The Waif's Tale (Valence of Infinity Book 1)

by C. L. Stegall

  "Oh, really? Like who?"

  "Like Asaro, for one. Thorne trains heavily with him whenever he isn't on assignment. You didn't know that?"

  "Damn it, London! I told you. We've only been out twice."

  "Be careful how you handle this one, my friend." She stared at me, the smile fading from her face. The curiosity in my eyes led her to continue. "You hold all the power. Use it wisely."

  "What power?"

  "All power. You really do not know much about relationships, do you? Men and women. The truth of it."

  "The truth of what? Spit it out, girl!" At the vehemence of my reaction, she held up her hands, palms toward me in supplication.

  "Do you really think that men rule this world?" Before I could comment, she barged on. "Women hold the true power, the power of wiles and manipulation. We will always be the guiding force in this world, whether they choose to believe that or not."

  "I don't understand. The magistrate is a man. Every president or leader that I'm aware of is a man. Women are fighting just for the right to vote over in America. You're saying that all of that is a ruse? A false front?"

  "Yes."

  "I call bullshit."

  London laughed out loud and was still giggling as she stood and made her way to the door. "One day, you will see the truth of it. For now, I think you just need to experience, learn. Thorne will be a good lesson for you."

  "You speak as if this relationship, as you call it, is already doomed before it has even begun."

  "It appears that way, doesn't it?" She closed the door behind her.

  I spent the next several hours running what she said through my head. I determined that I knew what I wanted with Thorne, regardless of whether my best friend saw it as fruitless or not. I did agree with one thing she said, however. I needed more experience.

  CHAPTER 40

  1927, THE CITADEL, AGE 50

  T horne was a handsome bastard. At just under six feet tall, he looked like he was carved from granite, all chiseled muscle and beautiful angles. I had felt the attraction the first time I had seen him, nearly a year prior. He was a Protector, a trained killer. Yet, I saw something in his eyes. There was a softer edge there. He tried to hide it but I had become rather perceptive over the last forty years.

  "I thought we might take a carriage ride, if that is acceptable to you," he said. He'd knocked on my door at nine thirty precisely.

  "Please come in," I said, ushering him through the door and closing it behind him. I saw the look of anxiety on his face and something boiled down deep inside me. I stared at him, looking him over, inspecting him from head to foot.

  "Is everything all right, Paris?" he asked, shifting awkwardly from one foot to another. It was adorably incongruous for someone in his line of work.

  "Everything is fine, Thorne. I just wanted to... Well, I wanted..."

  "Are you not feeling well?" It was an innocent question but, for folks of our fortitude, it was laughable in its naïveté.

  "Oh, fine," I said with a huff, losing my patience both with myself, as well as with his lack of action. "Let's get down to brass tacks, shall we?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Let's get one thing straight, Thorne. I am not your property. I am not your servant. I am your equal. I accept you into my life until such time as you fail to grasp these concepts." His eyes widened in response and he opened his mouth to speak. "No. No more conversation about this," I said. "Do you accept my terms? Yes or no?"

  It took a moment or two for him to understand what was happening. I was pleased to see that he was not as innocent as he portrayed himself to be. I saw his eyes narrow as he pondered the consequences of his next word. His decision was final.

  "Yes." The tone in his voice had changed, as well. I heard his register go down an octave in anticipation. It made me smile. It made the fire inside burn brighter.

  "Good. Now come here and kiss me."

  We met in an embrace of violent ascension. I rose to meet his lips and we both lifted up on our toes as our mouths met, at first with generous care and then with unbridled abandon. His tongue searched my mouth and, after a moment's hesitation, I returned in kind.

  In a mad dash, it seemed, we shed our clothes, our hesitancy and our inhibitions. My fingers found his hair and pulled his mouth deeper to mine. His hand grasped the ponytail I wore, drawing my head back and he drove his kisses into my neck. The building heat wound its way up from the center of my essence into my every action.

