The Soldier's Lotus

by Adonis Devereux

  Chapter Fourteen

  Darien paced in front of Kamen, who still stood paralyzed from Saerileth’s deadly touch. Kamen had had his hands on Saerileth. Darien’s Saerileth. What had been happening, and how far would it have gone had he not found them together? The fact that Kamen was frozen told Darien much: Kamen had forced himself on Saerileth, and she had stopped him. She would not betray Darien, not even with the young, charming, rich nobleman.

  “What were you thinking?” Darien stood before Kamen, his body turned sideways, though he stared at Kamen out of the corner of his eye. “That she would fall into your arms? That because we shared her – something I should’ve never done – you could take her without me around?”

  Kamen’s throat moved as a series of low grunts escaped his lips. He was trying to talk, but he could not yet form words. So, the touch paralyzed everything, including the tongue. Well, not everything, because Kamen’s wide, fearful eyes tracked Darien’s movements.

  Darien paced some more, and he kept looking over at the water-serpent tattoo that spanned Kamen’s chest. He reached down and touched his own inked flesh. The tattoos were symbols of their long friendship and how they had saved each other’s lives on numerous occasions. Darien loved Kamen like a brother, and that was the only reason he had not already snapped his neck. He owed Kamen that much at least – a chance to explain himself.

  Minutes passed, and just when Darien began to wonder if the paralysis would ever go away, Kamen suddenly collapsed. His constricted chest opened, and he sucked down lungfuls of air, coughing and sputtering as he did so. Darien stepped away and gave Kamen time to recover. He was glad that Saerileth had not been able to immobilize him, because coming out of the paralysis looked quite painful, to say nothing of the humiliation.

  Kamen’s breathing returned to normal, and he looked up at Darien from where he sat on the floor. Shame burned in his dark eyes, and unshed tears gleamed in the dim firelight of the room.

  “Explain yourself, Kamen.” Darien planted his feet in a wide stance before Kamen and crossed his muscular arms over his broad, naked chest. “What did you do to her to make her paralyze you?”

  Kamen coughed again. “I told her she’s not good enough for you.”

  Darien’s anger flared. “Liar. First of all, she’d just laugh. A Lotus not good enough to be a concubine? Right. Besides, you had your hands up to touch her.” He suspected that Kamen wanted Saerileth for himself, and these lies were making his suspicion all the more feasible.

  Kamen stared at Darien, sorrow and anger warring within him and making his countenance a changeable mask of emotion. “She told me that the one I love can never love me back again.”

  Confirmed! Kamen was in love with Saerileth, but she had rejected him. Darien breathed deeply, his pride for Saerileth infusing his being, allowing him to stand taller than he ever had before. Kamen was a worthy rival, but Saerileth had chosen Darien. Despite being ruined and despite being in exile, Darien was Saerileth’s choice. She had chosen him over wealth and security. Furthermore, she chose him over Kamen, a fine, attentive lover by all accounts.

  “You shall keep your distance from my concubine,” Darien said. “You are never to be alone with her again.”

  “You don’t have to worry about that.” Kamen stood, though his footing still seemed unsure. “That’s the last thing I want.” His voice was thick.

  This answer confused Darien. Why wouldn’t Kamen want to be alone with Saerileth? He agreed so easily and readily to Darien’s demand. Perhaps it was his friendship for Darien that allowed Kamen to give up on his prize. Or perhaps it was only the shame of the moment that spoke. Whatever the reason, Darien would hold Kamen to his word. His anger still burned brightly against his friend, so he turned on his heel and left before he said anything he might later regret. Anyone else would have already lain dead at his feet.

  When Darien stepped into the corridor that connected his room to Saerileth’s, he smelled his raven-haired Lotus’s rose-bath scent. The aroma cleared his head and banished his wrath. He ran down the hallway and burst into his own chambers. Saerileth was waiting for him, and when she saw him, she jumped up from the divan and ran into his open arms.

  Darien kissed the top of her head as he wrapped his arms around her tiny frame. He completely covered her body with his own, so different were their sizes. He liked it that way, and the way Saerileth cuddled into his chest told him that she, too, preferred it just that way.

