She collapsed on her back and gazed up at the painted ceiling. “Bloody hell, Elan. The courtesans on Avala never prepared me for that.”
“Can you bring your face back up here?”
She crawled up so that their faces were inches apart. Their kisses were slow and gentle now. “When everyone knows about us, I’m going to have to thank that author.”
“Oh, she gets all the credit?” Elan teased, tickling her waist. “She just wrote she liked it when men did that to her while she had them in her mouth. It was me down there trying to figure out when I should speed up or slow down. I didn’t know if I could make you tonight or if I would know when it was coming. If you always make the same noises, I think I know now.”
“Was it any good, Elan? I was nervous I would mess it up, then you asked me to move and I couldn’t concentrate on anything except you and me.”
“That’s the way it always needs to be, Isolde. You and me, even when we are making decisions about our people. When we are exposing the underground, spies, and assassins, we do it together. The bond is not going to work unless we are focusing on just us.”
She was feeling warm and relaxed like she had just had Avalian ale. She was honest this time instead of trying to change the subject. “I’m glad it was you. If I have this big destiny and have to bond with someone, I’m glad you’re you. I’m starting to think the bond is real.”
“Is that the big trick?” he asked, nuzzling her neck. “I have to give you an orgasm to get you to let your walls down and be honest with me?”
“Elan!” she said, playfully shoving him. “You can do that to me whenever you want, but that’s not it. This has been something I’ve had to keep secret for so long. I’ve never been close to anyone before, not even Jovin. I’ve been keeping secrets for so long, it’s strange being with someone I don’t have to lie to. I was feeling things for you the first time we sparred that I didn’t understand. Jovin pushed me to my limits training me, but we never talked about feelings. We never talked about anything at all that wasn’t fighting or learning what I could do.
“I had just met you and everything I knew about you before I came was a lie. I knew you didn’t lie to me, but it was hard to trust you enough to tell you things I’m not used to talking about. It wasn’t what we just did that made me start telling you what I’ve been feeling. If you wanted to hurt me, you would have by now. You had every opportunity when I passed out. You’ve been nothing but honest with me and I know I’m pushing you away not doing the same. I don’t want to lose you, Elan. I don’t want us to get married as strangers. If we try to bond and I’m not being honest with you, it’s not going to work.”
“Thank you, Isolde. You believe the bond is real now?”
“I think it’s already started. Don’t you feel it? Where our skin is touching started humming when I started telling you how I feel. Our bond animals told us how to finish it, but I think I was right that us getting to know each other was the right path. It’s how it starts. My bond with my animal started when I began to eat the raw hunt. I could feel it. It was a process and we had to eat the entire animal to complete it. Our bond is a process and I think we’ve started it. You can’t feel that?”
“I thought it was just me enjoying you this close and actually talking to me.”
“No. It’s deeper than that. I’m enjoying that too, but the parts of us that are touching, I can’t decide if they are hot or cold. You’re fire, I’m ice. Something deeper is happening.”
“You’re right. I felt tingling when I completed my bond with my animal. Your skin is both hot and cold against me. It’s faint, but I’m starting to feel some sort of vibration.”
“Can we keep this between us? Everyone, my mother, your mother, Botak, Jovin, they just want us to have sex and get it over with. They are making it ugly. This is more beautiful than that.”
“It’ll be our secret until you’re ready to tell everyone. Isolde? I’m glad it was you too.”
Chapter 13
Sartika had so many other things to do besides deal with Ace that morning. Galih was supposed to be bringing Meida in for the truth serum and he also wanted Isolde and Elan there. The serum would make her tell the truth about questions they asked her, but they needed Isolde there to pull things from her head they might not think to ask. Isolde was proving to be quite handy with her little mind tricks. She probably could have gotten everything they needed from Meida if she hadn’t gone for Hikmat first.
She intended to let Isolde and Elan eat breakfast in peace, then join them to lead them through the passages to where Galih was supposed to have Meida. Galih was upset about Meida, but impressed with Isolde. He knew everything Sartika knew, but he had no idea she was that impressive in action.
Ace asked for an audience while she was trying to enjoy her own breakfast and it was about Isolde again. He took the knee next to her chair.
“My queen, we’ve been silent about Elan and his quirks, but if he insists on keeping an Avalian slave girl as a plaything, he needs a chaperone. He may still be innocent, but don’t think for one minute that girl is not going to insert herself into his bed to better her station. The children they had would be monsters!”
