by Viola Grace
Tish nodded. "We don't know, my lord. The battle started and she was with the men. When we were all safe, the gap was sealed and she was not seen again. We were afraid she was dead."
He closed his eyes before opening them again. "What are those marks?"
He pointed to the portrait where Nasha was depicted kneeling in a backless, gauzy gown with her marks exposed.
A slow flick of Nasha's eyes and Mithwai offered in her timid tones, "Her avatar mark and the mark of the house of Fano."
Shock rippled through him. "On the bottom of a foot?"
"Yes, my lord. Ithena marked her with the one and her father with the other." Orial curtsied as she spoke.
"One more question, ladies. Why did your lady refuse me when I arrived?"
Nasha deliberately didn't look at him. She felt the pained confusion in his tone.
Tish looked at him with pity. "You should have courted her. With her father dead, the agreement you had with him was dissolved by our customs. The law was designed for this kind of thing, so that men could not make arrangements under duress. She might have greeted you more favourably if she had known what the hell was going on."
He jerked his head and nodded. His body vibrated with tension. "Before I go, ladies, show me the soles of your feet."
Her ladies knelt facing the wall and removed their slippers. Each sole was perfectly smooth and unblemished.
He sighed and his shoulders drooped in disappointment. "What is her name?"
Tish was the easiest to sway by the sight of masculine vulnerability. "Nasha Elorha Fano. Chosen of Ithena."
A cunning grin spread over his features and he looked down at Nasha. "Lady Nasha, I am pleased to offer you the hospitality of my home."
With her mouth tight, she inclined her head. "What was the final clue?"
"You never wear shoes. Even in the portraits, you don't wear shoes. Out of all the bodies on the battlefield, you were the only one found without footwear."
"And I ran through the forest…"
"Naked and without shoes. You knew where you were going, which is how we knew how to capture your ladies when they arrived. They would go where you were supposed to be."
She would have clapped, but her arm was still in his grip. "Well deduced. Can you take the chains off now?"
"No. I believe that you will be wearing them for some time to come. You will not leave this keep until you are my mate in every way. Eshkar is most insistent."
"Good for him, Ithena is not interested." The faint presence of the star was far back in her mind.
He scowled down at her. "It does not matter. She promised him a child centuries ago and you will remain here until you deliver."
"That will be a while as I have not yet had my first heat. Who knows when I will get pregnant if that little tidbit of chemistry does not occur?"
Frustration passed his face and he let out a sharp whistle. Tonio came in with a folded pile of fabric.
"Here you are, my lord. The alterations have been made." Her guard bowed and extended his hands with their burden.
Kalowell jerked his head for her to pick up the gown.
She reached out and thanked Tonio for his service as the fabric crackled over her hands.
Tonio looked up in surprise and then his gaze focussed on his lord's hand on her arm.
Tish came forward and bowed as she took the gown. "If you will excuse me, my lord, we will attend our lady."
"You have five minutes. I will remain here." He took a seat on one of the low couches and smiled grimly.
Her ladies surrounded her and shooed her into the bathing room. The moment that the door closed, she was hugged from all sides.
Tish was weeping openly, as was Mithwai. Orial and Vavi were made of sterner stuff. Lass didn't even acknowledge that anything was amiss.
Vavi opened Nasha's work dress and unlaced the shoulders. It slid from her body in a swish of fabric. The new gown was a similar design with a fuller skirt and more ornate clasps as well as open sleeves. The colour was two shades darker than her own skin.
Tish started on her hair the moment that the gown was on. "My lady, how have you avoided your heat?"
"A berry cocktail. You know the one. The ingredients are plentiful, so they have been my evening dessert."
The low laugh that her ladies shared made her smile. She had missed them.
"We will make sure that you are served the mix every evening if we can."
Orial smiled. "I will head to the kitchens myself if I have to."
"Like you used to when my father insisted that I needed to fast for the star to accept me?" Nasha grinned as Vavi got her shoulder pieces laced into place.
"Exactly, but with less chance of ending up banished. Your father was pissed."
Having the elderly Norcron Fano described as pissed brought a wistful emotion to Nasha's breast. "I miss him."
"We do, too, lady. We also have been missing Ithena." Orial gave her a look of query.
"As have I. She closed the gap and that was the last time she has been truly present. One look at Eshkar's avatar and she was in for the duration."
The stoic Lass gave her a serious look. "That isn't good."
"She is pouting. There is no getting around it." Nasha stood straight as the brush slid through her hair.
"That is unfortunate." Lass's quiet words said it all. It took a lot to get her to speak, but when she did, it was always right to the heart of the matter.
Tish tapped her shoulder as the final clasp was in place on the gown. She was now dressed in a very fetching blue gown with gold embroidery with her hair in a honey-coloured cloud around her. She noted that she hadn't been given shoes, but since she always went about unshod, it was not a matter for concern.
One of the bonuses of Ithena's presence was Nasha's lack of sensitivity to heat and cold. She could walk around in the dead of winter and nothing would happen to her body.
