“Walk with me then, since I’ve been dismissed?” she asked Shemek “You can tell me whatever you were going to say before you were interrupted.” She cast a furtive glance back at the seething warrior before slipping a hand through Shemek’s offered arm and turning in the direction of the family gardens, not their rooms. She may have had a misguided moment of boldness, but even she was not fool enough to take another man to their chambers. Especially a man she wasn’t one hundred percent comfortable with anymore.
Come on! This is Shemek, your old friend, not just any other man, her mind told her. Yes, this was Shemek. So why didn’t it feel like it used to before she left Aleone?
Elenya seemed unable to find a comfortable position. She had to force herself to sit still while she visited with Shemek at the table where she’d spent so many of her waiting hours at Zanak. She told him a bit about the stories she’d written and he expressed an interest in seeing them sometime. They skipped around the subjects of the battle, how Shemek had been wounded and then his hand in ending the battle. King Travensworth and Andorak’s warriors had already figured out who was behind the travesties, but Shemek had been instrumental in ferreting out the depths of the man’s powers and who could and could not be trusted so as to reinstate the young King back to his throne. Always one for a good mystery, Elenya enjoyed that part of the conversation. It wasn’t until he mentioned the commission to become a part of Andorak’s elite warriors and that the Sharanis family had offered him lodging in their guest chambers that Elenya’s discomfort grew to an unbearable level.
“I should be going now,” she told him abruptly after his announcement. “I really need to rest before the lunch hour. Lady Neria is a stickler for being on time.” She laughed, trying to cover her sudden angst.
Shemek nodded, his face settling into a mask of confusion before he rose quickly to assist her with her struggle to push the chair back and rise to her feet. She stepped away from him as soon as she was up.
“It must be hard for you. I don’t know if I ever imagined you looking this way.”
Elenya felt the heat rise up her neck into her cheeks. She could think of nothing to say other than to thank him for the visit.
“I enjoyed it, Ya. Perhaps I can see you again.” He laughed. “No doubt I will since I’ll be staying here until I’m needed or we go for extended training drills.”
Elenya hoped her smile didn’t look as fake as it felt. She knew it didn’t reach her eyes. “Of course. Good day, Shemek.”
Hurrying from the gardens, she didn’t see the figure turning the corner from the other direction and would have ran straight into Redahn had he not stepped aside and caught her with an outstretched arm. The momentum swung them both around, her back colliding with his chest.
“What’s the hurry, little white-faced girl? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Perhaps you have a wardrobe full of skeletons from your past?”
Pushing his arm off, Elenya stepped away and turned to glare at him. “Marked women do not have the luxury of skeletons, Redahn. Surely you know what would happen if we did.” She shook her head and threw up her arms before spinning to leave again. “You are so annoying! All of you,” she called back to a chuckling Redahn.
“You really shouldn’t do that to her, you know. Especially in her condition.”
Redahn shook his head, his mouth turned upward on one side in a lopsided grin. “Neither should you. The girl’s confused enough as it is. Between her concerns over her feelings for my brother, her disdain for the marking, and fretting about her family being so far away, especially now that she’s having a baby… She certainly doesn’t need an old boyfriend thrown into the mix.” He stared down at Shemek who didn’t outright refute the claim.
“You heard her, my lord. Marked women have no skeletons.”
“Maybe not, but they can still wish they did. Close enough.”
Both men laughed.
“Come, my young friend, I’ll show you how to get to the guest chambers from here. You’re actually in the family wing and I’m not so sure you’d be welcomed here without a family member. At least not yet. If you work things right, you’ll have full run of Zanak in no time. You’ve already endeared yourself to my father, which is akin to a small coup. My mother will be no problem at all, though Nema … she’s liable to see right through you. And my brother. Ha! There’s no hope for you there, I’m afraid.” Redahn threw his head back and laughed, then continued talking without bothering to keep his voice down even though some of what he was saying should have been reserved for the two in conversation only, not for others who might be listening nearby. Even the walls of Zanak were said to have ears from time to time.
