No,’ she agreed warmly, moving closer once more. We shared our children—’
‘You misunderstand me, my lady of Daish,’ Kheda said sharply. ‘Far more things divide us now, you and me, than ever tied us together. That was your choice, yours and my lady Janne’s.’
‘What of your choice, Kheda, to leave us all mourning you as dead?’ Rekha’s fine features hardened slightly, the tip of her aquiline nose thinning. ‘To set Sirket the challenge of establishing himself as warlord, with him barely grown and in a time of unprecedented upheaval?’
‘Unprecedented upheaval and attack from beyond the Archipelago, with magic no less, something not seen in these southerly reaches for time out of mind.’ Kheda spoke with biting precision. ‘When far from uniting against this appalling threat, our neighbouring domains could only bicker among themselves. Ulla Safar even tried to kill me for his own selfish purposes, you know that.’ He paused to swallow his rising ire.
‘I read the omens and saw the signs telling me I had to go in search of some means to counter these savage sorceries. I couldn’t do that with every eye following me, with the pomp of a warlord weighing me down and hindering my progress through every domain. And I didn’t feign my own death; I merely let people believe that Ulla Safar had finally succeeded in murdering me. Desperate times call for desperate courses, Rekha. I wish I hadn’t had to do it, but isn’t our victory over the savages proof that I was following the right path?’
Though I still have to extricate myself from the mire I’ve landed myself in as a consequence. Where are the signs to show me a way out of this?
‘But what of us—your wives, your heartbroken, grieving sons and daughters?’ Rekha’s dark eyes searched Kheda’s face.
‘I would have come back to you and made all amends I could,’ Kheda said with low fury. ‘It was Janne Daish who made that impossible for me. Go and seek answers from her.’
Neither of them spoke for a long, still moment, then Rekha shifted her gaze to the archway behind Kheda with a shake of her head that sent her long black hair rippling to her waist. The familiar gesture teased Kheda’s memory.
She shakes her head like that when she’s unsure of herself, not that that happens much more often than a moonless night. Or unsure of me—she did that a lot when we were first married.
‘You assuredly saved the Chazen domain from calamity.’ Rekha’s tone was more conciliatory. ‘And it was only right that you should claim these isles with Chazen Saril dead. You certainly earned such a reward with your sacrifices. And don’t blame Janne for doing all she could be sure Daish Sirket was able to continue his rule unchallenged as his reward for securing the domain in such a time of fear and peril. You could only have returned by taking up arms against your own son and none of us would have wanted that.’
‘I’m sure Sirket and I could have settled matters between us, if Janne Daish hadn’t set herself so implacably against my return,’ Kheda said coldly.
And fed Chazen Saril a meal of poisoned shellfish to leave him dead at my feet, to force me into a choice between fighting with my own son to reclaim my birthright or turning to secure this masterless domain before some other of my rivals or enemies did so. Where would Daish have been then? ‘You would never guess what devastation had been done nere.’ Rekha was looking all around the hallway, her face admiring. She smiled, this time conspiratorial. ‘I would dearly love to know just how you defeated those wild mages, my husband.’
‘That is a Chazen secret, my lady of Daish,’ Kheda replied, unmoved. ‘And I am most assuredly no longer your husband, nor you my wife.’
‘From all I hear, Itrac Chazen is a wife in name only and you’ve taken no concubines or slaves to your bed.’ As she spoke, Rekha’s swift steps closed the gap between them. She laid her elegant hand on Kheda’s chest again, fingertips caressing. ‘You must be having a long, dry season.’ She raised her eyes to his, running the tip of her tongue along her luscious lips. ‘As, of course, am I. We can none of us marry again, me or Janne or Sain, without being forced to choose between abandoning the children we’ve borne to Daish or running the risk of bringing a man to the domain who might rise to challenge Sirket.’
Kheda laughed out loud in sheer surprise. You’re inviting me to your bed, Rekha? Or what, to lay you down on these bare tiles and quench my thirst between your thighs?’ He shook his head, pretending more amusement than he felt. ‘Forgive me, but of all we shared when we were married, lusts of the flesh came a long way down the list. Be honest, Rekha, you only invited me to your bed under the stars you favoured for getting pregnant and you were always swift to call a halt to such pleasures once you had quickened.’