  We fell onto the bed, our hands and mouths discovering every inch of each other's flesh with tenderness and voracious desire. I tasted the salt of his sweat, moved my hand to grasp his manhood and guided him into me. A brief flash of pain was all but unnoticeable and we fell from the cliffs of passion into the depths of lust. I let myself go, enjoying every moment, every kiss, every touch of his fingers on my skin. I reveled in the beauty of such release. Nothing mattered in those moments but the two of us. Nothing imposed upon our embrace.

  When the moment came, when he knew it, felt it there, his teeth sank into my neck. I fought to contain my voice as the world came crashing in on me and then exploded outward, spilling into the universe, now so far expanded from anything I had previously known. I felt him jerk into me, his moans buried in the warmth of my bloody neck and for long minutes we lay there, entwined and breathless.

  "Oh, wow," he murmured. He pulled back to look into my eyes, smiled and then bit into the palm of his hand. He placed his bleeding palm over the wounds in my neck. Somewhere in the distance I noted the slight tingle of our blood mingling.

  In mere moments, he retrieved part of the sheets we'd tangled up so ferociously and wiped the blood from my neck and his hand. Both had healed to the point of not requiring any further attention. He moved to sit at the foot of the bed, his naked, sculpted back to me.

  "Your first?" he asked, his voice low and husky. He glanced back at me. I nodded. It didn't matter, now. "You are amazing." He smiled and I met his eyes.

  "You're not so bad yourself." I crawled toward him as he twisted around to face me, meeting his kiss gently, lingering. As we pulled back, our eyes met once again. I said, "More."

  CHAPTER 41

  1930, THE CITADEL, AGE 53

  T horne was a real trooper. He managed to keep up with me in both the bed and on the sparring mats. Although, the sparring occurred a lot less than the bed wrestling. I found that I had a voracious appetite for sex. It was a fantastic stress release for me. Thorne was quite willing to bite the bullet and serve as my stress partner.

  "Wow," he said one night, three years into our on-again, off-again relationship. He had his job as Protector and would be away for months at a time. I also had my own assignments that would pop up, so if we had more than a week or two together before we split off again, it was miraculous. "You are quite superb at that."

  I glanced up from my position near the foot of the bed and smiled back at him. "Practice makes perfect." I ran a fingernail around the tip and then continued on. I loved the sound of his halting breaths, his moans and grunts as I went to work bringing him to the edge of release then back again several times before finally letting him finish.

  He had just come in from a long trip and I had attacked him before he could put his bag down. I'd thrown him onto the bed and stripped him of his pants before he could argue. Then, again, why would he?

  "Your turn," I said, standing and disrobing. I crawled up the length of his body, across the bed and kissed him before positioning myself perfectly for him to complete my request.

  "Demanding little bitch," he said.

  "Shut up and get to work," I replied.

  Afterwards, once we'd taken a long and very exuberant shower together, we sat on my sofa and I asked him about his trip.

  "Nothing too exciting," he said. I saw him glance away, scanning the room and then back to me. "It was a pony job. I had to retrieve this idiot in Istanbul and then traipse back to Madrid with him."

  "Are you a Protector or a b
abysitter?" I jabbed with a smile.

  "Sometimes, I'm not so sure." He twisted on the sofa to face me.

  "How about you? Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

  "Unless you count Vi slapping Cairo for his reckless use of the word 'cunt', then, no. Not really." My lips curved upward as my stomach made a gurgling, growling sound. "Uh, how about some food?" I said. Thorne stood and took my hand, leading me out of the room and toward the cafeteria.

  "I missed you," he said, his fingers intertwining with mine as we walked down the hall. I placed my other hand over his and squeezed.

  "I'm sure you did," I said. I winked at him but he only smirked.

  "Seriously. I'm sorry we don't get to spend more time together. It bothers me."

  I wasn't certain how to respond. I enjoyed our time apart, as it made the time together so much better. We'd never had a fight. Hell, we'd hardly ever disagreed on anything. When we came together, it was awesome. Amazing. London had warned me not too long back that Thorne and I were enjoying an extended honeymoon phase. She'd explained it, but I didn't like to think of our time together in that way. When we were together, it was just us. When we were apart, we couldn't wait to get back together. It was a simple, exciting and wonderful relationship as far as I was concerned.

