I walked to him and touched his shoulder. “You have that much faith in me?”
He clasped my hand to his heart; I could feel the racing beat from under his tunic. “I have always had faith in you, my Halíka. Always.”
I took in a deep breath and sighed. “Okay, I just want to know one thing, and I’m not arguing with you now. Why didn’t you ever message me? Or send some small indication that you still cared this much?”
He closed his eyes. “I sent you hundreds of messages. The Skeptics had them all intercepted. Every one was returned ‘message blocked.’ Halíka, since I left, not a day has gone by when I haven’t worried about you. About whether you made it safely through a fight, about whether you had … I don’t know … a limb cut off. I have never even looked at any of the palace girls because not one of them could ever compare to you.”
I gave him an understanding nod. “Nerído?”
“Yes, Halíka?”
“You said that my bracelet was the first present. What’s the next?”
“Ah, yes, well. In spite of our conversation just now, and the fact that tomorrow we’re going to commit high treason on the grandest scale—”
“Go on.”
“I was going to wait but now—”
“Nerí, you’re killing me here. Just spit it out.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny wooden box, placing it beside him on the desk. “Remember earlier when I spoke about Jerik taking over your duties? Well, at the time I’d been thinking that I could take you away with me for a short while, but—”
“But what? Now you don’t want to?”
“No, now I really do.”
“So—”
“Halíka, let me say this right, please.” He held my hands in his grasp and lightly rubbed my palms. “When you’re out there on the battlefield with your captains and your soldiers, when you fight, you are the strongest, toughest, fiercest woman I know. Sometimes you scare me at how hardened you are.”
“But that’s just—”
“No, I know what you’re going to say. I know it’s who you really are and I love that person. She’s someone I admire so much.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’m saying that I feel honoured that I get to see the real you. When you’re with me, you turn into this soft, beautiful, lighthearted woman whom I adore. That woman who stirs something inside me to a point that I can’t bear to be without her. I never see that woman with anyone else. Not Cary, not her brother, no one. Halíka, I think I know how you feel about me but—”
He looked down at our hands, somewhat crestfallen.
“But what?”
“You never say it, Hal. I’ve never, ever heard you say the word. Not even with those closest to you.”
“What word?”
“Love,” he sighed and rested his hand on my cheek, cupping my face. “The word is love. Is Halíka Dacomé capable of such a thing?”
“But I say it all the time! I said it to Jerik today! Well, I almost did—”
“And when was the last time you told him?”
I puffed out my cheeks trying to remember. “Um, I don’t know, sometime back maybe?”
“And what about Cary?”
I shook my head. “I can’t remember—”
“So what about me? Do you love me?”
I couldn’t stop the gurgled laugh that escaped. “You know I do!”
“So tell me.”
“Nerí, come on—”
He nodded softly and dropped my hands. “If you can’t tell me how you really feel—if you can’t drop your guard with me when we’re alone—then this feels more one-sided than ever.”
“Nerí, please, don’t do this.”
He raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, let me say it first. Halíka, I love you. I love you more than anyone or anything. And I don’t want to be without you anymore. Now, if you love me, then please, just say it,” he pleaded with sorrowful eyes that punctured my soul to look at.
I breathed in deeply, picked up his hands again, and stared straight into his eyes. “Nerído, third son of Nardin, of the Xipilé clan. My childhood friend, you are the heart of my life.” I brushed my fingers over his cheek. He closed his eyes, enjoying the closeness of my touch. Between my palms, I held his face close to mine. “Hear me when I say this: I love you, truly, desperately, madly, and deeply. I love you so much. My life is nothing without you.”
His chin quivered and a small tear hung in his eye. He pushed his forehead against mine and whispered, “Thank you.”
I closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of his skin against mine, of his soft, light breath on my cheek. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and drew him nearer. He held me back so tight, soothed down my shoulders with his palms, and kissed lightly into my hair before holding me away.
He cleared his throat and sniffed a little. This small show of emotion touched me deeply. I was reluctant to let him go.
He reached to his side, picked up the box, and composed himself.
“So, I brought something else for you. I’m hopeful, of course,” he said shyly, his voice still strained, “but I would really like to know if you would marry me.”
He flicked open the lid and inside, two marriage crystals lay connected. The two half crystals made a whole, the true symbol of love and marriage. The small, delicately formed chains were already through the links. He picked one of the chains and held it up for me to see. The cream-smooth crystal must’ve been worth a fortune, far more than the ship that we now stood within.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Really? Is it such a hard choice to choose between your Primord friend and me?”
“No, but, this is really sudden. No Dacomé has ever joined in union with a different Elemental.”
He placed the crystal on the side of the desk and draped his fingers down my cheek to my neck.
“So we can be the first. Let me show you how much I love you. After that, you can decide.”
His warm hands on both sides of my face, he pulled me closer until our lips lightly touched. A light moan escaped from somewhere inside me as I melted against his body. His lips became more eager and I let him hold my head against his own. To feel his mouth, his lips. To feel him so close was like nothing I had ever felt before. We had never been this intimate, and I loved it.
