by JK Ensley
“Apologies, lovely girl. My mind was elsewhere.”
“I asked about your friend, Suou.”
“Yes?” Jenevier waited for the accompanying question.
“Can you tell me about him?”
“Well… there is not that much to tell. Like I said, I was injured in the line of duty and he tended me. I had not met him before that. Yet he sat by my side for days in a rundown little shack hidden amongst the bamboo. As soon as I could, I slipped away without a word. He was kind and gentle… but I did not belong there. So, as soon as he slept, I hurriedly left.” She patted the girl’s hand and sighed. “Alas, Fate brought me back to this realm the very next day. Suou found me beneath the magical cherry trees in his own personal garden, forced me to attend some grand celebration. That did not end well, either, I’m afraid.” She smiled then, trying to hide her regret. “But that, my child, is an especially different kind of story for an especially different kind of day.”
The color slowly drained from the young girl’s face. “You can’t possibly be talking about the same Suou, then. I thought perhaps you meant the Southern Prince.”
Jenevier smiled. “Oh, you know him then? Perfect. I need you to get a message to him. Do you think you could help me with that?” She paused. “Wait. What do you mean, Southern? Am I no longer within Suou’s kingdom?”
The girl stiffened again. “Would you like something else to drink? Something to give you a bit of energy, perhaps? Do you like tea, Milady?”
“I love tea, rose tea, if you have it.”
“Apologies, Milady.” Cherie blushed. “I’ve never heard of rose tea before.”
“Well then, I shall have to see if I cannot change that, and very soon. You will love it. I am all but certain.” Jenevier gently squeezed the girl’s fingertips. “Tell you what. Why don’t you bring me your favorite, for now? I will introduce you to my favorite as soon as I feel more like myself. Is it a deal?”
The young woman energetically shook her head, smiling as she left the room.
Jenevier took a deep breath and rested back against the many pillows. “You can come out now,” she said. “It is rather poor manners to lurk about in the shadows.”
She heard the approaching footsteps, but kept her eyes closed.
“I do not lurk,” the man said, his voice gentle and low. “I just couldn’t find a place to jump in and make my introduction.”
Jenevier smiled softly. “It was a lively conversation, was it not? Cherie is a bundle of energy. I like her.”
“Yes. Everyone likes Cherie. She is a true ray of sunshine.”
There was admiration and awe in the man’s voice. Jenevier could respect that, felt almost the same way herself.
She sensed him near her bedside, felt when he bumped against it, seating himself in a nearby chair.
“It is also rather poor manners to carry on a conversation with someone you refuse to look upon,” he said. “It was you who beckoned me come closer. Yet you refuse me the respect of even a curious glance, Kagi Naga.”
At the sound of her name, Jenevier slowly opened her eyes, gazing once again at the cobweb-laced rafters. “It is with deepest respect that I did not look upon you, sir. I can only assume you are the one who saved me from a deserved fate. Why would I willingly curse a man who has shown me such kindness?”
“Hold sentiment until it is deserved. You may not feel the same way in a few days.” He mumbled that last part. “Tell me.” He half chuckled. “Why would your gaze be a curse?”
“Not my gaze, Milord. My eyes.” She sighed. “I wish us to be friends. I fear if you look into my eyes, you will fall prey to their vile magic. As so many others have before,” she whispered.
“Ahh, I see. So… your eyes are as my dimples—heart traps.”
With his dimple admission, she couldn’t help but look at him.
“But I fear I may have already ensnared you, Milady,” he teased. “I heard your adoring confession earlier. Never have you seen dimples such as mine, thought you were dreaming.” He leaned closer, smirking. “I heard you, Kagi Naga. You wished for nothing more but then to touch them.” He smiled teasingly.
She rolled her eyes. “Not hardly.” She blushed. “I can name countless wishes I would rather have granted.”
“Truly?” His smile grew ever wider. “So, tell me. Do they deepen when I smile, Milady?”
