“Who threatened you?” I asked, seizing upon the most bizarre piece of information to leave her subtly stained lips.
“The sorceress Sim’Nu,” she whispered. “She warned me to keep my distance with you, to be an aloof, yet supportive tutor in the ways of ruling an empire,” she replied, putting on a strange accent and speaking Old Noge. “Those were her words, of course. It’s my own fault, I know,” she added. “I informed her myself of my growing fondness for you. I knew she’d be a little irritated, but I never expected she’d forbid my affections outright, especially since the damage was already done. The spell is cast, literally. The most ridiculous aspect of the situation is that she never would have suspected, if I hadn’t been naïve enough to confess. And now, I’m being watched, and in my own palace no less. It’s truly humiliating. I’ve had to orchestrate a crisis in the southern Borderlands just to clear Lareem Palace of spies for the season.”
“What do you care about spies? How can she prevent you from doing exactly what you want to do anyway?” I asked, my heart beating faster. “Does she possess a powerful army?”
“She’s too powerful to need a powerful army. She can demand anything of me, anything at all,” M’Tek replied. “If I disobey her, the consequence will be my life.”
“I don’t like this witch Sim’Nu,” I said, feeling more than a little indignant that this creature had threatened M’Tek.
“Be careful. She doesn’t like being called a witch,” M’Tek pointed out. “And you owe her your existence, Lore,” M’Tek said solemnly.
“I owe the witch nothing,” I said calmly. “She threatened you. That makes her my enemy.”
“You don’t want Sim’Nu as your enemy,” M’Tek argued. “She understands how your shield works. She could use it to harm you.”
“I don’t care if she has the power to kill me by whistling,” I replied. “I will not be controlled by the threats of a witch. I’d rather die.”
“You don’t mean that, my love,” M’Tek said, shaking her head. A little crease appeared between her eyebrows, and I knew she was worried. She seemed to be sobering up. “I shouldn’t have told you all of that. The torppa was talking for me.”
I eased off her lap, and reached for her hand. “Come with me,” I told her in my most commanding voice. To my surprise she complied, standing on wobbly feet.
“I don’t think I can walk just yet,” she informed me with a laugh. “I would not have drunk that last bottle if I thought I’d need to walk so soon,” she confessed, looking almost sheepish. “I never stay drunk long, though. If you’ll give me ten minutes, that should sober me up.”
Not wanting to wait, I stepped closer and reached an arm across her slender shoulders, steadying her on her feet as I realized for the first time how very slight she truly was. M’Tek had always appeared so impressive to me before, larger than life, really. I eased her forward, toward the room I assumed held a bed. She moved with me to the door, but then stopped. “Where are you leading me, Lore?”
“Only to bed,” I replied. “You’re drunk, and I’m exhausted from traveling. I can’t think of anything the two of us need more than a little nap. Besides, I’m tired of talking about that witch.”
She seemed to weigh her options for a moment before nodding. I opened the door and guided her over to the bed. I shifted her around and then dropped to see to her shoes as she sat on the edge. She leaned forward so her lips brushed my temple before she spoke.
“You really only want to nap with me?” she asked in a seductive whisper next to my ear. I continued working at the complex straps of her sandals. After I freed her feet I noticed an uncomfortable looking necklace, a matching bracelet, and rings. I removed her jewelry as she teased, “You undress me well, my sweet girl.”
I pulled the covering back from the bed with one hand and guided her down with the other. Even with the sea breeze meandering in through the open window of my room, it was too warm for more than the dress she still wore and a thin covering. Once I had her settled, I began stripping out of my traveling clothes. I then made my way around to the far side of the bed, not my usual choice, and crawled in beside the Fae Queen. She rolled over to face me, her silver eyes focused on my face. She reached her hand out to carefully tuck a stray lock of hair behind my ear.
“I’ve missed you,” she said softly. “More than you could ever comprehend.”
“I think I can comprehend,” I said, smiling through a yawn.
I caught her hand and held it in mine as I quietly slipped into sleep.
