Execution: (The Akeldama Chronicles)

by F. N. Hammack

  With as much decorum as I could muster, I held out my hand and asked, “would you care to dance with me?”

  A slow, mischievous smile spread across his face and his took my hand in his, “I knew you couldn’t resist me, love.”

  I shivered at the touch of his skin against mine; then glared, daring him to say anything but he simply continued to smile as he pushed away from the wall; leading us to the center of the ballroom.

  I placed my right hand in his left one and my other hand on his upper shoulder, keeping the proper amount of space between us. He snorted and looked pointedly at the foot of space separating our bodies incredulously.

  “What?!” I hissed under my breath.

  Chuckling, he shook his head; his long, fair hair flying across my hand, causing me to shiver again. “Nothing,” he said, while simultaneously using his hand on my lower back to pull me in closer until my chest brushed indecently against his.

  **********

  “You married this guy?” Joaquin asked, amused.

  I smiled fondly at Aramis and answered with the only thing I could, “he grows on you after a while.”

  Nodding, Joaquin surmised, “like a rash.”

  I just shook my head. Aramis wasn’t for everyone. Hell, it had taken Soren months to be able to be in the same room with him without wanting to strangle him and Soren was kind to everyone.

  Aramis simply had that effect on people.

  But once you got under that harsh exterior shell…

  “So how long will we be reliving your memories? Not that I mind seeing you; but, I could do without these two.” Joaquin said with a wink, referring to Aramis and Soren.

  I shrugged. “Like I said, this has never happened to me before.”

  “Right, right. And if you have to chance a guess?”

  I sighed and pondered the many history lessons my father had given me as bedtime stories. Maybe… “My father used to speak of soul sharing—”

  Joaquin frowned. “That sounds ominous.”

  “It is.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  I shook my head. There wasn’t anything to tell. “I was a child when he told me all of these tales. I thought they were just myths. My connection to the land didn’t manifest until my father’s death and I only have vague recollections of the stories, which is of no help to us.”

  Sighing, Joaquin rubbed the back of his neck and paced a short distance away.

  I had just opened my mouth to apologize when the memory changed once more.

  ***********

  I screeched as my bedchamber door burst open and Aramis rushed in, closing the door quietly behind him before collapsing back against it, breathing heavily.

  I quickly grabbed the top sheet from my bed to cover my nudity.

  “Oh, please don’t cover up on my account, Princess.” Aramis said, running a sinful glance over my sheet clad body.

  “What are you doing in here?” I snarled.

  Aramis tilted his head and gazed at me intently for a moment before saying, “things didn’t quite go as planned.”

  Rolling my eyes, I asked, “who did you steal from this time?”

  Aramis waved his hand through the air, dismissively. “That hardly matters now.”

  Just then, a knock sounded at my door and Sir Ian, the Captain of the Guard called out my name. I closed my eyes and sighed. Of all times for this to be happening...it just had to be when I was as bare as the day I was born.

  Aramis stiffened and looked at me, pleading silently with his pale blue eyes.

  I snorted and whispered sarcastically, “I thought it didn’t matter?”

  Crawling across the floor to hide under my bed, Aramis whispered, “now’s not the time to be petty, love.”

  Another knock pounded at my door, louder than the first; but I waited until Aramis slid fully out of sight before opening the door. Pasting a cheerful smile on my face, I held the blanket up with one hand.

  Sir Ian glanced down briefly and noticed my state of undress a split second before snapping his eyes away, “my apologies, Princess Sienna.”

  “What’s the meaning of this, Sir Ian?” I asked, pretending not to already know.

  Looking everywhere but at me, Sir Ian said, “the visiting diplomat reported that a fair-haired man stole his signet ring and the castle is in an uproar, trying to find the thief. Have you noticed anything amiss?”

  I shook my head and opened my door further, gesturing towards the still warm bath prepared in the center of my chambers. “No, I just got out of my bath.”

  Sir Ian peered over my head and into my room; running his eyes over everything. Mere moments later, he stepped back. “I apologize for interrupting your evening. Please carry on. I will station an extra guard at the end of this hallway to ensure your protection for the night.” Sir Ian said, bowing his head before turning on his heel and walking to the next room down the hall; which just so happened to belong to my lady in waiting.

  She fancied the Captain quite a bit; always speaking of him and his…assets. If luck was on her side, maybe tonight would be the start of their courtship.

  I grinned and uttered a quick prayer to the gods on her behalf.

  Closing the door, I grabbed my desk chair and pushed it under the door handle to prevent anyone from entering. “You’re clear.”

  Aramis scooted out from under my bed and stood, brushing his hands together. Then, he turned to me with a grin, “you know, you’re pretty good at…”

  “You stole his signet ring?” I interrupted.

