Enkara nodded, he’d alluded to such in his letters and when he’d visited her on Susa.
“However, I never told you that I developed a second power after reaching adulthood.”
“What? What happened to not keeping secrets and sharing everything with each other?”
Kuwari shrugged. “I was afraid you’d pull away once you learned the truth.”
“Never.” Enkara stepped closer and placed her hand on his shoulder and gave him a squeeze. When that didn’t seem enough, she stepped closer and hugged him like she used to, wrapping him in a fierce embrace and allowing her love for him to flow across their special link. After too short of time, she pulled away and looked him in the eyes.
“I don’t know what secret you’ve been hiding all these years, but it doesn’t matter what it is. Nothing will ever drive me away. I’m your friend for life.”
He reached out and took her hands in his. “That felt so good, a balm on my ragged senses after the day I’ve had.” Kuwari took a deep breath, and the words just flowed out of him. “I think I’ve always had this ability to some extent. I just never understood it was unusual. But from my thirteenth year, I’ve been able to feel what another person feels when they touch me.”
Enkara’s mouth dropped open for a moment before she snapped it closed. He could feel what others felt when they touched him? No wonder she’d been picking up on his distress all evening. His deep dislike of social gatherings suddenly made sense.
“Can you read minds?”
“No. Just feel what they feel, but even that explanation is too simple. Sometimes it’s almost like the two gifts work together and I get a glimpse of a vision accompanying the touch.”
“That’s terrible. So, you mean if...”
Her words failed her. She was still trying to understand the power.
“Hmmm. For example, if an assassin touched me in passing, I would sense the powerful feelings, and my vision might show me how the attack would come. It’s always just a brief glance so I can continue to function without others knowing they betrayed something to me.”
“That’s a benefit at least, but the price is terribly high.”
“Yes, if someone I touch feels hate, greed, or lust, I get the full effect.” Kuwari winced. “At least I always know what a person thinks of me.”
“You can’t turn it off?” She glanced at her hand on his shoulder.
“It doesn’t always happen with every touch, but no, I can’t turn it off. And there are so many times when I wish I could. Like during festivals where drink flows too freely, and we gryphons get even more touchy-feely than normal.” Kuwari rubbed his neck, working a kink out. “I suppose it’s lucky I’m a prince and most don’t dare touch me unless invited.”
As he’d said, gryphons were naturally a very tactile species. Always having to hold back or guard himself against touch would be unnatural to him. And what about her touch? Could he read it is easy as all the others? Was it painful, disruptive, or disturbing to him?
What a terrible burden to carry in silence.
“Have you ever told anyone about this affliction?” she asked softly.
“No.”
She pulled her hands from his and murmured an apology but swiftly he snatched up her hands again.
“See?” he said. “This is why I’ve never told anyone about the power. If I did, those I love would be more guarded. A hug, a pat, a reassuring squeeze—all those loving touches—I might risk losing them all if others found out about my power and tried to ‘protect’ me.”
“What can I do to prevent the emotional bleed through?”
How many times had she shared this emotional seepage with him? What had he seen? Then she remembered how, even sleeping, his mind would wrap around hers and protect her from the nightmare memories from her childhood. Was he sucking all that darkness into himself?
“Calm, my beautiful Blade,” he whispered in her ear. “Disciplined minds are far less likely to bombard me with emotion. And you have become much more disciplined in both body and mind during your training on Susa.”
She mulled over what he’d said. If she was careful to limit touch and to keep a tight rein on her emotions, she should be able to minimize the unwanted emotional transfers.
“Oh Enkara,” he sighed and gave her hand a squeeze. “Are you forgetting your promise to me so soon?”
“I don’t see how this—”
“You swore you wouldn’t change how you treat me if I told you the truth.”
“I know, but this changes things. It has to.”
“Enkara, your touch, your emotions—I always look forward to them. When we touch, your love and friendship wraps around me and soothes away all the worries for a few precious moments. Please don’t strip away my greatest source of solace.”
“It really doesn’t cause you distress?”
“No,” he said and pulled her into a hug. “You give me peace.”
That didn’t sound so terrible.
“Very well, I’ll try not to change how I treat you but explain the part about the drinking.”
“When others start to drink, their minds become less disciplined. The more they drink, the more undisciplined they become and the greater the chance a simple touch will turn into a powerful emotional assault. But when I drink, it dulls whatever magical gift causes the visions.”
“I’m sorry you have had to shoulder this burden alone for so long.”
“While it can be annoying, there are times when I imagine the power will be more gift than curse.”
She arched an eyebrow in question.
“Between lovers and mates,” his eyes took on a heavy-lidded appearance, and his pupils dilated as he stepped closer. “I liked what you felt when I touched you.”
Another flush climbed up her cheeks. “I’m so sorry that I was…projecting that at you.”
“I’m not. Not when it’s your emotions I’m feeling and your dreams and desires I see in my visions.” He stroked her cheek. “You’ll come to understand in your own time, but for now we have a celebration to get back to.”
“I can’t let you go back down there knowing what I know now.”
