by Genia Avers
What kind of ass thought about another lady on the day he married? Self-loathing washed over him, making him feel heated in the cool chamber.
One of his men approached. “Empress Annika wishes to speak with you. She’s waiting in the atrium.”
What did she want? Prince Kamber hadn’t expected to like his soon-to-be mother-in-law, but he did, even though he sensed she didn’t care much for him. The Empress displayed the same flustered behavior his mother did. Maybe losing a husband to death, or losing him to another female, had a similar effect.
He stood before her and bowed from the waist. Mydrians didn’t seem to care much for bowing either. “My dear empress.” When he raised his head, he detected anxiety in her expression. “What’s wrong?”
For a fleeting second, he hoped Subena had refused to marry him. If she had, he’d rejoice. He’d still find a way to get the crystals to these people and then he’d find his dancing goddess. Not necessarily in that order.
He dismissed the idea and his temporary relief vanished. Whatever her faults, he knew from his own sources that Subena, fiercely patriotic and self-sacrificing, would not cancel the ceremony.
“Prince Kamber. How handsome you look.” The empress refused to meet his gaze and rubbed her hands together. In only a week, he’d already learned that trying to hurry the Mydrian leader would only fluster her more. He waited for her to get to the point.
She said nothing.
“Does the bride need more time for her dressing?” Kamber asked. The ceremony had already been delayed for a full hour. Not long enough.
“No, no. She is ready.” The empress paused to bite her lip. “A most bizarre thing has happened.” The hand rubbing started again. “You see, no one knows what happened to the priest. He’s not here and he’s not in his assigned quarters. Normally, he’s a most reliable man. I cannot imagine why he isn’t here.”
“And the marriage cannot occur without a priest?” He narrowed his eyes. It would not surprise him at all if they discovered that Subena bribed the man to stay away. Only a minute earlier, he’d actually been foolish enough to believe she wouldn’t cancel the wedding.
“Empress Annika, let me be forthright. Does your daughter wish to call off this ceremony?”
She looked at him with something akin to horror flashing in her eyes. “Heavens, no. To be frank, Kamber, I’d like to cancel the ceremony, but Bena’s determined to go through with it.” She held her hand to her chest. “As a mother, I don’t want my daughter to leave our fortress. Now that my husband’s gone, my children are my life.”
The empress pulled her gaze from her own hands and looked directly at him. “So help me, if you’re not good to her, I’ll find a way to hurt you.”
Annika seemed to grow taller and Kamber saw beyond her grief. He saw a real empress, regal and benevolent. “And,” she continued, “what I’m trying to say is we are honest people, as you no doubt already know. Sometimes we’re too honest, so you may be assured, if my daughter wanted to cancel the ceremony, I’d simply tell you we wanted to cancel the ceremony.”
He waited, doing his best not to smile. She had yet to state the purpose of their talk.
Defiance defined her face before the concern he’d observed earlier crept back over her countenance. “Unfortunately, Father Hisem is truly missing. He’s a good friend, so I’m especially worried.”
He stepped forward and kissed the empress’s cheek. “Then let me help. I have fifteen men who can assist with the search. Is there someone who can direct them?”
She nodded. “Thank you. What should I do about the guests? How long do we let them wait?”
“I’d like to wait for your priest, my empress, but the ceremony has been delayed too long. Remington is licensed as a justice and can marry us.”
“You want your friend to fill in for the priest?”
He nodded. The empress turned a ghostly shade of pale. “I suppose that would work.”
At least some of his tension dispelled.
* * * *
Everything blurred. He hoped to have some time to get his mind right, but all too soon, Remington stood in front of him in ill-fitting robes. If Kamber weren’t worried about the end of life as he knew it, he’d tell Remington what he could do with his damn smirk.
He focused on obliterating the dancing girl from his mind, but his body refused to cooperate with his brain. He could feel her. Nearby. The serenity of knowing she was in the chapel competed with the dread that he felt for his future. The combination left him disoriented.
He had a vision of a blue being floating down the aisle, but could tell little about the bride beneath the veil. His bride’s posture was perfect. Everything about his wife-to-be was probably perfect. The notion filled him with revulsion.
The ceremony drifted through his consciousness, hazy and unreal, as if he watched the proceedings from some distant place. He thought he mumbled the correct responses, but he couldn’t be sure. He heard someone whisper, “Kneel.”
He dropped to his knees at the altar. He fidgeted.
The tiny creature by his side hissed, “Be still.” Had his bride actually scolded him during his ceremony? It was surely a sign of things to come.
His head popped up. He lowered it quickly when he realized a councilor prayed to Bockle. When he took his bride’s small, gloved hand into his large one, the sweetness of her scent assaulted him. He felt a brief surge of desire. What the hell was wrong with him, lusting after two females? One who despised him, one he despised.
Exhaustion had claimed his body when Remington finally pronounced that he was wed. People chuckled. He realized he was supposed to kiss his bride.
My life is over.
He lifted the veil. Only years of royal training kept him from screaming like a little girl.
Underneath all the fabric, under the netting, beneath the jewels and all the trappings of wedding attire, he found the smoldering eyes of the dancing girl. A wave of pure happiness flashed through him. He’d married the dancing girl.
