Damn the rules, damn the gods…even if he has to share her, she belongs to him.
Wasteland, Book 4
High Priestess Xian has followed the Path of the Peaceful Sun since she was chosen at birth. Yet the joy she receives from helping others is overshadowed by her growing belief that the world they live in is…wrong.
At a crossroads, unsure of her ability to do her job—unsure of anything—she journeys to the ruins of the old city, hoping to uncover secrets that will give her clarity. Instead she finds the path to her goal clouded by an unexpected desire for her handsome guard, Hel, and for the battered stranger they find along the way.
Hel can’t prevent Xian from reaching out to the mysterious Siraj, but there is danger in allowing him to stay. Siraj belongs to no caste, follows no rules but his own. And Xian’s fascination with him makes Hel’s blood boil. No one can know that Hel has always loved her, or the secret he’s kept hidden for years. But Siraj’s advances and Xian’s curiosity force Hel to cross lines he never before dared…
Warning: The word of the day is Voyeurism. Oh, and explicit sex with two men and one previously repressed High Priestess. Bi ménage, anal sex, oral sex, kissing, licking, rimming, author blushing …so you know it must be good.
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Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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Wasteland: The Priestess
Copyright © 2010 by R. G. Alexander
ISBN: 978-1-60928-045-1
Edited by Bethany Morgan
Cover by Kanaxa
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: May 2010
www.samhainpublishing.com
The Priestess
R.G. Alexander
Dedication
For Cookie—Love is the reason. To Beth, my Armageddon Encyclopedia. And to my fellow Smutketeers—Eden Bradley, Crystal Jordan and Lilli Feisty—I couldn’t end the world with a finer bunch of deviants.
Chapter One
“Shall I kill them for you?”
Xian turned from the small altar on her private balcony and smiled softly. “You’ve asked each time I come back from a meeting with the council. What would you do should I ever say yes?”
Her Sun Guard quirked his lips. “Obey with haste and enthusiasm, High Priestess, as I always do.”
She shook her head. “Much as I am tempted today, I’m still not sure the Goddess would approve.”
But then, she wasn’t sure She wouldn’t. Not after hearing the men of the council spitting bile and demanding blood for the loss of the recent Sacrifice. That, combined with the previous disappearance of several Roses, prostitutes from the brothel, had them shouting recriminations and fear for the return of The Burning Time.
Chamberlain Vey kindly pointed out that though there had been incidents in the past, they had been rare until now. Until Xian. No Sacrifice, no Wanderer taken for seed and returned to the Goddess, had ever turned the tides and escaped, taking a Breeder with them.
During the meeting, he actually demanded that the Temple must increase the Sacrifice rituals. To kill two—even three Wanderers at a time to make up for what was lost. They cried faith, but it was greed and thwarted lust she saw in their eyes. They did not fear the reprisal of an angry god, nor did they respect the Goddess. They were children throwing tantrums at having their toys taken away.
Nitara.
Xian knew the Breeder was safe. Knew now that Nitara had willingly chosen to save the Wanderer, the desert warrior, and run with him. She’d spoken privately with Nikkan and Leilin, Nitara’s siblings and accomplices. She’d loved the young woman like her own flesh and blood. What hurt most was that Nitara hadn’t trusted Xian enough to tell her that she’d had more than first-time nerves. To tell her that she’d spent her Taming Moon with a Wanderer whom their soothing draughts had not affected, and formed an attachment to him.
A bitter chuckle escaped her lips. Why would she? It was Xian who had placed her on her path. Even when, after years of study under the former High Priestess, Xian still didn’t understand why the ritual was necessary herself. Oh, she knew what she’d been taught. In order to soothe the Sun’s anger, in order to aid the Goddess, it must be a life for a life—sacrificial blood for a virgin’s blood. But it felt wrong.
That feeling didn’t stop her from forcing the murderous burden onto her charges…too many times to count. If her predecessor had not seen Xian’s birth veil or markings as a sign that she would be a Temple leader, she too could have been a Breeder, could have been called upon to kill the father of her child moments after conception. As it was, she was born with blood on her hands, since her true mother had not survived the birthing process. That too, was considered a sign.
“My Priestess, if you do not stop looking so sad, I will have no choice but to believe they have offended you beyond repair and slay them all. What troubles you? Do they continue to blame you for the young Breeder’s escape?”
Hel, her Sun Guard, was the only one involved that she hadn’t spoken to yet. She didn’t want to admit, even to herself, that he had kept it from her. He was her confidant, her protector. For six rotations of the starlit sky, since her predecessor had passed and she’d been given the mantle of High Priestess, he had never wavered in his commitment to her. Even during Akaash and Nitara’s flight, he had wrapped Xian in his arms, protecting her from the fire and the angry mob with his own body.
But he hadn’t told her why he’d been instrumental in helping them escape.
She turned to study him more fully. The sun through the sheer blue curtains that separated her from the harsh daylight cast his skin in shades of dark bronze. A testament to his tolerance for and life beneath the hot sun.