Chapter 36
The day was closing in on the noon hour and Tahruk still had not returned to their chambers. Elenya paced around the sun room wringing the small kerchief she’d been using to fan herself. She’d felt warm, not at all well, since she’d returned from the gardens. Why had she gone with Shemek instead of demanding Tahruk escort her to their chambers? Surely once inside she could have convinced him with a few more kisses that he needed to stay.
She sat down with a soft thud on the overstuffed settee, the emotions of the day, the past three days, weighing heavy on her. Leaning back, she fanned herself with the kerchief. Why could she not cool down? The baby’s slight movements unsettled her stomach as did the ache in her back and lower abdomen. She squirmed trying to get comfortable, deciding to prop her feet on the sofa as well even though it would look quite unladylike if someone was to come in and see her that way. She was beyond caring at that moment, her dislike of mankind, especially men, at an all-time crest.
There, she thought, spreading her skirts about her legs to maintain some modicum of decency before reaching up to rub her temples. Her head had begun to throb. She closed her eyes and leaned back, her neck no longer interested in supporting a too heavy head.
That’s when she felt it, the moment of extreme pressure and then the moisture that made her think she was either bleeding or had lost control.
“No, no, no,” she whispered, suddenly paralyzed and unsure of what she should do. The midwife to the Courts who had come to check on her a few times had said four more weeks. She’d told her a bit of what she might expect and assured her she would make it in time to help her through the process. Elenya had been nervous but assured. After all, women had been having babies since the beginning of time. It was a natural process, right?
She shook her head, fairly certain this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. Fear gripped her as her stomach clinched tightly around the baby only to let up and do it again much too quickly. The moisture had begun to soak her skirts and seep into the cushions beneath her. “Think, Elenya, think,” she told herself. She knew she needed to go for help.
The contractions were already coming in progressively harder waves, making movement near impossible. She worked with a slow, continual determination until her feet were firmly planted back on the ground. Pushing herself into a standing position was a battle in itself, though she finally managed that as well. “Good,” she encouraged herself continually along the way, hating the way her wet skirts felt clinging to her. “It’s no different than when you’d get all wet with the sea spray,” she chastised her body. This was not the time to get all squeamish, not when her baby’s life might well lay in the balance.
With slow, deliberate movements, she made her way to the door. Hand on the handle, she looked down. Okay, she was up, walking, and the pains has subsided just a bit. Surely she could change before going for help.
Breathing through the pain, she pushed away from the door and waddled toward her rooms. The bell pull caught her eye while she held tight to the door jamb through another bought of increasingly harder pains. I thought you were tougher than this, Ya. She heard Shemek’s disapproval from years ago when she’d refused to get up after tripping and bloodying her knee during one of their secret excursions. She shook her head remembering how he’d confessed later he�
�d been terrified she was seriously hurt and he’d be found out for helping her carry out her crazy schemes all those times. She was barely thirteen at the time, him not much older. She doubted he’d have been in too much trouble. What she wouldn’t do to have him there to chastise her now.
Her vision swam and blurred, then refocused long enough for her to locate the bell pull. “It’s okay, baby.” She patted her stomach and reached for the rope, unsure if her hand actually made contact before she went down.
Chapter 37
When Tahruk stalked into the smaller dining hall off yet another garden, he’d fully expected to see his chosen talking close-headed with her old friend. His face, contorted in anger turned confusion when his brother and Shemek looked up at him from what appeared to be a concentrated conversation.
“Where the hell is my wife?” he demanded, glaring down at them, his hands fisted on his hips.
“Tahruk! Settle,” his mother demanded, a hand fluttering to the neckline of her dress.
