“Balen,” said Raiz Opah. “Balen Tellamor.”
“Yes, that was it! Withernet called him Balen. Anyway, Balen was saying ‘She is our Lancer, I don’t care how much you hate her,’ and Withernet said ‘It’s not about hate, it’s about our livelihoods,’ but then he said he wished now he hadn’t done it.”
“Done what?” Lancer Tal asked.
“Told Cullom Bilsner to kill you.”
There was a dead silence in the room.
Lancer Tal leaned forward. “They were talking about this with you standing right there?”
Pendar made a huffing sound. “I pretended to be playing with a toy on the floor. Adults are so stupid. I’m twelve; I’d never play on the floor, but they didn’t even notice me. They just thought I was a little child.”
“Pendar,” said the Lancer in a too-calm voice, “I need you to tell me everything you heard.”
Pendar shot Aldirk a glance that said See? and straightened his spine. “Withernet was getting paid by somebody named Spinner to spy on you and the Opahs. Balen was angry with him, and Withernet said ‘You didn’t have a problem with it before,’ and Balen said ‘That was when it was just information. You went too far.’ And Withernet looked sad and said yes, he knew that. He said the worst part was that he thought Spinner would be happy with it, but he wasn’t.”
“This Spinner person had nothing to do with the assassination attempt?”
“I guess not? I mean, it sounded like he ended his arrangement with Withernet because of it.”
“Do you know what sort of information Withernet was sending?”
“They didn’t say anything specific. I just know it was anything about what you were doing on Hol-Opah or in Granelle, and anything to do with the Opahs if you were involved. And then they argued about Cullom Bilsner. Withernet said it wasn’t his fault that Cullom actually went through with it, and Balen said ‘You don’t get to hide behind that idiot producer when you were the one feeding his delusions,’ and that was when my uncle came looking for me.”
Lancer Tal sat back. “So Cullom Bilsner had encouragement, from someone who was spying on us for the benefit of someone named Spinner.”
“Yes. Oh, and Spinner is in Blacksun. I remember Withernet mentioning that. He didn’t know his real name, but he’s someone big in Blacksun.”
“Anything else?”
“No. I’m sorry. I wish I could have listened longer, but they stopped talking when my uncle came in. And I couldn’t think of a reason to stay.”
“Of course not. It would have looked very suspicious if you had. But you’ve done me a service, and I appreciate it. Tell me, how did your fathers react when they heard about your recent…adventure at the Pit?”
Pendar looked as if someone had let the air out of him. “They didn’t even get mad. But they said they were disappointed in me, and that’s so much worse.”
“Do you think they might feel better if you could show them a personal letter of thanks from me?”
He sat up straight again. “You mean it?”
“As I said, you’ve done me a service. And I’m guessing you had to work rather hard to get as far as Chief Counselor Aldirk’s office. I think that deserves a letter with the Seal of the Lancer on it.”
A smile split his face. “That would be speedy! Thank you!”
When they ended the call, Lancer Tal turned to Aldirk. “Have you spoken with Colonel Razine about this?”
“She expects to have the warrant ready tomorrow.”
“Good. I’m suddenly very interested in hearing what a Granelle merchant has to say. And who is this Spinner?”
“I’m wondering the same thi—” Aldirk stopped when Lancer Tal swiveled to her bondmate.
“Salomen?”
“How could he?” Opah burst out. “How much did it take to buy his family name and honor? Did it ever occur to him that people might die because of him? His family won’t be able to hold their heads up in town. Herot may have smeared the Opah name, but at least he didn’t do it for pay.” She stopped in mid-rant, her anger winding down to uncertainty, then rested her head on one hand. “Fahla, I hope he didn’t.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Lancer Tal said. “And Withernet will pay for it, I promise. Selling publicly available information isn’t illegal, but inciting murder certainly is. Though to be honest, I’m less interested in his encouraging Bilsner than I am in his spy activities.”