  He shrugged and reached into his pocket, pulling out the giant emerald ring and spinning it around on his finger.

  “Not only are you an idiot, but you’re an idiot with a death wish.” I said, shaking my head as I walked toward my armoire in the far corner of my chambers to get out a shift to sleep in.

  “Do you want me to leave?” he asked hesistantly.

  “I should say yes.” I grabbed a light blue colored shift and slipped behind my ornamental privacy screen to put it on. “You’re a liar, a thief, and nothing but trouble.”

  “I have never lied to you,” he protested sharply.

  I didn’t bother responding as I dropped the sheet and pulled the shift over my head.

  When I said nothing, he continued, “why haven’t you ever turned me in?”

  I bit my lip and walked out from behind the privacy screen; stopping suddenly as he stood only steps away and was looking at me with an intensity that made me weak.

  “I should,” I murmured.

  Stepping closer and closer until our chests were nearly touching, Aramis bent his knees until his eyes could peer into mine. “You won’t.”

  His utter confidence in me bled from his voice and pleased me more than it should.

  He lifted his hand and stroked my face like a blind man who had to use his hands in order to see. He closed his eyes and caressed my face as if he were seeing me for the very first time.

  “What is it about you?” He mused aloud and opened his eyes. The look in them was one that I had never seen before and it scared the hell out of me.

  I stepped back, out of his reach and walked away. “If you leave now, the guards will catch you. You’ll have to wait until morning,” I said, without looking back at him.

  “I will fix you a pallet on the floor.” I grabbed a couple of thick blankets off my bed and a pillow and laid them out on the ground. I would make do with a sheet.

  Aramis stepped up behind me and grabbed my shoulder gently, “don’t. I can fix my own pallet.” His voice sounded a bit shaky.

  “It’s already done.” I said, straightening and then stilling as I felt my back meet his front.

  Neither of us moved as tension filled the air around us, smothering all the oxygen from the room.

  My survival instinct kicked in and I moved away, putting as much distance as I could between us. I was desperate to escape because I felt like this man could destroy me. He was all consuming, and nothing good could
come from that.

  In an effort to buy myself some time to recover, I searched wildly around the room and my gaze fell upon the tub. Without thinking, I said, “the water is still warm, if you would like to take a bath.”

  Only after the words had already fled from my lips, did I realize how indecent that would be and given Aramis’s expression, he realized it too. He smirked and shot me a wink before walking nonchalantly towards the tub.

  When he stood next to it, he glanced up and caught my eye. The intensity in them had me locking my knees so that I wouldn’t fall to the floor in a puddle.

  Never taking his eyes away from mine, he stripped out of his jacket…then his shirt. My mouth went as dry as the deserts in the east and I devoured every inch of his exposed skin. His pale skin looked so soft and inviting that I had to clench my hands into fists to resist the urge to touch. I wanted to stroke everything from his collar bone down. I counted each one of his defined abdominal muscles and then moved to the v line of his lower abdomen and paused.

  Blinking rapidly, I stared at the word tattooed into his flesh in foreboding horror.

  I glanced up at him and found him still staring at me. I blushed, knowing he had seen me ogle him; but, that wasn’t nearly as important as, “why do you have ‘whore’ tattooed on you lower stomach?”

  The intensity left his eyes and his expression morphed into an equal mixture of shame and defiance. Holding his head high, he said, “I used to be one.”

  Shock flooded my system, leaving me speechless. I simply stood there as Aramis unlaced his pants and boots, taking both off in record time. He glanced at me once more before climbing into the bath.

  The longer I went without saying anything, the more the shame part of his expression conquered the defiance. Eventually, he lowered his head, hiding from me, and that one incongruous movement snapped me out of my stupor.

  “But, you’re a noble.”

  “No, I am a former slave.” He said, tapping the rim of the tub anxiously.

  “You lied to the entire court?” I asked rhetorically. Of course, he lied.

  He nodded.

  “Then… why tell me the truth?” Falsifying your nobility was a crime punishable by death. He knew that. By telling me, he had just placed his life in my hands. Why would he do something so potentially foolish?

  This time, he raised his head and once again, looked me right in the eyes. “I have never lied to you.”

  That scary, unfamiliar feeling in the pit of my stomach started up again. I felt like an entire herd of beast were trampling my insides and in that moment, I knew. I didn’t care that he used to be a whore. I didn’t care that he was a thief that thrived on causing chaos in the courts.

  None of that mattered.

  He was simply Aramis, flaws and all.

  And…I needed him.

  ******************

  “That was the moment you fell in love with him, wasn’t it?” Joaquin asked, already knowing the answer.

  “Yes.”

  “What about Soren?” He asked.