Nema, who had walked in behind him, stepped around the rigid warrior. Her dark blue eyes darting around the table’s occupants. “Where’s Elenya?” Her words set a concentrated murmur humming around the small crowd. She set her gaze on an indifferent Redahn while Tahruk continued to stare down the object of his jealousy.
“She knows better than to be late. You were the last to see her.” He thrust a finger in Shemek’s direction. “Now where is she?”
Shaking his head and shrugging, Shemek threw his hands up in proclamation of his innocence. “Technically, he was the last to see her, as far as I know.” He said pointing to Redahn. “Honestly, though, I thought she was on her way back to your chambers to see you. She seemed rather… agitated during our talk. I assumed it was over whatever had transpired between the two of you on the carriage ride back from dropping her father…”
“Agitated how?” Nema asked, placing a hand on Tahruk’s arm.
Again Shemek shrugged. “You know, just… fidgeting and moving around a lot. I don’t know. She seemed to lose the conversation as if she had other things on her mind. She wasn’t like the Ya I knew at all…”
Both Nema and Tahruk glowered, their foreheads creasing, causing the younger man to let his words trail off. “I don’t like this,” Nema whispered even as Tahruk was already on his way out of the hall.
“If this is some sort of game, I shall throttle her the moment that baby is born,” Tahruk’s angry words vibrated back into the room.
“Stay here. There’s nothing the two of you can do.” Nema’s hands on their shoulders reseated a rising Shemek and Redahn. Concern was mirrored on the faces surrounding the meal-laden table.
“Nema…”
Nema was already nodding her head even before Neria could get the words out. “I’m going,”
“If he hurts her…”
Nema turned to look at the young guest before exiting through the same door Tahruk had taken earlier.
“He won’t hurt her.” Her voice grew fainter with her hastened steps. “He loves her more than he’s ever loved anything. And probably more than he ever will.”
When her eyes fluttered, the vision of an angel filled Elenya’s sight. She smiled. How very much like her warrior he looked. She wanted to reach up to touch his face but her arm refused to move, the weight of her hand holding it down.
“I have never seen such beauty in a man before,” she told the being, her lashes drifting back to rest against her pale cheeks. Her voice sounded airy, far away, and she frowned. “I will go with you,” she told the being when his arms slide beneath her and she felt herself rising into the air. “Please… my baby. Let my baby stay behind.”
Chapter 38
Tahruk broke into a sprint from the dining hall entry, stopping only long enough to let himself through the door to their chambers. The atmosphere within the passageway had grown thicker the closer he got. It was a feeling he’d experienced time and again as his military forces had moved into battle. The prize, this time, was more precious than any he’d ever defended.
He didn’t bother calling her name as he gained entry. He didn’t have to. The trail of blood droplets led him to her laying in a heap just inside the door to her dressing room. She moaned and her eyes fluttered when he crouched beside her. Guarded relief flooded the seasoned warrior. She mumbled incoherently, her eyes fluttering before closing again as he scooped her up into his arms.
“Oh, dear Lord!” Nema screeched when the warrior nearly plowed her down in the hallway and she took in Elenya’s blood-drenched skirts.
“Get help, Nema. We need the midwife.”
Nodding in agreement, Nema was already pushing past him into Elenya’s dressing room to give the bell pull two hard tugs. “She’ll be okay,” Tahruk heard her yelling as he disappeared into the bedchamber, her steps taking her toward the main chamber door. He wondered if she had a basis for her statement other than wanting it to be so.
Careful of Elenya’s lolling head and dangling arm, Tahruk laid her on the bed, oblivious to the blood that now spotted his front. Her eyes fluttered again, she moaned, and he soothed with a gentle shushing sound.
“Ah… my warrior.” Her words were slow, labored, her eyes closed. She attempted to look at him and smile. “I… I’m afraid I… I ruined… the yellow settee.” She groaned and arched her back. Tahruk watched the mound at her middle grow more rounded and firm. She grimaced, gritting her teeth as her body fought against the pain. He noticed the red stain on her skirt growing.