Opah raised her head again. “Is this your life? People spying on you wherever you go?”
Lancer Tal actually looked pained. “Not usually. I live such a public life that there’s normally no need to spy on me. But I dropped out of the public eye when I went to Hol-Opah. Miltorin wanted me to take advantage of our challenge—vids of me with the field workers, photo sessions, carefully crafted quotes about the things I was learning—but I wouldn’t allow it.”
“Why not?”
Lancer Tal opened her mouth, then shut it again.
Aldirk leaned back in his chair, startled and amused by what was unfolding in front of him. This was not the Lancer he knew.
“I thought it was because I wanted a vacation of sorts. To be out of reach of the usual image-conscious politics. But looking back now…I think it was because I didn’t want to share you with the world.”
They smiled at each other, lost in their own little universe, and Aldirk cleared his throat. “Then the question becomes, was this Spinner threatened by the fact that you dropped out of the public eye, or was it specifically your activities on Hol-Opah that interested him?”
Lancer Tal straightened and turned, her visible emotion vanishing behind a familiar façade. “From what Pendar says, it was specifically my activities on Hol-Opah or with any of the Opahs. So why were they so interesting? What was the motivation?”
“Maybe he’s running some sort of gambling scheme,” Opah suggested. “Based on what you did during the challenge. People were betting on the outcome.”
“Micah did mention that.” Lancer Tal raised an eyebrow. “As I recall, the odds were four to one in my favor.”
“Not in my caste, they weren’t. Five to one against you.”
“Really? I hope you didn’t throw away your cinteks on such a bad bet.”
“They wouldn’t let me bet on myself, but I had Nikin put down a few cinteks for me. And I still plan to win.” Opah’s expression held a slight challenge before she continued, “Anyway, we know there was worldwide betting. Maybe someone saw this as a way to make a quick profit, by hiring someone local to give him an advantage.”
“That’s a possibility,” Aldirk said. He wouldn’t have thought of it, but who knew?
“An advantage…” Lancer Tal repeated distantly. “An advantage…” She looked at Aldirk, her light blue eyes focused now. “Yes, but not over other gamblers. Over me. Someone is playing a game. A spymaster who was upset about the assassination attempt? He has a vested interest in me. Pendar said it was someone big in Blacksun, and that smells like politics. This Spinner needs me to do something that I probably have no intention of doing, so he wants to know how to maneuver me into it.”
Aldirk nodded, happier with this explanation. “I think you’re hunting the right trail.”
“What kind of game involves paying someone to spy on you?” Opah looked disgusted.
“An expensive one,” Lancer Tal said. “And you might be right about the gambling aspect, but it’s not for some kind of betting ring. It’s for himself. He’s placing a big bet on what I’ll do when the right moment comes.”
“Colonel Razine will be questioning Withernet tomorrow morning,” Aldirk said. “I’m sure we’ll have some answers by then.”
CHAPTER 12:
Breaking the boundary
“How often do you sit through those?” Salomen asked.<
br />
“I debrief with Aldirk at least every other day.” Tal stretched her arms overhead and then dropped her hands into her lap, slumping in her chair. “Even when we don’t meet, he has a report waiting for me every morning. As for Colonel Razine, we’re meeting more often these days, for obvious reasons. She has a great deal on her desk between the search for Herot and her investigation into the task force, and now she’s added our mysterious Spinner to her list. I’m seeing Counselor Miltorin more often as well. This was a short day, Salomen. I see an average of three to five Council members every day, and advisors as well, in addition to the planned group advisor meetings, the remaining delegate meetings, and of course the Council and High Council sessions when we have them.”
“Great Goddess. That’s not even sane. Your life is meetings!”
“You learn fast. Ready for an entire moon of this?”
“Not in the slightest. But I’m ready to go back to our quarters.” Salomen stood and extended a hand. “May I escort you home?”
Tal allowed herself to be pulled up. “Do you remember the way?”
