He was right about one thing though – it had been a long day. I was ready to be alone with my demons for a while.
Magnus escorted me to my room, then gave me a slight bow and a promise to see me in the morning. I closed the door and sank to the floor.
My room. Someone had lit half a dozen candles and set them here and there. It was spacious, just as cozy and inviting as the sitting room had been.
A large canopy bed and dressers with real mirrors stood along every wall. Gold and amber drapes made of heavy velvet fell from the windows, gathering in soft puddles on the floor. Braided gold cords with long tassels at both ends swept the drapes back from the windows.
The tickle in my stomach erupted onto my face in the craziest smile. Kymber Oryx had her own room. I didn’t have much to put in the drawers yet, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t sleeping on hard rock with flea-infested, half-tanned animal hides between the ground and my bony carcass. I wouldn’t have to duck behind boulders when a stranger came into my cave and picked through my possessions. I belonged somewhere now.
The same muted gold, brown, and rust colors found in the rest of the house set the tone in my room. Well, all except the bed covering, which was a lovely shade of soothing tan. The canopy over the bed was made of the most delicate lace, with just a hint of gold ribbon adorning the edges. So feminine, I nearly jumped out of my skin with joy.
I rose to explore. Beyond a set of dark mahogany doors lay a privy chamber and water closet, complete with its own aqueduct. A steaming bath had already been drawn for me, probably by the frosty Tomas.
I found small round soaps laid out in an irresistible, cream-colored row, inviting curious fingers to lift them to an even more curious nose. I breathed in the lavender and mint, wondering if I were in the throes of a perfect dream.
And such fluffy brown towels! I pressed them over my face and inhaled their fresh scent. They might be insignificant fripperies to someone else. To me, they were the epitome of luxury. The key to a long locked door.
Though exhausted, I allowed myself a thorough soak in the bath. The marble edge of the tub was smooth and as slippery as ice though, and I kept nodding off and falling in.
I decided to get out when I slipped under the water for the third time. It would have been the height of irony to drown in my own tub after surviving everything else.
I opened one of the expertly-folded towels, astonished at its size. It was nearly as large as Magnus’s cloak. I closed my eyes and wrapped it around my body. The towel was the softest thing I’d ever felt, like the down of a chick. Its scent was clean and fresh, but my damp skin released something completely unexpected from the velvety fabric.
Childhood memories.
All my life I’d known I was not the biological child of Tanit and Donea Oryx, but they loved me as though I were. They’d never tried to hide the fact that they found me on their doorstep wrapped in a bloody cowhide, my umbilical cord still attached.
I might have been the illegitimate child of a highborn man or woman from Jalartha. My dark brown hair spoke of such, but my eyes…ah, my eyes were an anomaly in Calari. I knew of no one else who had eyes the color of mine. Sky blue, though Magnus had always said they were the blue of thick ice.
In any case, my blue eyes certainly drew enough attention. By the time I was seven, I’d gotten used to people staring at me and making rude comments. By the time I was seventeen, my skill with a blade was widely known. No one dared to stare and snarl insults then.
Blue-eyed people must have existed somewhere in this land, or I wouldn’t have them. I’d always imagined my mother was a princess from a lost tribe or a beautiful goddess no one else could see. I believed she and the man who’d sired me were madly in love with each other, but forbidden to be together by an angry father who wanted a more lucrative alliance for himself.
I’d stared out the window as a young girl with more than stars in my eyes, my head awhirl with silly, romantic notions only a child could conjure.
It was more likely my mother had given me away because she couldn’t stand the sight of me. Perhaps I was the result of rape or forced marriage. The child I’d been hadn’t thought that way, though. The Oryx’s made sure my world was loving and safe and perfect.
The piquant scent of the towel brought clarity, fixed a night in my mind that shouldn’t have been noteworthy. I’d looked up at Calari’s twin diamond moons just before my thirteenth birthday and wondered about the man I would marry. Did my future husband stare up at the night sky and ponder the same thing?