All Sun Guards were impressive compared to the ordinary citizens of Kroy Wen and the eunuchs. They spent their entire lives training, after all. But Hel was…more. Strong and broad-shouldered, he was taller than most of the others. Blue-black hair curled against his neck with the heat of the day, and eyes the color of the healing malachite stone glowed from his darkly tanned face.
He’d made many a Priestess flush with his mere presence. The eunuchs would often share the Temple gossip with Xian. They told her how the others wished Hel would enter the lottery just once, that one of the reasons they imagined he didn’t, had to do with speculation about his relationship with their High Priestess.
There was none. No male touched the High Priestess. But Xian would be lying to herself if she denied her fantasies. How often had she completed a fertility ritual by the light of the moon, or taught a newly blooming Breeder the ways of self-pleasure, and found an image of Hel in her mind? Too often.
Her role in the Temple forbade such selfish urges. Her passion and energy was for Kroy Wen and all her charges, not for herself. As she was trained. As it was meant to be. She was chosen by the High Priestess Ani and the Goddess to be mother to all, and could never be mother, or lover, to one. Certainly not to a Sun Guard who was duty-bound to follow her every command.
You didn’t command him to help Nikkan save Nitara.
Friendships bet
ween eunuchs and outer guards were rare indeed. As they should be. The eunuchs had been created to protect the Breeders in the inner sanctum of the Temple. Some were chosen at birth, some were the result of punishment when her predecessor had been forced to make an example.
The Sun Guards worked outside, also protecting those who dwelled inside these walls, but they did not befriend, or in many cases respect, the inner guards. It wasn’t something Xian necessarily approved of, but she’d been taught that the separation was necessary for the safety of the Breeders. She supposed she’d just had that lesson reaffirmed.
Hel was not merely another Sun Guard, loyal only to her. He had secrets. A life separate from hers. It rattled her, thinking she might not know him as well as she thought.
She crossed her arms, determination steeling her spine. It was time. She couldn’t back down now. “Hel, arm yourself and gather any supplies you believe we’ll need. I must journey to The Vault.” She hesitated. “I would prefer that you not share this information with your fellow Sun Guards.”
His lashes flickered in surprise, but he didn’t question her. Bowing low he backed into the room, toward his own small adjacent one to comply.
She knew what he wanted to say. They had already made the perilous journey once this year. It was only done when those Priestesses who had trained to understand the stars and their meaning deemed it safe. When the Crone foresaw a clear path. When other Sun Guards stood at the ready to make the journey with them.
This was not one of those times. Yet Xian felt compelled. She glanced down at the altar with the carved, lush figure placed in the center. Perhaps the Goddess was guiding her steps.
Perhaps.
“She knows, Hel.”
Hel pressed Nikkan against the wall in the smooth, circular hallway. “And how would she unless you told her, eunuch? I did not believe you would be so free with your tongue, especially with so much at stake. For all of us.”
A female voice broke the tense silence behind him. “I told her, Sun Guard.”
He didn’t take his eyes away from Nikkan, knowing that for an outer guard to look upon a Breeder would mean death. “Why?”
A soft feminine sigh echoed in the narrow walkway. “She was as much sister to Nitara as I was. And she is our High Priestess. I knew she would not rest easy until she knew the how and why of our actions. Nikkan’s…mine…yours.”
Nikkan adjusted his tunic when Hel released him, looking flustered. “I wanted to warn you so you did not lie when she asked you. Unless she has already?”
Hel ran a hand through his hair, his mind racing. Had she? The moon had filled only to empty again since that night, and once his charge had left her self-imposed isolation, she’d been different. Quieter. She used to tell him everything. He knew far more about the inner workings of the Temple than he should. But she’d barely spoken to him in days.
“She’s said nothing. Asked me nothing.”
Nikkan’s sister spoke from behind him again. “This is good news, Sun Guard. By rights she could reassign you, banish you. Just as she could have had both Nikkan and myself punished. Instead she keeps her silence. Protects us all from the council and the judgment of the others in the Temple. Protects us from my mother’s fate.”
“No, you don’t understand, Breeder. This is not good news. But I don’t have time to explain. She has told me we set out for the old ruins tonight. Alone.”
Nikkan paled. “Tonight? Without telling anyone? But there’s been no preparation, no prayers. The rains have only just come. Why?”
Hel towered over the eunuch. “I do not know. But she is the High Priestess. She has kept your secret, so you will keep hers, or by the Goddess I will remove more body parts than you can stand to do without when we return.”
“You are quite protective of Xian aren’t you, Sun Guard? More loyal to her than to the Temple? I am glad. She deserves that kind of loyalty.”
Hel dropped his chin in acknowledgement of the woman’s words, stepping back to leave. Nikkan stopped him. “Hel, you have been a good friend to Leilin and I. Getting word to the trader for the Wanderer, not stopping Nitara and her lover from escaping when we all know you could have. If you should come across word…if anyone knows how she fares…”
“I will let you know. But I am no paragon. I did not do it for you.” Hel turned his back on them both and strode down the hall toward the west entrance, and the Sun Guard barracks. He needed a few special supplies.