When I awoke, several hours later, M’Tek was still beside me, her fingers still entwined with mine. She was awake, and lay on her side watching me. I felt a smile spreading across my face as she brought my hand to her lips to kiss the backs of my fingers one by one.
“How long have I been asleep?” I asked, noticing the light was lower in the room.
“A few hours. It’s late afternoon,” she replied. “Time to start readying for the evening,” she continued.
“The day is gone. You could have awakened me sooner,” I said as I stretched. M’Tek shook her head.
“I needed the time. While you’ve been sleeping, I’ve been thinking,” she said softly, her gaze intent. “This could work, as long as we’re both careful, and completely honest with each other,” she said. “It’s clearly worth the risk to me. So, it all depends on you, on what you want. What can you be satisfied with?”
“What are you asking me?” I replied, confused.
“This connection we feel, this intimacy, having me here in your bed now, is this enough for you?” she asked.
“This is nice,” I replied.
I eased closer to her and rested an arm across her waist. Her free hand rose from beneath the coverlet to caress my cheek as she pressed her lips lightly to mine. She drew back, searching my face.
“I’ve told you I’m sick.” I nodded, but remembering Pet’s lack of concern over M’Tek’s illness, I wasn’t overly troubled. “Will it be enough for you having me now, knowing it’s not for very long?” she asked in a whisper.
“Is it enough for you?” I asked. She ignored my question and instead asked another one of her own.
“It’s not only that. We would have to be cautious. Can you be content knowing we belong to each other, utterly, but telling no one?” she asked.
“Yes, if you can,” I replied easily, without really considering the reality of her words. “I don’t see why that would be a problem.”
“Are you certain?” she pushed on. “Do you understand what I’m asking of you, my love?” I nodded.
“I think so,” I said, smiling in spite of the serious expression on M’Tek’s face, and that daunting crease between her eyebrows.
“For a start, it means we won’t dance together tomorrow evening,” she said gently. “It’s extremely important that we don’t touch one another when we aren’t alone. I’m not only Fae, but also Lemu. Touching you in public, I would give myself away.” I didn’t like what she was saying, but the alternative was not to have her at all. She’d made that clear enough.
“All right,” I replied in almost a whisper. “I won’t touch you.”
“Our correspondence will have to be very reserved,” she continued. “You can’t let on that we’re more than close allies.”
“You mean you’ll actually write to me?” I said, teasing her. She nodded, tension easing from her face. “You haven’t written to me in months as it is. Meaningless letters will be an improvement over none.”
“And you’ll still have to select a consort,” she added. I shook my head.
“No. That I will not do,” I said sharply. “Don’t suggest it again.” M’Tek shifted her gaze from my face to the window.
“Whether we’re together or not, Lore, it must be done. I’ll help you choose if you like. The sooner your people have a joining to look forward to, the more stable your throne will be.” I removed my hand from her grasp, sighing as I turned over onto my back. “It’s for yo
ur protection. You need an heir. You must see that,” she said in a gentle voice, as if she regretted her words.
“I’m not planning to die anytime soon, M’Tek,” I pointed out, studying her expression, trying to understand why she was so insistent about my choosing a consort. “I won’t take a consort simply to please you.” M’Tek shook her head.
“You think it pleases me?” she asked quietly, sounding hurt. “I never want to see you join with someone else,” she added. “I would kill Sim’Nu with my bare hands if it would change anything. I’d claim you for myself, as my Queen, in a sumptuous ceremony. My people would approve. Of course your Vilkerlings would rebel, and you’d either lose everything you’ve fought for, or Faeland and Vilkerland would again be at war, until one of our nations eventually destroyed the other. Still, I’d have you to myself for what’s left of my life, which would be only a matter of months without Sim’Nu’s help.”
M’Tek eased closer to me. She turned my face to hers and kissed me. Apparently unsatisfied with my tame response, she shifted over to straddle me. My hands came to her small waist in an effort to keep her still. She guided my hands to her breasts. Through the light material of her dress, I felt her nipples tighten against my fingertips. A surge of longing spread through my abdomen.
