Tangles and Temptation (30 page)

He gave the deeply slumbering, sleeping figure upon the high kline a final look before he slipped stealthily out the room. The door whispered softly as he exited. His body raged for the comfort, the bliss, that lingered on the bed for the remainder of this night. He stood now a man who had had thorough and complete enjoyment of a woman’s body,
his
woman. But he was not a mere man.

The beast within him stirred, restless and fierce. His duty called to him. Pleasure had only a small, allocated portion of his life. He recalled Kyra’s exuberant screams under his ardent ministrations. His footsteps faltered as he remembered her stunned, beautiful expression each time her body was overtaken by a violent climax. She had taken him in again and again, a man complete. No beast had reared its intrusive head and sent her fleeing, panicked and afraid. She had seen him as a man and accepted him,
and
she had screamed for more.

The sigh that fell from his lips was heavy, laced with tension and remorse. He could not feast on more of her heated body, at least not this night. His feet continued on his steady course, away from her. He never paused again as he made his way back to the barriers of the plantations. This was where he was needed, not beside an alluring mate as he wanted.

* * * *

Kyra came awake with a gasp. She was sure she had heard nothing. The night was unnaturally still, the shadows unnervingly darker. “Eris.” His name left her lips in a whisper. She got no response. Her hand groped the space beside her for comfort. She found nothing. Kyra lurched upright with a jerk. Her panicked gaze quickly scanned the room. What she found left her shivering and uncertain. Eris was nowhere to be found. Her feet found the cold floor with a shudder. This night felt unholy, evil. She had to find Eris. Something felt terribly wrong.

The flame of the torch she held wavered as she moved through the dark, silent passages. All the doors she passed remained closed, the occupants blissfully submerged in sleep. Their sleep and dreams cradled them in comfort, providing them blessed ignorance of the evil that lurked. Kyra forged on. Whatever roamed this unholy night sought only one thing—
Eris.
She would not lie in her bed, a quivering mass of gooseflesh, while his life was in peril. She had finally seen the man beneath, and she was not willing to lose him. Holding that thought firm in the forefront her jumpy mind, her feet continued forward, silent, determined. A cold wind was all the warning she was given. It wisped against her face. An icy, fetid breath, which could only be possessed of death’s gaping jaws, blasted against her stunned face. The flame flickered and her torch went dark.

Kyra gasped and reached out before her. The darkness suddenly resembled a living being, swirling around her, feeding off her fear. It caressed her with cold fingers and taunted her shivering body. Kyra stared down at her feet and could see nothing. It was as though she had stepped into a void of nothing. Nothing existed, not even her body. She saw nothing and felt nothing but heart-gripping dread.

The voice came soft and deceptively sweet,
familiar
. She knew then she had made a grave error. She should have never ventured outside the room. “The foolish lamb has wandered outside the protective pen. Does she perhaps seek her noble protector? Alas, she has found the hunter instead. You have made this much too easy for me, Kyra.”

A swift gust of rushing air was all she felt before a searing shriek of pain. The club struck her head at the side. As she slid to the cold ground and her pain-laced mind began to fade, a medallion flashed menacingly. Its metal was shiny, cold. The eyes sparked a fierce red—a scarab. Kyra breathed out as the darkness overcame her desperate mind. “Thyone.”

SAGA Enn`ea

Eris shouted fierce, harsh orders as he exited the palace doorway and strode to the stables. His feet keep steady pace with the blood pounding within him.

Earlier, the first rays of the sun had struck his face, prompting him to return his tired, restless body back to the confines of the chamber. His heart had ceased beating the moment his foot had crossed the threshold. He had found nothing. The chamber was barren. His frantic shouts and hurried dash through the great expanse of the palace had garnered him equal failure. Kyra had disappeared. The rumpled bed lay cold and mocking. She had been taken from right beneath his nose, plucked and whisked away while under his guard. No amount of self-inflicted pain would ever be enough. Torturous guilt and consuming self-loathing made him see red. It sent his bare fists crashing into silent walls and his vicious tongue lashing out at every living soul who dared pass his ravaged person. As man he roamed the confines of the palace a ravaged, tormented being, as beast he stalked aggressive, violent, hungering for blood. His pain was frantic, loud, his anger fierce, savage. The blame for her disappearance lay firmly at his feet. He had failed her.

