by Jayne Faith
He looked up at me with new resolve, and it suddenly occurred to me that perhaps a bit of his cruelty had stemmed from the sense that his life lacked purpose.
“Yes, we do,” I said. “We need to discover who else knows about Maya and the portal and make sure the information is contained. However, I cannot devote my attention to it full-time. Could you take the bulk of that responsibility?”
It was as if Jeric rose from the dead before my eyes. Some color came into his cheeks, and his eyes flashed. He gripped his knees with his hands and sat up taller. He gave me a crisp nod. “I can.”
“Tomorrow let me know what your plan is,” I said. “We will have to be extremely discreet, but my resources are at your disposal. I’m sure the Priestess will help to the extent that she can as well. We need to work very quickly, Jeric.”
I left with a new feeling of hope, and no small amount of wonder. I couldn’t recall ever working with Jeric on anything. Something deep in my chest seemed to knit together, and it was both painful and poignant. Perhaps our united efforts on Maya’s behalf marked a new era for me and my brother.
But my sense of victory was short-lived. There was someone else who’d taken Jeric’s place as my prime familial enemy, and she was a much more dangerous foe than I’d realized.
*
In the course of the long day and intense conversations with the Priestess and then my brother, I’d nearly forgotten that I was still in the midst of a Tournament challenge. When I had a moment to myself during dinner—which I took alone in my chambers—I allowed the memory of my night with Maya to flow into the forefront of my thoughts.
The smell of her skin, the sounds of her moans and gasps, the sensation of her hands on my body, and all of it mingled with the intensity of her energy . . . My eyelids drifted closed as hot arousal drilled through me.
It was almost enough to make me believe my dark angel could cast away my need for violence and pain. But I knew that was a fantasy.
And I’d been avoiding thoughts of what awaited me later that evening: Kalindi, who would be coming to my bedchamber as Maya had the previous night.
Maya and I had not spoken of it, the fact that four more Offered women awaited their turns, but it was surely on her mind as it was on mine. I could not bar the women from my room, but it was within my power to resist their advances, and that was exactly what I would do. I had no doubt that regardless of what any of the other women did in their attempts to seduce me, the sensors monitoring my responses would show that none of them could ever affect me the way Maya did. Akantha had intended to humiliate me with the challenge, but I would use it to achieve my own purpose, which was to ensure Maya’s victory.
There was another thought I was avoiding, but the jewel-green eyes that kept pushing into my mind’s eye would not allow me to sweep it aside for long. Speaking with the Priestess about my time with the Pirros dredged up the figure who was the very symbol of my torment.
Jade.
For nearly four years, she’d been the source of pain and pleasure, despair and comfort. She was the author of the man I would become. The man I was today. She’d created me.
I’d always figured that Jade, as I’d nicknamed her, had likely died in Calisto’s obliteration of the Pirros after my return home. I’d always told myself that I hoped she had perished, because what kind of deviant would wish for the survival of a person who had inflicted so much pain? But something deep within me still felt her pull and hoped she was out there somewhere. It was excruciating to admit that I wanted to her be alive—my soul seemed to spasm and shudder each time I allowed my mind to dart near the thought—and I could not imagine ever confessing such a thing to another soul.
It wasn’t the tug of love. I’d never felt love for Jade. Even as a boy, I’d understood our bond was not the stuff of fairy tales or romantic fantasies. The connection she’d forged between us was a twisted thorny bramble, but one that no blade could sever.
Once, I’d read an account of prisoners of war who had come to sympathize with their captors, even feeling affection for them. It had struck me that those prisoners were, perhaps, the only people in the universe who might understand my bond with Jade.
When the Priestess had suggested a Pirro agent on Calisto might have left the message on my window, I could not help but wonder how many Pirros might have survived and imagine that Jade was among the survivors.
I forced my attention to the present, pushing away the remnants of my dinner.