In answer, Salomen led them out the door, pausing long enough for Tal to palmlock it before resuming their trek through the corridors. It was late and there were few people left on the fourteenth floor, a circumstance for which Tal was profoundly grateful. She did not relish the idea of being stopped now and doubted that she could carry on a civil conversation. She and Salomen had waited too long for this to be delayed by anything less important than a Voloth invasion.
They bypassed the lift in favor of the stairs, both of them running up two steps at a time, and barely slowed their pace as they trotted down the corridor. If the Guards in her private hallway were amused by the Lancer practically running to her quarters with her lover, they had the sense to front it. Offering crisp salutes, they stared straight ahead and kept silent.
Tal didn’t even acknowledge them as she dashed past. She slapped her palm on the pad by the door and only then realized that she needed to program Salomen in.
“Shek,” she muttered, hurriedly tapping the commands. “If I don’t program you, I’ll probably forget—”
A hand closed around her wrist, stopping her progress.
“Not now,” Salomen said firmly.
Tal laughed as she was nearly yanked off her feet, but her merriment was abruptly halted by a pair of soft lips. The door hadn’t finished closing before they were lost in each other, picking up where they had left off three hanticks earlier. For several ticks there was nothing in their minds but the sensations of lips and skin and curves, each of them absorbing the other’s excitement in an empathic connection that they were finally allowed to enjoy.
“You feel wonderful.” Tal ran her hands down Salomen’s sides, settling briefly in the gentle curve of her waist before sliding up her back.
Salomen’s hands were wandering as well, unable to stay in any one place for long. “So do you,” she whispered between kisses. “And how is it that you still smell like you just stepped out of the shower?” She nibbled her way down to Tal’s throat and sucked gently.
Tal dropped her head back. “Because I did nothing today besides sit on my backside.”
Salomen chuckled into her ear, then pulled on the lobe with her teeth. “That’s about to change,” she breathed.
Tal shivered. With an effort, she broke away and held Salomen at arm’s length. “You have too many clothes on. And I can’t concentrate on undressing you when you’re doing that.”
“Then undress me quickly.”
Never in her life had Tal been so happy to obey an order. She pushed Salomen’s jacket halfway down her arms and began unbuttoning her shirt. Salomen lowered her arms, letting the jacket fall to the floor, and stood waiting as Tal finished the last button at her hip. It was a wrap shirt, designed to present a smooth crossover front while buttoning at the sides, and Tal held her breath as she slowly pulled the top layer away. The layer beneath still covered half of Salomen’s torso, but as creamy skin and a perfect, full breast were revealed, she thought it was a good thing she wasn’t seeing everything at once. Her heart might not survive the experience.
She kissed the skin just above the bottom edge of the shirt, then traced the diagonal line it made across Salomen’s torso. As her mouth brushed the curve of a breast, she heard a sharp intake of air.
“This isn’t quickly.”
“I tried,” Tal murmured against the softness. “But I cannot rush this.”
She kissed her way around a pliant nipple the color of a just-ripened panfruit, then took it into her mouth and caressed it with her tongue.
Salomen pressed a hand against the back of her head. “That feels…amazing.”
Tal released the nipple, no longer as pliant as before. “Yes, it does.” She drew it back in, not quite ready to leave it. Besides the sensual thrill, there was the added incentive of the hand holding her in place. It appeared that the prior order had been rescinded; Salomen was no longer in such a hurry to be undressed. Nor was Tal in a hurry to move, not when Salomen’s chest rose against her with every sigh.
But there was much still to explore, and with a final kiss, she resumed her journey. Just above the breast on which she had lavished so much attention was a lovely chest ridge, exposed in all its glory. Tal had only seen it once before, when Salomen had worn that beautiful dress with the tiny shoulder straps and deeply diving neckline. Now she nibbled along its length, reveling in the conflicting sensations of soft skin over the hard ridge. When the ridge ran out, she moved inward and upward, seeking the source of the spicy scent that had tantalized her ever since Salomen had come downstairs at her house, packed and ready.