As he walked his mind returned to her. His High Priestess. She was in pain. He could see that. He just had no idea how to fix it. An enemy he could fight. He could tear apart the council chamberlain who looked down his nose at her while ogling her sex through the sheer panel of her skirts. But this quiet pain, this silence, it nearly unmanned him.
She was his reason.
For what he was, what he did, why he stayed. It had always been her. Xian. How much had he done to ensure a place at her side when she reached her majority and required her own personal guard? How far would he have gone, had he gone, to achieve his rank? All for her. The gods of the Wanderers and those who dwelt inside the city walls be damned. She was his altar, his religion and the answer to all his prayers. Or perhaps his punishment. Being so close for all these years without being able to touch her…
He closed his eyes and saw her, a vision of perfect curves and golden skin covered in the swirled markings of her rank. Her breasts were heavy and lush. Her hips swayed to a siren melody that had always drawn him in. Onyx hair hung straight and shimmering to her waist…and that face. It was exotic and otherworldly. Almond eyes an unusual violet and blue in hue, framed by thick coal-colored lashes. Her full lips always looked pink and freshly kissed behind her sheer veil. When she smiled it fell on him like gentle rain in the desert. Necessary.
Damn him back to The Burning Time. He spoke blasphemy. A Sun Guard’s belief sustained him, kept him loyal to the Temple. But then, he hadn’t always been amongst them.
A fact that his High Priestess could never know.
The warmth of the evening sun hit his face and a familiar voice greeted him. “Follow the Path of the Peaceful Sun, Hel. How are you this day?”
“May the Goddess guide you through the darkness, Fyral. I must speak with our Father.” Hel smiled at his brother in arms, and the bald, dark-skinned man grabbed his arm in greeting, pulling him farther into the Sun Guard camps.
The Sun Guard of the High Priestess was the only outer guard allowed to dwell inside the Temple. The rest lived in barracks, mud-brick longhouses adjacent to the outer mountain wall of the limestone Temple, where they shared everything. Food, laughter, fighting and friendship. Raised to be guardians, warriors. Raised in strength.
They were the men who guarded the Breeders and Priestess class. The men who captured the Sacrifices meant for Kroy Wen. They kept all usurpers, pirates and overzealous traders at bay for the growers, herders, fishermen and artisans of the city. Hel felt a surprised jolt of pride as he watched the men training in hand-to-hand combat and weaponry on his way to the main longhouse. This had been his family for so long. Though they did not start out that way.
Fyral had trained with him beneath their Father, the man who had taken responsibility for their education, for years. Fyral pointed to the sparring guards. “We are all on high alert, since the loss of the last Sacrifice. You can tell our High Priestess it will not happen again. She need have no doubt that we will change loyalties either.”
Hel stopped, tensing beside his friend. “Why would that be a concern?”
Fyral snorted. “That bastard from the council tried to talk to our honored Fathers, claiming that war with the Wanderers was the only way to appease the Angry Sun. That it was necessary to ensure the continuation of the civilized world. He said the Temple had twisted the old ways, grown soft. That the High Priestess was too compassionate for her own good, and had no doubt helped a valued Breeder escape. He attempted to convince them that a new hierarchy of councilmen and Sun Guards would be benefi
cial to all of Kroy Wen.”
Rage burned, a living thing in Hel’s chest. “Chamberlain Vey and I may have to have a private talk before too long. He goes too far.”
“Be at ease, Brother. It is resolved. The Fathers made it clear that he would not be welcomed in the barracks again. No citizen will go against one Sun Guard, let alone all, and live to tell about it. Chamberlain or no. The Wanderers are warriors, yes. But they fight mostly amongst themselves. Admirable in their skill and survival instincts, but no threat to our way of life. We have no issue with them.” Fyral patted Hel’s back. “Father is inside. I must train the youngest of us, but I hope you’ll come back when I’m through. I’ve missed sparring with you.”
Hel smiled and nodded, heading for the longhouse. Fyral might underestimate the Wanderers. They had no desire to dwell in the cities, true, but they grew in number, stronger each year. They had more than just survived. They had advanced. And he knew that in the six years since he’d been assigned to the Temple, their clans had only increased. How much longer would they allow their warriors to be taken for their seed and killed for these citizen’s entertainment?
He pushed back the curtain made of thick hide and saw his Father sitting by the hearth, sharpening his favorite long spear. His bushy beard and full mane of hair had gone white with age, but his body and movements were still those of a warrior. A Sun Guard. He spoke without looking up. “Hel. You honor an old man.”
“Your instincts are sharper than ever, I see. Honor? This is your way of saying I never visit, yes?”
Father just smiled. “You have known your path from the start, as have I. I am revered above all Fathers to have one of my own as Sun Guard to the High Priestess. I know all that is required of you that takes you from us.”
Hel knelt at the older man’s feet. “I have never forgotten all you did for me. How much you risked.”
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