A Kiss of Magic: A Kiss of Magic Book One

by Jacquelyn Frank

  “You will apprentice with majji from all of the houses, with me by your side,” Dendri said firmly. “I will have tutors come here to teach us both. Remember, I am as novice as you are in all the houses save Aspano. And anything you have to learn from Aspano you will learn from me.”

  “Come Dendri, you can’t mean to lock her away with you in this house!” Wil said.

  “I intend to do exactly that…at first. Once she has had a chance to develop skills to protect herself then I will feel better about letting her loose in the world.”

  “I say, that’s very high-handed of you,” Jory said.

  “It is, isn’t it?” Yasra spoke up with barely leashed irritation. “He has decided my life for me without much in the way of consultation.”

  Dendri frowned. “I am merely looking out for your best interests. You are very vulnerable right now. There are those in the world who would be just as happy to destroy a Gestalt pairing as there would to nurture it.”

  “Why would they want to do that?” Bess asked with sudden anxiety. “I would think that people would feel a Gestalt couple to be a blessing!”

  “Or a threat,” Dendri said. “People who are used to a certain level of power, a level that earns them a wealthy living, would feel threatened by a Gestalt couple who could easily outstrip their rank given time. The only solution is to see that it never happens.”

  “But how can you possible prevent it? What’s done is done, isn’t it?” Bess asked.

  “This isn’t really a topic for dinner conversation,” Dendri said carefully.

  That was when Yasra put together what he was trying to say. Or trying to avoid saying.

  “You mean…you mean there are people out there who would try to kill us?”

  Dendri went quiet in the face of the question.

  “No one could kill Dendri. He’s too powerful.” Olla said.

  The retort was blunt, so was its meaning.

  “You mean they’d try to kill me,” Yasra said, a cold weight dropping onto her heart.

  “I won’t let that happen,” Dendri said firmly, reaching out to take one of her cold hands in his.

  “That’s why you want me here. You’re going to imprison me here to keep me away from—“

  “Not imprison!” Dendri cut her off sharply. “You can come and go as much as you like. All I ask is that you let me come with you in order to protect you.”

  “So I am to have no private life of my own? You will be inserted into every corner of my life whether I like it or not?” she asked, her hand beginning to shake within his.

  “That isn’t what I’m saying,” Dendri said, his frustration obvious. “Of course if you don’t want me with you then we can find another suitable guard. But you must be protected at all times…just until you are strong enough to protect yourself. Considering the amount of inherent power I have seen you display so far, that won’t be long at all.”

  The first course began to be served, a fragrant bouillon, but Yasra hardly noticed it. She picked up her spoon, but did not use it. She didn’t even remember to help Bess choose the right silverware. She was too upset.

  “Dendri’s right, this isn’t what we should be discussing over dinner. Let us talk of lighter things,” Wil said, his hand moving beneath the tablecloth to pat her on her thigh in a gesture of comfort. She found the wherewithal to lift her lips in a tiny smile, but she did not feel like smiling or in any way comforted.

  Dendri was protecting her. He had known from the start the danger she was in, had realized it from the very beginning…and she had been too slow to come to the same understanding. She felt stupid and dense. She also wondered what else Dendri had been thinking as far as she was concerned. She had been so swept up by him; it had never occurred to her that he might have ulterior motives that went beyond her understanding of him so far.

  Were his actions all part of some well thought out plan he had? Was the attention he paid her simply maneuvering to get her to accept their Gestalt status with him? Was he more interested in protecting the power she represented than he was in the woman that she was?

  The soup course came and went and she still had her spoon in her hand. She looked up at Bess who had concern written over all of her features.

  “Tell me something about you,” Wil said.

  She blinked. She looked over into his kind face. “Who are your parents?” Olla asked.

  What little color was left in her face immediately drained out. Was this what was important to these people? Her pedigree?

  “Illa and Orto Desro,” Yasra said quietly.

  “Ah. Very powerful Vendii majji are they not?” Olla said.

  “And very disagreeable people,” Dendri growled.

