Unguilded

by Jane Glatt

  Arabella sighed. “I am tired of hearing you complain about it. All right.” She met Noula’s eyes, and the other woman flinched and looked away. “But if your news is not sufficiently important, both you and your son will regret it.”

  Noula paled, but she lifted her eyes to Arabella’s and nodded.

  “Come with me,” Arabella said.

  “YOU ARE RISKING much for so little,” Arabella said. They were sitting in her workroom—at least she was sitting; Noula stood in front of her. She’d taken all precautions with this room—just as Rorik had done with his own workroom— and she was confident that Noula’s news would not be overheard.

  “I’d risk my life to see my son,” Noula said.

  “And so you have,” Arabella replied. “And risked his as well. Tell me.”

  “Kara Fonti is in Rillidi.”

  “What? Are you sure?” The girl was dead—Valerio had confirmed that his spell had been activated, and Mason Guild reported that she fell into Broken Burro Gorge.

  “She’s a little older,” Noula said. “And she was dressed very fine, but I had that girl in my house for eight years. It was her.”

  “Where did you see her?”

  “I attended Mage Etta at Warrior Guild last night,” Noula said. “For Founders Day. Kara was there, I saw her as we were leaving.”

  “Do you know why she was there?” Arabella gripped the arms of the chair she was sitting in. Alive! And why Warrior Guild?

  “I only saw her for a moment.” Noula paused. “She recognized me too. She left the room quickly in the company of a man.”

  “You may go,” Arabella said. If the girl had left because she’d seen Noula, then it must be her. Had she become the bedmate of a Warrior? Is that who she’d been with? She wasn’t Arabella’s equal, but the girl was pretty enough.

  She looked up. “You’re still here,” she said to Noula. “Why?”

  “My son,” Noula said. “When can I see him?”

  “When I have proof that you really did see Kara. Now go.”

  Alive—how was that possible? Because even though she’d told Noula she needed proof—deep down she knew that Kara Fonti was alive. And at Warrior Guild!

  She took a deep, steadying breath. She should tell Valerio. It was his spell that failed, after all, he would want to know. And then he could teach her to create a killing spell. She wouldn’t fail.

  He would not like being told that he’d been unsuccessful in stopping the girl—again—nor would he like anyone knowing of his failure. Could it turn him against her? Would he withhold his support of her as she rose through the council? Or . . . she sucked in a breath. Would he see this as enough of a threat to his reputation that he had to silence her permanently?

  She’d grown to know Valerio Valendi since their trip to Larona—enough to know that if she threatened his plans, he would not hesitate to kill her. No, she would have to take care of this herself—make sure the girl died—herself.

  She smiled. Kara Fonti had been seen within Warrior Guild’s walls—she would have Warrior Guild do her work for her. Rorik would know who their best Assassin was.

  A WEEK LATER, Kara still wondered about Noula. Why was she in Rillidi? Had she and Banio Fonti parted ways? It was what her mother had thought would happen. And what about Osten—was he in Villa Larona with Papa, or was he here with Noula?

  She’d felt the sting of Noula’s bitterness too many times to feel sorry for her, but Osten was just a little boy. He had little chance of having magic, so she hoped Mage Guild had let him stay in Larona—life there would be far kinder to him than Rillidi would be, though his own father would find him of no use.

  Every few days Reo came to test her memory of the Founders Day celebration. The first few times she’d tried, really she had, but the fourth time he’d asked her to describe every non-Mage who’d been spelled, she exploded with frustration.

  “I told you all this already! I don’t see the point in going over it again.”

  She was sitting on the sofa. Reo perched calmly in front of her on a long low table, and Chal lounged in a chair off to her left, a smirk on his face.

  “And don’t you laugh,” she said and glared at the Seyoyan. “It’s not funny.”

  “It is to me,” Chal said. “He did the same thing to me when I first came to work with him.”

  “Chal.”

  Reo spoke so softly that even Kara, sitting close to him, barely heard. But Chal nodded and left the room. She glared at him as he left.

