A Kiss of Fire

by Jacquelyn Frank

  “They are in the plans, but we have not yet had opportunity to begin them. The only protective walls we have are the ones around the temple itself, and even those are not finished. Besides, walls cannot keep out the attacks of his shamans.” He sighed, touching his forehead to hers. “We are of like mind on this. But I worry about leaving you here, as you pointed out, poorly protected in my absence.”

  “Your absence?” she echoed, not liking the feeling of dread that was stealing over her.

  “Yes. I intend to lead my army against my brother.”

  Ariana felt a knife of cold dread and panic slice through her soul. “No! You cannot put yourself at risk! What if you should be killed or taken captive? What would become of us then? Your brother would not hesitate to—“

  “I know. You see why I wanted you away from here? If you are in anonymous hiding he cannot find you. If something were to happen to me, you could then travel back to the safety of Capitol City in Saren lands. I know Jutsin and Mason would see you safe and one day, if you give birth to a son, they would help you to place him in his rightful throne.”

  “And embroil the Sarens in a Kiltian war of supremacy? You think much of Jutsin and Mason.”

  “I think they are honorable men who care for you a great deal. And I know you would care about my people and your son’s heritage. You would do everything to see him seated where he belongs, a true raji-mother.”

  “Stop,” she whispered frantically, as if speaking the words aloud might make them come to pass. “Please don’t put yourself at risk. Send Lindo or one of your other trusted men. Stay safe with me here.”

  “I wish I could,” he said regretfully. “But I cannot ask my men to do anything that I would not do for myself.”

  “You did not fight in the wars! You sent others to—“

  “I did fight in the wars,” he corrected her gently. “Every major battle had me at its head.”

  She looked at him, aghast. “Please don’t do this,” she whispered frantically. “Please don’t leave me.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t worry. I will have Lindo with me at all times. He will have my back.”

  “Take me with you! Don’t leave me here alone!”

  “You will be with my mother. You will be protected.”

  “Not adequately. You said so yourself. You will be taking troops with you, away from us. I would be safest with you!”

  “Ariana,” he said softly. Scolding. “This is why I wanted to send you away from the temple. But you said you wished to stay.”

  “I wished to stay with you. I did not know you would be leaving!”

  “Come now, I have made up my mind. Let’s not argue about it any longer.”

  Tears of frustration burned inside of her. She could tell by his resignation that he would not be swayed. She had grown used to seeing that stalwart obstinacy every time she tried to get him to relax in their bed and let his animal nature come out to play. In this he would not be moved, and for the same reason as that. To keep her ultimately protected.

  “There must be something I can do to at least help you,” she said desperately. “Some way to protect you.”

  “Protect our child. It will protect me to know you are both safe. Then my attention will not be torn between you and the battle ahead.”

  She sniffed back her tears and lifted her chin. “Your child will be safe. I will protect it with everything I am. If anyone thinks to come closer I will rain fire down on their heads.”

  He smiled grimly at that. “I hope it will not come to that. But I know you will not be an easy target. If my brother is wise he will steer clear of you.”

  “Tell me…what of his wives and children?”

  “He took his first wife and his son and heir with him, leaving the rest. I have had them under guard, but I will not punish them for being attached to my brother. It is not their fault that he decided to turn against me.”

  “They are not to be trusted,” Ariana said with a frown.

  “And you are not to go near them.”

  “What can they do to me? No. As you said, it is not their fault your brother turned against you.”

  “But as his wives and concubines their first loyalty should be to him. Just as yours is to me.”

  “Their first loyalty should be to their rightful ruler. But I can see how their loyalties would be torn.”

  “I mean it, Ariana. You are not to go near them.”

  She reached to kiss his mouth. “I promise I will not go near them while you are gone.”

  “Thank you. Now let me see to some missives and then I will join you for dinner and bed.”

  “When will you leave?” she asked, unable to weed the anxiety out of her voice.

  “The last of the troops should arrive tomorrow. I will leave the following morning provided they are well outfitted and prepared. My last reports put Vich very close to us. Four days’ march. We will meet him about a day’s march out. It will be too close as it is. There can be no delay.”

  It all seemed so real so suddenly. She didn’t understand why she was having such a problem with this. She was a leader. She had sent men off to war before. She had seen her own father go to battle when she was much younger. She had loved him no less. But this was different. She had no foothold here. If something were to happen to him, she would be on the run…with an army between her and Saren. But more importantly she loved him as she had never loved before. The thought of losing that, of losing him…she knew she would never recover. Only for the sake of her child could she ever survive the loss of him.

  She walked away from him, numb. It was hard to believe that mere months ago she had hated him. She had been wrong to do so. Now she loved him and this felt wrong. Sending him away felt wrong.

  Well, she wouldn’t cry about it now. She would wait until he left and she was alone in the privacy of her chambers before she fell apart. He needed her to be strong. And she was strong. She was a strong woman. She was used to people looking to her for strength and it would be no different here. No one would see her as weak. She would own her new position here. Even though she as yet did not have one of power, she was not yet raji, Sin was treating her like she was and was expecting others to treat her equally so. So far all had done as he had asked. But would that change once he was gone?