‘You don’t think I might regret such hardhearted practicality?’ She raised one perfectly shaped brow. ‘Or desire what I have lost?’
She pressed against him, so close that he could feel her warmth through the fine silk of her dress, her soft breasts against his bare chest. Perfidious memory reminded him of her nakedness, clad only in the unbound midnight of her hair scented with roses.
Her voice trembled. ‘I wept for you, Kheda, until I had no more tears to shed.’
‘I never thought you hardhearted, Rekha.’ Kheda fought a rising desire to take her in his arms and kiss her. That wasn’t the only thing rising and he backed away, hoping she had not felt his body’s treacherous urgency. ‘I thought you the most clear-headed woman born to any domain I knew and that’s what I prized in you above all else. No warlord’s lady ever served her domain better in her trading. I take it that’s what’s brought you here? But surely you could have waited to see in the new year back in Daish before bringing your proposals for Itrac’s consideration?’
Rekha was making a considerable business of taking out and replacing one of her silver combs. When she looked at Kheda again, her face was calm, her voice composed. ‘Itrac is a dear girl and we are very fond of her, Janne and me, having sheltered her through the crisis that overwhelmed her domain last year. We wouldn’t dream of seeking to take advantage of her in trade, any more than we would one of our own daughters. Ask her yourself.’ Rekha gestured vaguely at the ceiling of the entrance hall with its ornate paintwork. ‘Min-el Ulla would never have let the tiles to reroof these buildings leave her craftsmen if she had known where they would end up. It was Janne and me who persuaded Taisia Ritsem to act as go-between. Now Itrac has her home restored, as was her heart’s desire.’ She sounded genuinely pleased.
‘I’m sure she will be properly grateful for a long time to come,’ agreed Kheda. ‘But I’m still curious to know what brings you here at the turn of the year.’
Rekha folded her arms and looked frankly at him. ‘Every warlord will be reading the omens for trade in the new-year stars and the wives of every domain will be sending the order to ready their fleets. No one will sail with the Greater Moon waning but by the time it’s back to the full, the sea lanes will be thronged with galleys.’
‘So you’re looking to get ahead of the tide?’ Kheda queried sceptically.
‘Precious few will be Voming here,’ said Rekha bluntly. Not to islands stormed by savage magic, where the seas ran red with the blood of slaughtered islanders.’
‘A stain cleansed by the blood of those invaders as soon as I made it safe for Daish and Ritsem to attack without fear,’ Kheda retorted.
Rekha nodded with a regretful moue. ‘Most domains honour you for that, but they still won’t risk their ships and goods in these waters. Not when we are all still unsure how deep the taint of magic runs in Chazen. Not when there are still the remnants of those unspeakable savages lurking in your westernmost isles.’
‘Then I’ll offer you valuable news to take north with you,’ Kheda said curtly. ‘I will be sailing to put the last of them to sword and cleansing fire just as soon as the new-year festivities are done.’
‘How long will that take, Kheda? Even one fugitive can lead a hunting party a merry chase and you dare not leave the smallest of islands until you are sure beyond doub
t that not a single savage remains.’ Rekha shook her head. ‘Merchants won’t be sailing this far south, not till word sprearls that it’s truly safe and that won’t be soon enough to save your trade this year. And you need trade to restore this domain. You need tools and seasoned wood to rebuild, pots and cloth and so much else to refurnish your people’s homes. But merchants need not risk your waters. They have plenty of other places to trade their wares. And none of the neighbouring domains’ ladies will risk their standing with their people by ordering reluctant vessels south.’
Her tone became ominous. ‘You need ships and swords in case these invaders return. You need food to see you all through the end of the dry season, until the rains bring your next round of crops to harvest. You need full storehouses so your young men can be spared to train with those swords, rather than spending all their time with their hoes and their hunting dogs just to keep everyone fed.’
Chazen is fully mindful of her responsibilities and I of mine,’ interrupted Kheda.