“Ugh, just stop right there. I will not be led down your darkened path, good sir.”
He chuckled. “And what makes you think it is dark?”
She cocked one eyebrow. “Are you saying it is not?”
A shadow fell across his handsome features, his smile slowly faded.
“As I thought,” she said. “Now, tell me. What is going to happen in a few days that will make me withdraw my gratitude for your noble rescue of my battered form?”
“You tell me something first.”
“Very well. You have but to ask.”
“Why did you feel your fate was a deserved thing? Did you do something worthy of being strung up and used as a practice dummy?”
She sighed. “I have done many things, Milord. I know not what horrors await me at my true end, no. But they will have to be born in the pits of hell if they wish to overpower what I have already lived through.” She looked back to the rafters. “Can that be a story for another day? I wish not to burden my heart with the retelling. Not today.”
They both fell silent, misery playing out vividly within their troubled minds.
“Are you going to share with me your name, sir,” she said, lifting the dark cloud now surrounding them. “Or do you wish me to call you Dimples?”
He returned her warm smile just as Jenevier heard the girl’s hurried footsteps coming up the stairs. Cherie burst through the door, half breathless, carrying a try laden with steaming tea and fresh rice porridge.
The girl paused when she saw the man sitting next to the bed, then she blushed before quickly regaining her composure.
“This should fix you right up,” she chirped.
Setting the tray on the bedside table, Cherie leaned over and whispered to the still seated man. “You have a visitor. Akio is waiting downstairs.”
“Akio…” Jenevier hissed out the name. “Akio Kazuto?” Her cold glare pierced the man by her bed.
The girl’s eyes widened. “So you know Akio as well? Hmm. You sure do keep odd company, Milady.”
Jenevier didn’t respond to the girl. She kept her gaze locked with Dimples.
“What have you done?” Her voice was icy. Her tone, flat. “Did you snatch me from one devil, only to deliver me to another?”
Throwing back the covers, she tried to stand.
Nilakanta stirred within her. Naga, what are you doing?
“Getting the hell out of here,” she grumbled.
“No, Milady. You must lie down. You’re not well enough to stand,” Cherie pleaded. “Wait. At least let me get you a robe.”
The girl headed toward the tiny closet in the corner. Jenevier took one step toward her and fell, stumbling across the room. Strong hands caught her before she had to suffer through the impact of the inevitable crash.
“Gratitude,” she said, gasping, trying to catch her breath.
Looking up, Jenevier saw the girl standing still, frozen, robe in hand as Dimples stood only a couple feet from her, eyes wide.
“Leave us,” the man now holding her said.
She spun toward the cold voice, struggling to free herself from his embrace.
“But, Milord—”
“I said… leave us.” He cut Dimples’s words off before they could even be given breath.
Cherie tiptoed over to her. “Your robe, Milady.”
Akio smiled. “Gratitude, but she won’t be needing it.”
“But, Milord—”
“I said… go.”
Cherie let out a little squeak before darting out of the room. Dimples left as well, but not before glaring at the other man threateningly.
Jenevier felt the tip of Akio’s nose against the side of her head. He inhaled deeply.
“Ahh. So nice to see you again, Kagi Naga. Were I blind, I would know you by scent alone.”
Jenevier shuddered.
Chapter 18
Duhrias
(duh-RYE-us)
Jenevier lay on her side, staring out the window at the waning day, refusing to turn when she heard the latch pop.
Although she could not sense who it was, Jenevier knew the weight of the approaching footfalls rendered Cherie an impossibility. It had to be Dimples.
He didn’t speak. Silence ruled the room for several minutes.
“Kagi Naga,” he finally whispered.
“Did you know?”
He didn’t answer.
“Did you know what Akio wanted with me?”
“I didn’t even know what you were. I was told to retrieve a package. Nothing more.”
“Then why did you not do as you were told? Why did you not deliver the package as commanded?”
He didn’t answer.