As if sensing that I was finished, Victor appeared at the door. “My Lord, the man with the sensors as well as your tailor and stylist have arrived to ready you for tonight’s challenge.”
I nodded and followed him to my bedchamber and into my dressing room. There, I stripped down to underclothes, and a medic attached three tiny translucent discs to my skin using an adhesive. One went on the inside of my wrist, one in the center of my chest, and one just inside the ridge of my hip bone. The sensors might as well have had Akantha’s name printed on them, for she was the one who’d devised such nonsense for the challenge.
“I bet this feels like a worthy use of your medical training,” I said to the medic.
He glanced up at me, startled, but then snorted a laugh. “My mother is telling all the neighbors that I’m serving the Lord, so someone is getting something out of this at least.”
I let out a good-natured chuckle.
With the sensors in place, I changed into dark gray silken pants and a tunic and stood on a short stool in front of the three-way mirror while the tailor smoothed the fabric and tugged it here and there, making small adjustments. When he was finished, I sat so the stylist could fix my tousled hair, place my crown, and smooth a tone-evening substance over my forehead and cheeks.
The tailor and stylist left, and Victor gave me a final once-over and then nodded with approval. “You are ready, my Lord.”
“You can tell that simply by looking at me?” I asked wryly.
“You appear to be ready, my Lord,” he said, correcting himself with an amused twitch of his lips. Then his expression became sincere. “Do you not feel ready for tonight’s challenge, my Lord?”
I cast him a quick glance in the mirror. He was a faithful and efficient servant, but such a question was unlike his usual dry and formal manner.
I heaved a heavy sigh. “Truth be told, I’d give nearly anything to skip the rest of the challenge.”
“I cannot say that I blame you. At times your position calls for you to perform some, ah, interesting duties.” He gave me an ironic smile. “I’m sure there are many men who would dearly love to be in your place tonight. Strange how people often long for a life other than the one they have, isn’t it?”
I gave him a faint smile. “Yes, it does seem to be a very common dilemma. I do not know why happiness must be so elusive.” I inhaled sharply, pulling myself from melancholy musings, and turned. “Duty awaits.”
Victor bowed and departed, and I went to stand in my bedchamber, where set lighting blazed brightly. The small table and bottle of wine were set up as they had been the previous night.
A production assistant came in to position me near the door and remind me of my cues, and then I was alone again.
The door opened slowly, revealing Kalindi. She was dressed in a deep rose-pink gown similar to Maya’s amethyst one, made of shimmering fabric that clung to Kalindi’s curves. Her blonde hair was swept up on one side and cascaded in ringlets over her other shoulder.
Her eyes sparkled as she moved gracefully toward me.
If not for Maya, Kalindi would have been my preference and the obvious winner of the Tournament. She was extremely well trained, and she possessed something that training and even the best of actors could not fake: she genuinely wanted to become a member of my harem. Her beauty, training, and sincerity would have easily won her the position she desired, were it any other Tournament.
But the stars had not chosen Kalindi.
I moved forward to meet her and gave her a pol
ite smile. We exchanged greetings, and to her credit she was warm and much more natural than I was.
With a sense of déjà vu, I offered her my arm, and we went to the small table. I helped her up the step, and she settled on the chair with her ankles crossed and posture perfect.
Later, when she led me to my bed, I followed reluctantly. She began to disrobe, and as soon as the set lights dimmed, I half-turned, averting my eyes from her shapely figure, a body that would probably thrill any other man.
“You may as well save your efforts,” I said. “No matter what you do, you will not win this challenge.”
I waited, hoping she was putting on her dress. When several seconds passed and she did not respond, I cast a glance over my shoulder.
Kalindi was no longer at the foot of the bed but had moved next to the armoire at the wall. The armoire door was open, and she held a thin whip in one hand. She flicked her wrist, and the whip bit the air with a sharp snap. My pulse pumped in response.
