The Destroyer Book 3 (26 page)

"I am not arguing with you about his heroic deeds. I just worry that your feelings for him might not be reciprocated in full."

"He loves me!" I spat the words out and glanced away from my uncle. The ships in the harbor below looked small enough to fit in my hand. I couldn't even make out which was the one Beltor had acquired earlier this morning.

"Men will often make false declarations when attempting to seduce a beautiful woman.”

“He did not seduce me. I made the decision,” I said indignantly. Beltor still viewed me as a child, immature and unworthy of Kaiyer’s love. I was beginning to think my uncle respected me after the time and secrets we had shared, but he was just like the rest of my family.

I thought back to the various times Kaiyer and I had talked, shared our bodies, our thoughts, and meals together. The weeks we spent in the cave, on the road traveling home, and in Merrium. I had worried about becoming pregnant before, but he indicated his support of whatever happened. He had never told me he loved me, but I knew it was true. His actions proved how he felt.

"I never told him I loved him either, but I do. I told him I needed him. I told him that I didn't want him to go back to Nia."

Beltor said nothing for a few moments. The wind picked up from the ocean and a small group of gulls spun up through the air on the empty cliffs in front of us. The biggest of the bunch squawked with gusto and the rest followed him higher into the city.

"When Nadea was growing up, I talked to her about how to choose the right man to wed. You cannot judge a man’s character by what he says, or even what he does when you are alone. You must judge his actions both toward you and toward other women.” He looked at me with a smirk and I raised my eyebrow. My father had never discussed anything like this with me, as he would have chosen my husband, and not based solely on character. “A man might be charming, heroic, and a great lover to you, but if he is also this way with other women, he is not the right mate. Similarly, if he is kind to you yet cruel to others, he is not a good man. I would guess you don't want to share Kaiyer with any other women?"

“Of course not. Why would you ask this?” Fear chilled my skin, suddenly the wind felt icy instead of refreshing. “Did Kaiyer tell you he loved another?”

Beltor put his hand on my shoulder to stop my question. His grip tightened around me almost painfully and I yelped in surprise.

"Shit!" he said in undisguised fear. His mouth hung open and his face was white. The main road leading out of Relliat and into the rest of our country was about a quarter of a mile up the sheer wall. Instead of trade carts pulled by donkeys or couriers with their port orders, the pathway was filled with Ancients, their armor glittered like the sun on the ocean but conveyed none of the warmth.

"Are they coming for me?" I asked. My legs went numb.

"I can't think of any other reason they would be here.” Beltor pulled on my arm and we hastened down the street. We were still in the heart of the city, high on the cliffs, maybe only a few hundred yards away from the safety of our ship if we were the gulls I had just seen, but a mile or two away on foot.

Screams echoed down upon us from the cliff roads. It sounded like an ocean's wave of terror was descending on the beautiful city.

"Run, Jess. We must make it to the ship. Understand?" I gasped and pointed at the road ahead of us. A small group of armored Ancients had stopped a crowd of humans.

Beltor and I skidded to a halt on the steep street and I almost fell. The soldiers looked past the humans they were questioning and up at us. The three of them had eyes and hair the same color as the ones that visited Rayat's home: red and gray.

"Come over here, humans!" one of them commanded with a yell. Beltor grabbed my hand and sighed. His mouth formed a firm line and his eyes looked at me in sadness.

We were caught.

I couldn't breathe suddenly and my consciousness flew up out of my hazy slumber into the darkness of the night with a choking sound that couldn't escape from my mouth or nose. I struggled against the fingers that held my nostrils and jaw closed, but the grip felt strong enough to rip my face off if it chose too. My arms swam through my bed of hay and grabbed onto the hand that was killing me. I couldn't pull it away or push myself back into my bed to escape my imminent death.

"Shhhhh!” It was her. It took my brain a few seconds to tell my heart and arms to relax. “Do not cry out, lover,” she whispered, and her warm breath tickled my earlobe. It sent shivers down my spine and I tried not to moan in pleasure.

I nodded that I understood and she took her hand from my face. I gulped air in relief. I knew it was still night, but I could not tell the hour, the stable doors were closed, preventing me from judging the time by the brightness of the moon. Why was she here? I could only think of two possible reasons: she either wanted another bout of lovemaking from me, or she had grown bored with our trysts and decided that tonight was the night she would end the relationship. Possibly by ending my life.

I quickly reasoned that if she wanted to kill me, she would have done so by smothering me before I woke. Or she would have done it in front of her entourage for sport. Our masters took joy in causing us pain, humiliation, and death. Iolarathe was known to have special talents in viciousness and I had seen her rip apart one of her prized stallions because the animal had thrown her.

"How can I serve you?" I whispered. I didn't believe in any of the bullshit Gods that most of the human slaves worshiped, but I almost wished that they were real. Then I could pray to them for protection from the fire that was this woman.

"Always so eager to please aren't you, Kaiyer?" Her voice was half purring cat and half honey. It made my stomach flip and a shiver run down the sides of my arm from my neck.

"For you." I smiled as she pulled away from me. I could hardly see her face in the darkness, just the shape of her cascading hair and her eyes. They were such a bright silver that they seemed to pool all of the light in the dark stables and reflect it in a bluish glow.