“You must. There will be questions if I leave too early. This power is not one I want discovered. It also makes me vulnerable.”
Enkara nodded, but she didn’t like it. As Kuwari started to lead her from the shelter, something else occurred to her.
“Oh, Goddess. This is why you don’t want to accept anyone else as your betrothed. They’d have open access to you and could bombard you with their untrained and unguarded minds day and night.”
“There is that unpleasantness, but that’s not why and you know it.”
She didn’t acknowledge the last part. “Now that I know why you don’t want to betroth anyone else, I’ll—”
“Don’t.” Kuwari’s voice held fierce anger. “Don’t say you’ll agree to be my betrothed now just because you feel it’s your duty. I’ve loved you all my life. I won’t just be an obligation. I’ll win your love through normal means.”
He turned and started away, but she caught him by the hand before he’d made his escape. Kuwari glanced down at their joined hands, likely reading her emotions. Well, good. He’d know the truth.
“One day, when we get through whatever fate has planned for us,” she gave his hands a squeeze, “I’ll make sure you have no doubts about my love.”
He nodded, looking solemn. “I can accept that.”
“Good. Now about the crowd.”
“Don’t worry about me.” He tugged her back onto the dais where the priests and priestesses were already waiting. “This is nothing new. I’ve survived this long, I’ll survive this as well.”
“I still don’t like it.”
He looked over his shoulder, his confident grin back in place. “Then stake your claim. You are, after all, half gryphon. The appropriate instincts must be buried somewhere inside.”
Enkara snorted, though she was pleased to see the
Rebel Prince was back, Kuwari’s earlier vulnerabilities drawn back inside where the ruthless court couldn’t detect them.
***
Sometime between dusk and dawn when many of the nobles had drank themselves into a stupor, Kuwari and his parents finally retired. Even then, Enkara had to glare down a few of the bolder females with plans to follow them to the royal wing.
All evening and well into the night, she’d kept circling back to how she could give him some semblance of peace from all this. But it wasn’t until Kuwari returned to his own chambers and Enkara saw that her personal items had arrived from Susa that she finally came to a decision.
Enkara followed Kuwari deeper into his suite all the way to his bedchamber. There, cursing under his breath, he began removing the gold ornaments from his hair.
With new purpose, she came up behind him. “Kuwari, there’s something I need to say.”
He turned to her with a guarded look. “If you wish to discuss which of the females I met tonight was the least leech-like and might make a passable betrothed, I’ll skip the discussion until tomorrow or preferably never if it’s all the same to you.”
Before her courage failed, she stepped forward and pressed her lips against his. His were warm and firm under hers. Taking her time exploring, she nipped and caressed, learning him. Growing bolder, she flicked the tip of her tongue against the seam of his lips.
As if that was the signal he’d been waiting for, his arms came around her, and he was kissing her back with a passion to match what was rising within her. He made encouraging sounds when her hands began to run up and down his bare back. Sighing into her mouth, Kuwari drew her more tightly against him.
Then he broke the kiss and disappointment washed over her. It lasted only moments, then his lips found the lobe of her ear. Enkara fought back a surprised purr only to fail a moment later when he started raining kisses down her neck and shoulder. She wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled the side of his face. Working the clasp of his torc, she freed him of the hefty chunk of gold.
She’d never thought that a simple set of broad shoulders could awaken desire, but she’d wanted to run her hands over his all evening. At last she did, caressing the firm muscle and nuzzling his warm skin, dragging in his wholesome male scent. Instincts roused. She worked harder to rub her scent into his skin.
Two large hands slid under the veil trailing down her back. His fingers caressed her spine, the pads brushing lightly down the newly-healed birthmark that would tell the world she was his Blade. His touch felt so good she nearly started purring again. He pressed closer until she could feel every flex and shift of his muscular body against hers.
It would be too easy to get lost in the warmth and passion—a part of her wanted to, but this was just supposed to be a promise of what would come later after they crushed whatever plans Ereshkigal had for them.
No longer returning his ardent caresses, she dipped her head to end the kiss. With a little shudder, she put some space between them.
“Did you understand my meaning from my emotions?” she asked a few moments later.
He pressed his forehead to hers and laughed softly, still breathing hard from earlier. “I might be a touch thick-headed at times, but even I didn’t need my gift to understand what that was. You just agreed to be my betrothed in the most rewarding way, and now your emotions are telling me not to rush when I very much want to do exactly that.”
“I’m sorry. My concerns about our future are still unchanged. If I’m Ereshkigal’s Blade, I’m dangerous to you, but I also realize there are many dangers in your life. This is a promise that once we neutralize whatever threat Ereshkigal has planned, I’ll accept your courtship and court you in return.”
“What changed your mind?” he asked as he brushed a lock a hair from her cheek.
Enkara paused, not certain she could put a name to the emotions swirling through her mind. “Many things. While seeing others try to seduce wasn’t…pleasant, that’s not what spurred me to act. It was watching as you were forced to hide your true self away from others, so they couldn’t use your emotions against you. I kept seeing more and more of the man I love disappear under the cold persona of a prince. I find the though of losing my friend devastating.”