If fate had not played a cruel trick on us, I would’ve been the wife of Magnus Tyrix. I’d loved him so very, very much.
Enough of that. Time could not be turned backward, so I concentrated on finding something to wear to bed instead. I’d seen a plain muslin nightgown hanging behind the privy door. I pulled it on, finished my nightly ablutions, and headed toward that magnificent bed.
I blew the candles out along the way then crawled between the covers. I closed my eyes and imagined myself cradled in the palm of a god. The linens smelled fresh, like the air after a thunderstorm. Was it possible for a sheet to caress one’s body like a lover?
I lay in the dark with the most ridiculous smile on my face. Perhaps I hadn’t landed in the hand of a god, but this was as close as I’d ever come.
I always thought I’d kill Magnus if I ever saw him again. In fact, I killed him every time my body convulsed from the blows of a whip.
Now I was grateful Magnus had found me that day near Jalartha. Could I . . . could I ever love him again?
Tariq and Magnus. Brothers. Two men as different as night and day. How could Tariq have been so heartless? Why hadn’t I seen it in him? Tariq was a passable swordsman. Nothing fancy, but I never feared him. Nor was I reluctant to fight by his side.
What he’d done didn’t make sense. Though Tariq often lost his temper in battle, he was not the kind of man to seek vengeance for a slight.
I hadn’t thought so, at least.
So many disturbing questions with equally disturbing answers. There was nothing I could do about it. Fate would play out as she intended.
I was safe now – an incomparable feeling – but I knew the ground beneath me could shift at any moment. What if Garai found me here? What if he stormed the house and took me away, and there was nothing Magnus could do about it?
More questions crowded my mind: What if I couldn’t hold a sword? Worse than that, what if I could? What would prevent me from being what I once was? Did I truly want to be a warrior again? Perhaps only half a warrior? I knew none of those things would happen overnight. The physical part of my recovery was only a fraction of the challenge. My biggest hurdle would be mental.
Too tired to give it further thought, I burrowed deep into the bed and drifted off to sleep.
11: MAGNUS
I arose early the next morning, saddled Fitz, and headed into Adamar to see my physician friend.
I’d deliberately withheld his name from Kymber. She might’ve refused to allow him to examine her had she known I was speaking of Jarl Aldi.
Jarl had come to T’hath Academy during my third year, and he and Kymber had hissed at each other like feral cats. Jarl was much older, holding firmly entrenched opinions on the types of things females should and should not be permitted to do. He was astonished to find a beautiful young woman training with men. Unfortunately, he had not hesitated to speak his mind.
Kymber took him on with the wisdom of someone thrice her age. I sat a little taller as I rode, recalling how she’d made short work of every one of the physician’s archaic notions.
If Jarl pointed out that women were weak, Kymber did something outrageous, something he couldn’t easily refute. Once, she went to the barn and came back with a small pony in her arms. She set it gently on the floor and challenged him to return it to its stall.
He could barely lift it. Kymber had to take it back for him.
Jarl dared to tell her once that she would be a liability in battle. The loo
k of astonishment on her face was still fixed in my mind. “Why would you say such a thing to me?” she’d asked.
“The men will be so concerned with protecting you, they’ll forget to fight,” he said.
She pulled Silverlight from its scabbard and whirled, slicing the top off every lit candle in his surgery before he even had a chance to open his mouth. Her sword went back into the scabbard just as fast. “I would refuse to go into battle with anyone that stupid,” she’d said. “No men like that train here, good healer. They know my worth.”
Yes, Kymber Oryx had been an outspoken, fiery pillar of strength. A stark contrast to the pale, quiet woman who now wandered the halls of my house.
I wondered if I’d committed myself to a battle I couldn’t win.
Jarl Aldi’s office was located in Adamar’s business district, near the open market. Though haggling could be heard, and the crowds were noisy, the streets were kept impeccably clean. One did not have to fear stepping into a wet pile of dung, as no livestock were permitted to run loose in this part of town.
