by Jaid Black
Dak had said it was very possible for Sacred Mates to be separated while traveling or what have you without experiencing the accompanying darkness. But it required the ingestion of a special healing sand or incantations being offered up by a priestess. Neither of which they had been given.
When Sacred Mates find each other, he had said, it’s like two halves of a whole locking and fusing. Trying to break those halves up again, for any reason, causes death to both parts of the whole. The only way those halves can successfully split for a time, and even then it can only be done for brief spells, requires steps neither of them had taken. Had Geris known she was to spend these two days and nights feeling so depressed she could barely breathe, she would have thought twice about her insistence at staying behind.
She gritted her teeth from where she laid alone in the huge bed. Perhaps he had stayed away two nights instead of one to teach her this lesson. An effective punishment considering that she missed him so damn much.
Ooooh he was good! she seethed. A worthy opponent, but one who was too smart for comfort. Her only consolation was realizing that Dak was feeling as distraught and depressed as she was right now. If such could indeed be termed consolation.
For she also carried the added burden of knowing she was the one who had made him feel that way when all he had wanted was to be near her.
Chapter 8
By the time Dak returned on the third day, Geris had herself worked up into a bubbling cauldron of confused, ready to explode, emotions. She knew that she loved her husband, knew too that she’d missed him so much it had damn near killed her, but her pride wouldn’t let her dash into his arms like some pathetic, weak-willed female greeting a returning hero.
Dak had, perhaps, given her too much time alone to think.
One of her biggest worries was that his promise to take her to see Kyra had all been a big ruse and she would never see her again. It was the hope of being reunited with her best friend that had kept her from offering Dak too much resistance when he’d first taken her.
It was the fact that she had fallen in love with him that kept her from resisting after that.
She hated to admit it, but she was feeling forlorn as hell. Not just about Kyra either, but mostly about the bizarre, way too distraught reaction she’d had when Dak had been gone these past three days.
It wasn’t natural—not to a human woman. And anything unnatural felt blood-curdling frightening.
The worst of it was, she thought with a fallen heart, he hadn’t even bothered to come to their room right away and inform her of his return. Instead, one of his warriors had seen to the task, telling her to be prepared to land in Sand City in an hour. She would have thought that Dak would be as desperate to see her as she was to see him. Considering the possibility that he wasn’t even close to the same level of despair didn’t bear dwelling upon.
Pacing briskly, Geris didn’t know whether she should feel relief or anger when she heard the door to the room whoosh open and saw her so-called husband stroll in. He looked tired—very tired. And about as down in the dumps as she felt. But if that was the case, then why hadn’t he come back to her sooner?
She kept pacing, her nostrils flaring. She refused to show him her weakness.
“Greetings, nee’ka.”
She said nothing.
“I said—” He sighed. “What does it matter?” he muttered.
Geris stopped pacing and turned toward him. Her eyes widened a bit. He looked even worse than she’d thought on first glance. Simply awful. His long, golden hair hung limply around a face that could best be described as haggard. His blue eyes were drawn at the corners and bloodshot, as though he hadn’t slept a wink.
Yet still, she thought on a defeated sigh, he was the most handsome man she’d ever laid eyes on. She loved him so much it was a tangible thing, as if she could cut her feelings with a knife. Not that she was anywhere near ready to admit it out loud.
Her back went rigid. Her chin thrust up. It didn’t matter. She was the Rock of Gibraltar. Unbendable. Unbreakable. She would not and could not be swayed.
“Did you miss me?” he asked hoarsely. “Because I missed you so much it hurt.”
Well, shit…
Geris frowned. “Of course I missed you!” she huffed. So much for not swaying, she thought grimly. “I can’t believe you stayed away that long!” she shouted. “You had to have known what it was I’d be back here going through!” She clamped a hand to her forehead and groaned. “You’ve put a curse on me or something,” she mumbled. “I always have this instinctive need to be near you. And worse yet to be nice to you.”
“Really?” he asked quietly.
She looked up in time to see his glowing blue eyes sparkling in a way that made her feel happier than she wished it did. She frowned severely.
“Mayhap ‘tis the same malady I too have been struck with.” He grinned, that damn, fine as all hell dimple denting his cheek. “Yet I rather like this malady. ‘Tis better for a certainty than what happens to my stomach after partaking of spoiled matpow.”
She tried not to smile.
His expression turned serious. He reached down to her, threading his calloused hands through her micro-braids. “’Tis sorry I am that I stayed away so long,” he said softly. “I meant to teach you a lesson, I do not deny it, yet I never planned to stay away for two moon-risings. There were political troubles afoot that I could not, in good conscience, turn my back on.”
Geris closed her eyes when he pulled her against the solid warmth of his chest. She breathed deeply, feeling her first peaceful moment in days. “Thank you,” she murmured. “For telling me that. I was afraid that…”
“That what?” he prodded when she didn’t continue.
She sighed, hesitating for a moment. “That you didn’t miss me as much as I missed you.”
“Ah, nee’ka, do not ever think thusly.” He held her closer. “’Tis goddess’ truth I missed you so much my bedamned eyes almost had a tearing fit.” He grunted. “’Twas a sorry sight when trying to keep two lesser kings from battling.”
