"I don't want another woman's man."
"Doreen, I'm her slave, it's not my fault."
"I don't have enough money to buy you, all right? Don't insist, Azzurro, and if you want to keep talking about this, I'd rather not see you again!"
Wounded, but aware of the fact that she was probably right, Azzurro relented. That night, seeing him serious and thoughtful during dinner, Cynthia asked him what he was thinking.
He hesitated, then pointed his sky-blue gaze on her.
"Set me free, Cynthia," he said.
She was puzzled for a moment, but soon exploded.
"Are you out of your mind? I give you the highest honor bestowed on men in this country and you refuse it? Not only that, you don't even bother to pretend to like it, neither now, nor never!"
"I've always been honest with you," he said. "I've done my best to adapt to what you were giving me, but I'm tired now. It has been three very long years for me, and I wish I could be free to reinvent my life..."
"Forget it!" she snapped. "You're a man! You're my slave! You can't decide what to do with your life, you don't have the power to reinvent it, you hear me?"
"I hear you fine," he said quietly, and then he rose.
"Where are you going?" she hissed.
"I'm leaving." He shrugged.
He left the room with quiet indifference, but as soon as he was out of her sight, he rushed to the stables. He took a horse and went back to the farm where he had been raised, hoping to ease his sorrow with hard manual work.
His childhood friends couldn't believe their eyes when they saw him next morning. All of them still dreamed of entering the Queen's Apartment, if not becoming her Favorite. And he, Azzurro, refused the honor bestowed on him, showing contempt for all the other slaves like him, still laboring in the fields instead of having a life of luxury in a palace!
Azzurro ignored their comments and picked up his hay fork to go back to work. It didn't take long before one of the others reported his whereabouts to the Queen. Soon two female soldiers of the Royal Guard arrived at the farm, followed by Cynthia herself.
The Queen stared at Azzurro from the saddle of her white horse.
"Leave me alone," he said. "I only want to stay here and do my job, your palace is not for me."
"Take him," she ordered, pretending not to hear him.
The female soldiers took his hay fork, grabbed him and brought him back to the palace and his golden cage.
***
There was a party at the palace and Azzurro stood in a corner, serious as usual. The Aristocrats, who knew he had tried to run away from the Queen, looked at him quite often and giggled among themselves, with whispered comments because, of course, officially nobody knew the Queen had been rejected.
Still, that quiet young man didn't seem haughty enough to refuse the love of the Amazon Queen. But he did, and Cynthia hadn't completely forgiven him yet.
Sadly raising his eyes, Azzurro thought he was dreaming. Among the crowd Doreen had appeared and stared at him from the distance. Without thinking, he moved towards her and dragged her to the garden. Like in a dream, he caressed her face and was about to kiss her, but she stopped him.
"No," she whispered. "You're the Queen's Favorite."
"I will be forever her slave, she'll never let me go," he said.
"I heard you tried to break the relationship."
"It's true, I wanted to be free to love you."
"Stop it." She lowered her eyes and blushed. "If she finds us, she'll kill us both."
"It's worth dying if I can show you my love."
"I... don't think I want to die."
"We won't die," he promised, pulling her closer.
This time she couldn't resist his kiss.
"The Queen is so lucky," she whispered, curled up against him.
"The Queen can use my body, but she'll never have my love, nor my tenderness," he said.
"This is madness, Azzurro," she said.
"I'd fight the whole world to be with you."
"I don't want you to die now."
"Then I'll pretend," he promised. "But will you see me?"
"Yes," she surrendered, her voice shaky.
***
They met in an isolated garden pavilion and the happiness for those brief encounters made Azzurro's captivity less hard. Doreen was everything he had ever dreamed of, and he lost himself in his love and passion for her.
Cynthia, always hyper-sensitive to any changes in her rebel young lover, had noticed he was different. She found out about the secret encounters of the lovers in the garden pavilion. At first, she just spied on them in silence, envying the young girl who had succeeded with her youth where the Queen herself had failed. Then she got fed up of watching their love.
