He paused, and turned towards her. ‘I am not usually this much of a dullard,’ he told her. ‘Forgive me. You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. It is muddling my senses.’
‘My name will be Sashan,’ she said, ignoring his comment. ‘Try it. Say it.’
‘Sashan.’
‘Good. Now about your servants?’
‘I shall tell them both I met you at the bathhouse, and that your name is Sashan, and you will be staying with me for a while. I will get Sperian to give you an allowance. Thirty silver pieces a week. That should help allay suspicion. You should take the money, and go to the market. Buy yourself.
. whatever you like.’
‘I see that you know the going price for whores, young Olek.’
‘Indeed I do, Sashan. And so should you.’
She laughed, the sound rich and throaty. ‘Were I a whore, you could not afford me.’
‘If you were a whore I’d sell everything I had for a night with you.’
She took his arm again. ‘And you would not regret it. Not a copper coin of it. However, I am not a whore. What sleeping arrangements do you have in mind?’
‘Oh, we have many spare rooms.’
‘And how will that look to your servants? You bring a whore home and then do not sleep with her? No, Olek, we must share a room. But that is all we will share.’
Back at the house he introduced Sashan to Sperian and Molaire. The gardener said nothing, but Molaire was outraged. She swung to Sperian.
‘Are you going to allow this?’
‘The boy is three weeks from his majority. It is his choice.’
‘I think it disgraceful,’ said Molaire, ignoring Jianna, and storming from the entrance hall. As the princess wandered through to the living room Sperian looked hard at Skilgannon.
‘Is that who I think it is?’ he whispered.
‘Yes. Say nothing to Molaire.’
‘She is very convincing in that yellow tunic.’
‘Aye, she is.’
Jianna came back into the hallway and smiled at Sperian. ‘I fear your wife does not like me.’
‘More a problem for me than you, Sashan,’ Sperian told her. ‘It will be like having a wasp in my ear tonight. I doubt I’ll get any rest. Why don’t you and Olek go out into the garden. I’ll bring a little food and drink.’
After the servant had gone Skilgannon led Jianna through to the garden. The sun was setting beyond the western wall, and it was cool in the shade. She sat down in a deep chair, her long legs stretched out.
Skilgannon tore his gaze from her thighs, and stared hard at the blooms in the garden. ‘He knows, doesn’t he?’ said Jianna.
‘Yes. But then he already knew that Greavas was hiding you — and he sent me to Greavas. I guessed we wouldn’t fool Sperian. He will say nothing. Not even to Molaire.’
‘He would be wise not to. Trusting that fat sow with a secret would be like trying to carry water in a fish net.’
‘She is a good woman,’ said Skilgannon sharply. ‘You will not speak ill of her.’
A look of surprise touched the girl’s face, immediately followed by a flash of anger that made her grey eyes glint with a cold light. ‘You forget who you are talking to.’
‘I am talking to Sashan the whore, who is living in my house for thirty silvers a week.’
She looked away, and he studied her profile. It seemed to him that her face was beautiful from any angle. Even with the badly dyed yellow hair, and the red ringlets at the temple, she was stunning. ‘How long must I stay here?’ she asked.
‘At this moment soldiers are scouring the city, and all the gates are manned. In three weeks the Festival of Harvest begins. Farmers and merchants will be coming here from all over Naashan. Once the festival is over they will return. There will be huge numbers leaving the city. That will be the time, I think.’
‘A month then?’
‘At least.’
‘It will be a long month.’
Skilgannon had not known just how long a time a month could be. He began to realize it that first night, as he and Jianna retired to his west-facing room above the garden. The bed was wide, and made for two.
Even so he lay awake, feeling the warmth emanating from her. The scent from her hair wafted to him every time the night breeze blew. In the night she awoke and moved silently from the bed. He saw her naked body silhouetted against the window. His arousal was swift and painful. She stretched her arms above her head, and ran her fingers through her hair.
Skilgannon drank in the lines of her, the sleekness of her waist, and the long perfection of her legs. She padded across the room and poured herself a goblet of water. Skilgannon closed his eyes, and tried to force the image of her from his mind. It was a useless exercise. He felt her slide in alongside him once more.