  “Better?” Reo asked in that soft voice.

  Kara nodded. “I still don’t see the point.”

  “The point,” Reo said and slid into the seat beside her, “is to see if you remember anything differently as time goes by. For instance, the first time you described Warrior Guild Secundus and Donna Rualla, you only mentioned that she was covered in mage mist. Pale pink you said. Yesterday you remembered that he also had a few strands of mist, and that it was a totally different colour.”

  “You’re right,” Kara said. “It was a dirty brown colour for him. It was on his left shoulder. Is that significant?”

  Reo shrugged and smiled. “Significant, yes, important, who knows? What it tells me is that both husband and wife pay for magic—but they deal with different Mages. What do you make of that?”

  “Well,” Kara said. “Each of them must have access to sizable amounts of guilders. Mages are expensive. It also makes me wonder if Warrior Guild Secundus Rualla knows his wife is spending on a Mage. If she’s doing it to keep herself looking young, she may not want him to know.”

  “Yes, that was my thought also. I also wonder if she’s trying to stay young for her husband or if she’s taken a younger lover.”

  “Would she dare?” Kara asked. “Her husband is very powerful.”

  Reo laughed. “That would make her even more attractive to some of my colleagues,” he said. “To seduce the wife of the Guild Secundus? That Assassin would be remembered for a very long time.”

  “Is that important?” Kara asked. “To be remembered?” She tried to read his expression, but he faced away from her, gazing out the window.

  What would it be like to know that you would probably only live a few more years? Would it make you reckless, or would you become more cautious?

  “For some,” Reo eventually said. “We are separate even within the guild, and there are only a handful of years to build a reputation. Once we start our training, we are dead to our families. It’s very easy to die unnoticed when you’re an Assassin. Any memory left behind is better than being forgotten.”

  His words were bitter and his tone harsh, but instead of scaring her, Kara felt relief. Reo had feelings after all. She placed her hand on his arm. His muscles tensed up under her hand, then relaxed.

  “That’s the real reason why you want my help,” she said. “You don’t want to be unnoticed anymore, to be just another Assassin who died young.”

  Reo pulled his arm out from under her hand and ran his hand through his hair. Then he grinned at her.

  “There are times when being unnoticed is very useful,” he said. He sighed and relaxed into the sofa.

  “That I understand,” Kara replied. “I wish I’d not been noticed that day in Shanty Town.”

  “Do you?”

  She met his eyes and nodded solemnly. “My life would have been much simpler,” she said.

  “But boring,” Reo replied. “You’re too young to settle for boring. Why did you run away from your guild if not to escape the boring, predictable future?”

  Because my mother urged me to leave and now I believe she simply wanted me out of the way—either dead or in another country.

  “I didn’t run from boring,” Kara replied. “I ran from having no choice. Right now I’d choose safe, stable, boring.”

  Reo eyed her for a long moment. A small smile twitched at his lips. “You would choose boring, would you?”

  Reo leaned towards her, and her heart sped up. His eyes darkened and
half-closed.

  “Choose boring, Kara.” His breath feathered the hair around her ears.

  His mouth barely touched her neck, but she felt his heat spread from his lips along her neck until her skin tingled all over.

  “Have I told you how exquisitely beautiful you are?”

  Warm lips trailed down her neck to her shoulder, and all she could do was lean into him. Why was she letting him kiss her like this? Why didn’t she stop him?

  Because she felt safe. Reo wanted her, needed her alive and well. He wouldn’t hurt her.

  Gently, he cupped her chin and turned her head to face him. He waited until she lifted her eyes to his. Their gaze locked for a few moments, and then he smiled.

  “I knew you wouldn’t choose boring.” Then his lips met hers, and she was lost in a haze of warmth and want and desire.

  She’d never really been kissed before, not by a man. His stubbled cheek was rough against her skin, and his mouth was sure and confident against hers and oh so different from the few times a boy in her villa had tried to kiss her. Reo looped one arm around her waist and pulled her onto his lap without breaking the kiss. She leaned into his shoulder, eyes closed, marveling at the heat that was coursing through her. She opened her eyes and touched his face, feeling his smile with both her lips and her hand. She pulled back and stared into his eyes for a moment before she smiled at him.