She grinned against his chest. They stayed there together like that, neither of them speaking, for a long pause.
“Are you okay?” Dak asked, his tone gentle.
Geris sighed, breaking away from him. “Truthfully?” she asked as she stepped back and made eye contact.
“Aye.”
She shook her head. “No. No, I’m not.”
His forehead wrinkled but he said nothing.
“It’s just…” She took a deep breath. “I’m confused. I mean, really, really confused. This ‘malady’ as you call it might be normal to you, but it’s freaking me the hell out.”
Dak ran a hand over his jaw, uncertain as to what he should say. This eve they would be joined. Once they were she would be fine. But if he said as much she’d put questions to him that he didn’t know how to answer. Such as why the joining would make everything all right. He didn’t know why. He only knew that it was so.
“Let us not think on it just now, ty’ka,” he hedged. “All will be well.”
She seemed to think that over for a minute, but finally relented with a nod. “Fair enough. I know we have to disembark again right now anyway.” She frowned, a thought occurring to her. “Just tell me something.”
One of his eyebrows rose. “Aye?”
“You don’t have any of those Rustian things in Sand City do you?”
He smiled. “Nay.”
“And no buttheads that go licking anything they want to?”
“Nay.”
She grunted, momentarily appeased. “And you swear you won’t ever tell anyone about what those pugmuffs did to me?” Sweet Jesus, she’d die of embarrassment!
“’Tis a vow amongst Sacred Mates.” He grinned. “Unless you think to bedevil me again in which case I will send out missives to the four corners of the kingdom.”
She frowned. “And no more grounding me from my woman’s joy.” She harrumphed at his triumph
ant look for she’d just all but admitted to the fact that not being touched by him felt like a death sentence. “A woman,” she sniffed, “is entitled to her damn joy.”
* * * * *
Oooooh he was a dead man! Geris seethed, her eyes narrowing. This was it. The straw that broke the camel’s back. And to think she’d been so upset when they’d been apart for the past three days!
The minute they strolled through the palace doors, and an impressive palace it was, she begrudgingly admitted, she could only gawk. The first sight that greeted them in the black crystal structure was that of three naked female slaves—what her husband had called Kefa slaves—walking stoically into what she was told was a communal bathing chamber. The females were various shades of blue, all of them possessing a sparkly skin tone. As she and Dak continued down the corridor, she saw the slaves join a blonde warrior, all three of them sexually attending to the singular male.
Slaves, she thought dismally. Dak had mentioned as they’d walked passed the bathing chamber that he owned hundreds of them. How in the name of God could she live with a slaveholder?
From there it only got worse, for Geris was to get a rough idea for what a bound servant was. Basically, she thought in horror, it looked as though they were yet another type of sex toy for warriors to use as they would. She was beginning to get the heartbreaking picture that the males of Trek Mi Q’an were not a monogamous species. The most depressing thought imaginable to her way of thinking. She knew she could never be happy sharing her husband with other women.
The very moment they entered what Dak called the great hall, two of those topless bound servants ran up to him, their breasts bouncing as they giggled, rubbing their hands over his belly and crotch. “We’ve missed you!” one said excitedly. “Our channels hunger for the feel of you,” the other one purred.
That did it.
Her nostrils flaring, Geris made a horrific gurgling sound in the back of her throat. She raised her hand to—she didn’t know what she’d do—but it didn’t matter anyway for she changed her mind and decided to leave as fast as her feet could carry her.
Turning on her heel, she made to run from the great hall. She didn’t care what she had to do to escape, but escape she would. So far she hadn’t seen Kyra, she found out she had a philandering husband, and there were naked slaves everywhere. Sweet Jesus! This was just too much!
Unfortunately, she had to pass by Dak and the two bimbos in order to make good on her escape. She was too angry to let that deter her. She was nimble, she knew. Nimble, fast, and agile. She would escape him. She would thwart him. She would—
A vein-roped hand firmly snatched her back, allowing her to go no further.
Well, shit…
Dak, who was trying to set the bound servants away from him, frowned as his arm snaked out and wrapped around her middle. “Nee’ka, where do you think to go?”
“Away from you!” she hissed, her eyes narrowed. She struggled, trying to free herself of his hold. “Let me go,” she gritted out.
“Nay, I will not.” His forehead wrinkled. “What ails you?”
“What ails—Dak! I can’t stay here. I can’t be here.” She felt like she was going to vomit. Worse yet, her recently thawed out heart felt like it was being ripped into two. “We’ve been in this horrid palace all of twenty minutes and already I can tell that I need to go back home! You go to those…those…women of yours,” she spat out, “and leave me the hell alone!”
His jaw tightened. He firmly set the two bound servants aside with his free hand and carried a kicking Geris over to the raised table to speak privately. “Enough,” he said firmly, restraining her kicking feet. “I said enough!” he bellowed. “’Twill be put o’er my knee you are do you keep up this nonsense!”
“Put over your—Ooooo!”
His eyes narrowed. “You are having a fit of temper o’er naught. Cease this! I am sticking my staff in no wench’s channel but yours.”