“You’ll never lose me. Nothing the court does could ever change that. For you, I’ll always be Kuwari—just a man, not a prince.”
“I am glad.”
“Good, because you’ll find I’m a selfish man. Is there a way I might persuade you for a little more?”
The grin accompanying his words was rakish.
“Actually, there is more to my gift.” She leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and then turned and hurried into the outer chamber, leaving a clearly startled Kuwari behind.
She swiftly opened the travel bags containing her personal items. It took some hunting, but she found the blanket she’d made for him. When she turned and looked over her shoulder, Kuwari was leaning against the doorway between rooms, just watching her.
His gaze landed on the folded bundle she carried. The earlier questioning look melted into something with a bit more heat to it. She returned to him and silently presented the blanket.
Kuwari gazed down and then reach for it, slowly caressing the blanket reverently as if it was the greatest gift he’d ever received.
“It’s beautiful.”
Enkara snorted. “No, it’s not. But I made it and promised myself I’d give it to you one day. At the time I don’t think I intended it to be a courtship gift, not consciously.”
“Beautiful or not,” Kuwari stroked the blanket she’d given him, “this is the best name day gift I could have ever received because it is a gift for Kuwari the man, not Kuwari the Prince.”
“I’ll accept that.” She returned his grin. “But we should go find our beds, because Burrukan will be banging on the door at dawn, shouting about lazy trainees.”
Kuwari grimaced. “You’re right. The old goat will be here at dawn. I suppose there is no need to rush things between us now that I know you’ve agreed to be mine like I knew you would.”
“You saw this?”
“No, not this, but other things in the future.”
His words did strange things to her heart.
“I might not have foreseen this night,” he added, “but I feel a vision coming on.”
“Really?” She couldn’t hold back her grin.
“Why, yes. In it I see you helping me remove all these damned gold trinkets from my hair.”
Laughing, Enkara helped him with that and then proceeded to shoo him off to bed. She didn’t need the power of future-telling to know if she hadn’t Kuwari would have ended up following her to bed.
Chapter 17
The day following the celebration, Kuwari awoke wrapped in Enkara’s gift. The memory of her body pressed against his was still fresh in his mind. One long, beautiful dream had been born of those two things, and while the details of the dream had faded, the remnants were enough to stir his body even now. A fool’s grin plastered itself on his face, but he couldn’t stop.
Still grinning, he rolled over. An eagle-headed Anunnaki stood at the side of his bed, reaching for him.
Lashing out, his heart pounding, Kuwari knocked aside the outstretched hand. All thoughts of dreams and Enkara sank under a rising wave of adrenaline.
Rolling out of reach, he snatched up the dagger he kept under a pile of pillows at the side of his bed. Without hesitation, he continued off the bed and raced toward where his sword was hanging from the back of the chair next to the fireplace.
Halfway to his destination, he called a warning to Enkara. His concern ratcheted up another notch when she didn’t respond out loud or mentally along their link. She slept lightly. If she didn’t answer, it was because she couldn’t.
Goddess, if they’d hurt her…
A second Anunnaki stepped in his path, a glowing scepter held in his hands. The Anunnaki swung the scepter like a club. It grazed his si
de when Kuwari sidestepped too late. Ropey magic pulsing with light wrapped him in a chilling power. Between one heartbeat and the next he no longer had control of his limbs and his dagger fell from his unfeeling fingers.
As his legs folded under him, only the sudden firm grip of the first Anunnaki prevented Kuwari from crashing to the floor. The second one, joining the first, helped haul Kuwari’s unresisting body over to the chair where his sword still hung.
Not that the sword would do him any good now. He couldn’t move, couldn’t form words, couldn’t even raise his own head to glower at his enemies.
A moment later one of them grabbed a fistful of his hair and lifted his head.
“It would have been easier if you had stayed longer in the dream. I wasn’t done speaking with my friend yet,” the eagle-headed Anunnaki said in a dry tone. “There is much we still need to discuss.”
Kuwari reached for his gift, though this time he wasn’t trying to speak with Enkara. He just needed to know her condition. Thankfully, his magic answered his need. From what he could tell, she was still deeply asleep, too deeply. One of the Anunnaki had done something to her. Though she wasn’t physically hurt. Thank Tammuz.
Unable to help Enkara, he used the only defense left to him: his mind magic. Although, he wasn’t sure if it would work with an Anunnaki like it did with Enkara.
“What do you want? Why are you here?”
The Anunnaki cocked his head in a bird-like manner. “To talk. Is that not what I already said?”
“There are better ways to open a conversation.” Kuwari narrowed his eyes. “Whatever your reasons, you’re wasting your time. I’ll not listen to lies.”
The feathers on the spirit guardian’s head fluffed up before slicking down again. “Who said I wished to talk to you, young prince?”
What? But before Kuwari could decipher the Anunnaki’s meaning, the second one came forward and touched him with the scepter again. Darkness rushed in from all sides, stealing Kuwari’s sight as well as his consciousness.
Blade's Honor (Ishtar's Legacy Book 2) Page 13