  She would not let it change. She would act as raji. She would command this household. She would also see to it she was ready to flee at a moment’s notice. The safety of her child was paramount, and she would not be caught at the under guarded temple. She knew Vich would not tolerate her to live. And since she wasn't showing yet, no one knew she was breeding save Mariah and Fatima. They were waiting until after his brother was caught before making any such announcements.

  Ariana came around the corner and stopped suddenly. She saw Mariah there, her body trapped against the wall by the body of a man. He had one hand braced above her head and the other was drawing a slow, lazy circle on her chest where it was exposed by the square of her neckline. Mariah was pink across her cheeks and her body language suggested she was receptive to the attention.

  Ah. This must be the man she had grown an affection for, Ariana realized. It made her throat ache to see it. If they had to run, it would tear Mariah away from her new romance. Unless he came to Saren with them, and that would be asking a lot of a man who was only just beginning to find flirtation with a woman. Mariah noticed her before she could turn and walk away. She pushed the man away and stood up straight. Flushing guiltily, she stammered, “M-my lady. I was just seeing to your bath.”

  Ariana finally got a good look at the man Mariah had pushed away. He was like Sin in that he was not a pretty man, not classically handsome, but there was a rugged attractiveness that could easily lure in any woman.

  “Mariah I have not even had dinner yet,” she said with amusement, watching her flustered maid.

  “Oh. Yes, of course,” Mariah said, her blush deepening.

  “Who is your friend, Mariah?”

 
“This is Georg. Georg, this is my lady Ariana.”

  Georg gave her a smart bow. “My lady. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m sorry if I was keeping Mariah from you. We were just passing each other in the hall and…she’s so pretty, you see. It’s hard for a man to resist.”

  She smiled at his politeness and his obvious desire for her lady maid.

  “You were not keeping me from her. She is free to do whatever she likes when she is not serving me.”

  “Is there anything you need at present, my lady?” Mariah asked, moving toward the door to the master’s chambers.

  “No Mariah. Remain here. I won’t need you again until after supper.”

  “Are you certain?” Mariah asked skeptically, and Ariana wondered if her distress was apparent on her face. She made certain to school her features.

  “You are free to do as you like until bath time.” Ariana took hold of the knob and let herself into the room. She shut the door on the couple. She wondered if they would pick up where they had left off when she had interrupted them. She hoped so. Mariah should be allowed this one pleasure. She had served her loyally and selflessly for long enough. It was time she took something for herself.

  And who knew what tomorrow would bring?

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Ariana stood shivering in the cold of the courtyard the next day kissing her husband goodbye. He wrapped his arms around her and using his majic he warmed her. She could have done so herself, but it was better coming from him. Yet she shivered still. Nothing would be able to warm the chill on her soul, not even her husband. Not unless he said he was staying.

  “I will be back as soon as I am able. I will send a messenger as soon as I know which way the battle turns. If it goes ill, then I want you out of the temple as soon as possible. I would not have you traveling in your condition and in this weather, but there is no other choice. Keep safe. I have left a small amount of guards around you. I cannot spare any others, though it pains me greatly to know it is so. I would have you better protected.”

  “I will be fine. Fatima and I will await your return most anxiously. See that you come back soon.”

  “Yes, wife, I will obey,” he said with a chuckle as he bent to kiss her mouth. One kiss blossomed to two, then again to three, each warmer than the one before it. But before they could erupt into something far more passionate than he had time to deal with, Sin broke off from her mouth and, after hugging her close one last time, he let her go and swung up onto the back of his horse.

  She imagined his perspective as he looked down on her, wondered if it was as hard for him to go as it was for her to see him leave. Then he was reeling around and kicking his stallion into a trot out of the courtyard.

  Fatima stood beside her, having made her farewells before Ariana had, and now she saw tears in the older woman's eyes. Ariana took the woman in her arms. How hard it must be for her, to know she was sending one son off to fight with his brother. It was possible one or both of her sons could be killed in this altercation. Ariana knew Sin’s goal was to see his brother captured, but it was probable this would be impossible. There was no way to know for certain. And it was that uncertainty that so plagued Ariana.

  She did her best to keep things as normal as possible around the temple. Lindo had left with Sin, as had almost all of his trusted men, but he had left one or two whom she was less familiar with behind to watch over her. She did not feel uncomfortable with them, but neither did she fully trust them as she might Lindo. Sin had assured her that none of them could hide anything from Lindo when they were vigorously questioned. Mordol had only been able to hide his duplicitousness because he had been such a high level Jadoc and they had not been searching for traitors. He might have been rude and crude, but he had never given them reason to suspect he was working as an agent for Sin’s brother. They hadn’t even had reason to suspect Sin’s brother. And then suddenly things had changed. All because of her. Because of the threat she and any of her children posed. Sin had disregarded this theory. He said that Vich had been planning Sin’s death long before she had come onto the scene. Her appearance had just acted as a catalyst to hasten his actions.

