Kristar (Bookstrand Publishing Romance)

by D Renee Bagby

  Silny blinked a few times before she said, “I had not thought of it like that.”

  “Well now you have.” Kitty jabbed her finger at her throat with an urging grunt.

  Closing her eyes, Silny touched Kitty’s neck. Several minutes passed before the woman stepped back with a shake of her head. “I cannot remove the flesh.”

  Kitty glared at the woman since she couldn’t get the words out. She knew Silny wasn’t joking or kidding, so stating she was wouldn’t leave Kitty’s lips. “Do something!”

  “I understand your ire.”

  “No you don’t. You’re bhresya. You’ve never been able to lie. I’m human. I’ve been able to lie since I learned how to talk. From little exaggerations to complete untruths. I want it back.”

  “I said I cannot remove the flesh, but I can move it.”

  “Move it where?”

  “To one of your other faculties.”

  “Faculties?”

  “Speech, sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell.”

  “I know I don’t want a bhresya nose. There are certain things I don’t want to smell.” She thought about it. If she traded to one of her other senses, what would change about her? Would taste give her a bhresya’s forked tongue? Would touch turn all her skin orange instead? “Sight.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “I can’t think of what harm could come of seeing better.”

  “Sometimes seeing better is about more than sight.”

  “Huh? Do you mean the color of my eyes will change?”

  “They might. The flesh has altered every part of your body it has taken over. It might alter your eyes as well.”

  Kitty shrugged. “Whatever. If I can deal with having an orange arm, then I can deal with my eyes changing colors. I—” She growled at not being able to speak the words she wanted. “I will not deal with being unable to lie.”

  Silny stepped forward once more. She grasped Kitty’s neck with one hand and placed her other over Kitty’s eyes. Kitty felt the tingling of magic and the sensation of something pulling at her throat. The sensation traveled upward until it landed on her eyes, making them heavy as though a weight had been added.

  “It is done.” Silny uncovered Kitty’s eyes and then smiled. “Pretty.”

  “What? What happened?” Kitty rushed over to the nearest reflective surface, Silny’s potions cupboard, and looked at her eyes. “Nice.” Her eyes remained brown but her right iris had an outer ring of gray while her left eye had an outer ring of blue. “I could get used to this.”

  “You have no choice in the matter. Moving the flesh from your throat to your eyes took much effort. I do not think I can do it again. Though I might not have to, since the flesh has gone dormant. This might be the last alteration made.”

  “That’s worth the price of my eyes then. I’m getting sick of seeing someone different every time I look in a mirror.” Kitty stopped and touched her lips. She’d said she was getting sick. An exaggeration and she’d been able to say it. To test her renewed ability to lie, she said, “I have gorgeous flowing wings of shimmering gray.”

  The words sounded like music to her ears. She turned and hugged Silny. “Thank you!”

  “You’re welcome.” Silny laughed as she returned the hug. “Since the flesh has stopped, do you now return to the palace?”

  Kitty stepped away from Silny. “I don’t know. What happens if Chigaru and I fight again? Will I end up here without meaning to? Nothing will be settled if something keeps yanking me away before we finish arguing.” She crossed her arms. “Plus I’m not happy about missing out on after-argument makeup sex.”

  “The argument is as yet unsettled. There is still a chance for makeup sex.”

  Kitty snorted. “Yeah, right.” She met Silny’s gaze. “Trent says you know what this is, why I was yanked here. Spill it. What’s going on with me besides this?” She held up her orange arm.

  “I do not wish to speak of it.”

  “I don’t care what you do and do not wish. If you know what’s happening to me, then tell me.”

  “It is not detrimental.”

  “Are you hearing me at all? I want to know what’s happened to me.” Kitty jabbed her finger at Silny. “And you want to tell me.”

  “I’ve said I do not.”

  “Yes, you do. Every time I have a fight with Chigaru, I’m going to end up here. Every. Single. Time.” Kitty put her hands on her hips. “Think about that. You know how confrontational I am. Do you really think this visit will be my last?”