  "What're you thinking?" His voice brought me back to the present and his concern.

  "I think we've got it pretty good, don't you?" I said.

  "Yes." He stretched the word out and it was difficult not to see he wanted to say something more. "Do you miss me when I'm gone?"

  "Of course, I do," I replied. "What kind of crazy question is that? You've already forgotten how I greeted you today?"

  "No. That was fantastic. I guess I'm just a bit moody lately." We had arrived at the cafeteria and the smells were making my mouth water. "Let's eat," he said, dragging me toward the meat counter.

  * * * * *

  A couple of years later, London and I were sitting in my room talking about a bunch of nothing when the conversation turned to men.

  "How's Thorne doing?" London asked. She looked at me out of the corner of her eye, one side of her mouth lifted in an amused manner.

  "He's great. Why?" Her desire to pry into my love life had not lessened over the years.

  "Just asking. Still managing to maintain that honeymoon phase?"

  "Why can't you just let us enjoy our relationship the way it is? We're both happy. What's your deal?"

  "Whoa, girl," London said. "I just want to see you happy, you know that."

  "I am happy." The words came out angrier than I had intended.

  "Okay. No problem."

  "What about you?" I asked. "You seem to know so much about relationships but when was the last time you were even in one? I never see you with anyone."

  "I tend to keep that side of me on the outside of everything else. I like my privacy."

  "Ah, but not everyone else's," I said. I didn't mean it to come across so defensive. London stared at me for a couple of seconds and then nodded.

  "Touché," she said. I could see I must have hit a nerve. I wondered why she kept that side of herself so hidden away. I made it a policy to respect her secrets. After all, that's what friends are for.

  "Sorry," I said.

  "No, that's fine. I deserved that." She leaned into the sofa, laying her head back and staring at the ceiling. "I guess I've had a bit of a dry spell for a while. I apologize." She turned her head to catch my eyes. "I suppose I've been living vicariously through you. You just seem so bloody happy all the time, now."

  "What? And, that's a bad thing?"

  "Just an irritating thing," she replied. Her smile was enough to allow me to relax and I realized that she must be somewhat lonely.

  "We've not had the chance to hang out like this in quite some time, have we?"

  "Other priorities." Her gaze returned to the ceiling.

  "My turn to apologize," I said. "Listen, Thorne's just left and neither of us have a current assignment. What do you say we get out of here and see what mischief we can stir up?"

  "You don't think Thorne would mind?" she said with a slight smirk. I played along.

  "Fuck him."

  "That's your job," she said.

  "One that I am quite proficient at, if I do say so myself."

  "All right. That's too much information!" She giggled at my lifting of my arms wide as if to say, 'oh, well.'

  "Just to be on the safe side, let's get the proper clearance from the bosses," I said. With that, we leapt up and raced each other to the Abode.

  CHAPTER 42

  1935, THE CITADEL, AGE 58

  Y ou must try harder." The magistrate stood over me as I came to. I took his hand and he brought me to my feet, steadying me as I regained my equilibrium. "That was much better, but you must be able to fend off any forced entry into your mind. As you can see, failure is not an option."

  I nodded and shook out my arms, ready for another go. He shook his head and guided me toward the door.

  "We will try again later in the week. Perhaps Thursday. I have much to do in the way of meetings and such. Take a few days, rest and prepare. In the meantime, I have given Dusk some tasks to dole out. One of them might be suitable to you." He closed the door behind me and I stood there, wondering what the hell had just happened.

  After two decades of training with the magistrate, my abilities had grown by leaps and bounds. The one aspect that continued to escape me, however, was protecting my mind against forced entry by a powerful assailant. Since the magistrate was most likely the most powerful force I would come up against, he was not toying with me. That last bout had knocked me unconscious within a minute.

  "You look like shit." I recognized Garrett's low voice and looked up to see him smiling brightly.

