Shadows of the Night (Kingdom Key Book 2)

by TylerRose.

“He did. He said she’s a whore and it wouldn’t surprise him if she’d consented to the whole thing. She herself is not shouting that he be brought to justice.”

  “I think your father does not understand the enemies he makes by being so coldhearted toward a maturing goddess. Have a good night.”

  Mankell called Shestna next, to ask what security measures had been put in place around her new home.

  Screen blank, Mankell rethought himself as well. He had been presumptuous. He hadn’t considered her feelings, her difficult days. He hadn’t considered anything about her had altered when, in fact, she was greatly transformed by these few months since he’d last seen her. She still had that gentle inner being but was growing a shell around it, around herself. He had seen it already, though it had cracked apart.

  Of a sudden, he had an overwhelming urge to be with her. Not to have her, but to watch over her. He sat behind her on the bed, the light shining off long, thin stripes that radiated out like a sun from a small circle between her shoulder blades. She still bore the scars from the device that had been under her skin.

  He could not help himself. A fingertip traced a smooth, shining line. She lifted, waking with the touch and he kissed her bare shoulder.

  “I am sorry, Zitara. I was raised to collect and use women for my own purposes but not to love them. I loved Lenore. She was much like you. I find my sorrow for her diminishes by the moment whenever I am with you. I must admit that I did orchestrate this evening with you. The minute I knew you were on the station, I could think of nothing but being with you. I have missed you terribly. I really have. More than any Gar should ever admit. In my eagerness to see you, to be alone with you, I forgot to consider you. For that, I am most grievously sorry.”

  He kissed her shoulder again.

  “Will you please forgive me?”

  “Keep doing that and I might.”

  He kissed a line across her right shoulder and down her side.

  “How should I please you?” he asked, hand sliding down the front of her gown to press his fingers into the spot where her thighs met her sex. “Tell me what you want me to do. What would please you best?”

  “I seem to recall you were very good with your mouth.”

  He smiled to himself, glad not to be told to take his hands off her.

  “As my Zitara wishes,” he said softly, kissing her shoulder one last time.

  She turned as he slid down.

  “No,” he stopped her when she reached to open the clasp of the dress. “Leave it.”

  He left the bed long enough to strip to his skin and, for the first time in his life, the woman in his bed wore more clothing than he did. He pushed the dress up her legs to bare her thighs and began the kisses again, each moving farther up as he spoke his thoughts.

  “Here the pale beauty lies, offended by the Gar in me. I command my land. I rule my House without question. Yet I am slave to her every want. Should it be known, I would be undone by the mockery of my peers. To lose her heart is my one mortal fear.”

  Another push of the soft material and her sex was revealed. He began a most loving veneration of her, worshiping the woman and the goddess until she was writhing on the bed like he was exorcising a demon from her soul. A powerful demon he had found, one that slammed fists into the bed, drove fingertips into his shoulder and cursed the universe with the most foul of language.

  “May your servant join with you, my goddess? May he attempt to satisfy your need?”

  “I think I like it when you grovel,” she said, breathless from her twentieth orgasm. She kissed him as he came up to her eye level.

  “I would grovel at your feet if it would hasten your forgiveness, so that I might live again in your good graces.”

  “You’re forgiven. Drop the goddess shit and fuck me already.”

  A command he was happy to obey, and was pleased with himself when she went directly to sleep when he finished with her two hours later. He took the opportunity to look at her fingertips, seeing what he had felt. Rather than the edge of her nails, he’d felt flat pads digging into his back. She wore little rubbery tips. Taking one off, he saw the silver glint of a blade on the end of her fingernail. He put the tip back and settled in to sleep.

  Movement in his arms woke him.

  “Feel better now?” he asked.

  “The problem with sexual satisfaction is that it is temporary.”

  “I always thought that was the best part,” he said, and reached for her hands to take two tips off both hands. “Especially with you.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “I want you to do what you normally do but without a few tips.”

