“Oh, that was a mistake on my part then. Perhaps you are in need of a tonic to release bowel pressures? I did notice a lack of fruit at the midday meals. My son is a noted healer. I’m sure he could whip up a potion to alleviate the tightness in your viscera.”
“My viscera are fine.”
“Good, good. Then perhaps your fractious face—”
“My face was not fractious,” I snapped. “My role is not that of a jester to jape and toss pennies in the air. I am at your side as your protector. That is a role I take quite seriously.”
He stopped just outside the door to his suite, hands still behind his back, honied gaze finding mine and holding it.
“Yes, I have noticed. Perhaps you need to take a night off and engage in something that will give you some enjoyment.”
“That was my plan.” I opened the door to his room, nodding at the duo of Sandrayan guards on either side of the door, and bowed slightly to Teryn. “May you sleep well, Mahouk Nouradi.”
I spun on my heel and left before he could poke another witty thorn into my side. Why in Ihdos’ name did the man rankle me so? Generally, I was of lighter humors. Perhaps the role of captain of the guard tasked with protecting such a valued dignitary was weighing even heavier than normal. Not that guarding the king was something I took lightly. It was that this assignment carried such import. Aelir and his consorts had been working tirelessly to bring about a closer union with the clans that we’d pushed away. It was a slow, arduous process to gain back trust once it was lost.
I stalked through the castle, taking note of my guards at their posts, until I was back at the barracks on the far side of the keep. I called for a bath. Soon the large metal tub behind the screen was being filled with buckets of hot water toted in by new recruits. Once the last bucket was dumped, I stepped into the tub, sinking down to wallow in the lavender-scented water. Lavender. From the lavender steppes. A wholly Melowynn aroma. No traces of lime or black ginger root. Nothing but sweet lavender. As was my soap. Crafted by the Sisters of the Steppes for sale here in Celear.
The hot water began to ease the rigidity of my muscles. Even my jaw ached. I slid under the water to soak my head, coming up with a gasp. I thought only of the night ahead. Of finding a lover. A masculine one for sure this eve. I was in no genteel state of mind to take a slight, feminine elf to bed. No.Tonight, I required a lover who could give as well as he got. Perhaps I would allow him to mount me after I spent myself deep inside his—
A robust knock startled me out of my sensual daydream. “Unless the castle is afire, I gave orders to not be disturbed,” I bellowed.
“I’m sorry, Captain, but there’s a summons from the Revered Mahouk Nouradi,” a tentative female voice called through the crack between the door and the stout frame. I sighed so deeply that dots appeared in front of me. “I’ll slide the note under the door and wait for your reply.”
“Ihdos damn the man,” I snarled, stood, and stepped out of my tub, water sluicing down over me, and stamped wet feet to the door. A rich envelope of ivory lay on the floor, the address somewhat formal.Guard Captain Greenleaves.
Muttering under my breath so as not to let the waiting guard hear me calling a noble envoy a festering pain in my arse, I broke the dark red wax seal of a scorpion with my thumb and opened the short missive.
Dearest Pasil,
I have come up with the most wonderous idea to aid you in your search for relief from the contractures of your duties. Come to my suite with all due haste.
Yours under the holy light of Shamsira—
Teryn
“I am going to throttle this man,” I growled lowly.
“You said something to me, Captain?” the feminine voice on the other side of my door asked.
“No, I was merely speaking to myself. Hold, and I shall reply to the mahouk.” I stomped to my desk, naked and wet and partially aroused, and threw some words on a blank sheaf of vellum. Folding it in half, I sent it off without even a seal. A shove under the door was the extent of the reply’s care from me.
“He gets five minutes,” I told the wardrobe as I yanked it open. Once I had explained to the man that I had plans in town, he could take his “wonderous idea” and shove it deeply up his tight little arse. Not that I knew that his arse was tight. His robing covered everything from shoulders to knees, allowing only dark bare calves in fashionable leather sandals to be seen. Men and women of the Isles dressed in the same manner, loose-fitting light robes to allow their bodies to cool in the heat of their home islands. “Five minutes and then I am tossing whatever coin I have to the nearest whore I can find.” To hell with searching for the stablehand.
Pulling on a linen tunic of dark blue, some trousers, a belt with a coin pouch and a sheath for my eating dagger, and soft kid boots, I ran a towel over my head, tossed it to the floor, and left my room. I did not stop until I was stalking down the corridor where the guests of the crown were situated. I rounded a corner and nearly collided with Tezen and her charges. The twins were red-faced, cheeks wet, in their sleeping gowns with their small feet bared.
“Captain,” Tezen said and looked around me. “Have you seen a kitten?”
“We’ve lost Spot,” Alfina said, her lower lip out so far a bird could have lighted on it.
“Papa will be cross if we cannot find him,” Al’fur informed me, his round face covered with spent tears and what looked to be honey.
“I’ve not seen your kitten, but cats are known to hide in dark, secretive places. Perhaps you should return to the nursery?” I replied as kindly as I could. “She may be hidden in one of your toy boxes.”
“That’s where we are heading now. The children were upset. Nanny Vilde is searching the playroom again, so we did a fast sweep of the kitchens as honey cakes are known to calmtears,” Tezen explained, hovering in front of me. “If you see the kitten, bring him to the nursery, will you?” I nodded. “Thank you, Captain.”
After watching the little party climb the narrow, curved steps to the next floor, I continued onward, my goal within sight. Two Sandrayan guards stood at the portal, opening it for me and closing it behind my back without announcing my arrival. That seemed a dereliction of duty. I took in the elegant room quickly. The windows were open, as was the patio door, and the sea winds tickled the sheer curtains. The bed was unmade. The coverlets tossed about, and in the center of the spray of linen and pillows of differing sizes and colors lay Teryn’s spotted cat. Its fur gleamed like a gold spire in the sun, the darkish brown spots melding into soft brown and gold. It would be virtually invisible moving through the jungles that dotted the Black Sand Isles. Eyes the exact shade of Teryn’s stared at me in interest. Long whiskers twitched as it gently flicked its tail. Around its neck was a red band of silk with a small pendant that grabbed the firelight in the hearth.
“Hello?” Teryn called out from the bathing room. All thoughts of sloppy guard form dissipated at the imagery of the envoy resting in one of the large stone baths. “Is that the heated breath of the bronze warrior I hear in my chambers or has a constipated bear wandered into the castle?”
