by Tenaya Jayne
Easy, harmless lies.
She simpered at him. "Poor thing. I'll always be here to comfort you. And you can favor me with a place of esteem in the castle."
Leramiun hid his smile. Mercenary, he thought. He got up and went to his dressing table, quickly selecting a gaudy ring with a blue stone, and brought it back to her. "Here," he laid it in her palm. "You shall have the finest clothes, and I pledge to you I shall never be with another from the harem. You shall be known as my chosen mistress."
Her cheeks flushed with pleasure and excitement. But he had yet to seal the deal.
"And," he continued. "You shall be moved to your own apartments in the castle. A special place just for you where we can be together…and you shall have a servant."
Huge tears rolled down her cheeks. "Oh, my lord, you've made me so happy!"
"Good, because I need you now."
She made to remove her dress. Leramiun stopped her hands.
"No. I wish I had the time, but right now, the way I need you is to keep my confidence."
"I don't understand."
"I am leaving. No one knows. I'm going alone. I will be back in three days, or less. Until I return, you shall stay right here in this room. Don't open the door for anyone. Tell anyone who asks that I am sleeping, or engaged with you, and I don't wish to be disturbed. Understand?"
She nodded.
"Good." He kissed her hand again. "When I return I'll make good on all I have promised you, unless you betray my confidence."
She clasped the blue ring to her heart. "I shall never betray you!"
Leramiun went to his closet and stripped out of his dinner clothes and into a plain shirt, trousers, and traveling cloak. He strapped on the plainest sword he could find in his room and slid a dagger into his boot.
"Do you think anyone will recognize me?" he asked Helena.
"Probably not, my lord. You have not been out of the castle much since taking the throne, have you?"
"No. In fact, I haven't been off the grounds since my coronation."
"You're not putting yourself in danger, are you?"
He shook his head as he reached into his top drawer and pulled out two silver balls hanging from chains. He hung one around his neck and smashed the other between his palms. Helena grabbed ahold of one of the bedposts for support as a portal opened and pulled at its surroundings. Leramiun winked at her before stepping into the rushing center of the portal. It closed after him, leaving Helena alone and windblown.
Leramiun stumbled as he landed on the uneven terrain. The shadow of the Lair stretched across the ground and injected cold into the night. He was just where he wanted to be; in between werewolf territory, the wild forests, and the ragtag camps of the shifters. The mass grave was supposed to be close by.
He pulled his hood up over his head and moved off into the thick trees away from the Lair. He listened carefully to the night around him. There was nothing. He began berating himself. What the hell am I doing? Out here all alone with no guard? And what could he learn in the middle of the night anyway? A mass grave could mean a number of bad things; new phantom guardians, confused and bloodthirsty, among other undesirable things. He wasn't an investigator. Why was he here?
Leramiun took a deep breath. This was where he needed to be, his gut persisted. He should just go home, choose a bride off that exasperating list, and behave like a king. He lifted the End of the Bridge hanging around his neck and held it in his palm. His fingers came down around it, pressing, when suddenly a noise startled him. Leramiun held totally still, not even daring to breathe when the sound came again…laughter…and music. He followed the sound deep into the darkness where the branches overhead shut out the moonlight.
Chapter 3
Shi smiled vaguely at anyone who caught her eye or spoke to her, wishing she could escape the party entirely. Being jealous of her sister was crude. But try as she might, the jealousy wouldn't go away. She was a Verdant after all, while Shea was merely a breeder. Shi held the place of reverence, so why couldn't she just join in the merriment with everyone else and be happy?
Why did she care? She didn't want a child. Did she? Shi shook the longing away. The Verdant were barren. Forbidden to love anyone but the flame. Shi placed her hand on her stomach and was overwhelmed with a moment of sorrow. She didn't even have a womb. How was it right that the grafter removed it in her infancy? No one asked her what she wanted.
Shea laughed and hugged a well-wisher who presented her with a gift. The joyful noise sounded in Shi's ears like a scream. She had to get away. Take hold of her base emotions so she, too, could wish her sister well and mean it, before the night was out.
She wove her way through the crowd to the outskirts. When she reached the boundary, no one seemed to be on guard, everyone was enjoying the party. She looked out at the dark, twisting arms of the wild and shuddered with an unusual desire to dive into it.
"Shi?"
She started at the sound of her name and turned around.
"Oh, Ree. You scared me."
The warrior gave her a little bow. "I'm sorry. What are you doing out here?"
"I just needed a little solitude."
He nodded. "You're a bit far out. I can't let you go any farther."
She smiled at him. "Don't worry. I wasn't going anywhere. I just wanted to see the stars."
He looked up. "Not a great night for them. Too many clouds. Well, you should head back. I'm the only one on guard right now. Nar is late. It's his turn to hold the boundary and let me go enjoy the party."
"Would you like me to get a drink and bring it to you?"
Ree blinked at her for a second. "Really? That would be great! Thanks, Shi."
"No problem." She turned and walked back the same way she'd come.
"I'll be in the east corridor," Ree called.
"Okay."
She walked a few more paces and stopped, listening. Ree walked off toward the east. Creeping as quietly as she could, Shi slid through the shadows and past the boundary. The rush of doing something new and off-limits spread through her. She'd never been out this far.
