A King's Ransom

by Lia Black

  Veyl began blinking rapidly, the color rising to his cheeks. "D-do you know how long I saved up to buy this material?"

  "It doesn't matter," Kaidos said coldly and mounted his horse. "It'll do you no good out in the wilderness."

  Veyl looked down morosely and carefully tore the rest of the way around his once lovely violet frock until he had what was basically a long purple tunic.

  He arranged the torn fabric over his head and shoulders, causing him to look like some veiled exotic princess, which was the perfect way to hide most of his elven features.

  Kaidos gritted his teeth as he made the comparison, frustrated with his own imagination. He held a hand down to Veyl. "Give me your hand."

  Veyl grasped his hand with apprehension, and when his cool fingers first slid against Kaidos' palm, Kaidos could feel his own blood sparking hot--all the way up his arm from the contact. He faked a cough to cover any signs of his surprise and yanked Veyl onto the horse to sit behind him.

  Apparently, he'd used a bit too much strength because Veyl caught him around the waist, clinging on tightly until he got his balance.

  "You could have ridden with me; I would have let you sit side-saddle," Lirin taunted as he mounted his own ride.

  Kaidos felt a shudder go through Veyl.

  "I meant what I said, Lirin--after Starlight Camp, we all go our own ways," Kaidos reminded his brother with a snarl.

  "And what if we just happen to be going in the same direction?" Lirin raised an eyebrow.

  "Don't be." Kaidos dug into the horse's sides with his heels and turned the animal around.

  Veyl nearly slipped off again, but quickly tightened his arms around Kaidos' waist with a little yelp. That contact, too, was affecting. Kaidos grunted and Veyl loosened his hold in response.

  "And keep your crotch back," Kaidos barked and cantered the horse out of the forest. "I don't want to feel anything hard pressing back there."

  "You couldn't possibly pay me enough for that." Veyl gave a haughty sniff.

  Kaidos ground his molars nearly to powder. Had he not kidnapped Veyl, paying him would be the only way a man like him would have ever known such a creature existed.

  The last time Kaidos had made love to a woman was in a brothel, and the thought still made him feel slightly ill. It wasn't that she'd been unattractive--not by any reckoning--but being with her had reminded him of being with Adria and what had come after. The scars on his back might have ached from the memory, but the last sensations of Veyl's hands there had been anything but painful.

  Kaidos closed his eyes, briefly remembering the feeling of Veyl's warm, skilled fingers on his back, tracing every line of broken flesh as if it were a treasured part of him. He bit back a sigh and tried to force cold logic back to the surface. Veyl was a man. Veyl was merchandise. Kaidos had no interest in becoming entangled any more than necessary.

  Being so close to the pretty whore was starting to make Kaidos uncomfortable. He could smell him, that strange fragrance that seemed to rise from Veyl's skin, and Kaidos felt his heat even though their layers of clothing. The more he reminded himself that Veyl held no interest for him, the more interesting Veyl seemed to become.

  *~*~*

  After riding for some time, they pulled into a copse of trees just off the road. As the other men dismounted, Veyl hesitated, understanding that being unaccustomed to riding for hours, getting down wasn't going to be as simple as that.

  "What are you waiting for?" Kaidos scowled up at him.

  "My legs..." Veyl looked sullenly down at one thigh, as he rubbed it through the breeches. His legs had alternately fallen asleep and regained sensation, but not the kind of blood flow that he believed for a moment could hold him upright.

  "Get off." Kaidos was becoming impatient, and Veyl could sense there was more tension under the surface than had been there when they'd started out.

  He finally gathered his courage and slid off the horse, but as soon as his feet touched the soil, his knees buckled and he began to fall.

  Kaidos caught him in his arms. There was an overwhelming sense of awareness as they locked eyes. For a moment, the rest of the world seemed to stop. Veyl could hear the sound of Kaidos' breath and his own heart pounding in his ears. Then Ruthgar sneezed from somewhere behind them as he shook out his blanket. The spell was broken. Kaidos' expression of wonder changed instantly into an angry grimace and he dropped Veyl and stormed away.