‘Are you awake?’ she asked.
He thought of ignoring her and pretending sleep. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I am awake. Is the bed uncomfortable? Is it stopping you sleeping?’
‘No. I was thinking of my mother. I was wondering if I will ever see her again.’
‘Greavas is a clever man. I am sure he will succeed.’
‘She carries poison, you know. Hidden in a ring. If they come for her she will swallow it.’
‘Do you have poison?’
‘No. I shall escape. I will avenge my father, and I will see Bokram dragged down.’
‘No easy task, Sashan. He has the support of the Emperor. Even if you raised an army to match Bokram, you would still have to face the Immortals. They have never been beaten.’
‘Gorben will fall,’ she said. ‘His ambition is too great, his pride colossal.
My father understood this, but his timing was wrong. Gorben will not stop. He will continue to enlarge his empire. One day he will take a step too far. Against the Gothir perhaps, or the Drenai.’
‘What if he doesn’t fall?’
She rolled towards him. ‘Then I shall find a way to woo him. None of his wives have given him sons. I shall give him sons. Then I will drag Bokram down.’
‘You do not lack confidence,’ he said. ‘I do not believe, though, that Bokram is quaking in his boots at this moment.’
‘I hope that he is not,’ said Jianna. ‘He seeks two women who are, at worst, a nuisance. His only fear is that I will escape and be wedded to a prince with power. Even that will not worry him unduly, for there is no single prince with the fortune or the army to overthrow him.’
‘Then how can you succeed?’
‘There are at least fifty princes and chieftains who would like to wed me.
Combine them and we have an army to sweep across the land.’
‘You plan to wed fifty princes? I think playing the whore has gone to your head.’
‘Malanek said you were intelligent, and quick-witted. Was he wrong?’
‘Strangely my wits are not enhanced by lying so close to a naked woman.’
She laughed. ‘The story of men everywhere. And now I shall sleep.’ She rolled away from him.
Somewhere in the night he managed to doze a little, but every time she moved he would awake and feel restless. Once she turned and her arm fell across his chest, her head close to his shoulder.
Just after the dawn he awoke, bleary-eyed and weary. Jianna still slept.
Dressing in a simple grey tunic and sandals he went downstairs. Molaire was already in the kitchen, cleaning vegetables for a broth. She gave him a look which was meant to be scornful. Crossing to her he kissed her cheek.
‘Your father would not approve of this,’ she said, blushing.
He gazed at her round, honest face. ‘Perhaps he would not,’ he admitted.
‘And you look dreadful this morning. Totally debauched.’
Skilgannon laughed and left the room, wandering through to the garden. Sperian was already there, kneeling in one of the flower beds, dead-heading blooms and clearing away weeds. For a while Skilgannon helped him, then both men walked back to the house, scrubbed the d
irt from their hands and sat down to breakfast. Molaire left them and moved off to the laundry room. Skilgannon told Sperian about the thirty silvers that would need to be paid to Sashan.
‘Aye, that’s wise. Though I am not sure about her going to the market. I doubt she’s done any haggling in her life.’
‘I think she’ll do well enough. Are there watchers outside the house?’
‘Aye. Two men. They were here most of the night. They’ve been replaced this morning. Have you thought what you’ll say if Boranius returns? Has he ever met her?’
The question caused a tightness in Skilgannon’s stomach. ‘I don’t know.
I’ll ask her.’
Sperian cut some fresh bread and several thick slices of cheese, which he placed on a tray. ‘You want to take this up to her?’
Skilgannon returned to the bedroom. Jianna was awake, but still lying in the bed. ‘I brought you some breakfast,’ he said. She sat up, the sheets falling away and exposing her breasts. Skilgannon swore. ‘Could you at least dress?’ he snapped.
‘My, you are feeling tetchy this morning, Olek. Did you not sleep well?’
Reaching out, she took the food, then sat and quietly ate. Pushing the tray aside she rose from the bed. Skilgannon turned his back, and heard her laughter. ‘You may look at me now, my prudish friend,’ she said. She had slipped on the yellow tunic dress and was sitting in a wicker chair by the window.