One day Azzurro found Cynthia waiting for him instead of Doreen. His smile faded and color flushed out of his face. Cynthia smirked and signaled him to join her. He obeyed like a puppet, and stiffly sat by her side.
Since she couldn't arouse him, the Queen lost her temper. Her bodyguards dragged Azzurro to the dungeon, where Cynthia gave vent to her anger and jealousy, almost killing him with her whip and other tortures.
But even half dead, Azzurro didn't deny his true love, and he lost consciousness after the slap of the furious Queen.
***
"Help me, Mother, tell me if I have a way to snatch my love from another woman," Doreen pleaded, kneeling humbly in front of her parent.
Nadia smiled. She found her daughter's passionate love funny. She even sort of envied Doreen for those feelings, even though she could see Doreen's sorrow. She knew her daughter was truly madly deeply in love, but she didn't know his name yet.
"I'm pregnant, Mother," Doreen continued quickly. "I won't have to go to the Temple after all. Is there a law that allows me to claim the man who performed the miracle?"
"In theory yes, depending on whom he belongs to," Nadia answered, still puzzled by the news that her daughter was actually fertile. Both of them had given up hope on that topic a long time ago.
"I guess I'm lost, then," Doreen sighed.
"Why, who is she?" Nadia asked. She was quite powerful herself, and she'd do anything for her daughter.
"The Queen," Doreen said gloomily.
"Damn." Nadia's joy faded. "I had heard that Azzurro had a lover, but I didn't imagine it was you! You better forget him, darling, because even if he survives Cynthia's wrath, she will never let you go near him ever again. My Goddess, she could kill you, except you're pregnant, so she can't do it now, but she might do it after you deliver!"
"Could I appeal to the people?" Doreen asked, desperate.
"Don't," Nadia answered, serious. "She'd kill you in spite of your pregnancy. She doesn't want anybody to know that her Favorite not only doesn't love her, but he even cheated on her. She'd have you assassinated."
"What about him?" Doreen complained. "How can I save him?"
"You can't," Nadia said. "Your rival is too powerful. You can only forget him, dear."
"Forget him..." she whispered. "I can still see his sapphire eyes... and the darkened face of the queen finding me in the pavilion, ordering me to disappear..."
"Thank the Goddess she didn't kill you on the spot."
"I want to scream..."
It sounded more like a moan, and Nadia took her daughter into her arms, trying to comfort her.
"I'm sorry, darling. You know there's no way out. Azzurro is the Queen's Favorite, and by pure pride Cynthia would never let him go."
Doreen sobbed softly in her mother's arms.
***
"He isn't eating, my lady," the healer said.
Cynthia gloomily stared at Azzurro, lying on the bed, his eyes lost somewhere. He wasn't eating, he wasn't talking. He was letting himself die.
"Can we force some food into him?" she asked, worried.
"Yes, but it won't really help if he doesn't want to live," the healer answered.
"Leave us."
The healer bowed and left. Cynthia la
y down near her Favorite and pulled him against her.
"Azzurro, why are you so stubborn?" she chided. "I cannot let you go! I chose you for life, I can't give you to another woman! The Goddess would punish me!"
He gulped down some tears but didn't answer, nor looked at her.
"Please, Azzurro, eat," she whispered tenderly in his ear. "I promise I won't hurt you anymore."
"Then let me go." His voice was hoarse.
"I can't! I'm the Queen! You will not refuse me!"
His blue eyes looked at her. He sighed and closed them, as if he wanted to sleep.
Cynthia held him tighter, whispering sweet nothings in his ears. She'll force him to live. She didn't want to lose him.
***
Doreen couldn't console herself. She was finally pregnant, but wasn't allowed to see the marvelous man who had performed the miracle. All those wasted years with useless lovers, and now the only man worth fighting for belonged to the Queen herself.
She sulked all day, remembering the few precious moments with him, his tenderness, his smile and his cerulean eyes. She wondered how he was doing. Her mother told her he had been punished, but was recovering.