Mesmerised by the flood of emotions running through my body, I threaded my fingers through his hair and pulled slightly at the base, forcing his head back. I kissed his chin and ran light kisses along his jaw to his ear. He pushed his chest out to me in surrender and squeezed me tightly against it. His heart raced, trying to keep up with my own.
“Yes,” I whispered into his ear.
“Yes?”
I boldly grabbed at the tie on his tunic top and pulled it free. His chest was bare and perfectly formed. Chest muscles pushed through his flawless skin and the contours of his torso left me speechless. He really was so beautiful.
I ran my fingers slowly from his clavicle to his trouser string and heard the rush of breath pass through his teeth as it became more rapid.
“Halíka, you’d better stop.” His hand pressed against my neck and pushed away fabric, exposing my bare shoulder.
“I had?”
“You’ve just agreed to marry me, do you realise that?”
“Oh, I know,” I said as my palm passed over his stomach and moved around to press hard against his back, pulling him closer. He tilted his head slightly, letting me stroke his neck with my lips. His skin was exquisitely soft and his aroma was mesmerising He pushed my hair away and ran a palm down my spine, sending excited shivers through my body, enough to make me gasp aloud.
“In doing so, you’re about to commit treason, again,” he wiped my hair back and kissed my neck. His warm lips crept down to my throat as his hands undid the fastenings of my dress allowing it to open.
“I know that too.” My fingers found the edge of his shirt and I deftly pushed i
t away. It felt silently to the floor.
“Halíka, I’ve wanted you like this for so long. I need to know if you want me to stop.” He pulled my head forward until our foreheads touched. “Tell me this is what you want.”
I stared into his sapphire eyes and reached around to hold him so tight. His skin against mine was all I wanted to feel at this moment and as I looked into those pools of blue, I knew that I had never wanted anything so much in all my life.
“Nerí, I love you and I want you,” I whispered. He picked me up, wrapped my legs around his waist, and walked to the bed.
We fell into each other’s arms, our lips pressed together, sometimes roughly and other times so tenderly, and for the first time, everything in my life felt so right.
Chapter 9 - The Two Houses
“Cary, wake up,” I whispered. “Come on, Cary, I need you.”
My cousin, always a heavy sleeper, didn’t stir as I entered her bedroom. Even as I opened the creaky bedroom door, it hadn’t disturbed her slumber. Cary rarely drank anything strong like the wine at our earlier meal, but her slightly slurred speech when I’d left her at dinner explained much. I didn’t begrudge her. Cary was my closest friend. During our childhood she looked after me and in a way, I looked after her.
But tonight, waking her was like waking the dead.
“Cary!” I shook her body much heavier than before. She threw an arm against the pillow above her head.
“What?” She opened her bleary eyes. “What’s going on? Halíka?”
“Yes, it’s me! I need you to get up and come with me. Something fantastical has happened!”
She sat up and wiped her mouth with her hand. Her dishevelled hair stuck in the oddest directions. “Can’t this wait till morning?”
“Oh no! Cary, I need you to dress in something nice. Now get up, please.”
“Okay. Okay. Look, this is me getting up.” Cary threw her legs over the bed and gingerly stepped onto the cold, tiled floor. I was already at her wardrobe flicking through her clothes to find something suitable. A long, cream-coloured, beaded tunic and dark matching trousers fell under my hand. They were perfect.
“Here, put these on.” I threw the clothes at her while I changed out of Avíra’s dress and found my army battle suit. The fine green tassels and braids edged my jacket and the dark grey long skirt had a gold-edged piping down the side. There had only been three other occasions when I’d worn it, but for some reason, I didn’t want to get married in anything else.
Cary struggled to put her clothes on in the darkness, so I pushed a small ball of light into my palm in order for her to see more clearly. “Halíka. What am I doing getting dressed at this time of morning? Is it morning? Or is it still night? Where’s Zaquinto?”
My skirt was on, my tunic tucked in. I grabbed the jacket and held the light ball up again.
“It’s just after midnight. Zaquinto is with Jerik. And you, Cary, you’re going to be my witness. Are you ready?”
She brushed her hair in three swipes of the comb and followed me out of the door.
“You look lovely,” I said, remembering a previous conversation.
“What? Halíka, what’s wrong with you? I’ve never seen you like this before.”
I grabbed her hand and ran along the bottom of our house towards the landing site.
“Come on, Cary. We need to be quick!”
I walked fast and was painfully aware that she was gasping and mumbling under her breath. Luckily, she was still half-asleep, so anything I’d said was still sinking in.
“I don’t get it. First you haul me out of the most amazing dream with that soldier I met tonight, then you tell me I look lovely, then you tell me I’m to be a witness.”
She grabbed my arm, forcing me to stop. “Halíka Dacomé, what exactly am I being a witness to?”
I giggled. “Nerído Xipilé and I are getting married! Now! The minute we get there!”
Cary’s face hung in disbelief. “No! Halíka, you can’t marry him. Yes, tonight I said you should sleep with him, but marry? You’re out of your mind, girl!”
