Soon they sat down to a plain supper of mash, homemade bread, and vegetables Azno had bought in the small village that morning. The shops here were far different than the teeming marketplace where they had first come together. This one was just a few small, crude stalls and the only items sold or bartered for were foodstuffs and occasionally some imported pottery or cookware crudely fashioned from scrap metal. Everything depended on which merchant wagons had recently come rumbling down the dusty main road.
“You have become a fine cook,” Chadan praised Azno as he cleared his wooden plate.
“The benefit of practice,” Azno said. “It has turned out to be useful for other activities besides poetry…and krasking.”
“I suppose that is true.” Playfully Chadan poked at his own middle. “I fear my waist is in more danger here than it ever was at the palace banqueting hall.”
He regretted the jest when he saw Azno’s face darken.
“You miss it still, don’t you? The palace, I mean.”
“Of course, I don’t. Not for a moment.”
“How can you not?” Azno stared down at his half-eaten meal as though it repulsed him. “I know that it is my fault we must live here. I will never stop regretting what I cost you.”
Like a flash of lightning, Chadan was on the other side of the small table, his arms around Azno. His lightly bearded cheek pressed against the side of Azno’s smooth face.
“Are you mad, Azno? You have given me a life I would not trade for fame, or riches, or all the comforts any palace could offer.”
“I am glad to hear you say it. I only wish I could be sure you mean it.”
“You must believe I do.”
They rocked together for a while, sharing the tears that never failed to turn regret into joy. They would never forget what they had left behind, Chadan knew, but every day the present brought greater and deeper contentment.
“I finished my poem today,” Azno said later, when they curled up together on their sleeping pallet. “I placed it in the jar with the others.”
“I can hardly wait to read it,” Chadan said sincerely. “Or perhaps you would like to read it to me sometime.”
“Yes. I would. Tomorrow?”
“I shall look forward to it. More than you know.”
“But I do know. That is why I wrote it.”
Chadan laughed softly. Who needed extravagant evenings filled with luxurious palace entertainments and feasts? Quiet, star-filled nights, the promise of poetry, and Azno. What could ever be better?
He didn’t need to say the words out loud. Azno turned to him, murmuring some vague endearment, and pressed his smiling lips to Chadan’s.
###
A BRIEF GUIDE TO THE WORLD OF ORANTO
Glossary of Common Words
Burninga: The Oranto equivalent of a goat. It can be milked, and its milk is an ingredient in natash.
Cachu: Slang term for excrement.
Davosira: This refers to both a desert succulent called davosira and the toxin derived from it. It is found primarily in the Marqash province of the Thasali stronghold and other arid regions on Oranto. No antidote to this lethal poison exists. Within seconds of ingestion, paralysis sets in. and death comes within an hour.
Elodie: This refers to both a leafy tree that grows in abundance over most of Oranto and to the oil extracted from its narrow yellow leaves. The oil has many uses, but is primarily used as lubricant for sex.
Fuffer mash: The recipe for this rather bland, though filling, dish is simple—water and gilla grain heated and then mashed into a pulp. It is an important part of the diets of Oranto’s poor.
Gilla grain: Equivalent of rice or wheat.
Gillotin: A large stork-like bird with very soft feathers.
Ginamar: A denomination of currency in Resedna.
Grubergreens: Greens more commonly eaten raw in salads, as cooking them renders them inedible.
Imperial ginamar: A form of currency in Resedna. Rare and thus worth a lot, they are minted once every 10 years on order of the reigning monarch. They are meant to mark a significant event. The Matriarch ordered a batch of imperial ginamars to be minted to celebrate her jubilee. They are embedded with high-quality crystals from the Resedna crystal mines.
Jundii: The jundii are an exalted group within a royal household’s coterie, a sort of inner circle within an inner circle. They are a royal household’s most trusted advisers. Occasionally, they act as a star chamber for whatever royal household they serve.
Jusubo flowers: Sweet smelling, small delicate flowers.
Krask: A curse word similar to fuck.
Lamasket: Formal term for anal sex.
Lamplight: The term Resedna residents use to refer to dusk.
Lottery: A chance to win a little bit of money. They payouts aren’t very good, but they’re more than what the poor of Resedna earn in months of hard work. It’s a good way for the royal family to control the peasants.
Mrow: Long and flat worms.
Natash: Fermented drink made and consumed primarily by lower echelons of society. The drink’s strength can be made quite strong or weak, depending on who is making it and for whom the drink is intended. Some connoisseurs prefer the unfiltered variety.
Omple tree: Fortunately for Resedna, omple trees are abundant and hardy, growing nearly everywhere in the Thasali stronghold. A smaller, dwarf version of the tree manages to thrive in the arid Marqash region. The tree’s sap can be easily processed into sweet, thick syrup.
Pagvee berries: Highly prized pagvee berries are found in the more mountainous regions of Oranto. Small, intensely sweet and ruby colored, they are harvested in early spring. The Thasali capital city and region Resedna have hills but no mountains high enough for pagvee berries to take root and grow, so Resedna residents who can afford them pay dearly. The jewel-like berries are used to make Pagvee berry brandy.