As he approached his horse, he lashed out with equal vehemence. It bucked and pawed the air in a terrified panic as its eyes rolled back, displaying the terrified whites within. Although logic cautioned Eris that he should calm his own beast first, blatant rage and fear fueled his actions. He tugged on the reins more fiercely. The horse whinnied and bucked more wildly. Eris roared in frustration. The beast upon his chest reared and lashed out threateningly.

“The horse will not be subdued thus, Eris. You must calm your mind, your beast, and steer your anger in a constructive direction. A man led by anger is easily led nowhere but astray.”

Eris shrugged off the hand upon his shoulder aggressively. “Do not speak to me of calm and peace. They have ceased to exist the moment I allowed Kyra to be taken from me.”

Negara sighed softly as she retracted her hand. “It is but destiny, Eris. Recall you not your visions? She had to have been taken in order to be saved.”

Eris spat out vehemently, “
My vision.
My vision sees her dead. Should I accept my vision, I could easily lounge here and not move a muscle. The vision would see its course successful. I trust nothing but the steel of my weapon and strength of my fighting arm. I have no time for this.”

The old woman stood before him. Strength and determination radiated off her in pulsing waves. “
Time.
Time is the word I have lived my life hating,
loathing
. My time was spent first waiting for that fateful day I would hold you in my arms. Then time became endless years of crying, mourning your loss from my life, only to return to waiting and hoping for a day that would see you in my presence again. I have endured for years while you seek to rush foolishly ahead within moments.
You will endure, Eris.
The value of time will be determined only at the end result.” In a more quiet voice, she whispered, “Think you not I underwent this exact turmoil the day I left you in a basket outside a gate?”

Eris stilled. This woman had endured much and did not deserve his harsh lashing. The sole recipient of his biting tongue should be
him
, not innocent bystanders. It was not by his mother’s hand that Kyra had been abducted. This was
his
burden to bear. He breathed harshly but listened nevertheless as she spoke.

“Destiny may be prolonged, but it will not be deterred. The story is written already in the stars, just as your life was written for me. Pain and anger are no strangers to me. Surrender is. I stand before you, a woman who has not dithered in her duty. And you stand before me, the result of my endurance, my reward.”

Eris sighed, a lone, mournful sound. “I hear you with a heart filled with respect for your suffering, a mind, immobile, clenched in fear for my mate, and a body salivating for vengeance. Speak quickly so I may be able to assuage this hunger within me, this turmoil.”

Negara nodded. “I feel your despair. It beats off you in powerful surges, blasting with vehemence and heat. I ask only the wisdom of racing to Sparta. Is this a destination reached from a sound, calculating mind or a panicked, ravaged one?”

The question caught him off guard. He shook his head. “Thyone is responsible, and he hails from Sparta. That is the logical destination.”

Negara frowned. “Yes, and Kyra’s previous abduction was logical indeed. She was abducted and set free in the very place she destined for, on your doorstep. Destination is not the key, knowledge is. What did she know that was of such great importance that it was necessary to rid her mind of her lifetime of memories?”

Once again Eris was dumbfounded. Kyra’s previous abduction had held him confounded, but he had not focused on all the angles. Negara had pointed out a valuable point that he had failed to assess adequately. His entire attention was on her wise words. “I will concede that her previous abduction was rather odd. But that does not dismiss logic completely. Thyone would best be able to defend himself, protect himself, within his own realm. Sparta is still the most reasonable destination.”

Negara tittered, unconvinced. “Kyra may have been abducted the first time to silence some deadly secret that had revealed itself to her. But this time,
this
time, the purpose differs. She is now dangling bait, bait set to lure you.”