‘Have you ever met Boranius?’ he asked.
She shrugged. The name means nothing.’
‘Tall and handsome, with golden hair. He was a student of Malanek’s.’
‘Ah, yes, now I recall him. Eyes the colour of emeralds, and an arrogant mouth. Why do you ask?’
‘He may come here. It would be best if he did not see you.’
‘Ah, Olek, you worry too much. The only time we met I was dressed in silks and satins. My hair was dark and I wore a tiara with seventy diamonds upon it. My face was painted, and he merely bowed his head to kiss my hand, then turned his attention to my father — whom he was desperate to impress.’
‘Even so. Boranius is no fool. He has men still watching the house.’
‘Then I should let them see me. I shall go to the market. You will give me coin. I shall buy a necklace, and a new dress.’
‘You seem to be enjoying yourself,’ he said.
Her smile faded. ‘What would you prefer, Olek? That I simpered and trembled in this room, waiting for strong men to save me? I will succeed -
or I will be captured and killed. No man on this earth will ever terrify me. I will not allow it. Yes, I shall enjoy going to the market. It is something I have never done. I will walk in the sunshine and I will revel in my freedom.
I am Sashan, the whore. And Sashan the whore has nothing to fear from Boranius or anyone else.’
He stood watching her for a moment. Then he nodded and bowed. ‘You are an exceptional woman,’ he said.
‘Yes, I am. Tell me about the market.’
They sat and talked for some time about the art of haggling, and how no-one ever paid the first price mentioned. He also warned her against the places women were not allowed to enter: gambling halls, private taverns, and public temples.
‘A woman cannot enter a temple?’ she queried.
‘Not by the main door. At the side there are entrances leading to galleries. Women cannot approach the altar, or sit in the altar hall.’
‘Ridiculous!’ she stormed.
‘Nor once inside the building are they allowed to speak,’ he told her, with a smile.
Her grey eyes narrowed. ‘I shall change that once I have my throne.’
Skilgannon recalled with great fondness watching her walk away from the house. The sun was shining on her bleached hair, and turning the cheap yellow tunic to glowing gold. She had subtly exaggerated the sway of her hips, and had smiled broadly at the men passing by. It was a fine performance, born of arrogance and courage.
Alone on the jetty Skilgannon glanced up at the moon. ‘There never was a woman like you, Jianna,’ he whispered.,
The day had been long and tense for Jianna, Queen of Naashan. It had begun just after dawn, reading lengthy reports from the various southeastern war fronts in Matapesh, Panthia and Opal. Casualties had been heavy, especially in the jungles of Opal, but her forces had captured the three main diamond mines. Shipments of these precious stones would enable Jianna to purchase more iron from Ventria, and weapons from established Gothir armourers. She had breakfasted with four princes from northern Naashan, who had promised men for the coming battles in Tantria. After that she had met councillors and advisers, checking reports on tax incomes and the condition of the treasury.
It was now after dusk, and she was not yet tired as she strode with her bodyguard through the royal gardens, lit now by lanterns on tall iron poles. Behind her walked the Captain of Horse, Askelus, a tall, forbidding man, and alongside him the wiry figure of Malanek the former swordmaster. Both men had their hands on their sword hilts as they came into the open. Jianna laughed. ‘They say lightning does not strike twice in the same place,’ she said.
‘You take too many risks, Highness,’ offered Malanek. Moonlight cast shadows on his face, making the lines of age seem even deeper. No longer a fighting swordsman he had grown his hair, though he still sported the elaborate raised crest and pony tail that had marked him as the King’s champion. His hair was dyed black — a small conceit, which the Queen did not mind. She was fond of the old warrior.
‘I cannot avoid all risks, Malanek,’ she said. ‘And look, am I not wearing the mail rings you had made for me?’
‘Aye, and they look very fine on you, Highness,’ he said. ‘Which is, I think, why you wear them.’