  “But I’ll cut you all over the place,” she protested as he moved into position.

  “I know.”

  “It’ll hurt. You’ll bleed.”

  “Yes and I hope so. Would it help if I started you in this position?” he asked, putting her arms over her head and pinning her there by the wrists.

  He didn’t give her time to answer, penetrating her anus to see her ecstasy play out over her face. There was that demon again, insatiable and unconquerable. A moment only and he let her arms up. Around his back they went at once to dig and grip, and he was treated to an exquisite pain that fueled his own lust to new depths and heights simultaneously.

  “Zitara,” he whispered each time his passion crested in the sensation of orgasm without ejaculation, and resumed with more force.

  He struck deep and she shuddered under him in a new way, breath completely stolen and fingers gripping so tight all four razors pierced at once. His seed burst forth out of his control. Breathless and collapsing together, he knew this time had been different for her. Not because he let her keep her razors, but something inside had changed in this last moment. She was gasping for air in a way she hadn’t before. Her pulse raced in a new way, felt like sharp points against his finger on her wrist.

  He put the tips back on her nails and let her rest a while. He showered to rinse the blood off his back, enjoying the sharp stings of water on open wounds. An exquisite sensation he would associate with her for the rest of his life, whether she ever came back to him or not.

  She was awake when he came out from the bathing room, dressing in pants and shirt rather than the loosely draping toga. When she was ready to leave, he took her to the infirmary himself. Not to visit Mariah, at least not yet; but to see the doctor.

  “What for?” Dr. Dheez asked.

  “I think you should check her reproductive ability. She is mostly Sistarian and, until now, unable to conceive.”

  “Thank you for speaking like I’m not even here,” she complained.

  Dr. Dheez looked to her, opening his mouth to say something, and realized she was correct.

  “My apologies, Tyler. Will you allow me to examine you? You’re about the right age for your cervix to open. If it has, you will want to take precautions, I’m sure. Sistarians breed very easily across most species.”

  “Fine,” she rolled her eyes at him, and got up onto the examination table.

  Mankell stepped out with the Doctor’s request, to give doctor and patient their privacy. The scan took ten seconds.

  “Your cervix has opened. It’s slightly dilated now from stimulation. You had a really hard shake?” Dr. Dheez asked.

  “Yes.”

  “That’s how you know your body is ripe for conception. You will have that particular shaking sensation that steals your breath away. Then you want more force. It’s instinctive. The Sistarian cervix responds to the impact. If the body is ready to conceive, the cervix will begin to open more. It usually stops around a centimeter, to allow semen to be deposited directly into the uterus. Sperm have less distance to travel and are more likely to survive, as the vagina itself is a hostile environment for sperm.”

  “Earth doctors always said I was not able to conceive,” she said. “I never had periods.”

  “Menstrual cycles on Earth are on Earth. Not every planet does it that way. Sist
arians do not have a menstrual cycle like that. I see there is live semen present now. You could become impregnated. Do you want me to neutralize them? Or do you want to take your chances?”

  “Would you tell him you’d done that?”

  “It is no one’s business but yours, Tyler.”

  “Then yes, neutralize them. I don’t want kids yet. Maybe not at all.”

  A few buttons and he told her to lie still. “You’ll feel a warming sensation.”

  Fast and filling her lower belly and then subsiding back to normal.

  “Done. I show 100% eradication. You can sit up. Let’s talk contraceptive for the future. I can offer you several things. A pill you take once a week. An implant in your arm that you’ll have to have replaced every year. Or I can give you a teleport infusion three times a year.”

  “What’s the implant thing look like?”

  He showed her a small disc about the size of a quarter.

  “What’s the teleport infusion thing do?”

  “Prevents your eggs from maturing. You can be up to two weeks late for your next infusion. After that, you’re viable again.”