  Veyl crumpled to the ground, his legs still too weak to hold him. His mind was preoccupied with trying to figure out what had just happened. Was he finally starting to get to the rogue? A rough, dirty hand appeared open-palmed beside his head and he followed it up to Lirin's arm. The man smirked down at him, but his gaze was that of a predator. Veyl dropped his eyes to his lap, struggling to rise; he was a wounded doe in this position, with a wolf breathing down his neck.

  "What are you doing? Get away from him!" Kaidos stormed over from wherever he'd been fuming to stand between Veyl and Lirin. Veyl felt relieved by his presence. Sadly, of the two, he'd rather suffer cruelty at the hands of Kaidos than the perceived kindness of his brother.

  Kaidos did not offer his hand; instead, he reached down and grabbed Veyl under the arms and hoisted him roughly to his feet. He then half-dragged him to a tree and let him go.

  Veyl stumbled forward and clung onto the trunk, holding to it until the feeling returned to his legs.

  "Only a few more hours before we reach Starlight Camp." Ahbrim stretched and yawned as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. "Hope Belle is there..." He grinned widely, his eyes glazed over with a memory.

  "Is that all you think about?" Kaidos growled, although his outrage lost some of its effectiveness when he paused to adjust himself through his breeches.

  Veyl sat quietly, staring down at the dirty bandages covering his feet. No doubt he'd end up tied up in a dark room someplace while the brothers had their fill of wine and women. It wasn't that he was feeling bothered by being left out, he just resented the fact that he had no choice either way. It seemed he never had much of a choice in anything. He had no choice of whom to spend his time with in the brothel. His room was decorated in a manner most pleasing to the guests. Even his clothing was custom made to the house's specifications, and while his garments were lovely, just once he'd have liked to come down the curving staircase of the Silver Tree Manor dressed like a man instead of giving the appearance of a woman.

  Every day of the week was planned by somebody else. If it was Tuesday, Arhn would have taken him out riding when he went to the western outpost. They would have spent the day there sharing an expensive bottle of wine and making love. Veyl sighed. It had been nice, he'd always looked forward to his time with the guard captain, but lately the understanding that their time was limited to these sorts of scheduled trysts was beginning to weigh heavy upon his heart. He was tired, and feeling jaded beyond his youth.

  "If I had someone as pretty as Kaidos' princess, I'd never look at a woman again..." Ruthgar sighed, staring longingly at Veyl.

  "You just remember who he belongs to," Kaidos snapped.

  "But I thought you were giving him to someone else?" Lirin mused. He was leaning against a tree trunk, scraping the dirt from under his fingernails with the blade of his dagger.

  "I'm not giving and it's none of your business. Just stay away from him."

  Veyl leaned back on his elbows to gaze up at the sky. He had no idea why so much money had been offered for him...unless it was a trap for Kaidos and Veyl was just convenient bait. At this point, it didn't much matter. It was just another instance of him having no influence or control of his own life. He rolled onto his side, lazily focusing his gaze on the group. For brothers—even half brothers--they really didn't look very much alike. Kaidos had a darker complexion than the other three. He looked like those roguish and handsome heroes Veyl had read about in the books he'd often been given as gifts. It was a shame that Kaidos was a criminal and he nothing more the man's way to earn coin. He migh
t not have minded being carried off to be this bandit's bride were that not the case.

  "You're to keep your face covered when we enter the camp." Kaidos' voice from above jarred Veyl from a light doze.

  "Afraid someone will recognize me?" he yawned and gave a feline arch of his back as he stretched, squinting through his thick eyelashes up at Kaidos in silhouette against the sunlit blue sky.

  "You should be afraid that someone will recognize what you are—and I don't mean a whore."

  Although Veyl couldn't see Kaidos' face through the shadows, he could hear the frown in his voice.

  "You can start using my name any time now." Veyl sighed and rolled his eyes, but was not surprised when Kaidos turned and walked away.

  CHAPTER NINE

  The Wanderers

  It was nightfall by the time they reached Starlight Camp. The Wanderers were engaged in their usual brand of merrymaking and with all of the colorful clothing and wagons, it nearly looked like a fair. There were paper lanterns hanging on twine stretched between several of the caravans, and people laughed, kissed, and danced around a large bonfire in the center of the camp as musicians played.