Jianna did not reply, but walked on. He was right, of course. The thigh-length silver mail tunic, with its backing of soft lambskin, and its wide embossed belt, emphasized the slimness of her waist. It shimmered as she moved. Jianna strode on, sensing the tension in the two men as they approached the Lake of Dreams, a large marble pool on which sat a statue of a fabulously attractive woman. Her arm was raised towards the sky, and entwined around it was a snake. The statue was of Jianna. Often the Queen would wander her gardens, always stopping to gaze upon her own image.
Ten days ago two assassins had leapt from the undergrowth close by.
Both were dressed as palace servants. Only Malanek had been with her on that night. Despite his age he had acted with great speed, drawing his sabre and darting in to block their assault. He had killed the first, but the second barged past him and ran at Jianna, knife raised. Leaping high she had hammered her booted foot into his face, hurling him back. Malanek had stabbed him through the lower back. The man screamed and fell.
Unhappily the wound was deep and mortal, and he had died under questioning without revealing who had sent him.
It was the fourth assassination attempt in two years.
Jianna gazed at the statue. ‘She will be beautiful when I am ancient and a crone,’ she said wistfully.
‘Aye,’ agreed Malanek, ‘but she will never ride a horse, nor see a sunset.
Nor will she ever know the adoration of a people.’
‘Adoration comes and goes,’ said Jianna. ‘The people threw flowers at the Ventrians and garlanded Bokram’s horse. They are fickle.’
They came at last to the new gates and the high walls of Jianna’s private quarters. The two guards, both handpicked by Askelus, saluted and bowed. ‘Who is within?’ Askelus asked one of them.
‘Four of the Queen’s councillors, five royal handmaidens, the blind harpist, and a rider from Mellicane. The Ventrian ambassador has requested an audience. His messenger is waiting outside the gallery.’
The guards pushed open the gates and Jianna walked through. ‘Shall I send them all away?’ asked Malanek.
‘Ask Emparo to stay. I would like to hear his harp later. The Ventrian ambassador I will see tomorrow morning, before the council meeting.
Have him
brought here. We will breakfast together.’ She arrived at the door to her chambers. ‘I’ll see the rider from Mellicane now. Askelus, you will stay with me.’
The tall warrior nodded, and opened the doors to the Queen’s apartments. Lanterns had been lit within, the light shimmering on silk-covered couches and ornately fashioned chairs. The five handmaidens, all dressed in gowns of white silk, stepped forward and curtsied as the Queen entered. ‘You may all go to your beds,’ said Jianna, with a wave of her hand. The women curtsied once more, and departed. Malanek strode off after them, returning with a round-shouldered officer. Jianna looked at the man. He had tired eyes. He bowed to her and waited.
‘You have ridden far, sir?’ she asked.
‘I have, Majesty. Eight hundred miles in fifteen days. Mellicane is on the verge of collapse.’
‘What else did you discover?’
‘I have brought back all my papers, Majesty; reports on those loyal to your cause, and those we must… deal with. I have given them all to Malanek.’
‘I shall read them and call for you again,’ she said, unable to remember the man’s name. ‘But why have you waited for me this evening?’
‘News of Skilgannon, Majesty.’
‘Is he dead?’
‘No, Majesty. He had left the church before the riders arrived. He is heading, we think, for Mellicane.’
‘Does he have the swords?’
‘He killed some men who were seeking to attack the church, Majesty.
Our information is that he took sabres from the attackers.’
‘He will have them,’ she said.
‘Hard to believe he became a priest,’ said Askelus.
‘Why?’ countered Malanek. ‘Skilgannon brought passion to everything he tackled. And passion is a gift of the Source.’
Askelus shrugged. ‘He is a fighting man. Hard to see him mouthing spiritual inanities. Love will conquer all. Forgive those who torment you.
Nonsense. Soldiers conquer all, and if you kill those who torment you then you are free of torment.’
‘Be silent, the pair of you,’ said Jianna, returning her attention to the messenger. ‘Who do we have following him?’
‘I have sent word to our embassy in Mellicane to watch out for him, Majesty. We also have the original twenty riders in Skepthia, and one skilled assassin we can contact. What orders shall I send?’
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