Nobody came to visit her. Not even the novices with whom she had shared her destiny for a few months. The Temple of the Goddess had given up on her, and so did her former Aristocrat friends, including Princess Ashlee.
Nadia asked her if she wanted to celebrate her pregnancy, and whom she'd like to invite, but she didn't really feel like seeing people. She felt isolated, and it was fine with her – more time to think about Azzurro, obsessing about their destiny and if they could ever be together again.
She stayed in and didn't go to the palace for a few days. Until her mother gave her the news: Azzurro was dead. Devastated by sorrow, Doreen rushed to the Temple for the funeral, and only when she saw his body composed in the stillness of death did she realize she had lost him forever.
She almost fainted, but her mother was there to pick her up.
"Hold it, Doreen," she whispered. "You don't want to lose his gift, do you?"
Doreen straightened herself, gulping down her pain. No, she wouldn't lose the much-wanted baby, especially now that the man who had sired it was gone.
She sniffed, staring at him, and Nadia put one arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort her. The High Priestess blessed the corpse, and the coffin was closed. Doreen's sniffs became silent sobs. Nadia held her tight, patting her back like when she was a child.
"Hush, baby, everything will be all right," she said gently.
Slowly, Doreen calmed down. She wiped away the tears and looked at the coffin again. The ceremony was over.
Doreen's gaze met Cynthia's.
The Queen went to the young girl and looked her in the eyes.
"I hope you're happy now," she said flatly. "I didn't kill him, Doreen, he died for you. He knew he couldn't have you and preferred to die than to stay with me."
She turned her back on mother and daughter, and left. Princess Ashlee exchanged a sorrowful glance with Doreen and followed her mother.
"Goddess be praised, I was afraid she'd take it out on you," Nadia said, hugging her still shocked daughter.
Doreen was speechless with sorrow. But at least before dying he had given her the gift of life. He had proved she was fertile. She could live on and have children, but she'd never forget him.
Amazons' Men
"Are you feeling better, Moreno?"
Darya's still beautiful face looked worried even if Moreno was dazed by the drug he'd taken for the pain from the ugly gash Tigrotto had given him.
"Yes," he managed to say, touching the bandage on his torso where the blade had cut him.
Darya put a hand over his face to close his eyes.
"Rest some more," she said. "I'm taking you out of Elaine to recover."
Moreno dozed off, wondering why so much hatred and jealousy. And where did Tigrotto find the knife? Probably stole it in the kitchen, but he wasn't supposed to go there...
Moreno dreamed of his comfortable room, and the women visiting him. He was a Public Man and he enjoyed entertaining them. His mistress, Darya, wasn't so young anymore, but she was motherly to all the boys and young men working for her.
When he awoke again, his mind was clear. The wound still itched, but it wasn't too bad. Darya brought him a tray of food and told him he'd probably have a scar, but Tigrotto had been punished and sold off.
"He's really like a tiger, and I couldn't trust him anymore. I mean, he tried to kill you, but what if he hurt a woman as well?" she said.
Instant death, he thought. He probably wouldn't hurt a woman, though.
"He was just jealous," he said, thoughtful.
"Why, because you're better than him?" Darya snorted. "He should have tried to learn from you!"
"He wanted to be your best man."
"And he failed. And hurt you. So he paid for it. Now forget him. I'm taking you to my sister's for a few days."
His eyes widened in surprise. "But who will take care of your customers?" he asked. Had she already bought new men to fill in for Tigrotto and himself?
"There's still enough men," Darya answered with a shrug. "Florina told me she saw nice men at her aunt's, so I might find a replacement while you heal."
He nodded. "When will we leave?"
"Tomorrow morning. Aryana lives in the country one day of journey by cart. You'll see, it's peaceful. You'll come back like new."
But with a scar. Not that he cared – it wasn't a disfiguring gash on his face – but the thought of Tigrotto's hateful expression still made him sick. He was just doing his job, obeying their mistress's orders, why was Tigrotto so mad at him? Because the younger women preferred raven-haired Moreno to blond Tigrotto?