  “I’ll go with that and your office can set the next date and send me a reminder two weeks before my next dose,” she said. “I won’t be missing them, believe me.”

  “I do believe you. It seems everything else is fine. You’re healthy as can be. Any headaches?”

  “Nothing out of the ordinary like before my Widening.”

  “Good. We’ll call this your annual exam and you’re on your way.”

  Going out into the hallway, Tyler delayed Mankell’s questions by heading for Mariah’s room.

  “I’ll talk to you later, okay?” she said at the door. “She doesn’t need to meet new people right now.”

  “As you choose. May I orchestrate another night together, beginning with supper?”

  “I don’t know right now. We’ll see how I feel later.”

  She went inside and shut the door on him. A more complex woman did not exist. He was certain of that.

  In the end, she did spend the night with him. He had to return home the next morning and she was meeting with the doctor and Mariah to decide when she could leave.

  Chapter Seven

  Dr. Dheez refused to rush it. Tyler agreed. Two more days of being monitored and taught how to deal with the gnawing sensation in her gut, and the blasted hand tremors, Mariah was more than eager to leave the station. She agreed to the doctor’s every condition and stipulation just to be allowed to leave.

  Before teleporting home, Tyler called Mankell to request those two men they’d spoken about. Getting Mariah home, putting Neverseens on the job until she got back, Tyler ported to K’Tran to get them. Saber and Volf were ready with travel sacks over their shoulders. She ported them first to a spot in On’R market so they could talk without House ears listening.

  “Here’s the deal. She was made to be addicted to Rovan. Not bad, but bad enough. Starting in a couple more days, she’ll be with me during the daytime. We are couriers for the Congress. While we’re working, you two sleep. When we sleep, you two are awake. You do not let her be alone for a single second. Not even in the toilet. When I no longer worry that she’s going to hurt herself, you’ll go back home to Gar Mankell. Might be weeks. Might be months.”

  “We understand, Lar Tyler,” Saber said with no hint of his usual humor.

  “Remember to be friendly. Be the brothers she never had. Keep your dicks in your pants no matter what she tries.”

  They tapped their phones to hers and traded names and numbers before she teleported them to her home.

  “When Mariah leaves the house, she has to wear one of these badges at all times. Do you know about the Psala flower?” she asked, showing them the pins on the side table by the door.

  “Yes, we know. We know much about Voran through visits from the Ambassador and Prince Shestna,” Ch’Wik said.

  “Good. I don’t have to catch you up. Her room is back here.”

  Both men took a badge, to always have one in case Mariah should forget, and followed Tyler through the door. Mariah was in the walled yard, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air.

  “Mariah, this is Saber and Volf. They are two of the men who stood guard over me when I was on K’Tran. They’re good men. I trust them like brothers. They’re going to help you when I can’t be with you. Just for a while, as companions and to help prevent some Voranian asshole from tricking you.”

  “One hasn’t so far.”

  “We’ll keep it that way,” Tyler said, bending to kiss her where she sat on the bench. “Go wherever you want within the Principality but remember the doctor’s orders. I have to do some courier work. I can’t take more time off.”

  She teleported to Julian’s office first, to see if she could work alone as Alen did. He allowed it, and her first stop was Ercoli.

  “Eremite Abbot at the Temple of Rue and Woe? Sounds like a happy place. What’s an Eremite? Where’s the temple?”

  “I have no idea. I’m sure they’ll tell you when you get to the Congressional embassy.”

  “You’re sending me on a wild goose chase, aren’t you?” she questioned.

  “It is not my fault where the packages have to go, Tyler.”

  “No, but you just happen to have this particular one sitting here waiting for me to show up whenever I showed up, rather than in the Courier office for anyone to take.”

  She had him there and he didn’t deny it.

  “Get going already,” he said.

  She gave him a half-humored scowl, but teleported to the Congressional embassy on Ercoli.

  “Where is this?” she asked the attendant on duty.