“Is it because when you saw what the package actually was… you knew my fate without being told?”
“…Yes.”
“Know this.” She growled through her words. “I will not go willingly. I will not be subject to that vile man, ever again.”
“I understand.”
“Do you? Do you truly?” She turned to face him then, ignoring the obvious guilt in his lovely emerald eyes. “Do you understand what I mean when I say nothing, absolutely nothing, will stop me? If you choose to stand in my way, you will forfeit your own life… and the life of that precious young girl you love so much.”
A smile turned up one corner of his mouth. “I understand, Kagi Naga. You are not my prisoner. I am but a sell-sword, not a slave master. If you decide to leave, the matter will not concern me. Akio’s men now stand as guards. Not I.”
She glanced behind him, toward the door. “How many?” she whispered.
“A bath has been prepared for you, Milady.” He picked up the discarded robe, speaking louder than necessary, and held it up for her. “You are to have all you need, all you desire. Lord Akio wishes to see you healed as soon as possible. Your medicinal bath now waits. I shall take you there, when you are ready.”
Jenevier looked from the man to the door and back to the man again. He winked.
When she tried to stand but only fell back against the bed, she finally broke down and started crying. Feeling the warmth of the robe draped across her shoulders, she gave in and allowed herself to be carried to the bathhouse.
“Do you wish me to stay?” he asked as he eased her into the blessed warmth.
“I need to be alone, if that is well with you, Dimples.”
He smiled softly. “I understand. But remember,” he whispered. “You are not alone. The walls have ears. I’ll bring you some soap and towels. Just relax. Let it all go, Kagi Naga.” He touched her cheek. “These springs are said to have healing powers. Magic flows through these waters, Milady.”
She slowly sank down into the warmth and tried her best… to let it all go.
*****
Blinking several times before she remembered where she was, Jenevier inhaled deeply, breathing in the steam… and suffering through the sharp pain in her side. She sighed.
“You fell asleep, Naga. I did not wish to disturb you.”
She didn’t turn toward the now familiar voice, only smiled.
“I have a confession, Dimples.”
A warm finger gently touched her lips. “Shhhh… not here, Naga,” he whispered.
Rising from the bath, she dried and slipped into the fresh tunic he had brought her.
Leaving the solitary bathhouse, they silently walked along the mountain trail. The sweet smell of recent rain still hung on the breeze. She smiled. That was one of her favorite smells.
Gently running her hands across the light pink silk, she closed her eyes and sighed.
“This garment… it feels like clouds.”
“Do you know what clouds feel like, Kagi Naga?”
She blushed. “No, of course not. That’s just what came to mind.”
“Hmm.” He cast her a sideways glance. “Up until now, you had not lied to me. Not once.”
She kicked a few leaves off their path. “Truly? And how could you be knowing a thing like that, Dimples?”
He smirked. “I have my ways.”
“I bet you do,” she mumbled under her breath.
“It seems the hot springs held a particularly powerful magic for you, Milady. I had to carry you to them, yet now I am having to struggle just to keep up.”
She half laughed. “You jest. Your stride is over twice mine.” She looked up at his closed smile. “Dimples, are you trying to cheer me up?”
He met her gaze. “Did it work?”
She kicked another leaf. “Well, let’s just say, it didn’t hurt.”
“I would never hurt you, Kagi Naga,” he said softly.
She waited a moment before responding. “…I know,” she whispered.
“We’re almost there.”
“Almost where, Dimples? Where are you taking me?”
“Somewhere we can talk in private. Somewhere safe, so you can make your confession to me.”
“Wha— I never said I would make—”
“I was only playing, Naga,” he teased. “Come, this way.” He took her hand, leading her toward a small waterfall.
The opening was so low even she had to bend over. But the cave was deceptively large on the inside, sprinkled about with strangely glowing stones.
Once behind the rhythmic fall of countless tiny drops, Duhrias released her hand.