Eris grunted in disagreement. “Had that been the plan, why did he wait until now? Surely he could have done this heinous deed and abducted her any time sooner. He could have even plotted my demise earlier.”

“Perhaps it was a delaying tactic. Perhaps he sought to confuse you, mayhap even confuse her. I know not. But I will ask you once again to consider your vision. Dismiss if you will the end result, but pay close attention to the details.”

The vision brought no pleasant feelings as it resurfaced in his mind. The actions, the blood sprayed, their lives lost, was not a vision he welcomed. But the cold, hard fact remained glaring. The snake upon his chest raised its head. The tongue darted out in quick, testing flicks as the familiar plains of the battlefield resurfaced again and again in his mind. The battle had taken place on a darkened plantation field, a plantation he knew every darkened dip and traitorous sway of. He knew the sound of the swaying wheat, the smell of the rich, moist soil, the feel and taste of the breeze upon his face because it was
his
plantation. “I must return home.”

“What do you want?” Eris glared at the band of soldiers who approached him cautiously just as his mother exited.

The leader of the group stepped forward and addressed him. “We seek to redeem the reputation of our beloved Sparta. Thyone has acted on his own will and not as part of our elite team. To rectify this slight against our name, we offer our services as companions on your race to retrieve what is yours.”

“I allowed your companionship but once, and this is the result. Why would I intentionally seek the repetition of such a grievous error?”

The man before him sagged visibly. “We are an honorable race. The warriors of Sparta fight fair and just. We are Spartiates, natural inhabitants of Sparta. Thyone was a Mothake, a non-Spartan, who was an outsider raised in our lands. Our blood flows not through his veins. I can only speculate that he rose so quickly through our ranks due to his links with the dark side. Evidence of his dark nature has previously shown itself, but as our leader we were powerless to dispute him.”

Eris slumped. His king had warned him. Cronus had succeeded in penetrating the highest of positions throughout Greece. He listened as the man continued. “This act is our final evidence against Thyone, one that shall see him beheaded should he ever show his disgraceful face on our shores again. This is treachery. I have nothing to offer as compensation but my word and our fighting arms.” He thumped his fist hard against his chest, his heart. “We pledge to undo the dishonor brought unto us in life by offering our lives. Life has been unsuccessful, but
death
shall see us redeemed of this dishonor.”

Eris sighed. “I see remorse clearly in your faces and hear your resolve in your sturdy voice, but you cannot accompany me. Bear not the blame for a single misled leader. Return to your people with news of Thyone’s impending death.”

“Before you depart, Aurora has also bid you convey her heartfelt shame at his actions. Her disgust at the dishonor he has brought on our people seeks his blood spilt.”

Eris clenched his fists. “He shall suffer no less by my hand.” He watched the band move away, once again with perfect symmetry and coordination, a single entity. His mind once again focused on the task at hand. He was reluctant to do so, but duty and sheer goodwill dictated that he inform Kyra’s family of his change in destination. They were her family, and although he held no fondness, especially for her mother, he had to keep them aware of his intention.

He dismissed his men and returned to the palace. Besides informing Kyra’s mother of his immediate intentions, he intended on letting her know of his later ones as well. And this time he would accept no disparaging of his race. The name he offered Kyra was an honorable one, and her family would accept it whether they wished it or not. There would be no compromise in this quarter.

* * * *

“There are matters that need clearing before my departure.” He narrowed his eyes, taking in the pallor and hollow features of the grieving, ravaged woman.

Alta turned slowly at his entrance. Her voice was surprising strong. “I had thought you would be long gone by now. Surely your anger was to heat the cold path Kyra was taken on.”

Eris scowled at her. “Her scent shall be picked up soon enough. I merely come to inform you of a change in my course. Instead of Sparta, I leave for my home, Argos. I believe the final battle shall be hosted on my home ground.”

Alta nodded. “I appreciate the warning.” She gestured to the silent figure upon a seat. “Aleka and I are about to go into the temples to offer prayers for your ventures. We shall pray that Kyra is returned safely to our bosoms once again.”