by Jayla Jasso
“Very well. If that is all, my steward will pay you and show you out.”
The courier bowed and followed Liel out of the armory.
Graciella smiled up at Yavi. “Wonderful news.”
“Yes. How about we go check on the status of your room move? We can continue our sword lessons tomorrow.”
She was reluctant to go before learning the spin move he’d promised, but she acquiesced. “All right.”
§
Yavi stood watching Graciella as she surveyed her new chamber, hands on hips.
“Everything appears to be in place.”
Her long, dark hair was all but completely unraveled from the braid down her back, and he longed to rake the leather tie off the end of it, gather her tresses in his hands, sift his fingers through the silky strands, and tilt her head back for a kiss. He shook himself to focus on the task at hand. “Check your armoire—make sure all your belongings are there.”
She went to open the double doors, then checked the drawers below. “Yes. And no stowaway demon children inside.”
He chuckled, folding his arms. “I apologize for the haunted state of my palace. It’s most disconcerting for guests, apparently. Sometimes they come running to my room at midnight.”
“Yes, it is a bit of a bother,” she replied, grinning. “Still, the place has great architecture, and I hear the chef is really good.”
“The best.” He cleared his throat. “Graciella, I want to revisit this idea of asking Wolfan to stand guard over you at night while you sleep. Why don’t I do it instead? I’ll nap this afternoon so I can stay awake. I’ll sit in that chair over there, and you can just pretend I’m not here.”
“Pretend the handsomest man I’ve ever laid eyes on isn’t here in my room watching me sleep? No, I don’t think that will work. You would be very distracting.”
Yavi frowned. He simply could not stomach sending Wolfan to her room late at night to watch her sleep. What if her blankets slipped away from her bare feet and ankles? What if she rolled over and her breasts emerged from the loose neckline of her nightgown? A healthy, red-blooded man’s restraint could only endure so much, and he trusted himself to withstand the temptation much more than his guard Wolfan. In addition, she’d declared Wolfan her “favorite,” so that could mean she was developing feelings for him, especially now that she considered Yavi unavailable. Wolfan was closer to Graciella’s age, a tall, well-built young man. Yavi didn’t like it. Not one bit.
An idea occurred to him. “Perhaps we should ask your sister who she thinks should guard you while you sleep—me, or Wolfan.”
“Oh, Jiandra will say you, of course.”
“Hah! Then why don’t we go with what Jiandra would want? She is very wise.”
“I don’t like her telling me what to do.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and strode over to the mirror. She pulled the leather tie off the end of her disheveled braid and started brushing out her hair.
Yavi watched in rapt fascination. He hadn’t seen her hair completely loose before. It reached almost to her waist and hung down on each side of her face like a beautiful curtain as she brushed. She gathered it over one shoulder and started braiding it, turning back to face him. “Why don’t you trust Wolfan to stand guard in here?”
“Because you are too beautiful for words,” he answered softly.
She blinked at him, still braiding.
“The truth is, I would be jealous of any man who was privileged enough to stare at your sleeping form for eight hours.”
She finished the braid and reached for the leather tie. “Sounds pretty boring if you ask me.”
“Not to me.”
“Yavi, please stop complimenting me. I said I was going to help you keep your oath, but if you keep talking like that, it’s going to be hard.”
“You let me worry about keeping my oath. It’s not your responsibility.”
“Can we perhaps continue this discussion later? I have to go check on Wilten to make sure she’s doing all right with lunch preparations.”
“I’ll walk you down there. I’m headed to the Great Hall anyway to meet with my guard captain.”
He offered her his arm, but she resisted. “I’m not touching you right now. It’s safer.”
“All right.” He opened her bedroom door, then followed her out into the hallway. “By the way, you left your pillow in my room last night. You can take a nap in there this afternoon if you like. I won’t disturb you. I’ll be sparring with my partner in the courtyard.”
“Me, take a nap in your room?”
“Well, yes, if you’d feel safer in there. More ghost-free.”
“Hm, perhaps so.”