  “You keep to your bare-chested Sunjaa ways even here, my love.” Saerileth looked up into his eyes as she ran her hands down his flanks. Her black nightgown brought out the cobalt blue in her eyes.

  Darien appreciated Saerileth’s small talk, for he knew that she was trying to calm him. “I enjoy watching the offended expressions of the Vadal when I walk by.”

  Saerileth smiled and snuggled back down into his arms.

  Darien lost himself in her embrace and scent, letting his worry over Kamen slip away. But he still needed to talk about it. “Saeri, why was Kamen in your room?”

  Saerileth looked up. “He was there when I got there. He surprised me.”

  Darien stared down at Saerileth, and he felt his arms flex against her shoulders, for she was cradled under his biceps. “Why?”

  “He was angry and confused, and he wanted to fuck me.”

  Saerileth’s words were like a blow to Darien, but he loved her for her honesty.

  “He wants me,” Saerileth said, “but he loves you.”

  “And I love him, too.”

  Saerileth’s light laugh came as a surprise to Darien. “No, my love, you do not understand. He loves you.”

  Darien leaned back to get a good look at Saerileth’s face. No mirth danced in her eyes; no smile played on her lips. “Oh.”

  Saerileth nodded once, and her eyebrows shot up.

  Realization struck Darien like a sudden sandstorm. “That explains a lot.”

  “He thinks that by sleeping with me, he will break us up, and then he will have you all to himself. Just you and him, like back in the navy.”

  Darien walked away from Saerileth in shock and resumed that same pacing he had done in front of Kamen. “Common quarters. If I had known, I never would have joined him in common quarters.”

  “How could you have known?” Saerileth moved over to an ornate, high round table that held crystal goblets and a decanter of red wine. She poured two glasses. “Common quarters is standard practice among your people. It fosters camaraderie among the soldiers.”

  “But it seems that it breeds love, too.”

  “True, in some men,” Saerileth said. “Kamen likes both men and women, but he is in love with you.”

  Darien felt something cold against his skin, and when he turned, Saerileth handed him a glass of wine.

  Saerileth and Darien clinked glasses and drank, and she looked him up and down. “And I cannot really blame Kamen. He has excellent taste.”

  Darien pulled Saerileth again into his embrace and laughed. “This changes everything. I don’t need to be jealous of Kamen; I just need to keep my distance. He must’ve felt like this for some time. We’ve been inseparable for years.”

  Saerileth’s mouth curled up in a wry smile.

  “Had I known, I wouldn’t have fucked him at my house that day. So, what do you think of your rival?” Darien found it amusing that he – not Saerileth – was the center of the issue.

  “I have to admit that I am jealous, for I knew at once how Kamen felt about you.”

  “How did you know so quickly?”

  Saerileth stood up on her tip-toes and fished for a kiss. Darien gave it to her. “I am a Red Lotus,” she said. Then, after a pause, more words burst from her. “I almost let Kamen die.”

  “When?”

  “In the desert. The poison from the assassin’s blade would have claimed him within minutes.”

  “Then why did you save him?”

  “Because you asked me to.”

  Saerileth never cease
d to amaze Darien. “So, despite knowing that by helping Kamen you were keeping your rival alive, you saved him?”

  Saerileth gave Darien one short nod, and her eyes shone as she looked up at Darien. “You wished it, and I knew how sad you would be if your best friend died.”

  Darien picked Saerileth up off the floor and kissed her mouth. “You’re more forgiving than I would have been. You are truly the best of women.”

  “If I am, it is only because you are the best of men.”

  Darien tore away her nightgown with one swift pull.

  “Vadal fashions are so frail,” Saerileth said, her naked breasts pressing against Darien’s chest.

  Darien felt his cock rising between her dangling knees. He kissed her neck and bit into her soft flesh, eliciting a moan from Saerileth. She sucked in her breath and wrapped her legs around his waist. Darien was fully hard, and with one deft move, he reached under her buttock, grabbed his cock, and guided it into her pussy. It slipped in, for she was already wet. Her pussy opened to him, and he buried his thick shaft to its end inside her. She wriggled down on him, her clit pressing against the defined muscles of his lower abdomen, her cum flowing out on his phallus. Darien grabbed her by the buttocks so that all her weight was supported in his mighty hands. This gave her free rein, and she used it. Saerileth put her hands on his shoulders to brace herself as she rode him, which she was able to do even though Darien still stood. The muscles in his arms bulged as he moved her up and down on his cock, plunging into her with every thrust, bringing her closer and closer to her climax.

