Gradually, she became aware that something else lay underneath the pain, a sensation unlike all the others she had newly experienced this night. She felt it pushing her inexorably over a threshold into an unknown world, a world that she desperately wanted to understand. She reached for it—her entire body shuddering with the strain—and then detonated with a soft explosion. Her consciousness slammed back down into her skull, tearing a cry of amazement from her raw throat.
She felt Ashinji’s body beginning to shake and, instinctively, she wrapped her legs around him more tightly. He cried out and pushed deep into her, his muscles rigid, then with a final moan he subsided atop her.
Jelena lay very still beneath him, concentrating on the connection between their flesh. She decided that she could stay this way forever, joined with her lover in perfect union.
Ashinji finally stirred and carefully pulled himself free. He rolled over onto his side and gathered her up against him. He buried his face in her hair and murmured, “I love you.” After a heartbeat’s pause, he added, “And I promise this will only get better and better for you.”
Her eyes linked with his. In the lamplight, they gleamed darkly, and the devotion she saw within their depths released a new flood of tears. She caressed his cheek and marveled at its smoothness, so unlike that of a human male.
“I love you, Ashi,” she whispered, and kissed him.
Later that night, as Ashinji lay sleeping, Jelena sat up beside him and watched his dreams chase themselves across his beautiful face. She shifted a little and winced at the sting between her legs. She did not mind; the pain served as proof of the reality of her experience.
Fatigue finally overcame her. She lay down beneath the coverlets and snuggled against Ashinji, who stirred but did not wake. She kissed the tip of his ear and laid her hand over his heart so she could feel its slow, steady beat. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
~~~
The hoarse croak of a raven startled Jelena into wakefulness. She opened bleary eyes to stare at the large, rough-feathered black bird perching boldly on the windowsill. It turned its head sideways to peer at her from an eye that glittered like a jet bead.
Jelena didn’t know whether to be afraid or fascinated. She looked over at Ashinji, who sprawled loosely on his back, one arm flung up over his head, sound asleep. The sight of his lean warrior’s body, naked in the rosy light of the new day, warmed her with a mix of embarrassment and lust. The memories of the previous night came flooding back, completely dissipating the lingering vestiges of sleep.
The raven croaked again, and Jelena began to feel a little uneasy.
It looks like it’s talking to someone,she thought. She decided to wake Ashinji.
She ran her fingers through his silky hair and, kissing him lightly on his forehead and lips, she whispered his name into his ear—softly, lest the raven hear. She felt a little silly, but she didn’t want to startle the creature and perhaps cause it to fly into the room. Ashinji muttered something incomprehensible and remained blissfully asleep. She thought briefly of tweaking him down there, but decided that she wasn’t yet comfortable enough with the idea that she could now touch him like that, and so she shook his shoulder instead.
His eyes fluttered open and focused on her face. Slowly, he grinned, then pulled her down on top of him. She felt his manhood stir against her leg. “This is the single most beautiful sight I could ever hope to see in the morning,” he murmured happily. “You…here in my bed…completely naked.” He nuzzled her neck.
“We have…visitor,” Jelena said in a low voice, and leaned aside so that Ashinji could see the window. The raven had not moved.
“What’s this, then! How dare you sit there and spy on us like that! Can’t you see we wish to be alone?” Ashinji pulled a pillow from underneath his head and hurled it at the window. The raven let out an indignant squawk. With a downward sweep of its wings, it launched itself off the sill and disappeared.
Jelena shivered and snuggled close against Ashinji. Something about the way the bird had looked at them—at her—frightened her.
“What is it, love?” Ashinji asked in a low, concerned voice.
Jelena shook her head, uncertain about why the bird had spooked her so. “That bird…how do you say…Urrr!” In frustration, she lapsed back into Soldaran. “That raven. I don’t know how I know this, but there was something…not right, not natural about it. Ravens don’t just sit on people’s windowsills calmly staring at them.”
Ashinji frowned. “There are many ravens here at Kerala,” he replied in Siri-dar, “all perfectly harmless, but you’re right. It is a little strange. I’ve never had one actually come and sit on my windowsill before now.” He shrugged. “Try not to worry. It’s just a raven. Besides…” His voice became playful. “You have me to protect you from any birds with evil intentions!” He rolled Jelena over onto her back and began to tease her body with his lips and hands, awakening the fire in her still-tender loins.
When he entered her, the pain was brief and swiftly overwhelmed by the ecstasy of union with the man she loved. This time, the soft explosion she had experienced last night became an all-encompassing blast of sensation along every nerve, leaving her wrung out and deliriously happy.
Afterward, she rested in the warm circle of Ashinji’s arms, perfectly content, all thoughts of the raven and its strange behavior banished from her mind.
“You seemed to enjoy yourself a bit more this time,” Ashinji commented, tenderly stroking her cheek.
Jelena nodded. As before, Ashinji had been gentle and attentive, and her body was learning how to respond properly. “You promised it would get better, and you were right.”
Ashinji shifted his body so that they could lie face to face. “Last night changed everything, Jelena,” he said softly. “There’s no going back to the way it was. In my heart, I am now wed to you, body and soul. All that remains is to make it official. Today, we’ll go to my parents and tell them about us.”
