by Cully Mack
Bishnor shifted in his seat and Shemyaza gave him a sideward glance. It was the first time Shemyaza had broken eye contact and Mirah took a chance to draw a long breath.
Shemyaza offered her a righteous smile and then continued.
‘Bishnor told me of the incident at Barakel. It’s a shame your clan attacked without giving my sons time to explain. If any had survived, I would have sent word of how well you fit in here.’ His fiery eyes flared with expectation and he let his words hang in the air. ‘Anyhow, I’m sure Bishnor would like to compensate you for your loss. How about the first dance?’
‘That’s not necessary,’ Mirah said, a little too quickly.
‘I must insist,’ Bishnor said, darting up from his seat and towering over her.
A row of giants and men gathered facing and their dancing partners. Not knowing how to refuse him, Mirah followed Bishnor to the end of the line.
As the music started, she accepted his outstretched hand. Deep callouses ridged along his rough palm and she had no doubt as softly as he held her own, his hand had the power to crush bones.
He was nothing like Nate. Nate’s power and strength not only exuded from his physique but also from within. Bishnor relied on brute strength alone. His hands were a solid anchor of dominance refusing to let her go.
In height, she reached just below pectorals which spread across his brawny chest. He enjoyed the hunt, she could tell. He led her with practised ease through the steps. Every step was a predatory dance of skill and brawn. He was aware of everyone in the room and they skirted around him, no one daring to cross the boundary he set, not even the other giants.
As she turned, she scanned the chamber looking for Nate. What would he think if he saw her dancing with Bishnor? She didn’t understand their relationship, but she’d noticed the tension between them.
‘You seem a little distracted?’ Bishnor claimed, as he lowered his arm and guided her into a spin.
‘I don’t know the steps.’
His fire opal eyes travelled over her body, assessing the curve of her hips and the outline of her frame. ‘You dance well. Don’t try to follow the others, I will lead you.’
He swung his arm around her waist and lifted her high in a spinning turn. As he did so, he drew her close and inhaled. A low groan seeped from his mouth as though he scented his prize and found it pleasing. ‘See,’ he said, tactfully placing her down.
This time he didn’t glare right through her and what she saw was hunger so repulsive she took a step back. Awareness spread across his feline face and he licked his lips.
They separated like the snap of a bow string. The music ended and Bishnor bowed.
Without waiting for him to rise, she said, ‘Thank you for the dance,’ and rushed away.
She spied Galia and forced herself not to run towards her. To her relief, Bishnor returned to his seat.
‘Here,’ Galia said, offering her a drink. ‘You look like you need one.’
‘Thanks.’ Mirah took a sip and choked.
‘Fermented plums,’ Galia chuckled. ‘Burns a bit. We call it Toka.’
‘You could have warned me.’
‘What would be the fun in that?’ Galia laughed. She glanced over at Bishnor now seated on the dais and a look of alarm graced her face. ‘Come, let me introduce you to my sister.’
Mirah would have asked Galia what unnerved her but knew in her heart the answer, she had caught Bishnor’s attention. She followed Galia across the room to where the Taphas gathered, among them, Neviah stood talking with Ninsun and Ninkurra.
‘This is Arella. Arella meet Mirah,’ Galia said.
In the golden orb light, Arella’s sleek silver hair shone as radiant as her smile. ‘My sister has told me so much about you,’ Arella said. ‘I’m sure we are going to be such close friends. And what a beautiful dress.’
‘Thank you. It’s nice to meet you.’ Mirah cast her eyes around the chamber.
Galia leaned towards her. ‘He’s not here.’
‘He’s not coming to his own celebration?’
Galia shrugged.
Mirah spied Abela and Ayla talking with Neviah. ‘Would you excuse me? I’d like to catch up with my friends?’
‘Of course,’ Galia replied.
As much as she tried to focus on Abela and Ayla and their talk of the Azu, she was too distracted. Zeev strutted over and before she could ask him when Nate would arrive, he’d asked Neviah to dance and to Mirah’s surprise she’d accepted.