Rikilda: A long, slender, citrus fruit with a hard yellow rind.
Sallabeast: This term refers to both the five-legged animal and the meat for which it is raised.
Steenango: A fruit that grows in more temperate regions, like Pyriel. Its flesh is a bright orange-yellow with a texture reminiscent of melons found on Earth. Steenango pits are small, no bigger than an Earth cherry. The flesh is covered with thin yet tough green skin with a white pith between the flesh and skin.
Talphoux: A tangy fruit that holds up well to heat so it is often baked and served with burninga cream.
Thrashing: A unit of measurement, generally only used when measuring foodstuffs like grain. A full thrashing is equivalent to 10 pounds.
Tralicot: A fish found in rivers and streams all over Resedna.
Unbalanced Fluids: Considered the cause of all illness by rich and poor alike.
Xoxobeasts: Like oxen. They pull carts.
People of Oranto
Thasali Household
Duga Rigers: A former harem boy who grew up in Resedna’s mudflats precinct; Prince Baboye’s most trusted adviser/former consort.
Lash: Royal tailor.
The Matriarch: The head of the Thasali family, she succeeded to the throne upon her husband’s death.
Prince Baboye: The Thasali crown prince.
Prince Vidnar: Baboye’s younger brother.
Thasali Harem
Agatan: Harem boy who mentors Duga when he first arrives in the harem. Tall, redhead, pale skin.
Blanto: He’s in charge of the harem when Duga and Shebi arrive.
Charis: Harem boy.
Defri: Harem boy.
Ethan: Harem boy who mentors Shebi.
Eyakan: Harem boy; Prince Baboye’s current favorite.
Gerion: Oraj’s chief assistant.
Kuzabu: Games master, a small, muscular compact man with strong opinions.
Leuna: Harem girl from the mudflats; chosen with Duga and Shebi.
Mekko: Lecherous music master.
Oraj: Harem master, very strict and by the book; former harem boy.
Rilas: Hou
seman; sometime assistant to Master Oraj.
Sisuma: Harem boy.
Resedna City Inhabitants
Apamar: Brothel boy.
Jamas: Brothel boy.
Shebi Goza: A brothel owner and Duga’s old friend from his harem days.
Others
Corceus Family: It once ruled nearly a third of the planet Oranto, but that was several generations ago. When the Corceus Family fell, it fell hard and far. Many royal families on Oranto owe their wealth to former Corceus property and other assets, which were divided among the royal families once the fall of the Corceus family was complete. The Corceus family started to fall apart at the height of its power because of overweening ambition, misrule, intrafamily battles, greed and a touch of madness.
Tertiana Alsadafti: Duga’s ex-wife. She bore two children with Duga, raised them with him and when they were nearly adults, she went to live with an old lover who had also been in the Thasali girls harem. She and Duga and are still friends.
Umji: A talented actor who often performs in the theater at Daphek.
Zav: A traveling merchant who takes Charis with him for a while.
Places on Oranto
Arthon: A distant city from Resedna, it has been proudly independent since the fall of the Corceus family, when the Corceus palace was destroyed during a fierce battle. Its citizens refused to allow any royal family to move in and take the place of the Corceus family. Duga and his former wife Tertiana sent their children there to be educated.
Daphek, City of Entertainments: A city featuring a pleasure center known as the Dome of Delights with an exotic marketplace, theaters, and other cultural attractions.
Ithu: A northern city; a cold, dreary place.
Jehenne Mountains: The highest elevation in the Thasali stronghold. Although other regions have higher mountains, the best water is found in the Jehenne Mountains. No one has been able to determine why, but the water in the springs here has a smooth, almost sweet taste. As with many of the finer things, Resedna’s poorer populations cannot afford Jehenne Mountain water.
Marqash: One of the more far flung Thasali villages, it’s mostly desert. It is a neglected part of the Thasali stronghold. Marqashians resent the Thasali royals because of the neglect. This is Eyakan’s home village.
Pyriel: A resort village with a large and famous market. Wealthier individuals from the Resedna region often retire there. Its climate is temperate.
Resedna: Resedna has always been the Thasali royal city. This is unlike most other royal cities, which were originally held by the Corceus family and then taken over by other families when Corceus collapsed.
Warren: The Thasali royal penitentiary. It’s almost always referred to with the definite article “the” before it. The inmates are kept in underground cells. While they’re serving their sentences, the inmates are allowed above ground once every ten days for an hour. The Warren’s cells are as dank and dreary as underground cells can be.
About Danielle Summers:
Danielle Summers is a dyke in an interracial same-sex marriage living in the Midwest. She loves well-drawn characters but hates stereotypes. She lives for a good plot. She wishes her characters were real.
Connect with Danielle Summers:
Amazon Author Page: Author.to/DanielleSummers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Danielle-Summers/1419753974932778
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanielleRomance
Other titles by Danielle Summers:
5 Easy Chocolate Pieces: A BDSM Love Story
Troy Pettifer, a broken-hearted chocolate shop worker, isn't sure what to do next when Richard Belden, a controlling but handsome sadist, walks into his life and gets him on his knees. Troy's friends start fixing him up with vanilla guys. Richard is nursing his own heart that was broken by a man who betrayed him and the entire BDSM community, but, for Troy to fulfill desires he didn't even know he had, he's going to have to embrace the beautiful leatherman within.