He walked with her downstairs and paused at the kitchen door.
“Lunch should be ready by one o’clock,” she told him over her shoulder as she pushed the door open. She looked back at him. “See you then?”
He inclined his head to her. “Until then, Miss Stovy.”
She smiled, went into the kitchen, and let the door swing closed in his face.
He was smitten.
And he had to figure out how to keep Wolfan out of her room that night.
§
Graciella stood beside Yavi at the top of the steps to the entrance of the palace, huddled in her cloak, watching as the coach came to a halt. Yajna stepped out first, then reached back inside to help Jiandra out. Once she was on her feet on the ground, she waved up at Graciella excitedly. Yajna offered her his arm and escorted her up the steps to meet Graciella and Yavi.
“Sister!” Graciella exclaimed. “It is so good to see you’ve returned home safely!”
Jiandra hugged her. “We’ve had a very successful trip.”
“Brother.” Yavi extended a hand to his twin. “Welcome home.”
“Let’s get inside where it’s warm,” Jiandra urged, pulling at Yajna’s sleeve.
§
Graciella finished dinner preparations, went upstairs to her new room in Yavi’s wing to change her dress and freshen up, and then met the twins and her sister in the dining room.
“We have so much to tell you,” Jiandra said as Yavi served the wine.
“Us too,” Graciella replied.
“Oh? Things haven’t been business as usual here at the palace while we were gone?”
Graciella shot Yavi a sly glance. “Not exactly.”
“Graciella has changed rooms.” Yavi handed them each a goblet of wine. “It seems her room had an uninvited visitor.”
Jiandra frowned. “A mouse?”
“No, sister,” Graciella answered. “I wouldn’t change rooms because of a mouse. No, there seems to be a ghost haunting your wing.”
Now Yajna looked concerned. “What makes you say that?”
Graciella explained the incident with the ghost-boy the night before, including his assertion that someone named “Uman” had killed him.
“Uman?” Jiandra looked at Yajna.
Yajna leaned forward a bit. “Did the boy say anything else? About Uman?”
“He said Uman was his brother.” Graciella shrugged. “I don’t know who this Uman is.”
“So was that it?” Jiandra prodded. “He told you Uman killed him, that Uman was his brother, and just disappeared?”
“No, he didn’t disappear. He changed.”
“Changed how?”
“He changed into a monster of some sort, a demon. His eyes went bright yellow, and his teeth turned into fangs. I ran.”
“Sweet Zehu!” Jiandra gasped. “How terrifying.”
Graciella continued. “Wolfan said the guards all know that side of the palace is haunted. He said they’ve seen windows that were mysteriously opened and furniture that had changed position.”
Yajna nodded. “I’ve noticed furniture that had been moved unexpectedly as well. I thought the servants or guards had perhaps shifted things around.”
“Why haven’t you ever mentioned it, brother?” Yavi frowned.
Yajna shrugged. “It see
med of no import. I certainly haven’t seen an actual spirit like what Graciella encountered.”
“Anyhow, we’ve moved Graciella’s furniture to an empty chamber in my wing.” Yavi sipped from his wine. “And in the meantime, we need to find someone who specializes in contacting the dead, try to find out who or what this spirit is and what it wants.”
“If he would appear to me, perhaps I could read his mind with the Omaja,” Jiandra suggested.
“Well, he seems to like that bedroom I was staying in, so feel free to spend a night or two in there,” Graciella teased her sister. “If you dare.”
Jiandra glanced at Yajna. “Not without my husband. Are you game for spending a night in a haunted guestroom, Yajna?”
He grinned mischievously. “Could be interesting. But not tonight—you need your rest, Lahdli.”
“We’ve told you our big news,” Yavi said. “What news do you bring of Nirren?”
Jiandra spread her napkin over her lap. “Much news. But can we ask for dinner to be served first? I’m starved.”
Kitran brought out the stew, sourdough, and butter. As they ate, Graciella listened to her sister’s description of how they found the villagers waiting for them when they arrived, carrying their sick children and elderly to meet them.