She found herself wandering around with another Toka in her hand. She sipped and watched Neviah and Zeev dancing. If you could call it dancing, to her it looked an awful lot more like their sparring.
Music filled the room and the sounds of laughter grew louder with each cup of Toka.
She turned to see Shayla sauntering towards her, a small group of tithes following in her path. As she neared, Shayla feigned a slight trip and poured her drink over the front of Mirah’s dress.
‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ Shayla lied, with not an ounce of remorse in her catty voice.
Giggles erupted from behind her. Horrified, Mirah glanced at the wet stain spreading across her gown. She pushed past Shayla and ran.
‘Mirah wait,’ Galia called after her.
By the time she’d reached the edge of the chamber, Galia and Arella were at her side.
‘Come with us,’ Arella said.
Galia held her hand leading her through the tunnels before turning off into a smaller chamber. It was the obsidian glass garden. Mirah gripped her pendant, tears threatening to escape.
‘We’ll have this sorted in no time,’ Arella said.
Galia wielded water from the fountain and purged the staining from Mirah’s dress. ‘See. I told you water is more useful than fire.’ She smiled.
‘What’s up with that girl?’ Arella asked as she warmed air against the green silk.
‘That girl is Shayla and I don’t know why but she doesn’t like me.’
‘Hmm,’ Galia murmured.
‘She reminds me of Esha,’ Arella said. ‘Like calls to like.’
‘Esha?’ Mirah asked.
‘When we first arrived here, Esha was another tithe,’ Galia explained. ‘She soon became the most powerful among us and rose to lead the Taphas, under Nate’s command of course.’
Seeing Mirah’s dress was dry, Arella lowered her hand. ‘She was and still is the bane of our existence. Nothing will satisfy her until she’s reached the top, and it doesn’t matter who she treads over along the way.’
‘Remind me not to get on her bad side,’ Mirah said.
‘Oh, I believe it’s too late for that.’
She was about to ask Galia what she meant when a shadow emerged on the wall and expanded. Mirah lifted her head to find Nate standing in the entrance.
‘Neviah told me what happened. Are you all right?’
She could only nod for fear of her voice breaking.
‘Will you leave us?’ Nate asked Galia and Arella.
Everything in the room dissolved into shadow including Galia and Arella as Nate stepped closer.
‘I’m sorry, I wasn’t here to protect you from that harpy. I knew the moment she stepped aboard my ship that girl would be trouble.’
Mirah broke into something which resembled a mixture of laughing and crying. She tried to gather her composure. Shayla was a new breed of nasty, but nothing compared to Nate’s absence. Relief washed over her. He was here.
‘I don’t need protecting from Shayla,’ she countered.
‘You don’t?’
‘Water Wielder, remember. If Galia and Arella hadn’t assisted, I could have sorted my dress, eventually.’
‘The dress is certainly something,’ he said, his blue eyes warming as they took it in. His gaze spotted her star pendant, and he smiled. ‘I’d liked to have seen you dancing.’
‘I’m glad you didn’t.’
He frowned but to her relief decided not to press further.
‘Will you come wi
th me? I’d like to show you something?’
They descended through the shaft and followed a tunnel leading out the other side of the mountain.
‘I come here when the moon is as full as it is tonight,’ he said, leading her outside.
A path cut through a garden towards a stream. They followed it as it wound between mossy green banks. It was the most beautiful garden she’d ever beheld.
The stream was ice clear. Its bed covered in crystalline textures, inspiring a kaleidoscope of prismatic fractals that flickered and danced in the moonlight. The trees were in full blossom, beautiful flowers hung like delicate pendants in colours she never knew existed.
She swirled around taking in the view. The moonlight caressed a lavender carpet of flowers, their heads lowering as they passed.
‘Even the flowers bow before you,’ he said, in amazement.
She heard the rushing sound but nothing could prepare her for the water falling from the sky forming the most spectacular waterfall. Resplendent sprays caught the moonlight and spread out before her creating an arcing rainbow mist.