  Silny appeared as though she wouldn’t speak until she nodded slowly. “You are a reincarnation of a female who once resided on Gezane. She had powerful magic. I believe your arrival on Gezane and my spell of renewal awakened her.”

  “And?”

  “And she sees your situation with Chigaru and Serenity as an affront, so she thinks to shield you from harm.”

  “Can you tell her to stop? Thanks for the assist and all, but I’m sick of running. I spent the last seven years running. I jumped to a different dimension to get away. I’m not about to continue my bad habit here, not with Chi. Besides, running away means I’m leaving him with her, which solves nothing.”

  “I agree.”

  “It’s great you agree, but I need this past life of mine to agree too.”

  “She sees all you see and hears all you hear. She has heard this. If she is taking your feelings into account, then she will not interfere with you and Hell Hound Chigaru’s argument again.”

  Kitty huffed and crossed her arms. “But what if she does? Is there a way I can stop her?”

  “None.”

  “Great,” Kitty grumbled. She returned to the mirror and stared at her reflection. “Okay, look, you, whoever you are. I have issues with my husband. You do too, but you aren’t helping and you aren’t me. Not in the least, so quit it. I’ve got this. Let me deal with it my way. If you yank me away from an argument with Chigaru again, I’m going to have Silny find a way to get rid of you. You had your life, let me have mine.”

  Behind her, Silny chuckled under her breath. “It will be interesting to see if that works.”

  Kitty faced the woman. “It better. This situation is complicated enough without throwing another woman in the mix. Speaking of another woman, I’ve gotta get back to the palace and talk to Melchior. Can you arrange that?”

  “If you are asking if I can transport you to King Melchior’s immediate locale, I can. The palace is shielded against such magic, but the shield is weak compared to the power I wield.”

  “Let’s get to it then. We’re losing daylight.”

  Silny placed her hand on Kitty’s shoulder. “Good luck.”

  Kitty snorted before a soft pop preceded her appearing among a group of surprised bhresyas and Melchior. A quick glance around revealed she had landed in Melchior’s audience chamber.

  “Good,” she said under her breath.

  Melchior asked, “Kitty, how did you come to be here? And what has happened to you?”

  Kitty ignored his question and turned to the others. “I need a few minutes with his majesty.”

  No one moved. Some of the men shied away from her. They appeared worried, possibly scared. For someone who hadn’t seen her changes, she must be a shock. They would have to get over it though.

  She pointed at the door. “Out.”

  The advisors continued standing their ground.

  Melchior said in a deadpan voice, “Leave us.” He circled his desk and sat on his chair with a tired sigh.

  Each of the advisors bowed before leaving the room. Kitty slammed the door after them and then locked it.

  “Why do you interrupt, Kitty?”

  She stalked over to his desk, planted her hands on it, and met his gaze. “Look, you, we need to figure this out.”

  “What has happened to you?”

  “The flesh grew and this is the result.” She waved the words away. “I’m not the issue here. Your marriage and mine are suffering because yo
u’re being stubborn.”

  “I will not discuss this.” He picked up a stack of papers in front of him and lifted them before his face, ignoring her.

  Kitty snatched the papers away, tossing them over her shoulder. “Yes, you will or you will have my foot up your ass.”

  Melchior stood. “You tone is disrespectful. I am king of Nexeu, Kitty. You are new to this dimension, but you have resided here long enough to know the proper way to conduct yourself.”

  “Screw my tone,” she yelled. “You don’t scare me. I don’t care if you’re king of the whole fucking planet. Right now you are husband to a woman who is turning the entire palace upside down with her temper tantrum. Just get a second wife and be done so we all can move on with our lives.”

  “No.”

  “Why?” She put her hands on her hips when he didn’t answer. “You better tell me something. According to people around the palace, you had concubines after you married Serenity but dismissed them all.”