  "It's the Vailinn boys!" An older man, his voice graveled by whiskey, called out and several voices joined in the noisy greeting. Veyl had fallen asleep against Kaidos' back and he lifted his sleepy head with a start from the sudden ruckus. Instantly they were swarmed by a rush of men, women and children, surging up around the horses like waves of colorful sea foam.

  "Kaidos has a princess!" a young boy cried out excitedly.

  The young women in the camp went quiet as they scrutinized the newcomer.

  "He's not a princess," Kaidos explained, probably louder than necessary.

  "A boy?" A few of the women closed in to investigate, as well as a few of the men. Kaidos wondered if maybe it would have been better just to pretend Veyl was female, because it was likely that some of the girls he would have tried to bed were now more interested in the loveliness of his hostage. Unfortunately, there was no way he could leave Veyl alone for even a second, and bringing a woman to his bed with Veyl in the same room would likely mean Veyl would get more attention than he would. The thought of Veyl being with a woman was somewhat arousing, but also slightly disturbing when he realized he'd likely be paying more attention to Veyl as well.

  Veyl kept his head and face covered, just as Kaidos had instructed him to. His amber eyes met Kaidos' as Kaidos helped him from the horse. He tried to be gentle, trusting Veyl to play his part quietly so as not to end up getting himself killed--or worse.

  No one could hold onto a grudge quite as long or as fiercely as a Wanderer could. Although they were raised in a thieves culture, to steal from one's tribe—regardless if it be an object, lover or a life--meant a curse on the thief's family from every root of the tree and for several generations. Kaidos had never adhered so strictly to that belief. He felt that a man should be judged by his deeds and not his kin, for obvious reasons.

  A large man approached them, and the crowd parted to let him walk through.

  "Uney et lasallav, Noktu Dlava." Kaidos said in Wanderer Tongue, bowing his head in respect.

  "Uney et lasa, Kaidos. What's this about your lovely companion being a man? I never had you figured as a twinheart." Dlava, the caravan's chieftain said, patting Kaidos on the shoulder and wearing a broad smile.

  Dlava was nearly as tall as Kaidos and had likely been a very handsome man in his younger years. He was on the far-side of middle-aged with a barrel-shaped body that he draped with a vest of pure white, leaving it open to show his thickly furred chest. He wore his long silver-streaked hair pulled back into a braid, and the firelight made his swarthy skin appear gilt. Although he was intimidating in scale, his dark eyes danced with good-natured interest as he looked between Kaidos and Veyl.

  Kaidos tensed, but he was disinclined to say anything to correct Dlava. After all, he needed to request a few favors from the man, and denying what was obviously said in a joking manner would raise the suspicion that it was true. Fortunately, Dlava didn't push the issue as he turned his attentions fully to Veyl.

  "Where did you find such an exotic foreigner?" Dlava walked around Veyl, scrutinizing him from head to toe. "And why the veil covering his face?"

  "Religious purposes," Kaidos said quickly.

  "Virgins must remain hidden," Veyl added.

  His silky voice made Kaidos' cheeks redden, and he shot him a little glare, annoyed at the way those amber eyes sparkled with amusement.

  Kaidos swallowed back his response to Veyl's false claim of chastity. "I've been asked to take him to a temple."

  Dlava clicked his tongue against his teeth. "Ah, such a pity someone with such lovely eyes must remain unblemished by lust. And what of you, Kai? There are many young women hoping to become reacquainted with the youngest Vailinn. Not taken any vows of chastity yourself have you?"

  Kaidos forced a tight smile, the muscles in his neck corded to steel, "Unfortunately, it seems for the moment I have. I have a favor to request of you, Chief Dlava. I am in need of a safe place for my charge to sleep tonight."

  Dlava moved his lower jaw forward, his brow pinching as he nodded solemnly, "Understood. Even those who are not twinhearts could be tempted by such a seductive mystery." He jerked his chin towards his own wagon, set up on a slight rise with a smaller wagon beside it, "Take that one there. It was gifted to my daughter as a token of marriage. It's not very large, but has a fine bed and enough floor space to keep you both pure." He winked and patted Kaidos on the shoulder, then handed him the key from his pocket, nodding politely to Veyl before turning back to re-join the tribe's festivities.