They sat on a bench underneath a fountain of cascading green foliage and drooping, rose coloured catkins.
Nate took a catkin and twirled it in his fingers. ‘I didn’t want to celebrate. I’m not proud of what I’ve done.’
Mirah turned her gaze from the waterfall. The pain on his face made her heart ache.
‘You need to understand. All I have ever known is Shemyaza. He has been good to me. When we were securing our borders, it made sense to defend our own but now things are different.’
Nate twirled the catkin. Whatever he thought about lured him into silence. After some time, he looked up. ‘I truly am sorry about your family. I couldn’t do anything to prevent it.’
She studied him and understood he meant it. ‘Why don’t you leave.’
‘He will never let me go. If I attempted it, he’d send someone or something to find me. His reach is too powerful.’ Nate’s shoulders sank in defeat. ‘Do you realise he is immortal? His sons are half immortal too.’
‘That doesn’t make any sense. How can someone be half immortal?’
‘Their flesh can die but not their essence. When their flesh perishes, the essence of who they are returns to Shemyaza and he transfers their spirits into his chimera. The beasts below your room, one of them is Zamani.’ Nate lowered his head.
‘How is that possible?’
‘He has powers more than you know. I didn’t want to go to Anat but I couldn’t refuse. I sent Arella ahead to warn them. We saved some at least.’ Nate shifted his foot on the ground. ‘You must think I’m weak?’
‘No. I know what it’s like to lose control over my life. There must be a way to break free from him. Something we can do?’ She rested her palm over his clenched fist pressing into the bench. It twitched as she touched him but he didn’t relax it.
‘If there was, I would have found it by now. I’m sorry Mirah. All I can promise is I’ll keep looking and if I find it, I’ll take you out of here.’
She wielded two tiny hummingbirds from the waterfall and let them hover in front of them. Their tiny wings, so beautiful and fragile fluttered so fast they blurred.
‘Only you could turn a weapon into something wonderful,’ he said leaning closer.
‘We will find a way,’ she whispered.
She watched the little birds and her heart raced as fast as their beating wings. He wasn’t her enemy. Although everything was still the same inside something within her changed.
‘Will you dance with me?’ he asked, standing up.
She reached for his hand and said, ‘Yes.’
He placed his hand around her waist, pulling her against his chest. He nuzzled into her hair, breathing her in.
‘I missed you,’ he whispered.
They swayed to the rhythm of the waterfall’s sprinkling beats and the moon as it flew by reflected on the gold and silver stars on Mirah’s dress.
‘I’ve gazed at a multitude of stars, reflecting their beauty on numerous oceans and not until now have I ever felt one gaze back,’ he said, as their eyes met. ‘Never have I dreamed I’d be able to reach out and touch one.’
Nate brushed his hand across her shoulder. She flinched and he tensed.
‘What is that?’ he asked peering at her skin through the sheer fabric.
‘It’s just a small bruise.’
‘Eliah, he hurt you?’ His face turned grim. ‘I will have him cleaning the latrines for the rest of his service and that’s after I’ve taught him a lesson or two.’
His brazen warrior strength rising to the surface told her exactly what he intended to do.
‘You will do no such thing. At least Eliah never held back,’ she challenged with a half smile. ‘Over the past few weeks, I’ve learned one or two tricks of my own. I’m getting pretty good with a staff you know.’
‘Really? Well, we’ll see about that.’ His countenance shifted revealing a wicked grin.
When he teased her a spark flickered to life in his smiling eyes and lit up his handsome face. He pulled her closer, taunting her with the challenge of what was to come. The smile he gave her ignited a spark of her own.
They swayed under the moonlight and danced to their heartbeats, his arms wrapped around her, soothing the bruises and the deeper scars within. She didn’t mind if he saw them, they made her; they made her stronger.
A draft swept up her skin, and she shivered.
‘We should go,’ he said with reluctance. ‘It’s getting late. I suppose I should take you back.’
When they reached the shaft, Nate asked, ‘Do you remember what I said to you the first time we ascended into the mountain?’