Leander, Gay Elves of Ravensbrook
Can a human survive being introduced to his elf boyfriend’s parents?
Leander Brooks hopes so. He loves the human world, but misses his elven family. And his human boyfriend Michael Jensen has been nagging him for months to introduce him to his parents. Leander thinks he has prepared Michael for the cold reception he might receive. Soon, he learns he hasn’t prepared him enough for a situation that quickly goes from hostile to potentially deadly.
Michael was thrilled when he learned that he was going to meet Leander’s family at last. His disbelief when Leander comes out as an elf is understandable, but he’s willing to keep an open mind for the man he loves, despite his occasional uneasiness at the raucous elven New Year’s Eve celebration. What he’s unwilling to do is give Leander up.
Together Leander and Michael face a New Year’s Eve celebration and a family reunion that tests their love and risks Michael’s life.
Kissing the Golem
Jacob and Marcus, an interracial interfaith couple, are fighting about everything: coming out, monogamy and marriage. Then one dark night, they encounter the Golem who has protected Jacob’s family for generations. The giant but handsome man made of clay and dirt saves their lives, and his kiss just may save their relationship.
About Jade Astor:
Jade Astor is a longtime fan of Gothic-themed love stories and has been reading authors like Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart, and Daphne Du Maurier since childhood. Later, she became involved in writing paranormal and sci-fi fan fiction, back when such publications were still run off on photocopiers, stapled together, and shipped out to other fans in manila envelopes. Years later, she was delighted to find a thriving population of like-minded writers and readers in the ebook community. Naturally, she set about trying to fuse these various interests to create the kind of stories she would have enjoyed reading herself.
Other titles by Jade Astor:
Serpent’s Gate
After graduating from college, Stephen Carlyle figures he’s in for the dullest summer of his life, staying with his eccentric uncle and assisting him in his antiquarian bookstore. Before he can despair over his new role as a bookstore clerk, his uncle announces that they have been hired by a nearby manor house to catalog a rare book collection. Though he isn’t looking forward to the trip, upon arrival Stephen is amazed at how beautiful Fairbourne House is—all except for the front gate, which has been cast in the form of a frightening serpent and is reputed by the gatekeeper to have strange and even deadly powers that protect the family.
Inside the house, he meets the late owner’s two sons. Justin seems friendly and eager to court his friendship, if not more. In stark contrast, the older brother, Roark, is angry and sullen. Soon Stephen finds a strange old book bound inside another volume, rumored to be a powerful spellbook that can unleash deadly havoc both at Fairbourne House and beyond. Torn between two brothers competing for his affections, Stephen must figure out which one to trust before he becomes a sacrifice in the fulfillment of an evil scheme.
James Eyre
A gender swap adapting the classic Gothic romance Jane Eyre.
In Victorian England, 21-year-old James Eyre, frightened by his feeling for another man, decides to leave the boys’ school where he has spent ten years, first as a student and then as a teacher. He manages to secure a position as a private tutor for Axel Vance, the ward of a wealthy man who owns an estate in Yorkshire.
From the night of his arrival, James begins to sense that things are not as they should be at Thistleton Manor, the home of the enigmatic Edmond Manchester. Late at night, wild screams seem to echo through the house, and during the daytime objects disappear from James’s room and are replaced with sinister-looking voodoo dolls. Though his instincts tell him to flee, James stays on because he enjoys his duties and the company of his pupil—and even more so because he has begun to develop an attraction for his employer, Mr. Manchester.
To his surprise, Mr. Manchester seems to return his feelings. However,
a jealous former lover and a phantomlike presence in the house seem determined to tear them apart.
If he is to have any hope of a happy future with the man he loves, James must solve the mystery of Thistleton Manor and save Edmond’s life as well.
Kiss of the Dark Prince
At a British university, American exchange student Luke Martin meets Boris von Schatten, who claims to be a member of the royal family of Shattenberg, a small principality wedged between Austria and Hungary. Though Luke is skeptical, Boris ignites his curiosity with tales of the family castle and his half-brother, Prince Georg, now ruler of Schattenberg after the recent death of their father. Intrigued, Luke jumps at the chance when Boris offers to fly him to Schattenberg for the approaching summer break.
Once Luke arrives, though, the enigmatic but undeniably handsome Georg tells him that Boris has disappeared. Soon mysterious events begin to occur, including two deaths and increasing evidence suggesting that Georg murdered Boris along with a few others who got in his way. Luke finds it hard to believe that Georg is as demonic as people say—he even hears rumors that he drinks human blood—at least until some of Boris’s possessions are found covered with blood in a nearby ravine.
When he confronts Georg about his suspicions, Georg confesses that he is the victim of a curse and is powerless to stop it, though he denies murdering anyone. Luke longs to believe him—until attempts on Luke’s own life begin.
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