  "And, you look happy. Hopefully, I'm not the source of that mirth."

  "Oh, but you are always the light of my humor. Were you not already aware of this?"

  "Ass."

  He laughed out loud and threw an arm around my shoulders, ushering me down the hall. "The magistrate give you a good lashing?"

  "What do you mean?" I had always kept my mental training to myself. I wasn't aware that Garrett might have the same.

  "Well, you look down and you were coming from his office. I just figured your tongue had finally gotten the better of you."

  "Oh, very funny." At least my secret was still safe. "It was just an exercise in futility."

  "Ah. I won't prod, but I am very aware that the magistrate gives very harsh lessons when required. Still, they do serve a purpose."

  "Agreed."

  "Want to get some lunch, or is the boyfriend in town?" He poked my arm with the finger of his left hand, while his right was still gripping my shoulders.

  "Thorne is back tomorrow. but, I have to beg off. I understand that Dusk has some assignments to hand out. I've a feeling I'm on the receiving end."

  "Well, Merry Christmas to you, then," he said, striding ahead of me. "As for me, I'm famished! Take care, Pare."

  "Oh, do stop calling me that," I called after him but he disappeared down another corridor. The nickname annoyed me and he bloody well knew it. I was far from in a good mood when I entered the Abode.

  "Nice of you to join us," Dawn said, one hand on her slim hip. I gave her a look that said, 'don't fuck with me.' She smirked but shifted her attention back to Dusk.

  "Actually, it is rather good timing, Paris," Dusk said, looking down at a sheet of paper he'd laid on the bar. We'd recently had the wet bar area built out and redecorated. It was a snazzy set-up. I'd had no hand in it this time around, as the guys had done all of the work. Dusk and our newest member, Cairo, had taken it upon themselves to bring in a new solid walnut bar top and custom enhancements all around. Dusk currently stood on the opposite side of it, tapping a pencil on the surface.

  "I have impeccable timing," I said, with more than a touch of sarcasm. London snorted and that managed to elicit a smile from Vi. I relaxed a
little, even though my head still ached from the exercises with the magistrate.

  "I've got something special for you," Dusk said. The tapping of the pencil halted. "You are to go to St. Gallen tomorrow. You will visit Wegelin & Co, where you will retrieve a package for the magistrate."

  "St. Gallen?" I said, trying to think of where that might be. Then the name of the bank rang a bell. "Wait. You're sending me to Switzerland?"

  "Yes."

  "Who's coming along?" We always traveled in pairs outside of the Citadel for both security and politics' sake. The High Guard is the most prestigious faction within the Valensi, aside from the Hierarchy and the Protectors.

  "No one," he said, his eyes locked to mine. "You're on your own."

  I didn't know how to respond, or if I should. I held his eyes and simply waited.

  "The magistrate trusts you to carry out this simple mission unaccompanied. Therefore, so do I."

  My eyes slid over the bar to Dawn, who purposefully ignored me. This was odd, to say the least. It appeared I was about to go through another test of some sort.

  "Fine," I said, strolling over and plunking myself down on the sofa. "Travel arrangements have already been made, I take it?"

  "Yes." Dusk then moved on to a number of other activities that the Guard was to handle over the next few days. I halfway listened as my mind raced over the situation in which I now found myself.

  It was as simple a task as they come. It was a pony job. Still, I couldn't remember any task set outside the Citadel that didn't warrant at least two of us at a time. Perhaps I was over-thinking the matter. I pushed my thoughts aside and turned my attention back to Dusk's discourse just in time to catch Dawn watching me intently. Her gaze jerked away just as she caught mine. It seemed she must not agree with the trust that was being placed in me. I would just have to prove myself once again.

  CHAPTER 43

  1935, ST. GALLEN, AGE 58

  S ummer was arriving in St. Gallen. Since it was situated at close to seven hundred meters above sea level it was one of Switzerland's highest cities. That translated to a decent amount of snow in the winter. Thankfully, I arrived to a much milder and more beautiful climate.