She walked toward me slowly, wearing only her silver heels and silken panties. She stopped in front of me, looking up from under her long lashes.
“Are you sure, my Lord?” she purred. Extending her hand, she offered the whip to me. “I offer myself to you and your pleasure. Do as you wish.”
When I did not reach for the whip, her eyes sharpened. Then a slow smile stretched her full ruby lips. “Ahh, I see.” She crooned knowingly, and dropped her hand. “You do not wish to wield this.”
She tossed it on the bed and came to me, reaching for the hem of my shirt. I grabbed her wrists, stopping her.
“This is not going to happen, Kalindi,” I said roughly.
My heart was galloping, urging me to let her do what she wanted, and though I hated it, I could not help the heated arousal that began to fill me.
She stopped but didn’t pull her hands away.
“But I can give you what you desire, my Lord. Exactly what you fantasize about. What you long for.” Her voice had a gliding, soft quality, like the finest silk sliding over my skin. She stepped closer, pressing her hips and chest against me. “I feel your strong desire, my Lord. And I promise you, I can give you what Maya could not.”
At Maya’s name, my entire body jolted. I pushed Kalindi’s hands away. “No,” I said, firmly. “You may sleep in my bed, and I will spend the night elsewhere.”
I turned and walked quickly toward the balcony. Outside, I braced my hands on the railing and breathed deeply, trying to expel my throbbing desire through my breath.
It would have been so easy to let Kalindi please me. I believed I could have controlled my reaction enough that she would not have won the challenge. If not Kalindi, then soon it would have to be Sytoria. For Kalindi was right about one thing: as much as I loved and desired Maya, she did not know how to give me what Jade had trained me to crave.
I squeezed my eyes closed, tensing my face into a twisted mask as it struck me that all of the women in my life, around me, were sources of pain in some way. My mother for her betrayal. Jade for the way she twisted my innocence. Kalindi for tempting me. The candidates from which I would be forced to choose a Calistan wife I did not want. Even Maya, for bringing me love that I could not have.
Actually, it was not entirely true. My sister Cassi had always been kind to me. And the Priestess seemed to be on my side.
My breath became more even.
If only I could marry and have a family like Cassi. Or enter the Temple and devote my life to religion like the Priestess.
But I was the Lord of Calisto and Earth, and neither of those paths would be mine.
The best I could do was use everything in my power to protect Maya and ensure her victory and, by the grace of the stars, lead my people back to our homeland. I sank into a chair, suddenly weary.
A minute or two passed, and then I heard a rustle behind me. I turned to see Kalindi standing in the doorway, dressed again.
She came swiftly toward me, and in a blink, she’d hiked up her dress to her thighs and climbed onto my lap with her legs straddling my hips.
She crushed her mouth to mine, her tongue darting in between my lips, and then pulled away. “I can act the innocent, if you like that too, my Lord,” she whispered. “I will be anything you desire. Just tell me. Anything you want.”
My body strained with the desire for release. But I gripped her waist and pushed her away.
She fought me, tightening her other arm around my neck, and rocked her hips forward into mine. I reached back and pulled her hand loose and then lifted her under the arms like a child as I stood. I set her down on her feet and then turned her by the shoulders, aiming her back inside.
“Go, Kalindi. I will not change my mind.”
Even in the partial darkness, I could see her cheeks burning and her eyes flashing with fury as she half turned at me.
“I have devoted my entire life to readying myself to serve you, and you are not even allowing me a chance.” Her fists were shaking at her sides. “You know I am the strongest of the Obligate women. And yet you are tossing me away as if my skills and efforts mean nothing.”
I stood there, silently absorbing her anger. She was right, and I understood her anger. But the stars had not chosen her.
The next three nights were somewhat easier as I rejected each of the Obligate women in turn.
When the Priestess, Akantha, and I gathered to review the challenge and determine the women’s ranks of favor, I enjoyed a moment of retribution. Akantha could not argue that Maya had won the challenge, and so for the moment, I knew she was safe as far as the Tournament was concerned.