No, wait. He’d married Subena. Is she…? Dung. Remington had gotten the eye color wrong.
Deadly anger consumed him. His little bride had deceived him. And he’d made a fool of himself.
Again.
Chapter Eleven
The horrid ceremony and the endless banquet finally ended. Subena’s feet hurt and her jaw hurt more. She’d spent so many hours forcing a smile even her teeth ached.
She sat in the suite her mother had arranged for the wedding night, trying to ignore the man standing on the other side of the room. She removed a slipper so she could rub her foot and smiled again, remembering the look on Kamber’s face after he lifted her veils. Just wait until he learned there would be no consummation of the marriage. She fought the urge to giggle.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.” She needed to control her facial expressions better.
She moved to the table and began to eat, relishing each bite. “I can’t believe I’m still hungry.” She glanced at her new husband who leaned against the door, pleased to see he still looked miserable.
Kamber had been glaring since the ceremony. Judging from his demeanor, she might not get a chance to gloat about the absence of a wedding night. He looked like he’d only touch her to choke the life from her.
That works, too. She grinned, fighting to contain an entire bout of giggles.
Her new husband continued to glare and she continued to eat. If he didn’t want any of the sparkling ale or delicious delicacies piled on the plates that was his problem.
“Are you going to eat that?” She gestured toward the caramel and chocolate concoction on his tray.
“Why are you smiling?” He unclenched his hands and walked over to the table, picked up the dessert, and tossed it into the trash. “You can’t deny that you wanted to marry me even less than I wanted to marry you. Why are you smiling?”
“Temper, temper,” she purred, pleased that her new spouse raged. She instinctively
affected an even more pleasant disposition, knowing that would goad him more than ranting back at him would. She glanced at the trashcan. “Gee, I really wanted that crumb cake. I do love caramel.” She wiped her hands on a linen napkin. “I suppose there’s more in the kitchen.”
He whirled and raised his fist, stopping it just before it came in contact with the wall. “At least I was honest. You pulled that sneaky dancer stunt like…you’re really…something.”
“Sneaky? How can you say that?” She smiled, and licked her fingers. “I only danced to entertain you. It really isn’t my fault you acted like some ox in heat.”
She might have glimpsed a bit of embarrassment but if she had, her new husband quickly masked it. “You purposely deceived me.”
“If someone else had danced, Bockle knows what you would’ve done, so get over it, will you?” She looked up from the last of her cake and smiled again, enjoying his discomfort. She doubted anyone had ever told him to “get over it.” More likely he surrounded himself with “yes” people.
When he lifted his glass, his fingers shook. He stared at the ale, seeming to channel his wrath into the glass. Without warning, the glass shattered in his hand. The remaining drops of liquid trickled down his hand to the floor, leaving an ugly stain on the woolen rug.
Having suppressed reactions her entire life, she didn’t flinch. “Someone will have to clean that.”
His face flushed. He opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. A brief knock at the door interrupted any response he’d planned to make.
The prince wiped his hand on the towel that had wrapped the sparkling ale and cracked the door. He blocked her view and she couldn’t make out the voice. She heard mumbling.
“No,” Kamber responded, “everything’s fine. My bride’s merely nervous.”
Her good mood evaporated. She’d gotten the worst of the marriage bargain, yet she’d been able to retain her good humor. How dare the imbecile blame his temper on her? When the door closed, her façade of composure crumbled. “You lousy bastard!”
“Maybe I can have my advisors help you with your vile language.”
“Really? Maybe they can also help you with your vile temper.”
“Touché.”
He walked to the window and she retreated to the settee. The silence became unbearable.
“I’m sorry about the glass.” His voice sounded like a plea. “And the cake. I’ll find you another piece if you really want one.”
“Don’t bother. I’ve lost my appetite.”
“Look.” He slumped against the door. “We both got a raw deal but unless you want to nullify the treaty, you and I must consummate this marriage. Tonight.”
“You can’t be serious. There’ll be no consummation.”
His eyes narrowed. Subena fought the urge to back into the wall.
“No consummation means no treaty. Is that what you really want?”
“No. I mean yes.” She shook her head trying to sort out the thoughts bombarding her. “What I mean is…of course I want the treaty. I just don’t want to have sex with you.”
“Now there’s a revelation.”
She ignored his surly tone. “Since you’ve mastered the obvious, I’ll say good night.”
She headed for the opposite door, the irony of a bridal suite with two bedrooms not lost on her. Kamber stood on the opposite side of the room, but he moved so fast, she saw only a blur. He blocked the door and grabbed her arm before she reached for the knob.
“How…how did you do that?”
Kamber stared at her but he didn’t reply.
“Of course,” she said, the truth of his speed registering in her mind. “Gatslians have the skills of the ancients.”
“Gatslians can’t possibly have skills Mydrians don’t possess,” he snarled. “We’re inferior.”
“Your whining is rather tiresome. Possessing ancient skills is not superior. It’s inferior.” She lifted his hand off her arm and dropped it. “Your foul magic is what condemned both our peoples to this planet. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to bed. Alone.” She glared back at him, channeling her hurt into anger and flashing it at him. She hoped his skills included telepathy so he’d get the message.