I laughed. “No, Cary, I’m not! Tomorrow I’m going to take over my father’s rule and assume leadership of the Xiryathon Elementals. We’re finally going to end this war, Cary. Don’t you understand what that means?”
I started moving again, keeping my pace quick as Cary fell in behind me, her mouth constantly talking.
“I was right, you are out of your mind,” she said, stunned. “What are you doing? Taking over the rule? When did that get decided? Oh, I’m all for ending this war, and your father’s done a useless job, but this is treason. What’s my mother going to say? She’s going to have a seizure, I know it.”
“Then don’t tell her.”
“She’s the king’s sister! How can I not tell her? She’ll be hurt if you don’t tell her straight, and I suppose, she’ll be hurt if you do. But to marry a Xipilé?”
Above us the stars twinkled in the night sky, bright enough to guide the way. The pale golden lights of the landing platform were almost in view. Cary’s short, stumbling steps were trying to match my own. I stopped for a second to let her catch her breath. She was still wide-eyed, looking at me as if I were a stranger who’d just dragged her out of bed in the middle of the night.
“Cary, cousin,” I said, grabbing her hand, “it’s never bothered me that he’s a Xipilé. Why should it? I’ve loved him since I was a little girl. From when we used to play together in the Ulnek Mountains catching river frogs with our bare hands, from our camping nights on the Feral Plains with my mother. There has never been anyone else but him.”
Cary tutted and held my face in her hands. “Halíka, I know all that. I’m not doubting or questioning you. I know how much he means to you and he loves you, all the better. But this is something really serious that you’re doing. You could upset the alliances with the other planets just by joining together. You know what people think of the Xipilés. They’re dangerous, not to be trusted.”
“Cary, please.”
She paused. “But, I’m happy to say that in all the time I’ve known Nerído, which is longer than you, I might add, I’ve never had any reason to doubt him. Taking over from your father? That’s got to sink in a little. But I think you would do a great job and let’s face it, you could do no worse.”
She beamed and pulled me into her arms. “You have my blessing, crazy girl.”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
She stood back and shook herself together. “Right, then, let’s get going. You’re going to marry the love of your life. How many girls can wish for that?”
Her laughter surrounded us and we linked arms and walked together to my wedding.
Avíra and Sanátu were already waiting in their battledress. As was Captain Orelían, who I’d spoken to earlier. Being a female captain has some advantages. Not only did she have a soft heart for a love story but she was also extremely defiant against my father’s reign. She’d thought him weak for a long time but had always carefully chosen her words when in my presence. I admired her gutsiness for that.
When I’d told her about Nerído and me, telepathically, she’d been over the moon. “About time we shook up the system a little and stopped being backwater rabbits like the Primords. I’ll be there, Halíka Dacomé. It’ll be an honour.”
Tonight Orelían had chosen her grey battle gown with green sash across. I think she’d also brushed her hair.
Healer Jzan was presiding over the ceremony so it would be a Xipilé wedding rather than a Dacomé one. We arrived at the same time as Nerído, who had Jerik in tow, followed by Zaquinto. It surprised me a little that Jerik was wearing a Xipilé uniform, identical to Nerído, whose black jacket was sewn in expertly to his small waist. Nerído’s two knives hung at each hip, and the long, dark blue trousers fitted perfectly.
I stopped just before joining them and cast a look at Cary, her smile stretched from ear to ear.
“Well, go on, then. What are you waiting
for?” she whispered.
“This is right, isn’t it?” The rush of doubt flipped into my head so quickly.
“Of course it is. Just look at him.” She nodded and I stole a look at my beloved. Nerído was engaged in a casual chat with Avíra, Sanátu, and Orelían. He looked more nervous than I was. As I stood mesmerised, he caught my eye and we held our gaze for a moment. A tender smile curled his lips. His dark hair shone from the centre of his head and the deep red glow crept around him like a halo around the moons’ light. He looked so content.
“See,” Cary breezed back at me. “What can go wrong? He’s glowing like a burning fire. You know that means he’s happy.”
I had to hold my breath for a moment to clear my eyes. “Okay, let’s go.”
Cary moved forward but then stopped. “Oh, wait a minute.”
She ran towards a flowering honey bush, grabbed randomly at the flowering stalks, and rushed to put them into my hands. “You can’t get married without flowers.”
I laughed at her. “Thank you, Cary.”
She reached up and kissed my cheek before linking my arm through hers. “Right, let’s break the rules for once.”
We walked slowly towards the small ceremony table as Healer Jzan waited patiently for me to arrive. I handed the flowers back to Carinder and she took her place beside Avíra.
Jerik, Avíra, Sanátu, and even Orelían hugged me before I joined Nerído at the front. Although our small ceremony of eight would seem out of place by royal standards, I had everyone here I wanted.
“I stand before you in these unusual circumstances to announce this marriage between the House of Dacomé and the House of Xipilé. Is there anyone here tonight who objects to the joining of these two people?” Healer Jzan waited and I stole a glance at Jerik whose face wore a permanent grin.
The Battle for Arcanon Major (The Lost Dacomé Files) Page 8