As if it were my fault. They tell me I'm handsome – and they enjoy sleeping with me. I give them healthy babies and they keep coming back. But then, he'd always been quieter than wild Tigrotto. Maybe women were scared by the blond young man's blunt manners.
Moreno was twenty-five and had never been rebellious like Tigrotto. He accepted his destiny and made the best of it. He was always smiling and kind and honestly interested in whoever visited him, even if she could be his mother. He always did his best to please the woman, and by now he had enough experience to figure out what they liked the most even the first time they requested him, so he had many returning customers.
Elaine wasn't a very big town, and Darya's was one of the two Public Houses available. Moreno had gone from the local Boys' House to Darya's and wasn't interested in becoming a dancer of the Goddess. Life at the Temple seemed dull compared to the Public House.
The next morning, Moreno wore his Modesty Cloth before exiting the rectangular two-story building and climbing onto a cart with Darya, who wore a sleeveless tunic and a big straw hat to protect her face from the sun.
"Stay covered," she suggested with a smile. "Or you'll get sunburned."
Moreno was hot under the Modesty Cloth, but he kept it anyway. His sandaled feet were bright red when they reached Aryana's farm, though.
"Now you know why my skin is not as fair as yours," Darya said with a chuckle. "I'm used to going out in the sun."
"I am not allowed to go out in the sun uncovered," he reminded her with a sigh.
"You can, here," she said, stopping the cart in front of the house's door.
Moreno was glad to be able to take a better look at his surroundings. The lace of the Cloth didn't really allow sightseeing. Aryana's farm was made of low buildings, the tallest being the granary. Fields surrounded the homestead, but the green of a forest loomed on the right of the main house which was bigger than the others and had a first floor.
Darya got off the cart and was welcomed by Aryana, who was her younger copy.
"Come in, dinner is ready!"
Moreno hissed when his feet touched the ground. The sandals hurt like hell on the reddened skin.
"Oh, poor boy!" Aryana smiled. "Come in, I have a very
good ointment for sunburn."
He obeyed and entered the cool house, sitting on a stool and taking off the sandals as soon as he could in a corner of the main room that probably used half of the house ground floor. Two doors led probably to the kitchen and the bedrooms.
"Aryana is very good with herbs," Darya assured him. "I'm sure she'll have something for your wound as well."
Aryana's house had a table with benches and the whole household gathered around it for the meals. Being introduced to ten people at the same time confused Moreno who couldn't remember one name by the end of dinner.
His shyness in the new, unfamiliar environment meant he kept quiet and observed the extended family until his discomfort was too strong and he begged Darya to retire to sleep.
Aryana accompanied them to a bedroom on the first floor, giving him the ointment for his feet and checking his wound.
"There are good healers in Elaine," she said, satisfied. "But tomorrow I'll give you a potion and a special cream. In the meantime, sweet dreams!"
She waved good-bye to her sister while Moreno massaged his feet with the ointment. Darya watched him, then smiled when he was done.
"Get some sleep, Moreno," she said, caressing his cheek. "Tomorrow I'll show you around."
"I can't wear my sandals and I can't walk barefooted," he grumbled lying down. "I probably won't see much tomorrow."
"Take it easy, Moreno. Good night."
He closed his eyes with a sigh and soon was asleep.
***
It took him a couple of days to be able to leave the house. Darya took him for a walk in the nearby forest, where the leaves protected them from the sun. Moreno looked around with curiosity, listening to unknown bird songs and admiring the natural architecture surrounding him.
They reached a waterfall with a small pond that took his breath away. Darya had no garden in her town house and the little clearing looked so inviting that Moreno rushed to feel the water.
"Can I bathe?" he asked, excited.
"The water might be a tad too cold for that, it comes from the mountains," Darya replied, amused.
"Oh." Moreno stared disappointed at the clear water at his feet. He drank some of it and it was indeed cold. He sighed and settled on the rock he was crouched on, looking around and listening to the gurgling waterfall.
Tales of the Queendom of Maadre Page 9