Unveiling the Sorceress

by Saskia Walker

  She wavered, but sensed tenderness in him. It made her feel more vulnerable, and yet, somehow, cared for. He was such an enigma. Why did he act this way around her?

  "I wanted to explain things to you.” His voice was low and quiet, his breath warm on her face. “I had to wait for you to come to me, because it is difficult for me to get close to you. You are always heavily flanked with guards and companions."

  Elishiba blushed furiously, realizing the truth of that statement.

  "I cannot explain everything fully now,” he continued, “but my role here is to assist and guide you. Your wish to deal with Aleem's situation without resorting to war is a noble one, but no small task. I will help you."

  "But you are allied to the Karseedians. For all I know, this might be a trick to gain my trust when I should not be giving it.” She was surprised at what he said. His words also filled her with cautious hope.

  His gentle, reassuring smile made that sense of hope grow stronger.

  "You are understandably wary. For me, being alongside Hanrah was the most logical place to begin, because there I would be able to reach both of you. I also hope to influence him, although he is under his mother's harsh rule as much as the next person in Karseedia."

  His tone was wry as he said those last words.

  There was logic in what he said, but still her mind ran with questions, objections, and curiosity. “The things you said to me, when we were at home in the palace, about the power of the soul. I felt as if I had begun to understand what you were saying, but then...” She shook her head. “Amshazar, what happened between us, with the shayatin—I cannot make sense of it."

  He nodded. “Know this. The power you saw that day in the marketplace abides within you, and if you use it for just causes as we did then, you will find it and control it easily.” He lifted both her hands in his, holding them to his chest. He was fully focused on her, his head lowered to hers. “Time is short, though. I must ask you not to question things so much, but simply to believe. It's a big thing I ask of you, I know, but in doing so, you will open yourself to it more quickly."

  "I want to.” She opened her fingers within his loose grasp, and rested them against his chest.

  "I know,” he whispered.

  She felt her cloak slide away down her back.

  His face was a hair's breadth away from hers. He ran his warm palm up the back of her neck beneath her hair.

  She tingled with self-awareness, looking at his mouth, longing for its touch on hers. “Make me believe,” she breathed.

  He nodded. Cupping her head slowly, he pressed his mouth to hers, opening her up.

  Her response was immediate, her hands on him, her lips parting, his kiss met and returned. Beneath her fingers, his body was hard and taut, desire rising in him as surely as it was in her. Her eyes closed and her fingers clutched at him. Her limbs turned to fluid, her intimate parts afire. The firm demand of his kiss fanned the flames deep inside her, flames that seemed to burn all around them.

  She whimpered with need.

  "Hold onto me, you will see,” he whispered hoarsely, as he moved to kiss her earlobe.

  Something had changed.

  Her eyes opened. They were no longer inside the tent. Instead, the cold night air surrounded them. The tent fell away around them. She was locked in his arms and they were moving up and away from the spot.

  "Amshazar!"

  She clung to him, her fingers locked around his neck while she looked this way and that, her eyes widening as she realized how far above the encampment they were. Wind whipped around them, their robes flapped and their hair wavered as their bodies moved as one, rising from the ground and soaring high, into the night sky. The tents were just small patches of color beneath them, lit by the fires dotted here and there between them. The rocky outcrop nearby was a distant blur in the darkness. He held her against him and she clung to him, her body crushed hard against him for support.

  "There is no need to be afraid,” he said.

  She couldn't help herself. Her feet scrambled against his.

  "Trust me.” He lifted her chin to look into her eyes.

  She saw the warmth there, the tender humor at her responses, the power, and the desire. A vital force burned within him, holding them safely aloft.

  "Join me,” he said, his voice reaching her above the roar of the rushing air. “Remember how it felt in Suzin. Use your inner strength to master this."

  Doubt swamped her. The roar of the wind seemed to blast through her as she resisted. Her body and mind were locked into the jeopardy.