‘We don’t want to see Itrac fail, Janne and I.’ Rekha moved to stand silhouetted against the evening light falling through the doorway. The silk of her dress was sheer enough that her slender nakedness beneath was clearly outlined. ‘We don’t want to see her rebuffed and humiliated if she tries dealing with the other domains herself. We want to help. We can make the trades for her. We can pass off Chazen pearls as our own.’
Did you think I would miss that calculating glint in your eye, Rekha, if I was satiated with the pleasures of your flesh! Do you think I have forgotten that your body has always been a commodity you trade when it suits you? No harm in that and you’ve often done well by Daish as a consequence. Not this time, though, and I am no longer Daish to admire you for trying.
‘All such matters are Itrac Chazen’s concern.’ Kheda skirted around Rekha to reach the door. ‘She is this domain’s first wife.’
‘First wife?’ Rekha called after him. When she had been third wife and barely wed a year to Chazen Saril, who chose her for her charms far more than her brains, Why shouldn’t he, when there was no reason to expect she’d have such burdens thrust upon her?’
She shook her head, so vehemently that her earrings jingled. ‘Which was all very well, Kheda, but now she has burdens beyond her strength to shoulder. How is she to fulfil all the duties of a warlord’s wives on her own;
Shouldn’t you be looking to your posterity by now!
There’s no sign of her being with child and there’s no chance she will quicken any time soon with you spending all your time apart, each busy about your own duties round the domain and seldom in the same residence inside the same phase of either moon.’
‘Is this why you’re here?’ Kheda rounded angrily on Rekha. ‘What are you hoping for? That I’d plough your furrow for old times’ sake and if you should prove fertile ground, I’d invite you to quit Daish for Chazen? Of course, as mother of this domain’s only child, you would naturally become first wife. Is that it? Are you finally tired of standing in Janne’s shadow?’
Or is Janne’s shadow falling between us here? This smells far more of her perfume than yours, Rekha. Andjanne would know what I have been missing through this long, solitary season. She was the one who first taught me the delights of the marriage bed, when I was just a callow youth and she the sophisticated beauty in her glorious prime.
Rekha’s stinging slap rocked Kheda’s head sideways and scattered his wrathful thoughts. ‘How dare you think I am anything but loyal to Daish,’ she hissed furiously.
‘Excuse me, Rekha Daish.’ He managed to turn his heated thoughts into icy formality. ‘As I’ll forgive you for presuming on our previous acquaintance to risk such a remarkable breach of etiquette in speaking to me like this. I will see you at dinner. I certainly don’t want to see you again before.’
Without a backward glance, he turned and walked swiftly out of the building. Two men pushed themselves away from the outer wall where they had been leaning. Both wore the same vivid blue silk that now clad all the household.
‘Dev.’ Kheda gave a curt nod to either side as they flanked him. ‘Jevin. How long were you there?’
‘Long enough,’ Dev replied smugly. ‘Do you want a poultice for that cheek?’ he asked with unctuous solicitude.
Kheda ignored the barbarian, fixing his attention on the Archipelago-born slave. ‘My lady Itrac will be most interested to learn what Rekha Daish had to say to me.’
‘Yes, my lord.’ There was a certain wariness in the youthful Jevin’s words.
‘Go and tell her everything, you understand me?’ Kheda paused on the steps of his personal pavilion. ‘I’ll bathe and come to her as quickly as I can. I want to know her thoughts on this before we dine with my lady of
Daish.’
‘Very good, my lord.’ Jevin loped off with alacrity. ‘Everything’s ready.’ Dev jerked his head towards the warlord’s personal pavilion. The slaves on the broad steps bowed low. With a grunt of acknowledgement for the hovering steward, Kheda went inside and crossed the cool cream-tiled hall to the bathroom door. ‘Out, all of you.’ His scowl cleared the room of a trio of anxious servants in an instant. Not, not you, Dev. Keep an eye on the path.’
‘There she goes,’ Dev observed, peering through the slatted shutters. ‘At quite a pace for such an elegant piece.’ The drawstring of his trousers was knotted stubbornly tight. Too irritated to try unpicking it, Kheda snapped the cord and kicked the garment aside. Stepping into the deep bath set in the floor, he emptied a ewer of standing water over his head. It was colder, than he had expected on his sun-warmed skin and he gasped. ‘Where’s she heading?’
