by Amy Little
Annika did not recognize them, blinking rapidly at the sudden light. There was something odd about their eyes, but Annika could not place it immediately.
“A torch, my man!” Zak called out.
The man he addressed looked at him, then he and his companion rushed into a tunnel that sloped upward and back towards the castle. Zak drew his sword and was about to start after them.
“Their eyes had black specks,” said Annika, putting her finger on what it was about the men that troubled her. She put her hand on Zak’s arm to hold him back. “They were struck by the same evil as Thiel.”
Zak looked after the men reluctantly. “You could be right. But now’s not time to investigate.”
The exposure to the light from the men’s torches momentarily blinded them when they found themselves in the gloom again. The darkness closed in around them as they went deeper under the castle. They moved slower now. Zak kept his sword in his hand. “We’ll need light soon,” he grumbled. “I’d counted on the servants leaving at least a candle around. No luck.”
This gave Annika an idea. She took out her dagger. It pulsed in her hands and shone lightly. She could also see a thin stream of light, like a string, run from the dagger and down the passage ahead, before the passage turned left into a branching.
“Can you see it?” she asked Zak.
“The dagger shines. Good idea,” Zak nodded. “I didn’t think the dagger would draw on the power up here, in the castle.”
“Nothing else?”
In the faint light, she could see the puzzlement in his face. “No.”
She focused on the image of the Dor’se for a moment with her eyes closed, before opening her eyes again.
The string of light grew thicker, like a rope, and the dagger flamed in her hand, bright like five torches together. The tunnel was lit a dozen meters ahead and behind. Zak staggered back.
Annika gasped at the sight, nearly dropping the dagger in shock, before shutting her eyes for a few seconds, to shield them from the unexpected brightness. “I think this rope of light might lead us down to the Dragon’s Mouth,” she said, after the initial shock subsided. “Follow me.”
Zak made a skeptical sound but let her lead.
Annika could feel the ebb and flow of the power from the lake wash through the dagger, which she consciously dimmed, and into her. She no longer felt her tired feet, nor her aching arms.
The light showing the way stopped before a blank wall made of rough stones.
Annika recognized it as the place where Zak had gained access to the underground tunnels. For everything that the dagger was capable of, it did not open the entrance to the tunnels. She stepped aside to let Zak past.
He grunted with a grudging admiration. “How do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“The directions. You chose the way without hesitation, and we arrived at the right spot.”
Annika explained the rope of light. “I had a feeling it will lead us to the lake.”
Zak asked no questions, focusing on opening the entrance to the tunnels. The stones ground open with a screech. Then he said, “We’re not going to the lake, this time.”
“Oh?” said Annika, disappointed. “Then where?”
Zak sounded pleased to be the one knowing the secret destination. “You will see.”
“Humph,” she said. “If it weren’t for the light from my dagger, you’d be stumbling in the dark here, bloodying your nose!”
“Whereas now I can kiss you on yours.”
Before she could protest, he swooped around and planted a light peck on the side of her face.
“How can you think of something like that, now!” she said.
“It’s been said that danger brings out the passion,” said Zak.
“Humph!” she said again. Although she felt the truth of that statement, she never would have admitted that to him.
They hopped inside the opening just as the entrance stones began to grate to a close.
As they made their way down, the tunnels before them blurred into one another. Although the dagger continued to flare in her hands, the string of light, from which they had departed after a few minutes, grew fainter, as though it recognized that the lake was not their destination.
Annika felt the dagger tug and direct her back to the Dragon’s Mouth. That was where she felt herself drawn to. Yet she was also curious about where Zak was taking her. With the power from the lake coursing through the dagger and the armguard and sustaining her, she felt herself strong enough to tackle any journey, even as she knew that her body must rest soon.
At times, as they walked, she thought back to her earlier resolve to maintain a distance from Zak. She could almost laugh at that decision now. There was no chance in the immediate future for him to cease his role in her life. He was too embedded in it.
She said to herself that the current boundaries between them had to stay. They could not erode any further.
It was too scary to think of the alternative. Too scary and… too tempting as well.
Sometime later, after what felt like hours of wandering, the passages narrowed and turned a few times and attenuated so that Annika had to duck her head and Zak almost bend to the ground, before they came to a dead end. Before them stood a large boulder. Zak busied himself under it. He seemed to pull on something akin to a lever. The boulder swung open silently and smoothly, as though its hinges were well lubricated.
Annika was by then too tired to wonder what this was. She stooped as low as she could – Zak had to bend in half – and followed him in.
Inside was a spacious cave. Lit by the dagger, the top of the cave soared up so that the ceiling could not be seen. The furnishings consisted of a large, square, roughly-hewn bed with a thick mattress, a rustic hardwood table with long-backed chair, a set of tall shelves with a collection of books, a large drinking flask in between the books on one shelf, and a stack of firewood. On the floor before the bed was a thick, furry hide of some animal that Annika did not recognize, while off to one side of the room was a hearth. Zak went to light the fire.