Never before had he felt so helpless as he did sitting there beside her, unsure of what he could do for her. He wondered if there was anything anyone could do, then chastised himself for the thought.
Voices and scurrying outside the bedchamber had him on his feet, blocking the door. His mother took in the blood on his front and screamed.
“Get her out of here!” he commanded his father through gritted teeth, pointing to his mother who was threatening to fall into a fit of hysteria. Nema, having just re-entered the room, pushed through and grabbed hold of Neria’s arm. She handed her over to an unwilling Renaine and told them in a hushed voice what appeared to be happening. Shemek stood in the main chamber doorway, his face white, while he stared at Tahruk’s shirt.
“Young man,” Nema nudged him. “You need to move.” Shemek looked up, his face blank. It was almost as if he was seeing them all for the first time. He didn’t completely move, though he pressed back enough that Renaine could steer Neria past him.
“Is she…” His eyes found Nema’s before she turned back to Tahruk’s empty bedchamber door.
“She’s going to be all right!” Nema almost yelled at him. Biting her lip, she dropped her head and took several deep breaths before looking up and patting him on the chest. “Go and wait by the gates for Redahn to return with the midwife. Then get them here posthaste,” she told him in a more controlled tone.
Shemek looked past her to the bedchamber, hesitated several seconds before nodding and turning to leave. Nema could hear him tell the servant that was now waiting just outside the door to come at once if there was any change in the Lady’s condition. She didn’t wait to see what the servant said. She really didn’t care as long as they got help to Elenya.
Closing the chamber door, Nema nodded to the three servants waiting to clean up the mess then pointed to the hallway leading to Elenya’s dressing room and drew an air circle around the room they were in. As she turned to go, she paused, noting for the first time the stains on the floor coming from the sunroom direction. Without adding to her orders, she looked at the head maid who bobbed in understanding. Her kind eyes were glossy with tears for the young mistress’ plight. Elenya hadn’t been with the family all that long and still she had endeared herself to every one of them, relatives and servants alike.
With a sigh, Nema swallowed hard. The path to Tahruk’s bedchamber, the same room he’d slept in since he was a young boy, seemed lengthy and yet not long enough. Her footsteps were heavy, filled with dread.
If she’d been able to remove this burden from this young couple, she would have gladly given up all she had to do so. Gladly.
Tahruk didn’t look back when Nema entered the room. He was on his knees beside the bed, his forehead resting against Elenya’s hand that he held in his. Nema felt the tears that threatened. The young woman looked much worse that she’d expected, her face ashen, lips pulled thin though slightly apart as she struggled for shallow breaths.
“We should get her out of those wet skirts, my lord,” she said in a low voice. Tahruk didn’t move, even when she placed a hand on his shoulder. About that time, Elenya made several guttural sounds, her body contorting as it had earlier. Nema watched in horror.
“She just keeps doing that. And then there’s more blood.” Tahruk’s voice was muffled by his still downturned face. “She’s losing too much blood, Nema, and they’re not coming.” He rose abruptly and turned to her, his eyes wild with worry. “What in bloody hell is taking them so long?”
“It will take time,” the older woman tried to sooth him, but he pushed her hand away.
“Why isn’t the midwife stationed here? She knew Elenya’s time was near. Hell and damnation! Why did I leave her alone?” The battle-hardened man sucked big gulps of air and quickly blew them out to help him regain control, his shoulders rising each time.
Nema started to tell him the midwife wasn’t close by because it was too soon. She also wanted to reassure him it wasn’t his fault, that he’d done all he could have done. But did she believe that? It was true that neither one of them was equipped to aid a woman in childbirth, but if someone had been with Elenya that person could have gotten help much faster. They could have already had the midwife there to keep a closer eye on the mother-to-be. Nema could have insisted the young woman remain in the chamber adjoining hers...
Dance With The Enemy Page 19