‘That must be her slave waiting for her at the next bridge.’ Dev moved a little for a better view. ‘Yes, he’s tagging after her like a well-trained hound. She’s going back to the guest pavilion.’
‘To gather her wits in privacy.’ Kheda dipped a handful of aromatic liquid soap from a bowl and lathered his hair and beard briskly.
‘I reckon she might try for some privacy with you again before she goes back home,’ said Dev with lewd emphasis.
‘Then you will play the proper slave for a change and sleep across my threshold to keep her out.’ Kheda washed himself vigorously with a soapy cloth.
‘I don’t think so,’ said Dev with distaste. ‘I’ll find some little maid girl to keep watch on the footbridge and come and warn me if her ladyship goes for a midnight stroll.’
‘Find someone to keep an eye on that galley of hers.’ Kheda began rinsing away the suds that covered him. ‘I want to know exactly when she lets a message bird fly.’
‘Do you want it brought down?’ Dev suggested. ‘I could do that without anyone noticing and you can always blame one of the gull hawks.’
No.’ Kheda ran firm hands over his head and face to force water out of his hair and beard.
‘There have been plenty of Chazen courier doves winging their way home over the last ten days or so, from what Jevin tells me. I’ll go and check if any of them are bringing news from the west. You’ll want to know exactly where the remaining wild men are to be found, so you can plan your new campaign against them properly’ Dev threw Kheda a towel as he climbed out of the bath. ‘And whatever her haughtiness Rekha Daish might say, Itrac is managing to trade with other domains. At least, she’s found someone to give her enough silk to cover your arse in suitable style. Come and see.’
Drying himself, Kheda followed the barbarian through the door that led straight from the bathroom into his spacious bedchamber. Dev lifted two full-sleeved tunics from the broad, low bed. ‘The grey or the tan, my lord?’ he asked with mock obsequiousness.
‘I don’t suppose you thought to ask what Itrac will be wearing?’ Kheda considered the skilfully cut and sewn garments. The grey was a dark hue shot through with blue like a rainy-season cloud. The tan was a warmer colour with a vibrant golden gloss. There hadn’t been time for any embroidery on either, however.
‘As it happens, I did,’ retorted D
ev. ‘Yellow, so the lad said.’
‘The tan then.’ Kheda reached for the trousers. ‘What gems do we have to dress it up?’
‘Precious few.’ Dev tossed the tunic across and Kheda pulled it over his head.
‘I suppose it’s too much to hope that any more of the domain’s heirlooms have come to light while we’ve been away?’ The cloth muffled his words.
No such luck,’ the barbarian confirmed as he unlocked a coffer set on a stand beside the bed. ‘I’ll bet Daish and Ritsem skippers are trading them even as we speak.’
‘Keep that opinion to yourself, barbarian,’ Kheda warned, ‘unless you want me to read your fate in your entrails when some mariner guts you. Archipelagans aren’t thieves like you northerners. We’ll find most of the loot with those last savages penned up in the west.’
‘Which is another good reason to finally see them all dead,’ said Dev with happy anticipation.
‘So you can try your hand at plundering the wealth they stole?’ Kheda challenged. Not when Itrac needs those talismans and heirlooms to trade for everything this domain so desperately lacks.’
‘You don’t think she’ll have enough pearls?’ Dev stirred the paltry selection of ornaments in the upper tray of the chest with a disdainful finger. What do you want out of here?’
Not pearls, with this colour silk,’ Kheda commented as he came to pull a fine gold chain out of a tangle of links. He took off his silver ring with its uncut talisman emerald and threaded the chain through it. ‘If you say so.’ Dev shrugged. ‘I never had to play the lady’s maid back home.’
‘Just be thankful I didn’t end up saving your skin by making you a slave to my lady wife,’ Kheda taunted as he slipped the chain over his neck and tucked the ring beneath the neck of his tunic. Do you think you would have liked learning how to paint Itrac’s face and nails? What else have we got?’
‘Turtleshell and that’s about it.’ Dev lifted out the padded silk tray to reveal variegated bracelets polished to a mirror finish.
‘Those will do.’ Kheda pushed a matched pair over his knuckles and thrust heavy gold rings on all his fingers. ‘And that belt.’
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