He sighed. “Now we can speak freely, without fear our words will make it back to Akio.”
Jenevier turned back toward the entrance. “Will Cherie be all right by herself?”
He snorted out a laugh. “Don’t worry about that pretty little thing. There is more to Cherie than meets the eye.”
“I am beginning to believe that about most things here,” she mumbled to herself.
“So tell me, Kagi Naga. What did you wish to confess to me in the springs?”
She blushed slightly. “Oh, never mind. It was nothing. Really.”
He raised one eyebrow, crossed his arms, and waited.
Finally, she rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. “Oh, all right. I only meant to say that you are a unique creature in that…” She looked away nervously. “…I can never sense when you are near. That’s all.”
When he chuckled softly, she glared at him.
Duhrias cleared his throat. “Well now, that was some confession, Milady. I’ve been told many things by many beautiful women—they can’t get my charming smile off their mind, they dream about touching my dimples.”
He winked at her teasingly. She blushed again.
“I have been told that my soothing voice could lull the heart of a banshee, and even that my dazzling emerald eyes must have been stolen from a god… or a demon. The jury’s still out on that one.” He huffed out a sardonic laugh. “But never, in all my days, have I been told I was so inconsequential that my very presence was completely un-noteworthy.”
“I did not mean it like that.” She tapped one of the odd stones nearest her foot. “I didn’t even say it like that. What I meant was—”
Again, his finger was upon her lips, halting her words. “Shhh, little Naga. I was only teasing you. I find it extremely easy… an entertaining thing to do. Apologies. I cannot help myself.” He playfully tugged one of her unruly curls. “You don’t have to explain it. I understood what you were trying to say, what you meant.” He softly snorted. “You’re the first person to ever notice it, Kagi Naga. And from the very first moment you regained consciousness, too. I saw it in your eyes, Dragon girl. You knew there was something different about me, something off.”
She barely nodded her head at his words.
He chuckled. “There’s no point in tryi
ng to hide with you, is there, Naga? No point in trying to pretend.”
She snorted out a laugh. “Hide? Pfft. That’s the one thing you could easily do, Dimples. I just told you, I never even know when you are there.”
Duhrias smiled with only one corner of his mouth. “Well now, Naga. I have a couple confessions of my own to make. Come with me.” He took her hand once more, leading her deeper into the cave. “Watch your head right here. There’s a low spot.”
She gripped his hand tighter as the daylight slowly faded and their darkened path seemed to swallow them.
“What is it, Naga? Why do you tremble?”
He pulled her closer, wrapping his arm protectively around her shoulders.
“…The darkness envelops me,” she whispered. “The last time I felt darkness as tangible as this… I nearly lost my dearest friend in the whole universe. No… friend will never be an adequate word for Vittorio.”
“Nearly lost him?”
She nodded her head, but he couldn’t see it.
“Yes. He yet lives. Thank the gods. I would have seen to my own… if death had claimed that valiant Guardian.”
“You loved him.”
She silently nodded again. “Love is too gentle a word to describe my heart in his regard.”
Jenevier felt soft lips press against her temple.
“We should all be so lucky,” he whispered into her hair. “If every creature was blessed thusly, war wouldn’t even be a word.” He gave her shoulders a little squeeze. “Come, Naga. It’s not much further now. I will be your eyes, little one. No harm will find you. I swear it.”
True to his word, they hadn’t gone much farther when she saw a dim glow ahead of them.
“Wow… What is it? It looks magical. Is it magical? Pixies—is it a giant Pixie nest?”
“I’ll not spoil the surprise, Naga. We’re almost there.” He chuckled. “Has that vast curiosity of yours never gotten you into trouble? You were trembling in fear two heartbeats ago. Now, you are all but shaking with anticipation.”
She released a tiny giggle. “I do not call it curiosity. I much prefer wonderment. And yes… it has gotten me into trouble, mountains of trouble. You, yourself, only just rescued me from my most recent bout with said affliction.”