  Ariana had to accept this as truth, since Lindo had seen into the raj’s mind. Provided Lindo was as trustworthy as he appeared to be. Maybe it was just paranoia, but there was no more powerful Jadoc than Lindo. If he had duplicity in his nature no one could find it or fight it. But Sin trusted Lindo implicitly, and the quiet man had never given her any reason to question his loyalty. She longed for Dendri Adiron right then. But then again, Dendri had not been able to read through Lindo two years earlier at their treaty conferences. The odds were he still could not.

  No. She had to trust someone. But right then she felt so alone. The only comfort she had was Fatima. Together they passed the time in Fatima’s parlor, one weaving one absently stitching. But her heart was not in her work, nor was her attention, so she cursed when her needle ran through her work and into her finger for the second time. She stuck the abused finger in her moth and Fatima chuckled lightly.

  “Don’t feel bad. I’ve had to take out as many rows from my loom as I have put in this past hour. I am afraid neither of us is of a mind to concentrate. Perhaps a meal then? It is about midday.”

  Ariana agreed and they rang for a servant to fetch them a filling repast. Their conversation was light and stilted. Until finally Ariana sat up and shook herself mentally.

  “Enough of this! I will not sit here idle while my husband is off risking his neck,”

  “What do you intend to do?” Fatima asked with alarm.

  “Nothing to risk myself or you,” Ariana assured her, giving her hand a comforting pat. “I only mean to say there has to be something I can do to be of some use around here. I know…I shall see to a cleaning. Top to bottom, we’ll turn the temple inside out until there’s not a speck of dust to be found anywhere. It will give me a chance to familiarize myself with the workings of the temple down to the last detail. If I am to be chatelaine of this place, I should know everything about its inner workings. I will familiarize myself with the staff…and perhaps we can find a room close by the master’s chambers to consider preparing for the nursery.”

  “An excellent plan! I have been chatelaine of the temple ever since we moved here, and I am glad to hand the duties over to someone else. I would much prefer to weave than to worry about what to serve at dinner or which room needs to be set up for which guest. It was much different when we were all crowded into a small space together. There were minimal servants and all were expected to keep clean after themselves. Living in such close quarters there was no room for slovenliness. But now we have more servants than I know what to do with and there are so many rooms!”

  “Never fear,” Ariana said with a chuckle. “I am used to heading a large household. As the only female member of the triumvirate it often fell to me to take charge of the capitol building and all of its inner workings. I suppose I could have shared the responsibility equally with my male counterparts, but I fear I am much too much in need of total control to allow it. That will no doubt be the same here.”

  “I will gladly stay out of your way. After we are through eating I will begin to introduce you to every last member of the household staff. Including Heranna, the head housekeeper.”

  Invigorated by this new challenge, Ariana threw herself into her goal of learning the temple from the bottom up. Everyone was directed to bring all questions and needs to Ariana from that moment on. She met all of the staff and began to give them commands.

  The only hiccup was when she came around a corner and happened upon two maids gossiping in the hallway.

  “I don’t know who she thinks she is. Lording it over the place as if she were raji. She’s nothing but a concubine. And she’ll never be anything more if she don’t give the raja the son he needs.

  “They’re married,” the younger maid pointed out. “Under Saren law.”

  “Saren law.” The older maid scoffed. “We’ve n
o use for Saren law here. This here’s Kilt and we go by Kiltian law here. She’s naught but a concubine warming the master’s bed. She can be put aside like that,” –she snapped her fingers—“if she doesn’t watch out. She should focus on pleasing the raja and leave us alone. I tell you, the day I listen to a foreigner tell me what to do is—“

  “Is the day you get to keep your job,” Ariana broke into the conversation coldly.

  Both maids startled to see her there and the older one paled. She began to fidget nervously. “My lady,” she greeted, giving her a hasty, half-hearted bow.

  “I may not be raji yet, but I will be, I promise you that. And regardless of that, I am much beloved by the raja. Imagine how displeased he would be by a maid who disrespected the woman he loves.”

  “I wasn’t saying nothing bad about you, my lady,” the younger maid spoke up hastily. “It was all her!”

  “Go on about your duties. See that you spend less time gossiping and more time cleaning,” Ariana said to the younger maid who dipped a bow and hurried away, leaving Ariana to the other maid. “What is your name?”

  “Lossa,” the maid replied.

  “Lossa, I realize how difficult this must be for everyone. There have been many changes in so short a period of time…and with the raja off to war with his brother; it is an uncertain time for us all. But I need your help,” she said, clearly surprising the woman who had obviously expected to be dressed down for her remarks. “I need to get this house in order so that your master comes back to a calm and focused home. A place where he can relax and deal with the troubling things he may have seen or been forced to do. This battle pits brother against brother, and I don’t just mean the raja and the raj. This is civil war. Kiltian against Kiltian. It is a sad and unfortunate thing.”

  “My husband has gone with the raja. I…I am worried about him.”

  “As I am for my husband. But we cannot sit and fret about it. We must keep busy. Can we do that?”