The compressed-wool mattress settled under Annika with a slight whoosh. The bedspread, although roughly made, was spotlessly clean.
When the fire flared, Annika let go of the power. The dagger’s light ebbed, but so did her strength. No longer buoyed by the flow of life from the lake, she felt tired and sleepy.
Zak walked over and motioned at the darkness behind the hearth. “Do you want to look around the cave? It’s large, but there are no other entrances.”
Annika shook her head. In the warmth that spread from the fire, she felt even sleepier than before. Looking at him, she thought Zak looked barely better than she must have: haggard, and gray. Somehow, he seemed all the more lovable for it. She felt an overpowering need to hold him, embrace him. She looked down on her hands, not trusting her expression not to betray her.
“There’s a small stream of clean water in the far right corner, and in the left corner is a narrow crevice for the refuse,” he said.
“This has been thought through well.”
“The cave would have been formed around the same time as the lake below. I don’t know how, nor who occupied it.”
“Are there others?”
“It’s likely there are others, but this is the only one I could find. I’ve brought in the furnishings,” said Zak.
“Does anyone else know about it?”
“No. Snakes will not find you here. You will be safe.”
“Will you return to the castle?” asked Annika.
“Not unless you want me to,” said Zak. “But it’s at least an hour’s walk, and in my condition now, longer. I need to rest.”
She nodded, trying not to look relieved.
Then, the thought flashed up in her mind: there was only the one bed. Where would Zak stay? Annika sat still, unsure of how alarmed she should be. Should she ask for his return to the castle, leaving her in the cave alone? She was not sure she liked that i
dea either. She blurted out, “Where will you sleep?”
Zak tried to keep the amusement out of his eyes. “There is always the rug,” he suggested, pointing to the thick black pelt on the ground.
“Well.” Annika tried to ignore his joviality by being practical. “It looks hard and cold, but if you put it close to the hearth it won’t be too bad. I guess it’s either that for you, or the return trek.”
“Oh, I wasn’t offering to sleep on the rug myself,” said Zak carelessly. He sat on the mattress and began pulling off his boots. “This bed is big enough for both of us. Whoever isn’t satisfied with the arrangement, gets the rug.”
Annika stared at him, lost for words. For a moment she considered using the dagger in her hand, that lit the room, for another purpose.
Catching some of her expression, Zak added: “Besides, while I think the cave is secure, the only way I can meet my obligation to ensure your safety is to stay here myself.”
Annika considered him grimly. “Who appointed you as my protector?”
“Your father.”
Annika stared at him in surprise.
Zak nodded. “He wanted me to keep you safe. I promised him I would.”
“I’m sorry you had to oblige him.”
“Don’t be,” said Zak, amiably. He unbuckled his sword, which clanged by the side of the bed, and undid the clasp on his mantle. The mantle slid off. He stretched out on the bed and yawned, as though he were in the comfort of his own home. Which, Annika had to admit, he probably was, given how lived-in the cave looked, even though the hill under the castle was technically owned by the House of the Tiger.
Seeing him at such ease, while she felt so petrified by the arrangement, Annika thought that she never quite hated him before as much as at that very moment.
Zak smiled at her radiantly. “When you’re exhausted, there’s nothing better than a soft bed. And I’ve not felt such exhaustion in years. In the morning, I’ll go up to the castle and bring us some food.”
Annika considered him grimly. “One could almost see you planning this, given how much you’re enjoying the situation!”
Zak snorted. He could never admit to her just how tight he felt inside. The thought of sharing the bed with Annika terrified and thrilled him. He needed to squash the thought of anything between them and exercise restraint, he told himself. The doubt over whether he could do so drove both his terror and the thrill. “You’re safe with me,” he said, feeling far from certain.
After the day’s events Annika’s muscles felt like jelly. She could not return to the castle now, even if she knew the directions through the maze of tunnels. There was no way to avoid this. Annika began to remove her overtunic, with her back to Zak.
Zak undressed loudly, huffing as he dragged his overtunic over his head.
Listening to the sounds despite herself, Annika blushed, thinking of his toned, hard body.
With each soft movement, each enticing breath, each suggestive rustle, Zak felt his growing need for her. He wanted to run his hands along her body. He wanted to feel her warm lips on his. Instead, he said, in as cold a voice as he could muster, “Good night.”
“Good night.” She got down to her own undertunic, and dove in under the blanket.
In the creeping darkness that slowly engulfed the room as the twigs burnt down, neither spoke. The sheets felt and smelled clean. The mattress was comfortable, and embracing, just like they were made in the river lands.
Annika could barely restrain her teeth from rattling from the cold. She pulled the blanket over her head, curled up on one side with her back to Zak, and hoped for sleep.
Zak shifted himself a few times. He tried to find a more comfortable spot, but he could not risk moving any closer to Annika.
Annika listened to him and felt the mattress under her move with bated breath. She was not ready to lose that part of her, she said to herself. There was the fact that she did not trust him. He would be a distraction. She reminded herself there were many reasons he was wrong for her.