  A weaker man’s constitution probably would not have been able to handle such vigorous fucking in that position, and even Darien’s heart raced with the effort. But he fucked her right there standing in the middle of the room until Saerileth shuddered and whined as she came. With two steps, Darien had her against the wall, and he went up on his toes and rammed into her. He trailed kisses across her neck and shoulders, and he bit her nipples. He was close, so he kept her weight supported with his left hand under her ass as he brought his right hand up and wrapped his fingers around her throat. He squeezed lightly, and she moaned again. Her eyes rolled back for a moment, showing Darien just how much she liked the light domination play. Her pussy clinched down around his shaft, coaxing his cum from him. With two more slow thrusts, his cock exploded, sending a stream of seed flowing into her, filling her pussy with his love. Saerileth nibbled on his nipple as he emptied himself inside her.

  Kamen could never have held Saerileth up like that and taken her just the way Darien knew she wanted to be taken. And as Darien panted and kissed away the sweat from Saerileth’s brow, that knowledge pleased him.

  ****

  Lomenin stood in bronze armor around which whipped a long, black cloak. The Vadal general’s long, blond hair – a strange sight to Darien – also fluttered in the strong winds on the plain. Outside the city the Vadal army had mustered in its regiments, and Darien had been invited out to view the soldiers. One thing Darien had quickly learned was how the Vadal liked ceremony and showing off.

  Lomenin pointed out across the field that sloped up and away to the northeast. “Behold the glory of the Vadal nation.”

  Darien nodded. He had no response, but he grunted something that sounded like an affirmative. The Vadal soldiers wore leather, and some had chain hauberks. The majority of them were equipped with spears and short swords, and Darien saw that hundreds of archers would be marching with them, too.

  Lomenin turned to look in the opposite direction. “We will march south and west toward the Sweetwater. From there, we shall take barges downstream until we reach Arinport.”

  “A fine plan,” Darien said, “but I suggest you lose that armor. You’ll cook in your own juices inside that.” He tapped Lomenin’s bronze breastplate.

  “Of course.” The general smoothed back his wild flying hair and laughed. “But we must ride out like Vadal. We must make our enemies tremble at our approach.”

  “Yes, indeed.” Darien just gave the general a wink. He wore only a leather breastplate and carried a shortblade that curved near its end.

  Kamen stepped out of a nearby command tent and moved to stand by Darien and Lomenin.

  “Have you met the general?” Darien asked. He wanted to keep things easy between himself and Kamen. He wanted there to be no false feelings between them, but Darien could not help but feel a falling-out was inevitable.

  “I have.” Kamen shook hands with Lomenin. “A fine army you’ve assembled.”

  Lomenin laughed and did not take his blue eyes from his scrutiny of the camp. “Me? No, that was the Lotus you brought with you. The word is that she’s enchanted the king. He’d give her anything.”

  Kamen locked eyes with Darien, though he addressed the Vadal general. “She has that affect on men. Jehiel himself would pull the sun down for her if she asked.”

  Lomenin smiled and turned to regard Kamen. “She’s going to make some lucky man very happy some day.” He turned and walked off. “Come,” he called over his shoulder, “we’ve got a long, hot march ahead of us.”

  Darien and Kamen just stared at each other, and Darien now understood the emotions plain in Kamen’s eyes, those feelings he could not before decipher. Kamen loved him, and he wanted Saerileth out of their lives. But that would never happen.

  “Come, old friend,” Darien said. “Arinport waits for us to liberate her.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Saerileth stood inside Darien’s camp tent, looking down at Darien as he slept. His chest rose and fell with an even rhythm, and the serpent on his breast seemed almost to be alive. She knelt down by his side and ran her fingers over her love’s dark skin and darker tattoo, enjoying the feel of his flesh.