Here, at the base of her throat. As Tal pressed a kiss to the fragrant, warm hollow, it vibrated beneath her lips. Salomen was making a sound of pure pleasure, and it was enough for Tal to pull back, wanting to see what she looked like when she did that.
Salomen’s eyes opened, her pupils dilated with the desire singing between them, and Tal’s breath caught in her throat.
“You look like a sculpture,” she said, tracing one finger back down the line of the shirt. “Feminine perfection, exposed just enough to tantalize the viewer, but not enough to reveal her full beauty.” She reached for the last buttons. “It feels like I’ve waited forever for this.”
“At least one of us is getting what she wants.”
Tal looked up to see the quirked eyebrow and half-smile that she had come to love. Returning her attention to the buttons, she undid the last one and reverently pulled the cloth away, her eyes glued to the loveliness beneath her hands.
Salomen’s skin glowed in the low light, its smooth expanse unmarked except for a long, thin scar at her waist. Tal brushed a fingertip over it, then leaned down and touched it with her lips. “When?” she asked.
“I was eight. Fell out of a tree and caught a branch on the way down. Not with my hands.”
“Were you supposed to be in that tree?” Her fingers were moving of their own accord, mapping the contours of this new treasure.
“Of course not. That’s why I have the scar, because I didn’t let anyone see that I was hurt until it was too late for a clean healing.”
“Which does not surprise me at all.” She gently cupped Salomen’s breasts, reveling in their soft weight. “I’m still not quite believing that I can touch you like this without flying halfway across the room.”
“I’d like to find out how that feels myself.” Salomen caught and held her hands. “And I’m not standing here for inspection while you’re still wearing a full uniform.” She reached for Tal’s jacket and made no pretense of patience as she unzipped it and pushed it off her shoulders. Tal barely managed to get her arms out of the sleeves without losing her balance as Salomen pulled the jacket toward her, holding it up with a triumphant expression.
“I love you in this,” she said. A predatory smile weakened Tal’s knees as she added, “But I love you even more out of it.” She dropped the jacket in an untidy heap and began undoing the shirt buttons at the side of Tal’s throat. Tugging out the bottom of the shirt, she hastily pulled it over Tal’s head and stopped, her mouth partly open. “Goddess above,” she whispered, the shirt slipping unnoticed from her grasp. “Andira…”
The sense of urgency was gone, replaced by an awe that had Salomen reaching out tentatively. She touched Tal’s shoulders, tracing the curves, then slid her hands down her arms and laced their fingers together. Pulling Tal toward her, she leaned in to nibble her way across the collarbone, then the chest ridge, and finally settled on her breast.
Tal closed her eyes as warm lips gently tugged her nipple, then forced them open again. She had waited too long for this to miss seeing any of it; she wanted it to last forever while she took in every detail. But the sight of Salomen at her breast, combined with their mingled arousal, was such a potent mix that she could barely hold herself still. She stood it for as long as she could, but all too soon was pulling Salomen up again.
Their lips met with a mutual hunger neither of them had allowed themselves until now. Tal threw aside all of her prior self-restraint and felt Salomen do the same, their movements growing frantic as they abandoned any semblance of gentleness. Salomen bit Tal’s lower lip hard enough to draw blood, and the salty taste drove Tal even higher. She left marks on Salomen’s neck, searching for the ridges that were rising to the surface but still just beneath the skin. She had wanted to take it slow, to make this first time mean more than just a satiation of their hunger, but her body had other ideas and she didn’t think she could stop—
Strong hands wrenched her head back, and she gasped as she stared into wide, half-glazed brown eyes. This raging need was not entirely her own. Their emotions had merged; they were driving each other.
Without a Front: The Warrior's Challenge (Chronicles of Alsea Book 3) Page 9