Shi ran her hands on the bark of the trees in the wild. None of them were like her. They were all bound, silent ones. They held their spirits deep inside and didn't walk in any corporeal form. Shi didn't know if she felt sorry for them or not. Maybe they were happy as they were.
As Shi continued farther and farther away from her home, a small pull in her back began to alert her she was going too far away from her other half. She wondered when she reached her limit would she break in two, or would she just not be able to move any farther? This might be her only chance to test it.
****
Leramiun walked cautiously through the shadows when he turned a bend and stumbled upon a crossroad, not a crossroad on a path, but one in the direction of his life. The previous road abandoned, the previous goal forgotten. He was unflinchingly convinced destiny had brought him here to this spot at this moment. All thoughts of thrones, brides, and politics simply vanished from his mind. Even his own identity was lost the moment he laid eyes on her.
Leramiun's pupils contracted against the luminescence of her skin. The glow radiating through her pores was blue-ish green, tinged with gold. The very essence of life shone from her. The pain of desire bit down deep as though a long sword impaled Leramiun's core. Was he dreaming? May he never wake. How could such a woman really exist? What race in Regia could produce such a goddess?
He hesitated only a moment then his stride ate up the ground he could no longer feel under his feet. He was possessed and intoxicated. She was the cause and simultaneously the cure of this new pain inside him. She was the end of all, every goal, every battle, and every journey now ended with her.
His stride turned into a sprint, terrified she might vanish or run away.
****
Shi held still, spellbound, as she watched the stranger run toward her. A rush like a gust of wind rose inside her. Never had she seen anyone like him. The moonlight s
hone in his flaxen hair and glinted in his sky-colored eyes. His was the most beautiful masculine face she'd ever seen, and she instantly felt like a small child who cried Mine! at the sight of something desirable. The bud of her spirit lifted and opened like a rose. She saw herself in his beautiful strange eyes, and a pull seemed to bind around her as though he cast nets and ropes on her with only his eyes.
Then came the fear. What was about to happen? An innate instinct to flee, as prey does, overwhelmed her. But if she fled, it was because she desired to be captured. She didn't know what he was having never set eyes on any but her own kind. Why had she left the shelter and safety she'd always known?
Shi continued to hold still, torn between fear, fascination, and this new unknown desire to touch, to claim. Then it was too late.
He skidded to a halt three feet in front of her. What was he? How was she to behave? Shi surveyed him from his feet back to his strange blue eyes. His eyes let her in, let her see. He was falling inside himself, somehow dying and being reborn. She reached out and laid her hand on his chest, testing to see if he was like her, two beings at once. But as soon as she touched, she knew this was all of him: body and spirit together, unable to split apart.
A strange pain mixed with joy came into his face at her touch, and he laid his hand over the top of hers. The touch of his hand brought the flutter under her skin, at first like gentle wings. Then the wings grew heavy and beat the hell out of her.
"What are you?" Shi asked, retracting her hand.
He grabbed at it and went down on his knees. "From this moment, until the day I die…I am your slave."
He pressed his lips against her hand, sending a new storm of flutters under her skin. None of her kind would dare touch her in such a way.
Shi pulled her hand away and took a step back. "I have to go," she gasped.
He jumped to his feet, panic in his eyes. "Wait! Please, Lady. "
"What do you want?" She continued to back away.
"Do you not know? Is it not plain in my eyes?"
Shi looked back into the blue of his eyes, caught in their depths, and struggled to free herself from them. It was plain. He wanted everything: her heart, body, and soul. He wanted things she couldn't name and things she didn't understand. Shi's breath caught in her throat, and her cheeks flushed. "I have to go."
"Then I'll go with you."
"You can't! I've never seen one such as you before. I don't think you're allowed."
A small smile lifted his mouth. "There is nowhere in this world I am not allowed, Lady."
"What are you?" she asked again.
"I am a vampire. What are you?"
"A Dryad… One of the Verdant."
"What does that mean?" he asked. "Verdant?"
"I am one of the chosen, a princess, to keep and love the flame."
"Princess, huh? I like that."
"I have to go," she repeated.
"Please, tell me your name."
She hesitated. If she gave him her name, he would give his in return. If she knew his name, she would never be able to convince herself he was nothing but a dream.
"Please," he repeated.
"Shi…what's yours?"
"Leramiun."
Shi snorted. "Who has a name like that? It's so long! I'll call you Ler."
"Please don't leave…or if you must, promise to come back. I have to see you again, Shi."
"No! I've seen your eyes. You want things I cannot give. I serve the Heart. I sacrifice."
"I have to see you," he declared again adamantly. "I'll meet you here tomorrow night. I'll wait. I'll be here tomorrow and the next night and the next night and the--"
"Stop it! Go away! Forget me."
"You request the impossible, Shi."
"So do you!"
"I could never forget you. Never would I want to. Do you think you could forget me?"
A terrible shaking began inside her core. "I want to forget you," she whispered.