But it was a fleeting consolation. The same day, Jeric told me he’d discovered that whisperings of a breach of the divide between Calisto and Earthenfell had leaked, and I feared it was only a matter of time before fanatics made it public, discovered Maya’s role in it, and called for a fiery resolution.
6
Maya
MY NIGHT WITH Lord Toric played through my mind during the day and in my dreams as I slept. I would awake breathless and hot, with the bed covers twisted around me or shoved onto the floor.
Then I would remember that there were four other Obligates who had the same opportunity that I’d had. Four other Earthen women spending the night in Lord Toric’s bed chamber and trying their best to seduce him.
That usually cooled my passionate thoughts.
I wondered—and alternately tried not to think about—what the other women were doing with him . . . how much more experienced they were than I was . . . whether I should have given myself to him fully.
Lord Toric had seemed very passionate while we were together, and we’d shared intimate words as well as physical intimacy—he’d even apologized for his anger after I’d told him about speaking to Lana through the portal. But I had no idea how his reaction to me compared to his reaction to the other women, and whether or not I’d aroused his senses enough to win the challenge.
I tried to be detached in my reflections, to tell myself I’d tried my best to inflame his physiological responses. I’d had a task to complete, and I felt I’d done very well at it. But the truth was I’d enjoyed bringing him pleasure just as much as I’d enjoyed my own pleasure, and it was so much more than physical—it had deepened my connection to him, my conviction that we were part of each other’s fates.
The tender caresses, the rougher, needier touches, each kiss, every flick of the tongue . . . they somehow seemed to join us closer in spirit. Or was it just my wish that they did so?
Once again, I reminded myself that even if I won the Tournament I would be one of many women Lord Toric could bring to his bed. Even if I were his favorite, I could not expect to be his only. And there was still the matter of his search for a Calistan wife.
It all made me want to yank my hair and shriek or hide in bed with a pillow pulled over my head.
I longed for something to do, any interruption or project to distract me. I spent time in my little library flipping through books but cou
ld not focus long enough to read. I began pulling the books from the shelves and sorting them by size and color. It was a silly, meaningless task, but it allowed me some physical movement and gave me an excuse concentrate on something other than Lord Toric.
When an envelope arrived along with my clean laundry, I pounced on the packet as if it were a loaf of bread and I had not eaten in a week.
It was a letter from Lana.
Dear sister,
It pains me to give you bad news, and I would not trouble you with it except that I’m afraid I will not be able to write much from now on. I wavered about whether to tell you, but I figured that the abrupt cessation of my letters would alarm you more than the reason for it.
Someone has reported my disability. I’ll no longer be allowed to stay home with Mother and will be moved to a facility. It’s absolutely idiotic! I tried to show that I could still work, that although others were covering for me in the orchards and the greenhouses I make ceremonial cords and braided belts. I’m not useless, and I’m NOT an invalid. But my rations have been revoked, reallocated to the facility, and Mother and I cannot survive on hers alone.
Please do not worry, Maya. I will be all right. Rand, Orion’s parents, and our neighbors will help look after Mother. As always, you are in my thoughts and prayers. I love you, dear sister.
Lana
My hands shook as I gripped the page. The thought of my twin in a group home, forced into uselessness and among people she didn’t know, made my heart feel as if it were tearing in half. I could tell she’d typed out the letter hastily, and again she’d said nothing of Mother’s health. My mother had not written to me except for one short letter many weeks ago after I’d first arrived on Calisto. I’d tried to tell myself that she was probably too busy and exhausted to write, as she’d been forced to take on the chores I used to do.
My heart dropped like a stone as a new thought occurred to me. Would Lana even tell me if Mother had passed away?
My breaths grew ragged as the ache in the center of my chest intensified. My gaze darted around the library as if a solution would magically present itself. I had to do something. But what?