  She felt Reo’s low laughter along the length of her body where she was pressed against him.

  “You are more than expected, Kara,” he said. Then he bent his head to kiss her again, and she sank deeper into him.

  “Are you sure?” Reo asked.

  “Yes,” Kara said. She lifted her arms and slowly started to pull the pins from her hair. Soon her hair hung past her shoulders. She eased off his lap, gently pushed him until he was flat on the sofa, and then she lay on top of him.

  Reo wrapped his arms around her, and she dropped her lips to his. His hands fumbled at her back, and then she felt him tug, hard. Fabric ripped, and she heard the soft skitter of buttons hitting the stone floor.

  “The man who gave me this dress will be very angry,” she said.

  “The man who gave you this dress will never again give you clothing so difficult to get you out of,” Reo replied. His hands pushed her dress down past her shoulders until her bare breasts pressed against his chest. Reo gently cupped each breast before he tugged at his shirt.

  More buttons popped off, and Kara giggled. Then she felt the warm silkiness of his bare skin against her own, and she forgot to breathe.

  They were both naked by the time he carried her into the bedroom. Reo laid her gently on the bed and knelt beside her. Soft kisses burned a path from her foot, past her knee, and up along one hip. His lips drifted across her hip, and she trembled when he breathed in the heat between her legs. His mouth found her belly button and then the hollow between her ribs. First one nipple, then the other was gently sucked into his mouth, and Kara whimpered with need. Finally his lips met hers. When his tongue snaked into her mouth, she sucked on it, hard. She felt his knee nudge her legs apart, and Reo steadied himself on his arms. She wrapped her arms around him, and he plunged into her. There was a brief, sharp pain, and then her need took over, and she rocked her hips up to meet his downward thrusts. Her breath ragged, she dropped her head to his shoulder as their pace increased. Pleasure washed over her as she arched towards him. Dimly she heard Reo laugh before his body stiffened, and he plunged into her once more, hard. Kara clung to him, taking him in as deep as she could before they both stilled and then relaxed.

  Reo rolled off her, one arm slung over her heaving chest. Shyly, she closed her eyes and nestled her head into his shoulder. Her body felt languid and boneless and totally alive, and she didn’t want to move, ever. She felt cool air on her chest when Reo lifted his arm to twitch her hair away from her face.

  “Definitely more than expected,” Reo said against her hair.

  He pulled her close until she lay along his side, their skin damp where they touched. Her head lay on his shoulder, one hand tucked under her chin, resting on his chest. She flattened her hand and rubbed it across smooth skin sprinkled with a few coarse hairs. She felt the muscles of his arm flex as he tightened his grip on her shoulder.

  Was this feeling—this languid sense of bliss—was this what Harb had been chasing with the clammers? Kara could better appreciate his motives, although she could never forgive him for putting them all at risk.

  Reo’s heart beat steadily beneath her hand. Had she put herself at risk? Reo needed her help, she knew that. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt her until she’d given him her year. But would sharing his bed make it worse or better? She didn’t know, maybe could never know. What had happened between them hadn’t been planned, hadn’t been thought out in advance, it had simply happened. Reo was an attractive man, and in the eyes of the guilds, she was a grown woman. Long past time for her to be wed, let alone bedded. And she was grateful that her first time had been of her choosing—not everyone was so fortunate. She wouldn’t have been if she’d let Mage Guild decide her fate.

  Kara stretched. Her body was sore and stiff in some unusual places, but she wasn’t tired, not really. She smiled and rubbed her palm across Reo’s nipple.

  “What are you doing?” he asked sleepily.

  “Nothing,” she replied. She smiled again and let her hand wander down his chest to the flat muscles of his stomach. Her choice. Her hand dipped lower, and Reo grabbed her wrist.