  “Their presence angered Serenity.”

  “Okay, I get that. No woman who loves her husband wants him seeking pleasure with another woman.”

  “Then you see my dilemma. I cannot take a second wife. Though Serenity demands it of me, the doing of which would hurt her.”

  Kitty sighed and let the tension leave her. “Okay, this is a mess, but we can figure it out.”

  “There is nothing to figure out, Kitty. I refuse to take a second wife. End of discussion.”

  “No it isn’t. Would you stop being an ass about this? I’m trying to help you figure this out so I can get my marriage back on track. That might seem selfish to you, but Chi is all I’ve got in this world. Literally. And right now, thanks to all this, I don’t have him.”

  Melchior sat on his chair with a sigh. “I apologize and I know how you feel. I have felt the same since the first day I met Serenity. She and Chigaru share a closeness neither you nor I can ever hope to match.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know already. Believe me, I know.” Kitty walked around so she stood in front of him and then hopped onto his desk. The position seemed to startle Melchior, but he didn’t tell her to move. “Let’s start from the beginning. The first time Chi and I had sex, he nicked me. It wasn’t bad but it happened. With me so far?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m a scratcher.” She lifted her orange arm. “Before this, I mean. I’ve always been a scratcher. My previous lovers learned to deal or they left. Chi is a dream come true for me. I don’t have to hold back or worry about hurting him. The more I scratch him, the more pleasure he feels.” She grinned. “And now I’m part bhresya, so it can go both ways.”

  “You have a point in telling me all this, correct?”

  She planted her feet on his knees and leaned forward, putting her face close to his. “My point is that Chi and I found what works for us by trial and error. He didn’t decide to shield me from himself and keep me at arm’s length out of some warped sense of protection.”

  “That is not my intention.”

  “Intention or not, it’s what you’re doing.” She sat back. “Look, Melchior, I get that Serenity is the coddled little proper princess, but she’s a woman first. Finding out she can’t please you is a blow to her pride.”

  “She does please me. Every time I embrace her is joy.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then why isn’t she pregnant?”

  “Why aren’t you? You say you and Chigaru have enjoyed sex in the bhresya way since the beginning of your union, but you are not pregnant.”

  She gave him a rueful smile. “In case you haven’t noticed, part of me is orange now. I’m betting my body was too busy making changes to support a pregnancy. Since the changes are over, pregnancy is probably around the corner, assuming Chi and I can stop arguing about you and Serenity long enough to have sex.”

  In a surprising move, Melchior rested his arms on her knees and bowed his forehead to his arms. He heaved a growling sigh before he sagged. Kitty threaded her fingers through his hair in a soothing gesture.

  “You don’t have anyone to talk to, do you?” she asked in a soft voice. “Serenity has her Hell Hounds. Each of them is privy to her thoughts and feelings when she cares to share them. From what I’ve seen, you have no one like that. It’s not healthy to keep everything bottled up. Bhresya or not, you’re stressing yourself and shortening your life.”

  “I am king. Stress is part of my burden.”

  “So basically you’re saying you have no one you can be Melchior with. Not the king of Nexeu or the father of Nilam or the husband of Serenity, just you.”

  He grunted.

  “I’m here.”

  He lifted his head and met her gaze. “You?”

  “Don’t sound so doubtful. You are using me as a pillow at the moment.”

  “True.” He chuckled as he lowered his head to his arms once more. “Continue petting my head. It felt good.”

  She resumed her earlier motions. “We might not get to be as close as Chi and Serenity, but we could still help each other out, Melchior. We have the same complaint. Bitching about it together would help relieve some of the stress. Plus, you know what you say to me won’t go further than me. I have no one to tell.”

  He didn’t respond to her words one way or the other. Melchior stayed silent for so long Kitty thought he might have fallen asleep.

  “I concede,” he whispered.

  Kitty smiled and gave his head a pat. “Good. Then the first order of business, why the hell are you holding back in the bedroom?”