“You’re a real Shakespeare,” she ground out. “Now put me down!”
“Not until you cease this nonsense!” He sniffed. “Leastways, not until you believe me.”
“Well I don’t,” she seethed, still struggling to break away. “And what’s more I never will. This place is awful. I already hate it!”
His nostrils flared. “Cease this anon!” he bellowed. “Your bedamned shouting gives my head the ache!”
“Then let me go!”
“Nay. Now cease! ’Tis an order I give to you.”
She’d never know where she found the strength to do it, but she managed to break away from her infuriating husband. Jumping up on the raised table, her eyes darted madly about as she tried to figure out her next move before she was recaptured. Think, girl. Think…
“Ger-is!”
She gritted her teeth, realizing she’d never be able to get by him to go through the door. Infuriated, angry, and feeling as trapped as a wild animal, she warbled out a cry from the depths of her throat, picked up a bottle of that matpow junk Dak was partial to, and held it above her head like a weapon. Bound servants scurried to the other side of the table, their jaws dropped open, not certain what to do.
Geris’s eyes locked with Dak’s. Her jaw tightened. Without glancing away from him she said to one of the bound servants, “Go give a message to your leader from me. And here is what I have to say…”
* * * * *
Kyra, Zor, and Kil entered the great hall in time to witness Queen Geris having a royal fit of temper. She was standing on top of the raised table, preparing to throw an extremely expensive bottle of vintage matpow to the ground. Her bridal necklace was glowing an ominous red, indicating that her husband was pissed.
“Ger-is,” Dak reprimanded in his most chastising tone, “you will put my brother’s bottle of matpow down anon, else will you be grounded from your woman’s joy for a full sennight after the joining.” He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned formidably.
Kyra was amused to note that her best friend actually hesitated. Then, scowling, Geris hoisted the bottle higher into the air, preparing to render it to shards.
“Please don’t,” Kyra grinned, making her presence known, “that happens to be my favorite label.”
Stunned, Geris whirled around. She could scarcely credit what it was, or who it was, that was standing before her. “Kyra?” she asked quietly, disbelieving what she was seeing.
“Ger?” Kyra took a step forward.
“Kyra!” Geris beamed, smiling from ear to ear.
“Ger!”
Geris’s heart felt as though it might beat out of her chest. For three years she had hunted high and low for her best friend. For three long, goddamn years…
The two women squealed, running toward each other at top speed. When they met, they danced around in a circle, hugging and laughing. Dak grabbed the bottle of matpow out of his recalcitrant wife’s hand while she was distracted.
“Kyra!” Geris laughed, running her hand down the side of her best friend’s face to make certain she was really there. “It is you, girl!”
“And it’s you!” Kyra beamed, tears streaming down her face. “I missed you so much!”
The two women chattered nonstop, taking seats by the raised table. They couldn’t seem to stop hugging…or crying.
“I searched everywhere for you,” Geris whispered. “Quit my job and everything.”
“Oh Ger…”
“I was beginning to fear you were dead, Kyra. My God—” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Oh sweetheart. Oh Ger.” Kyra threw her arms around Geris’s neck and hugged her tightly. “You know I’d never leave you. Even if you hadn’t belonged to Dak I would have figured out a way to get word to you about what had happened to me. And I would have prayed you would choose to come here and be with me.”
Geris raised her head. She snorted. “Lord only knows if the man who took you is as bad as Dak, he will never willingly let you go. I guess coming here would have been my only option.”
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Kyra sighed. “Zor can be such a jerk, but I do love him.” She searched Geris’s eyes. “But I love you too. So much so I couldn’t bear being separated from you.”
“I love you too,” Geris sniffed. “My God, we sound pathetic!” she laughed. She had never been comfortable with displays of emotion. A fact Kyra understood, shared, and respected.
“Hey,” Kyra said softly, “we have pathetic coming to us.” She smiled. “Now shut up already and hug me again. Hug me like you’re never gonna let go.”
Geris did. And damn if it didn’t feel so good she started crying again. They were silent for a long while. They simply embraced, both of them overcome with emotion, neither of them ready to speak.
When they at last broke apart, Geris blew out a breath. “I don’t know how you put up with this place, girl. I have to admit that if you hadn’t showed up when you did…well, let’s just say that I was feeling angry and depressed enough to escape—or die trying.”
Kyra’s forehead wrinkled. “Why? What happened?”
Geris told her about the slaves and about the bound servants who had rubbed their bodies along Dak’s. “It was horrid to watch. I felt like I was going to be sick.”
“You don’t have to worry about them. I promise. After the Consummation Feast tonight…”
Geris’s eyebrows rose. “Wait a second. Consummation Feast?”
Kyra glanced around, a bit nervously to Geris’s way of thinking. She narrowed her eyes as her best friend nibbled at her bottom lip.
“Dak, uh, didn’t tell you about it?”
“No. This is the first time I’ve ever even heard it mentioned. What the hell is a Consummation Feast?” Geris sighed. She rubbed her temples. “I really don’t think I can take any more surprises. I’ve had more than my fair share these days,” she said grimly.