  Yasra didn’t realize he still held her hand until he lifted it to his lips, the warm kiss of his mouth stirring her. She looked over at him and his dark green eyes were urging her to take comfort in him.

  “Dendri! You are too cruel,” Olla said with a rich laugh to follow. “What will she think of you, insulting her parents in such a way?”

  “He’s right. They are very disagreeable,” she spoke up. “My parents always wanted a child of power. When I did not perform up to their expectations they threatened to cut me off.”

  An awkward silence followed for a moment. Then Wil chuckled. “Leave it to our parents to screw us up. Olla’s and mine are nons. They had no idea what to do with us.”

  That took her by surprise.

  “Oh Wil, must you tell everyone that?” Olla asked with a pained frown.

  “That is so rare. For nons to have majji children,” Yasra said.

  “Our great grandfather married a Vendii majji. So after a long line of nons there was now majji genetics in the mix. Still it was a wonder that one of us came out majical, never mind both. The odds were astronomical.”

  “The fact that you come from non parents and not a long line of snobbish majji is one of the reasons I like you Wil. You as well Olla.”

  Olla’s lashes fluttered and she pinked with pleasure at Dendri’s attention.

  “Does that mean we should not like you because you come from a vaunted bloodline, full of majical snobs?” Wil asked him.

  “I seriously doubt your judgment because you do not,” Dendri said.

  Wil laughed and Yasra felt lightened by it. It was hard to remain mired in brooding thoughts with Wil beside her.

  “What else?” Wil asked. “What is interesting about you?”

  “Why must we talk about me?” Yasra asked.

  “Because I already know everything there is to know about this lot. Go on. Tell us something.”

  “I like to read,” she blurted out, then felt silly for it.

  “Indeed she does. She raided my library first thing. I had noticed some interesting volumes in her home,” Dendri said.

  “You did?” she asked. She had not even thought he had had time to notice something like that.

  “I did. Werthal’s Practicum. Linno’s Encyclopedia. Both are rare volumes.”

  Yasra smiled. He truly had been paying attention. It made her relax to think his actions had not been so focused that he hadn’t noticed anything about her.

  “Bess, what do you do? What house of majic are you from?” Olla asked.

  Bess paled. “I…I…I…” she stammered.

  “Bess is a non. We are the very best of friends,” Yasra said strongly. She would not have Bess thinking she was somehow less compared to the company she was keeping in the moment. Bess’s eyes softened with love and Yasra felt it keenly. She loved Bess as well. She would tell the whole world if that’s what it took to make her friend feel it.

  “I’m a housemaid,” Bess said in a small voice just the same. “I’m Yasra’s housemaid.”

  “Oh. Well I guess that’s okay,” Olla said, her smile seeming to be disingenuous. Yasra frowned, but she was forced to let the slight slide when the next course of food was served. It was hard not to eat, the food really looked and smelled so appealing, but Yasr
a’s discomfort colored the taste of it. Her head was spinning and she did not know in what direction to think.

  Fortunately, Wil was not lacking in things to talk or joke about. He told stories about Dendri, somehow managing to make him seem a little more human, yet taking nothing away from the powerful man she was coming to know. The rest of the dinner flew by after that and before she knew it she was putting her dessert fork down. They all got up and moved into the library, the elegant Olla and the pixyish Myra strolling the room and looking at the books. Wil and Jory sat down with Dendri and enjoyed some glasses of port. Bess and Yasra perched side by side on one of the couches, looking like two birds ready to fly away at the slightest provocation. Yasra listened to Wil talk, Jory occasionally getting a word in edgewise. But mostly she watched Dendri, watched him at ease with his friends, watched him chuckle when Wil made fun of him. For all her confusing feelings of the past hour, she couldn’t escape how much she liked him. And when she thought of the fire he burned across her body, she flushed and went warm all over in memory.