“Your mother…she knows. I think she is on our side, but your father…” Jelena bit her lip, suddenly afraid of Lord Sen’s reaction. Ashinji’s father was typically a man of good humor, but he had plans for his youngest son, plans that didn’t involve a half-breed kinless girl from Soldara.
“My father will have to understand. After all, he married my mother because he choseto. Theirs was a marriage of love, not arrangement. I’m the second child, so dynastic considerations shouldn’t play a role in whom I marry since I won’t inherit my father’s title. He may be angry at first, but eventually, he’ll calm down and give us his permission.” He kissed her forehead.
Jelena wished she could share Ashinji’s confidence. “Ashi, please wait to tell your father a little while more. Give me time to find my father…or my family, so I can say to Lord Sen, this is who I am, these are my kin. Otherwise, I have no…honor.” She searched Ashinji’s face for understanding, but she could see that he did not agree with her reasons.
“You already have the greatest honor in my father’s eyes, beloved. You saved his life. He is obligated to grant you anything that you ask of him,” Ashinji pointed out.
“I do not wish to get permission from him because of obligation. I wish him to give it freely because he agrees for us to be together,” Jelena responded. “Please, my love. Wait just a little longer.”
Ashinji opened his mouth as if to repeat his objection, then gave in with a frustrated sigh. “I’ll do as you ask, but only for a short while,” he warned. “If my father can’t turn up any leads on your elven family by summer’s end, we’re going to tell him about us. No arguments.”
“Agreed,” Jelena answered. She stretched and yawned, suddenly reluctant to move, but she knew that she had to report to Lord Sen soon, to find out if he had any messages for her to deliver today. She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Something caught her eye, and she looked down to see a small, irregular scarlet blotch upon the cream-colored mattress cover. She drew in a sharp breath
then relaxed in realization.
“Don’t worry about that,” Ashinji said. He sat up beside her and rubbed her back companionably. “I sometimes cut myself during sword practice. The servants won’t think anything of it.”
The sight of her virgin’s blood brought home the reality of her changed circumstances. Back in Amsara, she had given up hope of ever experiencing the soul-satisfying joy of true lovemaking. At best, she had resigned herself to remaining untouched for her entire life. At worst, she had feared eventual rape by one of several castle louts who had grown increasingly more open and persistent in their intentions as she had grown into young womanhood.
She leaned into Ashinji and he slipped an arm around her shoulder. “I…don’t feel like I deserve you,” she whispered in Soldaran.
“Don’t ever say that again,” Ashinji chided, placing his hands on either side of her face. “I love you, and that will never change. You are my life. It is I who don’t deserve you.”
He stood up and helped her to her feet. She wiped away the tears that had sprung to her eyes at Ashinji’s heartfelt declaration of love, then bent to gather up her discarded clothing. “Aneko and Kami will know I have been with you,” she sighed as she shrugged into the rumpled chemise. “They will…tease and tease.”
Ashinji pulled on a pair of breeches and came over to help her with the outer gown, tying up the cords at her waist. He smiled. “Let ‘em talk. I don’t care if the entire population of Kerala knows about us.”
Abruptly, his mood shifted, and he spun her around and looked deep into her eyes with a seriousness that frightened her. “Jelena, you need to beware of my brother,” he said in a low voice. “Sadaiyo finds pleasure in anything that hurts me, and I’m afraid that he may try to get to me through you. I don’t think he’s any physical threat to you, but he uses words like they were the keenest of weapons. Don’t believe anything he says. In fact, just avoid him.”
Jelena briefly considered telling Ashinji about her encounter with Sadaiyo the day after the wedding ceremony but decided against it. Not much would be accomplished except that it would further upset Ashinji, and besides, nothing had happened. “I will stay away from Lord Sadaiyo. It will be easy. He never comes to the barracks and I almost never see him except sometimes with your father.”
“Good. That’s good.” Ashinji ran his hands through his hair and pulled at the rings in his left ear, a gesture that Jelena had come to recognize meant that he felt upset or preoccupied. He forced his face into a semblance of cheeriness. “Are you hungry?
Jelena thought a moment. “Yes, I think I am,” she replied.
“I’ll walk with you down to the kitchen, then,” Ashinji said. He took her hand. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 28
The Coming Darkness
The raven flew in lazy circles high above the red-tiled rooftops of the castle, its bead-like eyes scanning the landscape below. It had once been a very beautiful bird—sleek and strong—but that was before. Now, it had nearly come to the end of its strength, its life essence depleted in slavery to the alien intelligence that guided its every move.
Hundreds of leagues to the north, deep within his mountain prison, the Nameless One seethed with malevolent triumph. Through the eyes of the raven, he had seen it—the Key, at long last! It burned within its vessel—a cold blue fire—pulsing in rhythm to the beat of the life force that sustained it.