“I never thought I could feel this way,” she confessed, leaning down to nibble at my bottom lip. “I’m aching to be with you,” she whispered against my mouth. “Please. Tell me this is what you want.”
“I want…” She kissed me before I could reply, her hands moving nimbly over the buttons of the light undershirt I was still wearing. She drew back long enough to open my shirt and then her mouth found the exposed flesh of my breasts. She licked the peak of my nipple and my hands sifted into her brilliant white hair. I wanted to hold her to me, but she was elusive, moving easily from my grasp. Teeth, lips and tongue teased my flesh as tendrils of yearning stretched through me.
“You’re so beautiful,” she said against my skin. “So tempting.” She shifted up to press her lips to mine. “I’d willingly die for this,” she said against my lips. Puzzled by her words, I lifted her back far enough so I could see her face. My confusion must have shown in my expression. “How long will it take you to dress for the evening?” she asked me, avoiding the question in my eyes. “Will you need to bathe?”
“I bathed this morning,” I replied. “Still, I probably smell like Sabea,” I added self-consciously.
“No, my love. You smell delightful, like pure happiness,” she whispered. M’Tek relaxed against me, our hips aligned, her breasts pressing into me, her lips brushing against mine. She shifted back slightly and confessed in a playful voice, “I’m sorry, Lore, but you have less than an hour to prepare for the banquet.” She laughed softly before kissing me again. “I’ve been horribly greedy with you.”
“Greedy? In what way?” I asked.
She eased off me and I watched her, dazzled, as she straightened her crumpled dress. “What are you planning to wear?” she asked, as I stared, not quite grasping how quickly she’d moved from my arms to standing a few feet away, out of reach. “Do you know?” I shook my head, collecting my thoughts.
“I was supposed to have my gown attended to this afternoon, but I was distracted,” I said finally. “It’s still wrinkled and in my trunk.”
“Well, we’re about the same size. Why not chose something of mine to wear?” she suggested. “It would be a nice gesture to the Fae people if you wore Fae attire, instead of one of those dense, stiff, Vilken contraptions. Not to mention, I’d like to be able to appreciate the natural shape of your body.” M’Tek grinned, raising a white eyebrow. “I may not be able to touch you all evening, but I can look at you and imagine all the ways I want to.” I swallowed my anxiety and nodded.
“If you would like.”
“I would like,” she said, stretching her hand out to me with a slight smirk on her face. “I’ll help with your hair and jewelry, as well. We have almost enough time for the both of us to dress if we start now.” She leaned down and took my hand from where it rested on the bed. “Come along, my love. We need to hurry.”
I sat beside M’Tek at the banquet table, and patiently endured introductions to easily a hundred different Fae families, all of them bearing long illustrious titles I was determined to memorize. They each in turn spoke to me, in a stilted archaic form of Noge, rather than in their own language, which I was certain they spoke beautifully. I thought it might be easier for them to speak to me in Fae, but when I suggested the possibility to M’Tek, her eyes widened and she shook her head twice, sharply, as if I’d suggested standing on the table and lifting my dress to flash the guests. I let the idea drop, and for the rest of the season the Fae nobles spoke to me exclusively in labored, broken, Noge. M’Tek’s skills with the language easily surpassed my own, and so she offered my only relief from this ordeal, by speaking the Noge language correctly.
After several courses of fruits and salads, the vegetables came. After the vegetables, the desserts started. For the sake of courtesy, I took a small helping of each dish, just as M’Tek did. I then forced myself to eat more than I would have believed possible. By the end of the evening I was grateful to M’Tek for providing me with a loose dress. My stomach would not have had enough room in the stiff material of the dress I’d intended to wear.