His head snapped backward. Apparently, he had the necessary receptive skills. “You’ve made your aversion abundantly clear, little wife. But the marriage must be consummated.”
Subena didn’t try to hide her smirk. “I’ve read every sentence of the treaty. The marriage requirements are extensively detailed. There isn’t a single word indicating consummation of the union is required.”
He laughed at her. The hardness of his eyes didn’t match the mirth in his tone. “Maybe not, my sweet, but according to Gatsle law, if there’s no consummation, there’s no marriage. No marriage, no treaty.”
Subena’s stomach clenched. No. No. She shook her head. How could she have been so stupid? She hadn’t even considered Gatslian laws. “That can’t be right.”
“I assure you, my little ice maiden, it is. We can call for a ruling, but I suspect it will appear as a desperate attempt to delay your bridal duties. You do have a reputation for being…frigid.”
How dare he criticize her—she wasn’t frigid—she just needed someone who could kindle her fires—someone who wasn’t a womanizing slime. Never in her life had she experienced such an intense desire to strike another being. “You…you…equestor’s ass.”
He laughed again. “Ass or not, you must have sex with me—at least once—or there will be no treaty.”
She tried to push him aside but slipped and fell to one knee.
Kamber held out his hand. “Here, let me—”
She jerked her arm beyond his reach. “Don’t touch me.”
She expected an outburst, but Kamber spoke quietly, “It’s going to be difficult consummating a marriage without touching you.”
He lifted her to her feet and released her when she stood. He no longer touched her, but he stood too close, effectively pinning her against the closed door. He tapped his finger against the bottom of his lip for several seconds. “Look, I’ve never made love to an unwilling partner, and I won’t do so now. I hope you have some idea how we can deal with this problem.”
“That’s easy. Let me go and I’ll come back to this chamber in the morning. Everyone will make the appropriate assumptions.”
He snorted. “My father will require proof. I hope you have some brilliant scheme in that clever little head of yours that will produce the appropriate…evidence.”
“Me?” Subena blinked, not believing she’d heard him correctly. “You’re the one with the ton of experience.”
“Oh, please. You don’t expect me to believe you’re an actual virgin. Aren’t all females in Mydrias experienced?”
She raised her hand to slap him but he grabbed her arm and held it firm. “I shouldn’t have said that, but I will not be dishonest.”
“Honest but unfaithful.”
“I will be faithful.” He stunned her by kissing her wrist. The simple gesture sent an unexpected fluttering racing through her veins. Instead of jerking her hand free, she stood unmoving and watched his lips caress her skin.
“You really are a virgin?” he whispered between flicks of his tongue.
She nodded, unable to speak.
“I know you don’t like me,” he whispered, “but if you’ll trust me, I promise to make this as painless as possible. After tonight, you won’t have to endure my touch again.”
It took her a moment to realize he meant sex. The kiss on her wrist had stunned her senseless. She didn’t know which she hated more, him or her body’s response to the infuriating imbecile. One little kiss couldn’t mask the bluntness of his offer. The man’s callousness made her furious. He might have done the deed a million times, but she’d…waited.
“As painless as possible?” She hoped she sounded tough instead of teary. “I can’t remember ever getting such an intriguing offer.”
He groaned. “I di
dn’t mean for it to sound like that. I should’ve said that better. Can we please start over?”
“No.” She sniffed. “But let’s get it finished. Turn off the lamps?”
Why had she agreed? The annulment would be harder to obtain. Still, not impossible.
He startled her by laughing. She’d liked him much better sullen and haughty. “Now who’s making intriguing offers? Does this mean you’re actually willing, my little bride?”
“Not willing. Resigned. I’m doing this for the greater good and all that. Just turn off the lights.”
“No. I want to see you.”
“Please…” She forgot her protest when he kissed her again—on the mouth. A kiss more sensual than the one in the courtyard. Her mind screamed, “Resist him.”
Her lips didn’t listen to her brain. The kiss wrapped itself around her entire body and demanded complete surrender. The kiss made her want to yield. Submit. Do all the weak things females did for unworthy males.
When he raised his head, she tried again to protest but he pressed his finger to her lips.
“Let’s compromise. I will leave one lamp on. Very low. You can close your eyes. Deal?”
No, it wasn’t a deal. How dare he reduce her first sexual experience to a business proposition? Didn’t he realize it would be easier if he just shut up and did it? She wanted him to take her and be done with it. No, that wasn’t right. She wanted the treaty and she needed the consummation.
She jerked her body away. “No.”
“No?” He walked to the first lamp and lowered the flame. He kept his gaze on her while he turned down the second lamp and completely extinguished the third.
He returned to her, looking far too handsome. For the first time, she had an inkling of what all those silly females experienced when they fluttered about some male not wearing a tunic.
Kamber approached her. She didn’t move. They stood for several seconds, neither making a sound.
The tension crackled and she crackled with it. Just when she planned to duck around him, Kamber ran a thumb over the side of her neck, letting his hand slide down to part her robe. The look of desire staggered her.