Then Annika told herself that this was not the time to think of him at all, because, and this was another undeniable fact, right then, she wanted him more than she had ever wanted anything in her life.
Zak could sense her body beside him. His back, which he kept towards her, felt so attuned to her presence that it tingled each time she breathed, despite the few inches that separated them. The image that he had inadvertently caught when he was climbing into the bed, of the vague outlines of her form, preyed on his mind. With each passing minute, her alluring, suggestive form that he could not help but visualize felt more and more seductive.
Zak cursed silently and pressed his eyes tightly shut.
This was a mistake, he said to himself, this was all a mistake, start to finish. He never should have gotten involved with her. He ground his teeth until they squeaked and then with ferocious determination began counting backwards from ten thousand.
Chapter Nine
Zak opened his eyes.
It was pitch black.
The fire must have died down long ago, so that now not even the embers glowed. He felt refreshed. He felt as though he had slept a good eight hours.
Then he felt something else.
Someone’s warm body was draped over his. Someone’s leg was over his, someone’s arm across his chest, someone’s head on his shoulder. That someone’s chin dug into his neck.
It took him a few moments to realize that that someone was Annika.
The exotic scent from Annika’s hair filled the air around him. He breathed it in and out, and again, and again, unable to let it go, losing himself in it. Her body, on top of his, was warm, and soft, and he reflexively pulled her closer towards him, holding her around the hip with one hand.
She gave a satisfied sigh.
He ran his hand along her back. Her under tunic was soft and smooth. Where her undertunic had ended, her skin was softer and smoother.
Anika murmured something. Her hand ran down his chest and to his stomach.
Zak touched her hair with his lips. Then her forehead. Then the bridge of her nose. Then his lips found hers.
Her lips opened softly and yieldingly. They were moist, waiting for his touch.
The desire he felt was unstoppable.
Annika whispered his name. She was moving her hips now. Her hands were running up and down the back of his head and neck and pressing his back towards herself. Her hands were insistent, removing his tunic.
He was not sure what happened next, lost as he was in the hazy pleasure of her yielding and insistent body, but they were naked, pressing against one another, her fingers gouging his back and her hips more insistently against his. He tried to gather his thoughts, then again, driven to distraction by her touch, her hands, which guided him towards her.
In the darkness, their bodies, driven by passion, found each other with all-consuming want.
Annika could sense the warm glow of the fire. She opened her eyes.
Zak sat at the foot of the bed, pulling on his woolen leggings. He had lit the hearth, which blazed and flickered, casting bright and cheery flames in all directions, while just out of reach dark shadows retracted and extended into the deeper darkness above.
Annika sat up. Her heart beat furiously. She rubbed at her eyes, straining to come to. “What had happened?”
Zak turned and smiled.
His smile brought back the dim and languid sensations from earlier. At first, she was not sure if these were memories or imaginings. Then, on remembering, she felt a flush of heat all over her body and pushed herself to the end of the bed, away from him.
Zak was leaning across to kiss her, but her reaction made him pull back. “What’s the matter?”
“What’s the matter? You… you…!” She could not find the words. She was not sure what she wanted to say. Her naked skin felt hot and sticky. There was a pleasant languid feeling to her limbs. She pulled the pink bedsheet up to her chin.
Zak blinked at her. His
tone was mild, and practical. “We’d been sleeping at least nine hours. My body clock is never wrong. It will be morning up above.”
“You told me I will be safe!”
Zak looked around. “I don’t see any snake people.”
“How amusing,” she said, feeling like throwing something hard at him, although the only thing to hand was a flat pillow.
Zak easily avoided the missile. “Physically you seem well. At least your throwing arm has the full range of motion.”
“I should never have trusted you!” she said.
“I have kept you safe,” he said, continuing to dress.
“You have planned this all along! What we… what you did was… you took advantage of me!”
“Hold on,” he said. Dressed in his overtunic and leggings now, he stood up and glowered at her. “Hold there! We were sleeping. When I woke, you were draped over me. Your hands were on me. Your legs were on me. Your head was on my chest. So… I may have kissed you.”
“You did!”
“You responded! I wasn’t kissing someone who wasn’t willing!” Zak could feel his anger rise up. He almost welcomed the feeling for distracting him from the desire that he felt looking at her.
Her eyes were vulnerable, her lips trembled.
Zak turned his back on her, not wishing to see tears.
“That was filthy, cowardly, vile!” she said.
“Now wait a second!” Zak spun around. He felt hot anger burn somewhere just behind his eyes. “Stop there!”
Annika stared at him. The tears were gone, replaced with a certain, drawn hardness. “You should have known better. You should have resisted. You should not have let it come to this!”
“And you?” Zak roared.
“What choice did I have?”
“What part did you play in this, do you think?”
Breathing heavily they stared at one another across the narrow bed. Zak felt anger swirl just outside of his control. He chose to focus on anger, because the other emotion, the guilt, was less palatable. He felt guilt for placing her and him in this situation. That was what had led to this mess, despite his best efforts and earlier resolutions.