  I frowned and looked away from Aramis to glance at Joaquin, “what about him?”

  “Do you love him less than Aramis?”

  I laughed and shook my head, “no.”

  When he still looked confused, I elaborated. “Soren is my rock, my protector. He is the one that I have never, nor will ever doubt. I guess you could say, he owns my soul; whereas, Aramis owns my heart. Aramis challenges me. He is unpredictable and erratic, but his love is all consuming. He is what Soren is not and I need them both to be whole. My love for them is different but no less powerful. They are both my husbands.”

  Joaquin was quiet for a long while, appearing deep in thought, and then he raised his head and pierced me with the intensity in his amber eyes. “I have never met anyone like you before.”

  Chapter Five

  IKIGAI

  (n.) the reason for being the thing that gets you up in the morning

  Soren Kuznetsov

  I stared at the missives sent from the scouts near the borders and rubbed my eyes, hoping the words would magically change. Unfortunately, they remained the same. All five men reported movement from the south. But, it was Elisa’s letter that was the most troubling.

  She sent word that King Masaari and the temporary Regent of Danur – King Lyon’s replacement — had both sent men to King Aya. Together those men along with half of King Aya’s army were headed towards Akeldama and should be here within the month.

  My mind raced as I tried to think of a solution that would solve this.

  The number of warriors headed our way was near to ten times more than we had access to. The resistance had a healthy number of a hundred and forty-two men and women that would lay down their lives for Akeldama.

  Cassius had thrice that in hired mercenaries. Though, I would be a fool to think he’d even bother fighting the southland scum. Xima’s tears, he probably summoned them here in the first place.

  Frustrated, I knocked the letters along with everything else on my desk to the floor with a curse.

  I had no idea what to do.

  Sienna’s home was at risk and I could not stop it. I was a blacksmith. I made weapons of war and I could fight if I had to, but I was no warrior. And certainly not a leader. I was merely fooling myself.

  “Why are you making so much racket?” Aramis asked, stumbling into the room and face planting on the fur rug in the center of the room. He sighed and stretched out, getting comfortable.

  I stared at him and once again wondered what Sienna had seen in him. Sure, he had some admirable qualities but those were far surpassed by his less than admirable ones.

  Unless, she saw a side of him that no one else did…

  Aramis smoothed his hand over the fur of the rug, petting it. He was such a strange fellow.

  I dragged a hand threw my hair. “Are you planning to sleep there? You know there’s a cot not but six feet away. You couldn’t make it that far?”

  “It’s too soft.” Aramis slurred.

  “It’s a bed. It’s meant to be soft.” I pointed out.

  “I spent most of my life sleeping on the floor. Sleeping on a bed is nearly impossible.” Aramis stated in a rare moment of disclosure, causing my eyebrows to go sky high. He must be drunker than I thought if he was sharing the secrets of his past. He was the most tight-lipped person that I had ever met.

  I considered him and his previous statement.

  Maybe his family had been too poor to afford a bed, but I doubted it. The numerous faded scars along his body and the degrading tattoo upon his hip said otherwise. I doubt anyone would willingly have the word “whore” tattooed upon their flesh if given the choice.

  “Now stop stalling and tell me what’s the cause of all that.” Aramis flung his arm out, gesturing towards the mess scattered over the floor.

  Sighing, I began pacing. “The Southerners are sending an army this way.”

  “What?!” Aramis lifted his head and pierced me with eyes far too sharp for a man supposedly down in the cups.

  Distracted, I narrowed my eyes on him. There was no way he was drunk. What game was he playing at and why?

  “Soren!”

  Jerked from my burgeoning theories, I resumed pacing. “All six scouts sent missives detailing the movement of the southland army.”

  “How many?”

  “How many what?”

  “How many of the southland kings are against us?” That was a good question. The Consortium of Kings consisted of nine.

  If they all joined forces against us…

  Without Akeldama’s shield in place, we would die.

  Without question.

  We simply didn’t have the manpower.

  Fortunately…

  “According to Elisa, only Aya, Masaari, and Lyon’s Regent have combined forces. Honestly, Masaari’s involvement surprises me. He had been on good terms with the previous King of Akeldama…” I cocked a brow at Aramis as he doubled over with laughter. “Some
thing you care to share?”

  Aramis snorted and shot me a smirk. Yep, no way was the tricky bastard drunk. “King Masaari is an opportunistic bastard. He was only “friends” with King Julian because being allies allowed him passage into the kingdom and thus, all of our resources. In case you’ve forgotten, Masaari’s kingdom is the best place to purchase slaves and illicit goods. He isn’t exactly a good man.” Aramis used his fingers to form quotation marks to emphasize the word, “friends.”