For weeks, he had concentrated his search to the southeast, beyond the Great Forest, but he had been unable to pinpoint its exact position. He had used up many ravens in the search, and his frustration had grown with each passing day. Then, quite unexpectedly, he had felt the unique energy of the Key surge through the aether, alerting him to its location. A nearby raven had been dispatched to a mid-sized castle in the southern borderlands.
Through the eyes of his small tool, he had observed the vessel and had beheld the glorious light of his Key, illuminating its flesh like a beacon. Now that he finally knew the exact nature of the vessel and where it lay, he needed to find a way to get both his ring and the vessel to him. Only then could he resume what had been interrupted by bitterest treachery over five lifetimes ago. It would not be easy. He needed a willing ally in the outside world, preferably one trained in the use of magic. He felt confident he would find such an individual among the ranks of Alasiri’s professional mages, one who could be bent to his purpose by the lure of greater power. Were not all magicians driven to a certain degree by the thirst for more power and knowledge?
No, it would not be easy, but it could be done.
A sound like the winter wind sluicing among the high, icy peaks of the Kesen Numai Mountains echoed through the dark chamber deep beneath the ancient fortress—the sound of The Nameless One laughing.
~~~
It is time.
Do you think the girl is ready?
Yes. She has already come to me asking to learn about what she calls her ‘blue fire.’
Still...She is very young, and such a burden would be extremely difficult for a trained, experienced mage, let alone a hikui girl!
What other choice do we have?
None...Very well…Begin the girl’s training. When she is further along, you will bring her to Sendai. I shall take over then.
There is still the question about our own strength. When the time comes, I fear that, without a full complement, we will be unable to complete the Working.
I am concerned as well, but there is no one suitable that we could invite to join us.
There is my son.
Your son is untrained…because of your family tradition, I might add!
I am beginning to deeply regret that. He is the only one of my children who has inherited the strength of my Talent, it seems.
Does he even know how powerful a mage he could become?
No. I put a block in place when he was a child, after I was certain of the magnitude of his Talent. I have kept it all from him, mainly to spare him the frustration.
Even if you began training him now, yourself, he could never be ready…Not for a Great Working.
He doesn’t have to have the skill of a full-fledged mage. He only needs to know how to control and direct the proper energies…and be willing to perform the Sundering, if need be.
Can you be certain he will strike the killing blow if called upon? If what you say is true and he is in love with this girl, he may hesitate at the last moment. I don’t have to tell you what that will mean.
He will do what’s necessary. My son understands quite well the concept of duty.
The girl’s father…You are sure of his identity?
I’ve seen the ring myself.
It could be some sort of a deception.
Unlikely!
This changes nothing, you know. All must go forward as planned.
I know…This is going to be so hard on my son…I’ve decided to allow him and the girl to be together so that they might have a little happiness beforehand.
Do you think that’s wise? It will only make it more difficult for them in the end. It seems rather cruel to me.
‘Cruel’ is a harsh word…My son loves this girl. It’s not wise, but I’ve denied my child so much. I’ve forced him into a life that goes against his basic nature, deceived him about a fundamental part of his being…
You’ve allowed guilt to cloud your judgment.
Perhaps, but it’s a mother’s prerogative to indulge her children.
I just hope it doesn’t prove to be an obstacle.
When the time comes, they will both do what they must.
Keep me informed.
Of course. I’ll contact you again soon.
Amara opened her eyes and took a deep breath. The mental exchange with her colleague in the capital had taken only a short amount of time, but it had required that she expend a great deal of energy to span such a long distance.
She rubbed her eyes and yawned, then stood and stretched in an effort to fight off the weariness that weighted her
limbs. Perhaps her colleague was right in pointing out the cruelty of allowing Ashinji and the girl to be together, but when she had first realized the depth of her son’s feelings, Amara knew that she couldn’t stand in their way. She would be their champion and plead their case to her husband. The fact that he was obligated to grant the girl any request she made of him would make it easier. In the end, he would relent and give Ashinji permission to marry his precious Jelena.
Ashi, my beloved son, how I’ve wronged you! I should have trained you myself and tradition be damned, but I didn’t have the courage to go against my family. Never before have I questioned the rule that only the females of my line could take up magecraft until now…
Amara shook her head. She had no time for regrets. She had too much to do. They all did, they who were the remnants of the once mighty Kirian Society, a sadly diminished order, in both power and prestige. Centuries ago, when the force of Talent had waxed stronger in the elven people, the Kirians held influence second only to the king in affairs of state.
As time passed, the elves saw the strength of their Talent fading; mage schools found it increasingly difficult to find enough candidates with sufficient magical abilities who could be trained as top-level mages, and so the ranks of all the magical orders—the Kirians especially—had become depleted.
Amara had come to accept that the elves must begin to turn away from magic, that science must now become the force to propel their society forward, but many of her fellow mages stubbornly clung to their belief that the elves would always have Talent.
Well, maybe so, but not in the same form as it existed today.
Amara studied her elaborately tattooed palms. The designs were arcane symbols of her magical order. For those who could decipher them, they clearly marked her as a Kirian. She had kept her membership in the Society a secret from everyone in her family except her husband, and even he did not realize the full extent of her involvement. How would he react when she told him what would soon be required of their second-born?
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