  "You don't have to deny yourself on my account--" Veyl started but Kaidos' held up his hand, cutting him short.

  "The less said about that, the better."

  "Well no one is going to disturb me if your brothers are occupied and everyone else is convinced I'm a cleric..."

  Kaidos moved up close to Veyl and noticed how he shrunk back. For some reason that disturbed him, though it should have been expected. He was, after all, Veyl's kidnapper.

  "Listen. If they find out what you are--about your elf-blood--it won't matter if you're a god."

  Veyl frowned; although it was only apparent to Kaidos because of the way the lines creased his otherwise smooth forehead.

  A cheer and some laughter came from the large group gathered around the fire and Kaidos decided to move them farther out of view. He grabbed Veyl's upper arm and pulled him towards the little caravan that would be their quarters for the night.

  "What--" Veyl stopped abruptly, then sighed, glancing towards the door of the small wagon.

  It was a pretty thing, painted robin's egg blue and trimmed with white. Decorative brass shapes had been cut out and hammered into the door frame--little hearts, stars and stylized birds.

  Kaidos handed him the key. "Go inside--bar the door and don't let anyone in but me. I'll bring some food."

  "Fine." Veyl rolled his eyes, shaking his arm loose of Kaidos' firm grasp.

  Kaidos hadn't even realized that he'd been holding him for the entire time. He watched Veyl go inside and close the door, listening for the lock. Satisfied that Veyl would be all right for a moment, Kaidos went nearer to the center of the activity to scrounge up a meal and a bottle or two of mead.

  *~*~*

  "Kaidos! Our kin! Come and join us for a while!"

  Kaidos pasted on a smile as he headed towards a group gathered near the bonfire. "Si Banya," Kaidos gripped the man's hand in the traditional greeting, with two fingers pressed to the pulse-point on his wrist.

  "Kai no formalities, please. It's just Banya--you are a man now!"

  Banya was also many years older than Kaidos. He was a kind man who seemed intent on pawning one--or all--of his daughters off on Kaidos. The three young women in question were all tittering and teasing him with their dark, beguiling eyes. They were pretty girls--no, beautiful by most standards--the eldest was
twenty-five, the youngest--seventeen. Kaidos thought that marriage among the tribes reeked of something like incest--the caravans were not very large, and only certain clans ever crossed paths. For all he knew these girls could be his cousins, and very likely were.

  "Who was that pretty-eyed man you brought with you?" Olva, the eldest daughter, spoke.

  "He is...a friend." Kaidos felt the lie, and a strange longing move across his lips as the words left his mouth.

  "Is it true? What Dlava said? That you're a twinheart?" The youngest--Sila--asked him with widened eyes.

  "I--" Kaidos opened his mouth in immediate protest, but he was interrupted by a voice calling his name.

  "Kai? Is that you?"

  Kaidos turned to the man approaching from behind and felt the blood run from his face.

  "Guis..."

  Guis Tremaul--one of his few childhood friends--stood a few feet away, his gaze set hard.

  "Excuse me, please." Kaidos nodded over his shoulder to Banya and his daughters and moved closer to Guis.

  They hadn't seen each other in roughly ten years, but there was no mistaking Guis. Guis was built more like Ahbrim--long and lean, and in his dark hair was a streak that always grew in white. It used to embarrass him--a god's kiss the clan called it--but Kaidos noticed that he braided it now, letting the remainder of his thick, ebony hair hang loose around his shoulders. Kaidos would have embraced him--but he remembered what had happened on the day they parted for what he'd believed would be forever.

  "You look well," Kaidos said, maintaining his air of detachment.

  Guis seemed surprised but returned Kaidos' stolid countenance. "As do you. I see that you and your brothers are traveling together now..."

  "No," Kaidos shook his head slowly, his voice firm and level, "It was coincidence. If you approached me just to rub salt into my wounds, then I wish you wouldn't have bothered."

  The other man's face lost some of its hardness. "No. I didn't. I just don't understand how you can--" Guis pursed his lips when Kaidos began to tighten his jaw and made ready to turn away.