I stepped up on the small stoop outside Jarl’s office and attempted to look in the window, but someone had pulled the blinds. Still, the sign showing through the glass pane proclaimed him open. I knocked, something I wouldn’t normally have done.
I heard his jovial voice call from within: “I’m here. You may come in.”
I pushed the door open a crack and stuck my head inside. “It’s Magnus. If you’re busy, I can come back another time.”
Jarl emerged from the examination room in the back, wiping his hands on a small white towel. Though he never spoke of his family, he almost certainly had an exotic ancestor or two. His eyes and skin were a smooth brown, the color of weak coffee. Short, tight curls covered his head, black shot through with gray. “I have time for you, Magnus. I was just treating a woman with a headache. The light hurt her eyes so I pulled the blinds. I forgot to put them back up.”
“I see.” I entered and closed the door. “I have news, Jarl. Good news. And I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Come in. Sit down.” He gestured toward a wooden chair along the wall just inside the door. I sat; he hung the towel on a hook and sat down beside me. “The news must be good. You look twenty years younger today.”
“I have someone living with me now. A woman.” I thought Jarl would be happy to hear it. He knew how much I’d grieved for Kymber. In fact, he’d told me more than once I should move on.
He didn’t smile though; in fact, he kept his face carefully blank. “Congratulations.”
“You’ll never guess who it is.” I wanted to shout it from the rooftops.
Jarl thought a moment then shook his head. “I have no idea.”
“Kymber Oryx.”
Jarl gave such a violent start he nearly fell off the chair. “Kymber Oryx? How? How is she still alive?”
I relayed the whole sorry tale as it had been told to me, then told him how I’d found her near Jalartha. The look of elation Jarl had on his face soon turned to horror.
“Tariq did that? Your own brother?” Jarl shook his head. “I can scarcely believe it.”
“Once I get her healthy and settled in, I’m going to find him. I’m going to kill him, Jarl.”
“You certainly have that right, after what he’s done, but I’ve never thought a woman should fight.”
I raised my hand to silence him. “Don’t say that. Kymber was better than most of the men who trained at T’hath. She was born to hold a sword.”
Jarl gave me a sharp look. “Had she been a man . . .”
“Had she been a man, the result would’ve been the same. She was ambushed by someone she trusted. Someone she’d been trained to trust. She had no reason to think Tariq would turn on her like that.”
The physician stared at me for a moment then nodded. “My thoughts are not important, I guess. She’s back, and you appear to be a different man. I take it the favor you were going to ask of me has to do with her?”
“Her hand. It’s stiff and useless, but with a little bit of work and patience perhaps–”
“Magnus . . .”
I shuffled my feet beneath the chair. “I’m well aware it may not help, but I have to try.”
“What does Kymber think of your plan?”
“She . . . she is not opposed to it, but I didn’t see great enthusiasm either. She’s not the same woman she was, Jarl. Garai didn’t break her, but he changed her. She has a haunted look in her eyes.”
“I would imagine she does, after eight years as a captive with the barbarian king of Pentorus.” He ran a hand over his face. “I’ll come to your place and take a look at her, as long as you understand that I may not be able to help her. You can’t force her to want this. Allow her mind to heal before you try to get a sword back in her hand. The T’hath training was brutal.”
“Don’t you think I know that? I’m not an idiot. She’s as skinny and weak as a street cat right now. This is going to take time. But she made it through that training once. I know she can do it again.”
Jarl tilted his head. “How did that little slip of a woman ever end up at the academy anyway?”
“She was left on the academy’s doorstep as an infant. She never knew who her parents were. Tanit Oryx and his wife raised her.”
“I remember Tanit. The academy proctor. Nice man. His wife’s name was . . .”
“Donea. They had already raised three sons, so they were delighted to have a daughter. Kymber had started training before I ever got there.” I laughed. “I was eighteen, she was fourteen the first time I saw her. That hair sparking gold in the sun with every move she made. Blue eyes that could freeze you in your tracks, not to mention that lean, curvaceous body.”