  She read the label, brow creasing. “Goodness. Ummm…I’m not sure which one this is for. There are five Temples of Rue and Woe around the planet. I don’t know which one is led by an Emerite Abbot.”

  “Who would know?”

  “Probably someone within a temple of that order. One is led by the Emerite Abbot. Another has an Archabbot. That’s about as far as my knowledge goes. I’ve never had need to go to one. I’m sorry.”

  “Can you get me the locations of each one?” Tyler asked, about to get very irritated with this small box.

  “General locations, yes. Temples don’t have actual addresses. Some of them change entrances periodically. Give me a minute to pull them up.”

  “Great.”

  The printer rolled out a map with the embassy in the center and the coordinates for the Temples of Rue and Woe next to their dots all around the world.

  “Do they have modern communication ability? Telephone or view screens?” Tyler asked.

  “No. All temples live the old ways. The most advanced tech they have is a six burner stove with a double oven.”

  “Well, that’s something. Thank you.”

  “Good luck on your delivery. I wouldn’t want to have to do it.”

  Tyler said nothing more, leaving the building to look for the nearest library to use their computer. She looked up the closest location to see if the listing gave the name or title of the highest authority for that temple. The third farthest was the one she wanted. Emerite Abbot was indeed the title and was filled by a man named Ne’Idi. The next person under him was the Prioress, a woman named Oupa Tav. The entrance alternated between the north side and the south side. North side on even days. South on odd. Today was an even day.

  She plugged the coordinates into her vidpad and zoomed in with the latest satellite map to see what it looked like. An empty field. The temple might have been cloaked. Or underground. That information was not given. Erasing her search path, she took the computer back to its start screen and picked up the package from off her lap.

  She stopped herself, sat down again to log back on, and looked up Temple of the Immaculate. Yes, it existed; but there were no coordinates given. There was no title for the top person. No name or title for anyone. No satellite images of anything.

  With a sigh, she per
formed the erasing again and went back to the start screen for the next person. She went into the restroom to use the facility and waited for it to be empty before teleporting to the North entrance of the temple.

  There it was. An open archway of stone. Walking through it, she saw…the same meadow. Flowers blowing in the breeze, the sun setting because they were much farther East here. She went back to the arch, finding the shape of a hand in one side. Putting her hand in it did not do anything. She looked at the other side. There was a footprint the toes pointed upwards.

  “Seriously?” she asked the air.

  One had to lift a foot forward to reach the footprint and then extend an arm to the handprint. She had to hold the package against her chest, as it was too thick a square to hold with one hand. The temple appeared around her. Taking her hand and foot down, it vanished again. She put hand and foot up once more and held the position.

  “Hello! I have a package for the Emerite!” she called, teleporting it to the floor inside the temple.

  No one came and no one called from a distance. She teleported herself to the package, the arch disappearing but the building remaining. Picking it up, she went into the next room. At once there was upset chatter. She’d not done it right and the friars watching were not happy about it. Preferring not to play games, she sat on the first thing that looked like a bench and waited.

  She took the time to sit in silence and breathe out the stress of the last half week, and remember with fondness the time she’d spent with Mankell. She could sit here until the end of her normal shift, go back to Voran, and come back in the morning directly to this spot if she had to. She could bring a lunch and wait them out as needed and still get paid the same. Courier work was by the hour, not by the delivery.

  She resisted the urge to call the guys and ask how things were going. A text, however, she had to send. She got one back within three minutes. Not horrible, considering where she was.

  “You are not in the arch.”

  A woman’s voice. The Prioress.

  “I have not come for the services of the temple. I’m just delivering a package from someone at the Celestial Congress,” Tyler replied, pointing to it next to her on the bench while reading that Mariah was not eating. “It’s for the Emerite Abbot. Unless he’s left and the Prioress has taken his place. Then it’s for her. Whoever the Emerite is right now gets it because it’s addressed to the title, not a specific person.”