  He stirred at the touch and turned over, broad awake in a moment. “Saeri.” He smiled and pulled her down against him. “It isn’t dawn yet.”

  “No, my love, but I needed to take the air.” Saerileth nestled into his embrace.

  “Was the journey so hard?” Darien’s concern touched her. “I had thought it would be easier since we travel in more comfort than on our journey out.”

  “I preferred the journey out.” Saerileth leaned up and kissed Darien’s lips. “I had you more to myself, not needing to share you with General Lomenin – or Lord Itenu.”

  “You’ve no need to be jealous, Saerileth.” Darien’s low chuckle sent a rush of desire through her core. “I’ve no interest in him.”

  “He is beautiful,” said Saerileth. “And he loves you.”

  “And he wants you.” Darien traced her cheek with his finger. “I still don’t want you around him.”

  “So you are still jealous?” Saerileth laughed in her turn.

  Darien did not respond in words, but he flipped her over onto her back.

  They were still enjoying each other when the sun rose, and a color guard came to take them both to meet with General Lomenin.

  Saerileth swept her hair back and up, enjoying Darien’s admiration as she twined the length of it up on her head.

  “You are beautiful,” said Darien, kissing her.

  When they entered the general’s tent, Kamen was already present. Four canvas chairs were set up, and General Lomenin was seated in one, and Kamen sat on his left at a wooden table where a battle-map of Arinport was spread out. Saerileth fixed her rival with an icy glare, but she remained silent as the Vadal general and Darien began to discuss the best way to assault the city.

  “A frontal assault would be … problematic.” Darien caught Saerileth’s glance, and she understood his meaning. The Vadal had lost at least two of every three open engagements they had had with the Sunjaa.

  “Agreed.” The general’s breath was heightened, but Saerileth gave him only half her attention. The rest she fixed on Kamen, hating him. “I sent spies ahead of us to scout out the situation, but I can make no sense of their reports.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Darien. His Vadal speech was thickly accented but correct, an
d Saerileth burned with pride.

  “We had thought a siege would be the best option, but we lack a navy.” The general pointed to the blue sea painted beyond the cream-colored walls of Arinport.

  “No true siege of Arinport is possible without a blockade of the port.” Kamen spoke then, and Saerileth noted the increase in his breath, with its concomitant increase in his heart rate. “But we have no sailors with us.”

  “The Vadal are land-locked,” said General Lomenin. “We can get no help that way.”

  “I do not like the odds of taking on the Sunjaa navy.” Darien’s breath slowed, and Saerileth understood him. He did not wish to have to take up arms against his former comrades.

  “But this is what perplexes me about the spies’ reports.” The general placed several wooden boats on the battle-map.

  “Zenji?” Saerileth recognized the colors on the models. “Why are Zenji ships guarding the harbor?”

  “I agree that it makes no sense.” General Lomenin shook his head. “And why not the Sunjaa navy, which – forgive me, Lotus – is far more powerful?”

  Darien, whose large frame could not be properly supported by the small canvas chair, rose to his feet. “The navy won’t follow him.” Saerileth could hear the joy in his voice. “Ulen Ahnok was no good commander, and he never earned the love of his soldiers. No sailor will sail under his banner!”

  “Then we have hope.” Saerileth smiled at him. “If you were to go to the Sunjaa navy, you could gather them. They would follow you.”

  Kamen nodded. “She’s right. We can go together, gather the men, gather the ships – we will have a navy able to break the Zenji blockade – and we can take the city back for King Jahen.”

  Saerileth felt a hand of ice closing over her heart. Darien would be sailing with Kamen, fighting by his side. Sharing common quarters with him. Bile rose in her throat, but she did not allow her breath to alter.

  “No.” Darien laid his hand on Saerileth’s shoulder. “Kamen, you stay here with General Lomenin.”

  Saerileth felt so many things at once that she thought she might choke. Gratitude for Darien’s devotion, love for him, hatred for Kamen, and still the emotions of those around her – all of these things she saw and felt. She saw the general’s nod, his easy, unquestioning acceptance of Darien’s decree; she saw Kamen’s rebellious retort quivering on his lips, held back only by years of obedience as Darien’s first mate; and she saw Darien’s secret smile for her.