“Thank Zehu for the healing powers of this stone.” Jiandra touched the Omaja, then looked at Graciella. “If you could have seen the grateful faces of those poor people, sister, it would break your heart.”
Tears stung Graciella’s eyes. “I can imagine.”
“We were meant to make that journey, brother,” Yajna added. “Jiandra spoke to Tejeshwar at the temple in Nirren.”
Yavi sat up straight, dropping his fork to his plate. “You saw Tejeshwar?”
Jiandra smiled. “Yes. When I put the stone in the water at the temple at Nirren, Zehu appeared on the wall behind the altar and told me he was Tejeshwar.”
“Zehu is Tejeshwar?” Graciella gasped.
“That’s what he said. He called the Nandals ‘my people’ and said they know him here as Tejeshwar. And he had a warning for us.”
Yavi leaned forward. “A warning?”
“Tejeshwar said Thakur has a living son who’s forming a rebellion against us. He said this son would soon gather his forces and attack, and that we must be ready. He didn’t say when.”
“Who is this son?” Yavi demanded.
“I don’t know,” Jiandra replied. “Only that he seeks to claim the throne of Nandala. But Zehu—or Tejeshwar—said that you and Yajna must face this battle when it comes and fight to prove your worth to rule Nandala. He said your victory would lift Nandala’s curse for good.”
“We are ready,” Yavi gritted through his teeth, glancing at his twin.
“Yes, brother.” Yajna’s hand curled into a fist. “We will crush this foe together.”
Graciella broke in. “I’m scared. I don’t want either of you to fight in a battle.”
“I’ll help them,” Jiandra reassured her. “I can heal them if they are injured.”
“But how can you be near both of them to heal them in a fight?”
Jiandra glanced at the brothers. “Not that it was well thought out in advance, but in the battle against Thakur, since Yajna carries arrows, Yavi carried me on his back. Yajna followed us.”
Graciella glanced at Yavi, glad he would have Jiandra’s instant healing if they chose to go that route again. But then a thought occurred to her. “How can Yavi leap and spin with you on his back?”
Jiandra chuckled. “You would be amazed at his strength.”
“What about your child?” Graciella persisted. “Can you ride on someone’s back while you’re with child?”
Yajna turned to his wife. “That’s true, Jiandra. Will the stone protect you both against injury? Otherwise, you stay here with Gracie during any fighting.”
“Zehu said not to worry about my own safety or my child’s. The stone protects us both.”
Graciella was relieved about that, but still concerned about the twins facing an impending battle. She wanted to help. “Yavi, you will have to step up my sword lessons so I can help fight.”
“Oh no.” He waved his hand in the air. “No. Absolutely not. No female in this household who isn’t wearing a stone of protection goes into battle. Not while I’m Emperor.”
“I agree,” Yajna said. “You must stay hidden away and safe, Gracie.”
Graciella pressed her lips together. It seemed best not to argue with them for the moment.
“Did you say Yavi is giving you sword lessons?” Jiandra asked, eating a bite of stew.
Graciella brightened. “Yes. He’s so good at teaching. I’m learning to fight with two swords like he does.”
“Two swords?” Jiandra raised an eyebrow at Yavi.
He smiled. “Your sister is quite a quick learner, actually.”
Jiandra turned on Yajna. “You’ve never taught me how to use a bow.”
“You’ve never asked, my dear,” he defended himself. “Would you like to learn archery?”
“Well, yes, now that I think of it. I can’t have my sister becoming a warrior without me.” She winked at Graciella. “If she’s getting private lessons, then I want them too.”
“Private lessons from the best,” Graciella toasted with her wine. “Yavi is certainly the best.”
“At swords, perhaps,” Yajna corrected her.
Yavi grinned at her. “He’s just jealous. He knows he doesn’t stand a chance in battle without me by his side.”
After dessert, the four of them went upstairs to Yavi’s study for a glass of katsuri. Jiandra explained to Graciella what little she knew about Uman, the leader of the cult that Terijin had been involved in.