  “That doesn’t feel like nothing,” he growled.

  Kara tilted her head and met his eyes. He smiled, and she grinned at him.

  “How about this?” she asked. She tugged her hand loose from his grasp and trailed it down past his hips. His eyes darkened when she grasped him, and she felt a sense of satisfaction at the immediate effect she had on him. Reo Medina, a man who had assassinated countless people, trembled and gasped when she touched him here and here and here.

  “My turn to do nothing to you,” Reo said gruffly. His hand slipped between her thighs, and it was her turn to tremble and gasp.

  Chapter eighteen

  KARA STRETCHED UNDER the linen bed covering. She was sore, but pleasantly so. Reo was gone. She ran a hand across the bed beside her. It was cool, so he must have left a while ago. She rolled over onto her side and stared at where he’d lain last night.

  More than expected, he’d said to her. She could say the same about him. An Assassin trained to kill since childhood, yet those same hands that killed had been gentle and teasing and had given her tremendous pleasure. She stretched again. She should get up. Judging by the light that was filtering in around the curtain, it was well past noon. Maybe, she grinned, if she stayed in bed Reo would come and check on her, and she could entice him to join her. No. He would have things to do, he always did. Chal was the one who’d come to find her. She didn’t yet have the words to explain this to Chal. Not yet, not when it was so fresh and new.

  A few minutes later, dressed in a soft white shirt and dark blue skirt, Kara eased the bedroom door open. She spied the book Chal wanted her to read, and she stepped over to the dresser to pick it up. Another history of Seyoya. It took her forever to read the language since Seyoyan used a very different alphabet. She shook her head and returned to the door.

  “I told you to go slow, Reo.”

  It was Chal’s voice, and he sounded angry. Kara edged closer to the partially open door.

  “I should have bedded her before last night,” Reo said. “I told you I didn’t want to be out in public with her until I had.”

  She clutched the book to her chest. What did he mean? Last night was planned? And Chal had known?

  “Then you should have waited for that as well,” Chal said.

  “I don’t have time,” Reo replied. “I need her out. She needs to be invited to parties and dinners so I can go with her. You know that. I’ve already lost two months to all of this training.”

  “Her safety depends
on this training,” Chal said. “What if she’s not ready? For you or the invitations?”

  “She seemed ready last night,” Reo said.

  Kara sucked in her breath. He sounded so smug! What had made her want him in her bed in the first place? Had he planned to seduce her? She’d been so sure it had been her choice. She’d choose differently from now on, no matter what Reo Medina wanted.

  “Be careful, Reo,” Chal said. “She’s not like the women you’re used to.”

  “What, because she’s chaste and demure?” Reo said. “You know she’s not demure, and, Chal, I wasn’t her first.”

  Kara shrunk in on herself. He was her first, he was wrong about that, but she’d never tell him, not now, not when he was so arrogant about bedding her, about planning it and then actually doing it.

  “I think you’re wrong,” Chal said quietly.

  “I was there,” Reo said. “I know what I’m talking about.”

  “Maybe,” Chal replied. He sighed. “Ah well, what’s done is done. Have you given any thought to how to proceed?”

  “I thought I should move here from my own rooms,” Reo said. “Now that Kara and I . . .”

  “Now that Kara and I are what?” Kara asked as she entered the room. “Bedmates? Lovers? What exactly did you plan, and how long ago was it?”

  “Kara!” Reo jumped to his feet.

  He made a motion to kiss her, but she stepped around him and settled herself on a chair opposite the sofa he’d been sitting on. The sofa they’d been on when it had all started last night.

  “You’re angry,” Reo said.

  A smile hovered around his mouth, and Kara’s anger deepened.

  Did he think this was amusing? “I’m angry,” she acknowledged. “No woman likes to learn she’s been seduced according to a weeks-old plan. Answer one question, and then we’ll never have to discuss this again.” She smoothed her skirt, relieved to see that her hand was calm. She looked up at him and concentrated on keeping any emotion out of her voice and face. “Why?”