’t seem bright enough to me.”
Khaza’s jaw tightened. “You’ll watch what you say.”
She sighed. “You asked my opinion.”
“And your tongue would be pulled from your jaws if others heard it. King Nameer is not only smart, but sly. For him to have you under his watch all the time...it tells me that there is something he expects to see.”
Khaza went back to the training, and Kyla tried to shake off her nerves. What would the king be looking for? The obvious answer was that he’d discovered that she was a woman, but how could he? Only Khaza knew and the stakes were high enough to keep him quiet.
She packed up quickly and walked back to the palace. Whatever game the king might be playing, she had one of her own. She would use this as a chance to get into his good graces and find a way to Seeba. From Seeba,
she would find Tulimad and from there, she could go back home.
******
“Let’s go for a walk.”
Kyla tried not to groan at Nameer’s suggestion as she moved to obey. She’d been living in the castle for five days now and all they’d done was walk, it seemed. She wouldn’t have minded if she’d had a moment to speak to him, but he never left time. How one person could talk so much was beyond her.
She had to admit though, he was interesting. He was even funny. Mostly he regaled her with stories of things that happened in the city, things that “Bidani” wouldn’t have known about. She was profoundly grateful to Khaza for coming up with such a good backstory for her.
“Darabin has been in a foul mood,” Nameer said. “You should thank me for removing you from your training.”
“What’s he upset about?” she asked, surprised that she had time to get the question in.
“His wife has overstepped her bounds,” Nameer said, watching her from the corner of his eye. “This is the second time she has tested his authority.”
Kyla bit her tongue so hard that she tasted blood. “What did she do?”
“This time? She went to market alone. She claimed that she needed to get something to feed the child.”
“Clearly, the child should starve,” Kyla muttered.
“No,” Nameer said. “She should have planned better. It is a woman’s job to prepare the lists so that she can get everything for the week when her husband can accompany her.”
“Why?” The question was out before she could stop it.
“Why should she prepare the lists?”
“Why should she be forced to stay home all day?” Kyla knew that she was walking on dangerous ground, but she was tired of seeing so many women degraded in front of her.
“What else should she do? She is a woman. She cannot serve or make herself useful in other ways.”
Kyla stopped and looked the king directly in the eye. “And how do you know?”
“These laws were set down by my ancestors,” he began. “They--”
Realm Shifters Page 2