  She knew she was projecting her thoughts the moment he stopped mid-sentence and looked over at her. She saw intensity darken his eyes and she knew she was affecting him just as he affected her. She quickly looked away from him and imagined the dome over her thoughts as rapidly as she could. It wasn’t so much that she wanted to keep him out, she knew he could see into her easily if he wanted to, but she didn’t want anyone else to hear the sizzling thoughts that entered both their minds whenever they looked at one another too long. Olla was an Aspano majji. She might easily pick up on the by-play, and then how embarrassed she would be!

  “Yasra,” Olla spoke up suddenly, almost as if she had known she was being thought of in that moment. “Come here and look at this compendium with me. I think a mind like yours, so fascinated with books, would really enjoy it.”

  “I’m afraid it’s beyond me,” Myra said, walking away as Yasra got up and went to stand beside Olla. The book was Bartho’s Necromay Compendium and Yasra brightened when she saw it.

  “I had not seen this one yet.”

  “Dearest, I don’t really care about the book,” Olla said as she took the book off the shelf and opened it, thumbing through the pages. “But I do care about Dendri,” she said, meeting Yasra’s eyes. “I care a great deal. He and I are…well, as a lady I shouldn’t speak of these things, but I am sure you can fill in the blanks. Dendri is a masterful lover and he requires a strong woman both in majic and in backbone to compliment him. He has his passing fancies as any man does, but his attention turns away as quickly as it arrived. Just because you are Gestalt does not mean you have unending and proprietary rights to the man.

  “Sure, he feels responsible for you at the moment, but as he said, that will change as you grow stronger. Once you are no longer draining his resources and power like a parasite, he will wish to have his freedom returned to him. You are today’s new plaything…tomorrow’s old toy. I know Dendri. Nothing holds his attention long when it comes to women. In the end he always returns to me.

  “Now, now, don’t be upset. I don’t tell you this to be cruel. In fact, just the opposite. I mean to put you on your guard. A sweet girl like you…Dendri will devour you, chew you up and spit you out like a dog with a bone. Once the bone loses flavor he moves on to other things. Do not let yourself grow too attached. Being Gestalt does not guarantee you love and fidelity. You seem to be the sort that would desire those things in a mate.

  “Never mind. Take your book and sit down before you fall over. It wouldn’t do to look silly in front of everyone now would it?”

  Olla closed the book with a snap, pushed into Yas’s numb arms then turned her and gave her a little push back toward the center of the room. Yasra walked toward Bess on automatic feet, the whirl of sour thoughts in her head making her sick to her stomach. She desperately did not want to project her emotions to Dendri, so she focused on keeping her dome firmly in place.

  Olla was Dendri’s friend. If anyone knew about him, it would be his friends. Or his lovers. Olla had pretty much said outright that she and Dendri were acquainted on that intimate level. Had the girl meant to be mean and spiteful? Did she already know what Yasra and Dendri had done so far? The woman was a high level Aspano. While she could not read Dendri, it would be nothing at all for her to read a novice like Yasra.

  Yasra burned with embarrassment. Her private liaisons with Dendri should have been just that…private. But Dendri had warned her there would be unscrupulous people out there who would not respect the privacy of her thoughts. But she had not expected it to happen right there, under Dendri’s roof! By one of his friends. Hadn’t Dendri led her to believe that these people could be trusted? That they had passed muster with him? Was it possible he could not read another Aspano of such a high level and therefore did not know her as well? Had he not said she was something of a mystery to him? But if he did know Olla for what she really was, then she must be someone worth believing.

  She had said Yasra was nothing more than a passing fancy. Something new and fresh that he would tire of once the bloom was rubbed off. Once she grew old and used to him. Olla meant to put her on her guard to protect her. What else could be her reasoning for saying such things to her?

  She sat down beside Bess, clutching the book to her chest as though it could somehow comfort her.

  Well what did she think was happening? That Dendri was thinking of having some great romance with her? That he was going to sweep her off her feet and they would live happily together until the end of time? She wasn’t even sure she believed in that. She wasn’t even sure if that was something she wanted for herself.