  "Trust in your emergent skills in the art of sorcery, Elishiba,” he said to her, encouraging her. “Feel for it inside you and ask it to make you a safe path here."

  She saw faith in his eyes. He believed she could do it too. And yes, she wanted to know this, of course she did. She had seen what he could do, what was possible. If she could make it real, it would help her to achieve her goals.

  "Hold me?” she asked tentatively, still incredibly afraid despite what she had previously seen.

  "Yes, I will keep hold of your hand, I won't let you fall. But you will find your path."

  Light blazed from his eyes, she felt it willing her power to grow, willing her to move forward with this. She nodded. Closing her eyes, she counted to ten, recalled the sensation that she had felt in the marketplace in Suzin, and summoned it again. Instantly, heat throbbed in her, hitting her with a dizzying rush.

  Make me a safe path, she chanted within, willing the power to grow.

  After a moment her feet leveled, as if being supported from below. She loosed her grip on him. Even though he held her, she trembled, her legs wavering, but she did not fall. Her eyes flashed open. It worked. A dazzling rush hit her, her heart pounded wildly in her chest.

  They were surrounded now in gleaming white light, and she felt the tug deep within her, just like the pulsing sensation that had passed between them in Suzin, now more pure and serene as it meshed them together in this moment. He held one of her hands in his, and encouraged her to move. Slowly, she stepped apart from him, as they rode the night sky. He took a step forward. She moved alongside him, cautious but thrilled by each part of the experience. Her senses were filled with the experience, the very physical nature of it. She felt as wild and restless as the elements themselves, joyous laughter escaping from her open lips.

  He smiled and gestured toward the distant sky beyond them.

  She followed his gesture, attempting to gain the measure of the experience. Thin layers of cloud shifted across the moon, splaying the fall of light to the far edges of the sky and beyond.

  "The stars,” she exclaimed. She was amazed at their luminosity. The sky was alive with flickering lights, the stars vivid and alive against the vast sky. The surface of the sky looked as if it ran on forever, much deeper and more immense than she had ever imagined.

  His hands moved back in around her waist, so that he held her loosely. “Yes, so beautiful, and near enough to touch."

  She nodded at him, enjoying his hands on her. Then she was captured by the passion in his expression. He wasn't looking at the stars. He was watching her. His eyes were dark with desire, his expression intense. Stillness had fallen over them, she realized, as if his focus was solely on her and they no longer whirled into the sky. She had a sudden feeling of significance, as if this moment had torn away some facade between them. The desire in his eyes mirrored the undeniable craving deep within her. She wanted him, this man who was watching over her as if encouraging her to be as passionate and strong as the wind itself. “Am I dreaming this?"

  "No,” he replied, and his smile made her cling tighter to him.

  "Will they be able to see us, from below, from the encampment?” She was suddenly aware they were above their people, entwined together in the sky.

  He shook his head. “If they look they will think they see a falling star. The power manifests as light."

  She smiled at how it might seem to onlookers, her finge
rs running into his hair as she pulled him down to kiss her again.

  Oh, how she melted when his mouth covered hers, reaching to meet him, her innermost flesh tightening rhythmically, her entire body craving his. His hands were all over her, stroking her, feeling her through her robe, hungrily responding to her hands on him. His body was strong, sure. She measured it quickly, memorizing each plane, each muscle, through the fabric of his clothing, trembling with need when she felt his phallus large and risen.

  He led a trail of kisses across her face, and then she felt the pressure of his mouth on her neck. The urgency and passion in his kiss made her dizzy, and she threw her head back in ecstasy. Liberation coursed through her, paralleled by the need to express her desire to him. His hair streaked out into the night, her own twining into it as she longed to twine her body with his in passion. They were moving again, she realized, and then he leaned over her, and she rode the sky on her back with his body over hers.

  "What else do you want to know, Empress Elishiba?"