Once the dinner was cleared away the speeches began. In that strange, flowery, broken, version of Noge, family after family produced a delegate to toast my health and wellbeing, and commend my honor, bravery and otherworldly wisdom. My majestic beauty and attractive bosom were also mentioned, repeatedly. The entire affair felt surreal. It was the complete opposite of the reception M’Tek and her guards had received in Vilkerland. My own guards, due to their connection to me, were placed at seats of honor throughout the room, though sadly, none could speak either Noge or Fae, and so the extravagant elocutions were wasted on them.
When the final longwinded flatterer, High Lord R’Toc, finished his slightly drunken ode to my plump pink lips and mountain peak breasts, I glanced at M’Tek with dimly concealed irritation. Sparking my ire further, M’Tek appeared on the cusp of hilarity. Her efforts to conceal her evident amusement at my expense were meager at best.
“I could really use a walk after such an enormous meal,” I said in a sharp voice. M’Tek nodded, choking back a chuckle. “At what point would it be gracious for me to excuse myself from this event?” I asked in Vilken, and as quietly as I could manage.
M’Tek had warned me before dinner of the unnatural hearing ability of the Fae as compared to the Vilkerlings, or even the Noge. For this reason I was extremely cautious, when addressing her, to be both reserved and mindful of the content of what I was communicating. I couldn’t, for example, point out that I had been deemed a sexual object by most of the speakers that evening, without risking a diplomatic calamity.
M’Tek had said little throughout the event, as was custom she told me, allowing the guest of honor to be feted by Faeland’s highest nobles. It was the end of the evening, and despite the fact that M’Tek was not required to say anything about my breasts or lips, or my wisdom, or bravery, she stood anyway. Lifting her glass to me, she immediately caused the entire room of nobles to spring to their feet in shock and awe, except for me of course, the object of this elaborate farce. M’Tek then began her speech in flawless, unaccented, Noge.
“We have heard a great deal this evening about the superior qualities, both mental and physical, of the high dignitary gracing us with her presence tonight,” she said, preparing me, I imagined, for even greater puffery. “And yet I believe we have come up short in our praise. As you all are aware, I knew the last Noge Queen well,” she said in a calm voice. “I loved her with my whole heart. Because of that love, the Fae and Noge peoples are closely bound to this day.”
The room erupted into cheers of agreement, but M’Tek had only to lift one delicate hand to silence them.
“Queen Loredana is not, as many of you
have intimated, the re-embodiment of the Noge Queen Sarane. We do Queen Loredana a disservice by comparing her to the Noge Queen who preceded her. While my love for Sarane is unquestionable, I know with hindsight and the wisdom given by many years sitting my throne, that she would have been a very different sovereign from my beloved Loredana. Our present Noge Queen has already proven herself, in only a few short years, to be a monarch who will inspire legends. She has united two warring nations in friendship, whereas Sarane’s short rule shattered that precarious balance of peace once existing between our lands.”
There was murmuring throughout the room, as if M’Tek had said something shocking. Again she raised her delicate hand, and the room fell completely silent.
“Our present Noge Queen has shown patience where Sarane was impulsive. Lore is slow to anger and quick to forgive, also, quite unlike Sarane,” M’Tek said in a commanding voice. “Lore is kind, and generous, not exacting as Sarane was,” M’Tek continued. “And yet, it would be wise never to underestimate Queen Loredana’s will. She reclaimed her throne, through brilliant military strategy, at the astonishing age of seventeen. Vilken soldiers hunted her throughout her girlhood, and yet she has shown only kindness and mercy to her subjects. She is the remedy to this sickness our lands have suffered since the fall of the Noge.” She raised her glass to me and smiled.
“I bow to you, Queen Loredana. You have earned my admiration and respect. I pledge my love and loyalty to you, for the rest of my days, however many they number. I beg to take you as my Prime, trusting you to wield my power in my absence, and protect my people if such time arises that you are called upon.” M’Tek implemented a perfect Noge bow, her glass still raised to me. “Do you accept?” she asked, still in Noge. “Stand, Lore,” she commanded in Vilken. I did as I was told. “Now thank me. Then tell me you accept this immense honor, accept my glass and sip from it,” she commanded quite insistently, still in Vilken.
The Changeling Page 11