  But just the same her intimacies with Dendri were now somehow tarnished. She was looking upon the memory of them with a colder and more critical eye. Was she a passing fancy for him? Did she mind if she was? She was a grown woman. Her appetites may not be sophisticated or even experienced, but she could decide for herself what she wanted. Did she want Dendri Adiron on his terms?

  What about her terms? What were her terms? What exactly was she expecting to become of all this?

  She didn’t know. She was exhausted and confused. She wanted to be alone with Bess so she could talk to her friend and get her opinion on the matter.

  She sat quietly, listening to the others chatter and talk. Even Bess was coming out of her shell and joining in on the conversations or teasing. She told a funny story about the time Yasra mistook burliegh root for robespear in a hair rinse and accidentally turned Bess’s hair blue.

  “It took ages for it to wash out, didn’t it Yas?”

  “Yes, it did,” Yasra said quietly.

  Yasra felt the brooding weight of Dendri’s gaze on her then and she looked away from him. She hoped he truly did respect the privacy of her thoughts as he said he would. She needed time to sort through all of her thoughts before approaching him with them.

  “It’s getting late,” he said suddenly, still not taking his eyes from her. “I suspect we are all tired from the long day.”

  “Very true,” Wil said with an exaggerated stretch. “I turned into a flamingo today just to see what it would feel like and grew tired of standing on one leg…never mind being pink and feathered.”

  Myra laughed. “Leave it to you to change form ‘just because’.”

  “I was also testing out the landscaping I had grown for a very large client…whose name you will have to guess at. Needless to say, he likes very vast lawns. And a hedge maze. Growing well-manicured hedge mazes are no simple parlor trick!”

  “As you have said on many previous occasions,” Jory said with a chuckle.

  The friends said farewell in the foyer before the door and Tudman shut the door in their wake.

  “Your friends are very nice,” Bess said to Dendri with a smile.

  “And what did you make of my friends?” he asked Yasra.

  Yasra took a moment to think of her reply.

  “Very informative. I feel I know you better now that I
have seen you through their eyes.”

  “Hmm. I am not certain how I should take that. Wil is a very irreverent reflection on me.”

  “I like Wil. He has no artifice to him,” Yasra said. “He seems honest.”

  “He is. And that is one of the reasons why I call him my best friend. He is to me what Bess is to you.”

  “Then you are very lucky,” Yasra said. “Everyone would be fortunate to have a friend as true as Bess is to me.”

  Bess blushed under the compliment and reached out to envelop Yasra in a tight hug.

  “Come Bess,” Yasra said, picking up Bess’s hand. “let’s go to bed.”

  She cast a sideways glance at Dendri, reading his expression. Her message to him was clear. Would he accept it?

  His sharply green eyes narrowed briefly, but then a small smile twitched at his lips.

  “Go on. I will see you in the morning,” he said, his eyes full of unspoken promises. Yasra shivered in her own skin. Whatever else she thought of him, there was no mistaking the power of Dendri’s magnetism. Even though her mind was a jumble of confusion about him and his intentions, a visceral part of her was connected to him undeniably.

  Yasra hurried Bess off to bed.

  Chapter Ten

  “She’s a bitter, evil woman,” Bess said definitively. “She wants Dendri for herself and has said all of that to discourage you. She sees that Dendri wants you and is pea green with jealousy.”

  “But she’s such a beautiful, successful and powerful majji. She could have anyone she wanted. I’m certain she wasn’t lying. That she and Dendri have been lovers.”

  “She never came out and said as much. She implied it, from what you’ve said,” Bess said. “And so what if they were? You both have had lovers before this. Did you think he was a virgin?” she asked teasingly.

  Yasra blushed. “No, of course not.” Yasra pulled her nightgown on over her head. It was a simple floor-length white cotton gown with sleeves to the wrists and a high lace collar. Bess’s nightdress was just as demure. They looked like twin white ghosts as they hurried into bed together and huddled beneath the covers against the chilly autumn night. The newly lit fire was built up, but it wasn’t warming the room up yet. The women snuggled down together and put their cold feet against one another with shivers and giggles.