  Melchior sat up. “Humans of Gezane call bhresyas demons. Serenity does not see us that way. I don’t want her to start.”

  “Okay, I guess I can see your logic. But a little bed shredding shouldn’t change her opinion of you if the horns, blue skin, and forked tongue didn’t do it. What else? Spill it already.”

  He turned his attention to her orange skin. “I fear my own strength if I let passion rule me.”

  A sound of understanding left her lips. “You don’t trust yourself. Okay. I can understand that too. And it’s a valid worry.”

  “My strength is not my only worry. Serenity accepts all I do. If I were to hurt her, she would not stop me. Our lives are connected, but magic cannot heal all things. If her wounds are too severe, she could die.”

  Kitty nodded.

  “I see the changes in you and wish I could do the same to Serenity. At the same time, I do not want to change her to suit my own insecurities.”

  “At least you see it for what it is.”

  “Yes.”

  She moved to his lap, sitting sideways and resting her head on his chest. Melchior said nothing. Kitty reasoned he might be lonely and in need of physical contact, any kind so long as someone touched him with kindness. A man like this had to be hurting not being able to touch his wife.

  He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Kitty and hugged her tight. “During Serenity’s pregnancy with Nilam, I held her like this as I conducted meetings with my advisors. It annoyed them, but I didn’t want to let her out of my sight. We had reconciled only a short time before and I feared she might leave me again.”

  “I get that you love your wife. Everyone gets that, but something has to give, Melchior. Either you need to learn to trust yourself or you need to get a second wife. Either way, you need to hurry up and pick one so I can have my husband back.”

  Before he could respond to her statement, the study door opened. Serenity entered but stopped as soon as she caught sight of Kitty and Melchior. Behind her, Chigaru growled.

  Kitty didn’t move or act guilty. She wasn’t doing anything wrong. Melchior continued holding her though his arms went slack.

  Serenity asked in a low voice tinged with anger, “What is this?”

  “A meeting,” Melchior said. “One that has now ended.” He released Kitty and held his arm out to the side in front of her.

  She grabbed hold of his forearm and pulled herself up. Once on
her feet, she turned back to him, leaned in close to his ear, and whispered, “We’ll finish this later.”

  “At my convenience,” Melchior said with a nod. “You won’t interrupt my work as you did today.”

  “That depends on you.” She kissed his cheek. “Until next time.”

  He grunted.

  She walked to the door, a smile on her lips and a spring in her step. Serenity appeared ready to hit Kitty but kept her fists balled at her sides. Good. Kitty wanted Serenity to feel jealousy at her misinterpretation of the situation. Serenity needed a dose of her own medicine. She also needed to see what the future held if Melchior took a second wife.

  Kitty got the feeling Serenity had only considered one part of the equation. The part about her getting pregnant. Serenity probably hadn’t thought of how a second wife would mean Melchior’s time, and possibly his affections, would be split between the two.

  If fostering a wrong impression opened Serenity’s eyes to the truth, Kitty didn’t mind playing along. She said in a cheerful tone, “I have to go find Nilam and apologize to her for disappearing again. See you all later.”

  Chigaru caught her arm in a tight grip but said nothing.

  She smiled up at him with a wide-eyed, innocent expression. “You wanted something?”

  He said in a low whisper, “We will speak later this night.”

  “Yes, we will. That wasn’t up for debate.” She let a little of her earlier anger tinge her words.

  Chigaru released her with a sharp nod.

  Kitty pasted her smile in place and said in a normal tone, “Okay, buh-bye now.” She trotted out of the study headed for the garden where she knew Nilam, Hestra and the others had to be located.

  She hoped Nilam hadn’t spent the morning crying outside the bedroom again. The little princess was another reason Kitty wanted this situation solved. Nilam was a baby. She didn’t understand adult issues and probably only saw her parents behaving strangely to one another. Serenity and Melchior’s problem needed to find a resolution before their fight started affecting Nilam as well.