Jarl laughed. “Of course.”
“I made the same mistake you did at first. I taunted her about her size. Before I could blink, I was on my back, staring at the sky with a sword pointed at my throat. Gods, she was magnificent! I was in love with her before I even got to my feet that day. And I learned a valuable lesson, my friend. It’s not healthy to underestimate Kymber Oryx.”
“That’ll teach you. And I guess it will teach me too.” Jarl gave me a long, hard look. “I’ll be over in a day or two, but no unrealistic expectations, Magnus, and I mean that.”
12: KYMBER
We were eating a late breakfast when the knock came to the door. Magnus had a twinkle in his eyes as he pushed the chair back from the table. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Curious, I watched him go, then realized I hadn’t panicked. The unknown person knocking at the door should’ve sent me fleeing out the back, but I remained seated. I took a sip of tea, wondering why I no longer felt hunted. Perhaps the heart truly does know when it’s home.
I tensed when I heard a man in the foyer, but the voice was familiar. I turned my head to listen and then he was there, standing before me with a warm and welcoming smile.
“Jarl Aldi?” I could scarcely believe my eyes. I hadn’t thought of him in years.
He’d aged, but he’d done it well. Only a few lines marred his flawless brown skin. His hair, once black as night, was lightened a bit by splashes of silver. He was still as lean as a warhorse.
“The same.” Jarl opened his arms to me. “Kymber Oryx. I am so very, very glad to see you, my dear.”
I ran into his embrace with my eyes shut tight, my mind hurtling across the years that separated us. “And I’m glad to see you, Jarl.”
He rubbed my shoulders. “Magnus said you have a little problem with your sword hand.”
“If only it were little.” I turned to Magnus. “So this is your physician friend. If I’d known you were talking about Jarl, I would’ve been more agreeable.”
“I was afraid you’d refuse,” Magnus said.
I laughed. “Jarl and I worked out our differences long ago.”
“We certainly did.” Jarl smiled. “Are you finished eating? If so, I’d like to have a look at that hand.”
&nb
sp; “We’ll go to my room.” Magnus waved an arm toward the staircase. “For privacy.”
Jarl worked with my hand for a long time, lifting each finger and massaging the palm. It ached when he was done, but I thought he was pleased. His kept his expression neutral but his eyes shone like stars.
He kissed my hand then placed it in my lap. “This terrible thing should never have happened to you. Especially at Tariq’s hands. I wish you were not scarred. I wish I could look into your eyes and tell you women had no business fighting alongside men just to watch you pull that sword and lay waste to my office.”
Yes, Jarl and I had not seen eye to eye on a woman’s place in the world, but I think I’d helped change his mind. In any case, his heartfelt statement brought tears to my eyes.
“What do you think?” Magnus asked Jarl. “Can you help her?”
Jarl sighed. “That must have been one horrific wound.”
An understatement of the highest order. I nodded. “Yes.”
“It’ll never be what it was.”
“I understand.” I truly did, but Magnus looked as though he were going to be sick.
“That said, I think we can loosen it up enough for you to grip a sword, but it may never be–”
Magnus interrupted him with a happy gasp. “I knew it!”
Jarl gave him a look then trained his gaze on me. “You will never have the same mobility you once had, but weren’t you trained to compensate for weaknesses?”
“Yes.” Magnus and I said it in unison.
“Then this is my professional opinion, Kymber, and it’s as much for Magnus as it is for you. You are weak and unhealthy. Emaciated. I will work with your hand, but I don’t want you to begin any type of training with a weapon until you gain a little weight. I know this impatient man beside you, and I know he’ll push, push, push until you drop from exhaustion, but all I want you to do for the time being is eat and get strong. Have Magnus take you for daily walks on the beach, but don’t try to do too much. This is going to take time.” He moved a stern gaze to Magnus. “And I don’t want to hear of either of you trying to force the grip of a sword into that hand until I give my approval. Do you understand?”
Silverlight Page 7