“We killed Uman during a bandit raid a few weeks ago,” Yajna added. “I shot him with an arrow through the neck.”
“I wonder why the ghost of a little boy would be wandering the palace looking for his father, saying this Uman was his brother?” Graciella asked.
Yavi rubbed his lower lip thoughtfully. “I was wondering the same thing. And now that we know Thakur has a son out there somewhere…could this ghost, or Uman, have been connected somehow with Thakur’s son?”
Jiandra sat up straighter. “Thinking back over the images I glimpsed in Terijin’s thoughts, of what I thought at the time was a cult meeting—perhaps it was a recruitment meeting. If Uman was a supporter of Thakur’s heir, then perhaps he was helping plan the rebellion, and that’s what Terijin was involved in. Didn’t Terijin keep insisting the two of you were usurpers after we arrested him?”
“Yes.” Yavi sipped his katsuri, then leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “Jiandra, tell us anything you remember about the stone fortress you said you saw in Terijin’s thoughts. What did it look like?”
“Dilapidated, dark. I had the impression that the room I saw Uman and Terijin in was underground.”
“There’s an abandoned stone guard tower just outside Faril,” Yajna said. “But it’s barely standing. It was a lookout point in the days of Nandala’s wars with Xilaterra, because it’s near our eastern border with them.”
“Does it have enough space to house a couple hundred men?” Jiandra asked. “Because the room I saw in Terijin’s mind was quite large.”
“No, it’s only a tower. Far as I know.”
Yavi spoke up. “Tomorrow when we meet with the generals, brother, let’s find out what they know about any abandoned fortresses in Nandala. If Uman was helping this son of Thakur plan a rebellion, the members of it could still be meeting there.”
“Tejeshwar has given us an advantage over the enemy, brother.” Yajna smiled. “We shall infiltrate his fortress and assassinate him before he can launch an attack, and save many innocent lives in needless fighting.”
“Excellent plan.” Yavi toasted his twin.
Graciella glanced from one brother’s face to the other, worried.
§
After Yajna and Jiandra said good n
ight and left the study, Yavi turned to his lovely female companion and offered her his arm. “Would you like me to escort you to your room now, Miss Stovy?”
“Yes.” She slipped her arm through his, then pulled it back. “No, I forgot—I’m not touching you anymore. And have you spoken to Wolfan about standing guard in my room tonight?”
“Wolfan isn’t here. I gave him the night off.” He started walking toward her room.
Graciella stopped and placed her hands on her hips. “You gave him the night off?”
Yavi turned to face her, trying to hide his smile at his own cleverness. “Yes. I had Captain Harshad check Wolfan’s schedule. Poor man had worked for thirty days straight with no day off. He was long overdue.”
“Well…? Where did he go?”
“Probably into town to get drunk at the tavern and find a wench to bed.”
Graciella glared at him.
“So, your choices of personal guards to stay with you in your room tonight are either me, or me.”
She folded her arms. “Maybe I’ll stay alone tonight.”
“As you wish. I’ll bid you good night, then.” He inclined his head to her and started to walk past her back to his study.
“Wait!” She caught his arm to stop him.
He looked down at her dainty little hand, then raised his eyebrow. “Tsk, tsk—no touching, Miss Stovy.” He plucked her hand off his sleeve.
“Yavi,” she scolded. “Please…please just go with me and have a look around my room before you go to bed.”
“As you wish. Shall we proceed, then?” He motioned with his hand for her to go ahead of him.
When they arrived at her door, he reached for the handle and pushed it open tentatively, acting as if something were about to jump out at them. He peered into the room with feigned nervousness.
She slapped his bicep, giggling. “Stop it! You’re scaring me.”
“Ow.” He rubbed his arm. “No touching!”
“Just hurry up and open the door.”
He swung it open all the way, and it clattered against something that fell to the floor with a loud thunk. Much to his delight, Graciella grabbed his arm with both hands and plastered herself to his side.
He chuckled, looking behind the door to see what had fallen. “Is this your coatrack?”