"Am I presentable?"
Tish grinned, "You are stunning as always, lady."
"Wonderful. I am sure that his lordship will be impressed." Nasha grinned as she exited the bathing chamber, her women trailing behind her.
Kalowell stood up at her approach with a surprised expression on his face. "My lady, you look stunning."
She paused and put her hands on her hips, glaring at him with all of the indignation of a well-brought-up lady. "My chains clash with my gown."
Chapter Six
He didn't comment but offered his hand to her. Sighing in agreement, she placed her left hand on his right and they exited the guest room together.
"Mid-meal is about to be served. I believe that you will be a little better fed than when you were a servant."
She inclined her head. "There was nothing wrong with my meals. The food was plain but plentiful."
"I am glad to hear it. It is the pride of my lands that we can and do feed all of our people."
She sighed. "It may take longer for service at lunch today. They will be missing a server."
He looked down at her in surprise and then laughed sharply. "I am sure they will manage."
A few familiar faces stopped and stared in surprise at the procession, but Lord Kalowell merely nodded to his people and led his prize to the dining hall.
"They are staring."
"Most won't even recognize you. You are quite transformed." He sounded grudgingly impressed.
"My ladies are masters of the speedy transformation."
The doors to the dining hall were opened and they walked in. Nasha was relieved to see that only half of the warriors were in attendance.
Kalowell led her to her seat on his right-hand side. He waited until she was in place before taking his own seat. Her ladies filled all of the chairs to her right and a stunned General Alsco stood as they all took a seat.
"Lord Thorn, who is the enchantress that sits beside you? Have you given up on finding the avatar?"
With a silent snort, Nasha realized that he couldn't see her chains for recogn
ition purposes.
"This is the avatar of Ithena. Lady Nasha Fano. Her enchanting charms are to be mine alone. Keep that in mind." His warning in his tone was unmistakable.
With their lord in place, the servers appeared and laid out the meal. Pages ran around the room providing plates and cutlery for all of those seated beginning at the high table.
For the first time since that first night, Nasha looked about her with complete freedom. The warriors of the keep were staring at her and she cast her gaze over them slowly, unafraid. Ithena may be hiding, but anyone who tried to lay hands on her would draw back a broken stump.
Now that she didn't have to pretend to be a peasant, her body was hers to defend again.
"What has made you so happy?" Tish asked in a low whisper.
"Just thinking about my classes with Denar."
"Oh." Tish turned and spread the comment until all of Nasha's ladies were laughing.
A tap on her left arm got her attention.
"What are they laughing about?"
"A memory I shared with them. Being myself and not a servant makes a difference in how I react to having my ass grabbed."
Understanding lit his eyes. "No one will touch you, Nasha."
She looked down at his hand on her arm.
"Except me. Whether you like it or not, your star promised you to me the moment she took you over. I will show you the avatar pact after lunch."
A quiver deep inside her mind gave her a roiling sense of unease. Ithena was upset and it wasn't out of concern. There was shame in her thoughts.
Maida placed bread in front of them and flicked her gaze up to Nasha's.
Nasha winked and the woman quickly scuttled away to the kitchens. Nothing was faster than the speed of gossip.
"I look forward to seeing it. And the contract you had with my father. If they both check out, we will discuss possibilities."
He nodded and turned his head to hide his grin.
She sighed. It was nice of him to pretend that she had a choice. She was his to do with as he willed and she knew it. The chains were merely an outward reminder that he didn't trust her.
She waited until the table was set before she started fidgeting. No one was allowed to eat until the highest-ranking male started eating.
A quick look at her dining companion made her blush. He was looking straight at her. "Rise with me."
She nodded and stood when he did.
"I have the honour to introduce to you, Nasha Fano, avatar of Ithena. She is to be my bride and no insult to her will be tolerated. Am I understood?"
The men leapt to their feet and saluted, uttering a guttural grunt that Nasha took as assent. She was surprised when Kalowell took her in his arms and stunned when he kissed her.
Her body responded quickly, but when she tried to raise her arms to caress his neck, the chain snagged between them.
She let her hands fall to her sides and let him control the kiss. His lips parted hers and slid his tongue between them for a quick flick that sent a shockwave through her system. A sharp contraction in her channel made her gasp and she leaned back. With the subduing substances in her system, a reaction this strong shouldn't be possible.
When Kalowell withdrew, the swirling gold gleam was wider than it had been the first time she met him. With a jolt, she realized that his eyes turned gold where hers turned red. Eshkar had been in that kiss and he had let his power ripple through her.
His lordship helped seat her again and the triumphant gleam in his eyes set her teeth on edge. "Cheater."
"Pardon?" He arched a brow and looked at her with eyes that were a lot less gold than they had been seconds earlier. He took a piece of bread and the room started reaching for their own food as the hungry men loaded their plates.
"Eshkar, you are a nasty cheater who has no business rummaging around in my hormonal system." Addressing the star directly wasn't normally done, but she was an avatar, she had the right.