"You are good with your mouth." The tips of her fingers brushed my face and then traced the outline of my lips. I parted them slightly, and I took a risk by letting the tip of my tongue flick out and touch her. She let out a soft moan and leaned in toward me. The fingers around my lips moved away and were replaced by her soft mouth. Normally when she kissed me it was forceful, it was raw hunger. Lust and desire and need. This kiss was soft and gentle. My tongue explored hers slowly and it tasted of sweet mead.

"Do you remember many months ago, when I told you I would teach you to ride?" Her breath came out in long pants that hinted at her excitement.

"Yes." I tried not to let hope coat my words. Before we had become lovers, she had told me she would teach me. Even after half a year had passed, I had never dared to bring it up again. Iolarathe was still the chieftain’s daughter, still feared by all of her people, and she still visited my stable three or four times a week with her admirers while pretending to ignore me. I was just thankful that she had taught me how to be her lover, even in secret.

I was thankful that she hadn't killed me.

"Tonight is the night, Kaiyer. Come down to the horses and we will ride together." She moved to the side of me and jumped down from the hay loft, making an almost inaudible clap when her feet touched the dirt below me. It was about twelve feet to the floor so I felt my way to the edge of the loft where the ladder hung. I had grown up in this stable and knew it better than my own body. When I reached it, I lowered myself to the ground with practiced ease.

"Shhhh. Prepare some saddles. Bring extra blankets." Iolarathe had produced a small flame that she held in her hand like a cup of water grasped at the base. The fire was only as bright as a candle, but in the absolute darkness of the stable it created more than enough light to see. She had opened a stall in the middle of the lane where one of the gaited mares was kept. The horse appeared to be awake and my master's gentle hush was soothing to the animal.

I grabbed the appropriate mare's kit with an extra blanket and tried to quell the sinking fear in the pit of my stomach. The thought of riding the large animal made me nervous. Humans weren't allowed on horses, and if any of the other Elvens saw me riding I would probably be killed. It might also jeopardize Iolarathe. Her kin might ask what she was doing with me out in the dead of night on a horse. Perhaps she would have to kill me to save face with them.

There were many ways this could go wrong.

Yet I had always wanted to ride a horse. I spent all my time taking care of them, I was with horses more than I was around humans, and when I was not dreaming of the Elven woman, I dreamt of riding a horse, controlling its movements, feeling its power beneath me. I imagined galloping faster than the wind through the grassy plains surrounding us. I had never been more than a mile from the smithy and stables where I was raised. A ride on a horse would show me the rest of the world. It could lead to freedom.

Which was exactly why we were forbidden to ride.

"You take this one." She patted the mare after I had finished saddling the beast. I nodded and tried to hide my smile. The horse was of gentle temperament and had never given me any problems in the stable. This was actually going to happen.

“I’ll ride this one, Kaiyer. Saddle him for me?” Iolarathe pointed at the black stallion she had been favoring for the last few weeks. He was new to the chieftain’s stables and had been quite spirited. My lover had broken him quickly and he was now as gentle as a newborn kitten.

“Excellent choice.” I left the mare out in the throughway of the stable and quickly saddled her horse while she perched on her usual stool behind me.

“You are efficient with your hands and body,” she whispered. “It is what I noticed first about you.”

“Thank you, Mistress.” I felt my heart leap with pleasure. She often complimented me during or after our lovemaking, but this was the first time I could recall her saying something like this before our clothes were off.

“Most of your kind are so slow, clumsy, and stupid; hardly a step above the livestock that we slaughter for sustenance. But you are different, Kaiyer. There is something almost Elven about you.”

I tightened the last strap on the saddle and turned to look at her. The magic fire she carried in her hand reflected red in her silver eyes.

“You are quite definitely human. Your body is thick and squat, but you move with grace as our kind does. You also smell interesting. Not quite human or Elven. Perhaps there is magic about you? Some of our kind carry gifts beyond the world. I wouldn’t put it past our Gods to bestow some of those onto one of your kind in jest.”

“I do not know anything about that, Mistress. I am just a stable boy that is honored by your attention.” My head bowed and I took the reins of the stallion to lead it out of the stall. I was not sure how to respond to her. I feared accepting the compliment would anger her, yet I could not disagree outright and downplay my strengths as that would call her judgment into question. I hoped feigning ignorance would placate her. She was volatile and still difficult for me to read, at least when we were speaking.

“My pet is so humble. I will enjoy teaching you to horseback ride tonight. I believe you will learn it as quickly as the other type of riding I taught you.” Her voice ended in a soft laughter that sounded as wonderful as the first spring rain.

“I just want to please you, Mistress.” It was true. Not just out of fear. I was growing to care deeply about her opinion of me. I handed her the reins of the stallion and then opened the door of the stable that led to the pastures.

“You do. You will,” I heard her say to my retreating back. The mare stamped her foot in approval when I opened the doors and exposed the green moonlight. The stallion used to jump and bound about with endless energy. But as soon as Iolarathe mounted him, the stallion seemed to sense the secrecy of our frolic and kept himself calm.

“Mount your steed,” she said as she nudged her horse past me. I nodded to the darkness and ran back to the mare. My hands were slick with nervous sweat and I examined the stirrups carefully. I’d never done this, but I had seen my masters do it countless times. I grabbed the loop and slipped my bare foot into it. Then I mustered all my strength, pushed down on my left leg, jumped up with my right, and pulled on the lip of the saddle. Surprisingly, I finished on top of the mare with little fuss.