‘No.’
He placed his hands on her hips and tugged her towards him. His breath was warm against her cheek. Her heart beat so fast; she was sure he could hear it. In the darkness, his lips met hers, so gentle as though he was searching to capture a smile. She felt herself tipping into another existence. He slid his hand up the nape of her neck, and threaded his fingers through her hair. His tongue brushing against her lips, exploring, tasting, offering her a part of himself. Not knowing what to do otherwise, she followed his leading. Her lips parted, and she opened herself up to his advance and he groaned.
Every time she’d ascended into this darkness, she’d wished it would end. Now she dreamed it never would.
‘I’ll never kiss and tell,’ he whispered.
He stepped forward pushing her with his hips up against the lattice reed barrier, pressing himself closer. His lips travelling down the side of her neck with soft kisses caressing her skin. They brushed along her collarbone sending a tingling sensation into her core.
If she could see him she knew he’d be smiling, acknowledging he’d stroked a weak spot she never realised she had.
❊ 17 ❊
Mirah stepped out of the chasm to find Nate sparring with Zeev, and the descending moonlight shimmering on the staffs in their hands. As she walked across the courtyard, she studied his mastery, his anticipation of Zeev’s advances and the way he swivelled and dodged out of Zeev’s way.
She’d underestimated his flexibility and skill. He raised his arms defending against Zeev’s swing. Their staffs clashed together and Nate shoved his arms out forcing Zeev to roll onto his heels. He hadn’t even broken into a sweat.
Looking up a coy smile anointed his face. ‘So, no holding back,’ he challenged.
‘I’ll try not to swipe that smile from your face,’ she countered, taking the staff from Zeev.
‘Fighting talk, I love it.’ Zeev chuckled, backing off to spar with Neviah.
They circled slowly around each other, assessing their stances and the positioning of their staffs.
‘You think you can take me?’ Nate asked, his eyes shining with the prospect.
‘Definitely.’
‘Then show me what you’ve got,’ he said, bringing the staff across her body aiming for her ribs.
<
br /> Mirah blocked. She manoeuvred against his blows, getting the sense of his speed, his style. He was faster and stronger than Eliah but she could tell he still held back.
He circled for another attack and she wielded the sand beneath his feet just enough to unsteady his balance before slamming her staff across his side.
‘Impressive,’ he said, knowing what she’d done. ‘I can tell in my absence you’ve been putting other talents to good use.’
She returned his coy smile, ‘You have no idea.’
The full force of his toned body came at her and she wielded herself through the air. Not enough to gain notice but enough to give her an edge against his speed.
As they sparred, she wrapped the air around herself and propelled out of his advances. She wielded the air against him, forcing him to flex his muscles and spend his strength against the pressure slowing him down. Sweat glistened on his brow and she resisted the temptation to use that against him as well.
With increased determination he studied her, weighing her up, and for the first time, she realised he saw her as a worthy opponent. If he’d guessed she’d wielded air, his fixed steady composure never revealed it.
Neviah and Zeev stopped to observe their whirling blocks and blows and to her relief, she held her ground.
Nate cast a playful eye, ‘I see what you’re doing.’
She shrugged. ‘A girl’s got to have her own advantages.’
She parted her lips and for a moment she thought he’d drop his staff and kiss her. Years of training calmed his focus, and he switched into his next manoeuvre. He was so fast. She pushed air against his approach and wielded the sand at his feet. He crashed to the ground, her staff poised over his groin.
‘Do you yield?’
He stared up at her in admiration. ‘Every time.’
‘If I hadn’t seen it. I never would have believed it,’ Zeev said, coming over. ‘Do you realise what you’ve done?’ he said to Mirah. ‘Nate, I will never let you forget this.’ Zeev bellowed out a laugh.
Nate groaned as he pushed up off the ground.
‘How did you do that?’ Neviah asked.
‘I overreached,’ Nate said, deflecting Neviah’s question. ‘I slipped on the sand and she took advantage,’