  There was more than a question in his eyes, there was a suggestion, and she felt a hollow response inside her that wanted everything he might have to give her. Strands of her hair whipped across his face as he waited to hear her answer. A sudden tremor ran through her body. It was as if they were both possessed by the chaos and passion of the elements.

  "I want to know you,” she dared to whisper. “You, Amshazar."

  The wind whistled around them, clouds shifting on the currents, the sky streaking with sudden moonlight beyond him, casting his face in shadow. “Things between us are fragile."

  She felt hesitance in him.

  His eyelids lowered as he contemplated her. “If we become..."

  "Lovers?” she stated. There was a new directness between them now. Was it a gift from the elements? Could she take him as her lover, this dangerously handsome, desirable sorcerer?

  He stared into her eyes.

  Her heart tripped. He wanted that too. She could feel it with every part of her.

  He nodded, but his hand was on her throat, stroking her. “It will change things between us, forever."

  He had been thinking about the implications as much as she had. A thrill ran through her. “They are already changed, forever,” she stated.

  "That is the truth,” he murmured.

  Any last shred of resistance between them was melted in his kiss, casting it off into the night winds. She was giddy with arousal, reckless with abandon, thrilled at the mutual desire confirmed in his words. Every nerve ending in her body yearned for his body to rise over hers and take her. The longing inside her had become an ache, a very, very painful ache. It was just within her strength, still, to resist from begging him to take her. Then she felt the soft thump of cushions at her back and gasped aloud.

  They were back in his tent, and instead of the night sky, she saw the shadows that were cast by the candles wavering across the fabric as it tented over them once more. For a moment, she became aware of the distant voices of those who sat around the campfires. But the sound fast faded away again, because she was on her back, and he was between her thighs. She touched his face, outlining his lips with one finger. “Take me,” she whispered.

  "It has been so hard being near you, and wanting to hold you in my arms and do just that.” His voice was hoarse.

  She shivered, and then nodded.

  "It was the same for me. From the moment I saw you, I could scarcely deny it, though I feared who and what you are.” Her free hand had found its way inside his robe and touched his naked chest, tentatively, in a silent plea.

  "Don't fear me, sweet Elishiba.” He kissed her mouth, her face, and her eyelids. His body was taut with restraint, and when his mouth touched hers it seemed to burn her to the core. She sought the wetness of his mouth to calm the flames, trying to pacify the need in her. It was futile. She reached for him and her hands slid up the line of his arms, her mouth inviting his tongue deeper.

  A moan of longing escaped him.

  She drew up one knee at his flank, her robe sliding down her leg when she did. His hand moved there and stroked her naked thigh. The fragile wick faltered, sending the shadows dancing wildly around the tent, when he knelt over her and pulled up her robes. She half sat to assist in the undressing, shifting as the swish and sway of the fabric on her alert skin teased her, until she was naked before him.

  His eyes glinted as he took in the sight of her naked body, making her writhe before him, pride and desire rich in response to the look in his eyes. He growled in his throat, his hand moving down the length of her torso, between her breasts, and lower, to where she ached for him. With an enquiring finger, he stroked over her mound, brushing over the nub of flesh nestled between her folds, then moved deeper, into the receptive sphere at the entrance to her womanly channel, and tested her.

  She whimpered, crazed by the intense feelings he was causing in her. Her hips moved to meet his touch, her body clamoring for him.

  His mouth pursed as he moved his fingers, stroking her juices up and down over her swollen, sensitive folds, teasing over the swell of her desire until she cursed aloud. He slowly withdrew his finger, trailing it up across her belly, lacing a circle of its moisture around her right nipple. Following it with his mouth, his teeth grazed the skin that reached in response.

  "Your body is so lush, so beautiful.” He reached for the thin rope belt that held his robes in place, untying it.

  She bit her lips together, unable to reply, watching his strong, naked body unsheathed in the candlelight. His body was beautiful, taut and sinuous, expressing the same elegant perfection as his features. His shoulders were more powerful than she had imagined, the muscle of his chest beautifully carved. Her gaze followed the line of dark hair from his chest down to his belly, where his phallus bowed, potent and erect, ready for her.