She walked away from him. Silence and darkness enveloped her. She walked a few more paces before turning around. He was gone. Shi listened. There was no sound. At first she felt relief, then those terrible wings filled her up again, only now they fluttered with knife edges, cutting her up. Her beautiful dream had vanished.
Suddenly he stepped out from the shadows in front of her and took her in his arms.
"Forget this!" he said, pressing his lips against hers.
Her whole life seemed to shatter around her. Everything she knew her life was and would always be had stretched uninterrupted before her, and now, one bizarre moment had torn that knowledge to shreds. Shi trembled against him, a tear escaping her eyes as he stole a piece of her innocence and replaced it with a knowledge and a hunger that was as painfully sweet as it was taboo.
He released her slowly.
"I'll be here tomorrow night. If you don't come, I'll accept you were able to forget me after all. And I'll never come back again."
Shi wrapped her arms around herself, trembling.
"You had no right!"
He reached for her again. She shrank back.
"You don't know what you have done!" she cried.
Before he could say anything else, she ran, disappearing into the darkness.
Chapter 4
Shi curled up inside her trunk, gazing restlessly at the moon hanging over her branches. The party had ended and everyone around her was quietly sleeping. She ran her fingertips over her lips. The shivers ebbed and flowed through her core as she contemplated what had happened to her. She had been defiled. Would the Heart still accept her sacrifices? Would everyone notice a change in her?
As the moon began to set, Shi's worry shifted into anger. She didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't her fault. It shouldn't change anything about her status as a Verdant. No one need ever know. It wasn't her fault, she thought again. Or was it? She broke the rules and ventured past the boundary alone. Boundaries there for her protection and look what had happened.
An unconscious smile broke over her face, surprising her. Yes, look at what happened. The shivers came back like soft pinpricks as she remembered every detail of her encounter with the vampire. She wouldn't forget him, not ever. He said he would wait. So what? Did that mean she would see him again? Curiosity, anticipation, and shame spread through her as Shi discovered a new capacity she'd never even contemplated she could harbor.
Shi hadn't slept at all by the time the sun broke the horizon, but she still felt energetic and oddly light. She had a secret. She'd never had a secret before, and it both terrified and excited her. Her normal level of curiosity surged into a new monster with new questions she couldn't ask anyone. The desire to talk to her sister, Shea, and tell her the secret and ask her what it was like to be touched by another person overwhelmed Shi. Could she ask in such a way that Shea would just think it was Shi's idle curiosity at work?
Shi thought of Ler again before leaving the confinement of her trunk. His eyes, his voice…his lips, and again she shivered.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, Shi froze in fear. All the other Verdant stood waiting for her. Nineteen pairs of eyes held her in place. They must have felt her defilement. They were going to remove her from their circle, or banish her to the wilds, or kill her. Pleas and excuses began rushing up her throat.
Mae stepped forward and stooped into a little bow to Shi. All the others followed suit. Mae straightened and placed her hand on Shi's shoulder.
"We, the Verdant, praise you, Shi. For showing us what real love and sacrifice is, we place you in a position of honor and authority. Will you accept this position and be our example?"
Shi's mouth fell open. "Yes," she squeaked.
****
Leramiun paced his bed chambers, his mind caught in a web of fantasy. Helena slept in his bed, undisturbed by the morning light or the shuffling of his feet. He didn't see her. His eyes were open, yet they perceived nothing in his surroundings. All he could see was Shi.
The earliness of the day moc
ked him ruthlessly. There were so many hours until he could go back to see her…if she came back at all. How would he go on if she didn't? What would he do if she did? If he never saw her again, at least he'd stolen a kiss…at least he had that. Then guilt slammed into him as he remembered the way she trembled and ran from him. Yes, stolen indeed.
"Oh, you're back…Majesty? Your Majesty? Hello?"
Helena's voice scratched in his ears like gravel. The vision of Shi disappeared. Helena sat in the center of the bed, disheveled by sleep. How had he ever thought her beautiful? How could he ever be with anyone except Shi now? The very thought made his flesh crawl.
"Did you find anything last night?"
Just my soul.
"Yes, but I need more time to look into it. I need you to continue to cover for me when I leave again."
"Of course, sire."
Helena looked at him expectantly for a moment. When he said nothing, she shrugged, laid back down, and covered her head with the blanket.
Leramiun contemplated what he needed to do next. Sighing deeply, he took off his plain clothes and dressed normally. He picked up his crown and held it in both hands. For something that was so exquisitely constructed and designed to be light, the responsibility it carried was so heavy.
He had daylight to kill. It was time for school.
The royal library was empty except for the librarian who scowled at him from his perch in the corner when he entered, as though Leramiun were a wayward child and not the king.
"What do you want," the librarian said in a voice as dusty as the back shelves. "Sire?" he added belatedly.
"I need information about Regia's forests and those who dwell there."
"What do you mean? The phantom guardians?"
"No. I mean the Dryads."
The wrinkles on the librarian's forehead layered up as he raised his eyebrows. "Dryads? I don't know that name, sire."
"You can't be serious."
"I assure you I am. I have never heard that word before. Where did you learn it?"
Leramiun hesitated a moment before taking a step back. "Never mind." He fled from the library, colliding into Quinn in the hall.