Kalowell's eyes glowed completely gold. "You were running a fever. I simply purged your system, Avatar Nasha."
She couldn't say anything to that. To do so would be to admit that she was subduing her heat. It was something that most respectable women didn't do.
Nasha reached for a piece of bread, but before she could do more than shred the loaf, he had started to place bits of meat and stewed vegetables on her plate. It was standard for a man with a female guest, but it was still odd to Nasha. No one had cut her meat for her since her mother died when she was a child.
She used a folded piece of bread to pick up the food and fed herself with delicate precision. Her ladies were cutting their own meat but eating in the same dainty manner. To Nasha's amusement, her ladies were getting more than a normal share of masculine attention.
"Oh dear, I believe you won't have a problem finding matches if you wish for them." Her words to Tish were low and her friend chuckled.
"I have noticed. I am fairly sure that it is our eating display that is garnering the attention, so I will wait and see before I begin to scope out candidates." Tish was laughing. "Have you seen the way that they are eating? It isn't as if the food is trying to escape, there is no reason to stab it."
Nasha snickered and returned to her growing collection of meats. "Oh, Kalowell, you can stop now. I won't be able to finish this as it is."
He blinked. "Why don't you use my name? Kalowell is my title."
She blushed. "I don't know your name."
"So, your father never mentioned me?" He looked a little hurt, but she wasn't falling for that again.
"No. He probably guessed I wouldn't be pleased by him selling me to you." She looked down at her plate and tried to swallow past the lump in her throat.
He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of it, then turned it over and kissed her palm. "My name is Thorn and I expect you to use it."
The shivers started in her palm and spread throughout her body. The gold gleam in his eyes was amused as well as smug as her body reacted to the light flick of his tongue on her skin.
Nasha knew her doom when she saw it, but she was done running. If she could get Ithena out, she would find out what the hell was going on. It was times like this that she regretted giving her body over to a star with a superhuman ability to hide.
Chapter Seven
Lunch was a strange combination of eternity and a fleeting blur of food and sensations. Nasha held Thorn's hand again as they left the dining hall and walked toward a section of the keep that she had not been allowed in as a servant. Her ladies trailed behind her, a colourful collection of trusted companions. Nasha was feeling better already.
"All documents are kept in the library and it is kept in a climate-controlled environment."
His words made her smile. When their ancestors settled on Xaros, they had brought with them knowledge of the stars. Most large keeps and abbeys had libraries and they usually were the one environmentally controlled room. It was a bit of tech that they still traded for with their space-faring neighbours.
Her father had never seen the need for that kind of security. In his mind, books were for reading and enjoying, not for putting in prison.
Thorn stopped and released her hand as he opened the door with an impressive flexing of his biceps. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt in the same tone as hers, tight black pants and boots to match. His physique strained the seams on his shirt when he flexed and the stitching still held. It was impressive that a seamstress could put that kind of care into a shirt.
She was so busy watching the light gleam on his skin that she didn't notice he was facing her until he cleared his throat. "What? Oh. Lead the way."
He was grinning again. "This way, my lady."
The possessive pronoun was not lost on her. She followed him into the library but waved for her ladies to wait in the foyer. If Ithena was outed here, Nasha didn't want anyone in the line of fire.
"Here is the original document. It is very old, so I would prefer to leave it in its reading
case."
She nodded and approached the agreement. It was succinct and to the point. When Eshkar and Ithena had compatible avatars of similar ages, they would join to produce a child of incredible power who would be able to lead the people of Xaros without feudal division.
Both the stars and their avatars, as witnesses, signed it. The signature of Ithena was one that was familiar to Nasha. She knew it from personal experience.
"That is her agreement. She signed this document centuries before I was born and sealed my fate." It was no wonder that Ithena was hiding. Everyone was pissed at her.
"Mine as well. Eshkar is very linear when it comes to fulfilling this agreement. I have not gotten laid in a few years." He chortled at her look of surprise.
"What?"
"You heard me. The moment that I became an avatar, my sex life was dead. Eshkar looked for traces of Ithena in all of the settlements before finding the rumours of the Fano women. It was only the spurts of energy that your star gave out that enabled him to track her."
Nasha frowned, digging into her psyche for traces of the star. She was still in hiding.
"And the document from my father?"
"Ah. That is over here." He showed her another document in a similar formal display case to the first.
"Why the place of honour?"
"I wanted it where I could see it after you had your housekeeper reject me. She didn't need to be so insulting, I am afraid I did not react well."
She sighed. "You and me both. I convinced myself that my father would never do something so underhanded, not admitting to myself that he might have been trying to move my life forward as his came to an end."
He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "How did he die?"
She laughed and tears slipped from her eyes. "He was busy with his leman and died with a smile on his face. I pensioned her off with a nice house in the country and took over the running of the keep the day that we buried him."
He didn't say a word, merely left her alone to read the document that bore her father's shaky scrawl and personal seal. The seal was buried with him so the veracity of the document was not in question.