  "Somehow,” he whispered, as he eased the head of his shaft inside her willing flesh, “I feel this has to be done.” A look of significance passed briefly over his face, and then was gone. He drove his length inside her, his eyelids lowering, his mouth opening in a grunt of pleasure as he wedged against her very core.

  When the sudden heat and fullness captured her senses fully, her ability to respond properly was gone. She met his gaze. Time seemed to stop.

  "Amshazar..."

  As she said his name his mouth closed over hers, his tongue teasing against hers, presenting a curiously gentle counterpoint to the vibrant thrust of his body elsewhere.

  His hands moved over her flank, moving the flesh of her buttocks in his hands. He reached under her as her body raised, his hands caressing her. His every touch and precise measured movement caused in her the utmost inability to resist total abandon. Her knees lifted, her feet moving on the rugs and cushions, her hips grinding up against his. Her hands moved over his shoulders and upper arms, reveling in the power as he lifted up and thrust inside her.

  Her climax was blistering on the horizon. The sensation of his shaft bowed there, moving against her most sensitive and secret places, built waves of pleasure inside her. Her breath came quicker with each stroke. Her body was bowed back against his, arched in suspense. She couldn't hold back her moan of ecstasy. “Yes, oh yes,” she whispered.

  "Tell me,” he whispered, rising up onto his arms, his chest powerfully strong as he flexed, thrusting deep and slow, and intensity blazing from his eyes. “I want to hear you say that you will trust me in this battle with Karseedia."

  The way his words were breathed between his gritted teeth in between thrusts pushed her over the edge. Her body flexed and reached. She tried to speak, but words could not form, for she was about to climax. She opened her mouth wide and rode the feeling. A wild cry, a dense, muted scream rose up in her.

  He clasped his hand quickly over her mouth, and contained her release within their hearing. As the heat flamed out and spread through her, it melted her flesh on his. Grappling for his fingers, she moved his hand. His eyes locked with hers, his gaze compelling her to spe
ak, concern in his expression. Her heart soared when she saw the look in his eyes. Dizzy with pleasure she reached up and kissed his mouth, laughing softly against it. “I will trust you,” she whispered.

  Then and only then did he groan, riding her deep, hunting for his release inside her. The thrust of him, so deep within, fast led her back to her own peak. She gasped when her entire nether region flamed and sparkled, sensation soaring inside her. “Dear gods,” she exclaimed, her inner flesh clutching and holding his rigid phallus as she released a second time.

  She saw his eyes narrow, his head drop back, felt him shift and withdraw, and then his seed spurted against her belly. The sense of loss she felt was sudden and acute, until a moment later he clutched her close against him, whispering to her, slowly kissing her down to the ground, his hair closing in around them.

  She reveled in his touch, craving more of him, craving his body alongside hers. The sensual heat in her body ebbed, slowly, but her nerve endings still hummed with the aftermath of his lovemaking. She moved her thighs, embracing the liquid heat inside her, then captured his face between her hands. “Who are you, Amshazar? I answered your question, but you never answered mine."

  He lifted his head to look down at her, and opened his lips to reply, but before he had a chance to say anything, the sound of a woman's scream reached them. Snaking through the low hum of life in the camp, it pierced the air between them.

  "What was that?” She reached out to touch his shoulder, questioningly.

  His eyes grew dark, his mouth tense. “Alas, I fear the battle begins earlier than I had expected."

  She was stricken by a sense of dread. A distant gannet cry echoed the earlier sound. A shiver raced up her spine. Torn between the need to stay with him, and that of returning to her people, she moved reluctantly, reaching for her robe.

  He gripped her arm as she tried to take her leave. “Tread carefully, Elishiba. Do not let the enemy see what is in your heart and mind. Your newfound skill is with you now and it will grow. You will know when to use it, but guard it well."