He had her in a corner. Elan had already put the play in motion that he thought courtesans and sex were dirty, so now Ace was focusing on Isolde changing his mind. She couldn’t stick anyone in there with them except herself. Botak seriously messed up when he first met Isolde and she probably would react badly if Sartika said she would have Botak watch them. She didn’t want anyone watching them. She even turned her cameras off so they would have privacy.
“Ace, would it make you feel better if I sat in there with them?”
“He’s brought a pallet into his room for her. Are you going to sleep in there too? That girl needs to be brought back to the slave quarters at night!”
“Her pallet is in another room than his bed. Would you prefer it if I locked her in at night? It’s going to upset Elan.”
“Forgive me for being so direct, but it’s time Elan learns to be a man. And not with a slave. He’s too soft and they will eat him alive when he takes the throne.”
“Commander Ace, with all due respect, do you know anything about Elan at all aside from court gossip? He’s going to surprise everyone when he becomes king.”
“I know nothing about Elan because he’s been sheltered his entire life. I know the boy pitched a fit when I tried to have a man to man conversation with him about putting his chosen toy aside. Started screaming for his mother. What are we supposed to do with a king like that?”
She was trying not to explode on Ace and ruin decades of careful planning. “I’ll chaperone the two of them and lock her in at night. Elan won’t have a key. Does this make you feel better?”
Ace looked like he had several more things to say, but clicked his heels and marched out at the dismissive look she was giving him. He had delayed her entire morning, so she had to get Galih on COMM to make sure nothing was ruined.
“Meida is still out, but I surprised her and used pressure points when she wasn’t looking. She won’t be sleeping much longer. Get Elan and Isolde here. We don’t have much of that serum right now and from what you’ve told me, she’s much more effective. And I’d like to meet the girl we’ve been risking everything for the last eighteen years for.”
Sartika made it a point to huff and puff down that stairs like she thought Ace was overreacting. He was, but only because he didn’t know the truth. She didn’t knock, she just barged right into Elan’s chambers. It set the scene better for anyone who might be watching. She regretting slamming the door as soon as she realized Elan and Isolde had been snuggled together on the floor cushions.
Isolde flew to her feet as soon as she realized they weren’t alone. Elan was next to her in seconds with a protective arm around her waist. And she wasn’t shrugging him off insisting she could handle herself in a fight? What had she just interrupted? She hoped she had
n’t ruined something.
“What were you doing?” she demanded, forgetting all about Ace and Meida.
“What we’re supposed to be doing. Mother, why are you barging in here like the palace is on fire? You told us to sit out and let the faction handle what Isolde and I found.”
She explained Ace’s visit and that she would be seen entering his chambers, but would sneak out the passage so they could be alone. Isolde and Elan stopped looking irritated at being interrupted. They both snapped into alert positions ready to fight at any minute when she told them they were needed and what was required of them.
“Isolde, I know how much we need you right now, but can you stop before you faint this time?” Sartika asked. She didn’t like watching on camera and she certainly wouldn’t in person. This would all be ruined if her bloody nose was some sort of hemorrhage. They didn’t have the science to treat that like she was told they did on Avala.
“Mother, stop. I made her fight me after she woke up to prove she could handle it. She beat me. Took me straight to the floor. If she faints, I’ll carry her back here to sleep it off and have food waiting when she wakes up.”
“You—you picked a fist fight with your betrothed after she fainted with a bloody nose? Elan, really?”
“Sartika, please,” Isolde said, finally speaking. “I beat him after fainting with a bloody nose and we figured out how to solve arguments after we marry. I don’t faint because I’m dying. It’s like when you try to use electronics without a proper fan and giving it a hard workout. It’s too much information being downloaded at once. I just need to shut down and recharge.”
Sartika didn’t understand most of that analogy. “And the blood that comes out your nose?”
“Just too much tension and it’s kind of like exiting a pod before the pressure releases. My ears pop too.”
“Don’t we need to be meeting Galih? I imagine wherever he’s holding Meida it’s deep somewhere no one knows and will take time to get there,” Elan said.
“Isolde will get a view of what is outside of the palace, albeit a limited one. I’ll have to lead. There’s an underground tunnel in the passage Botak never showed you. It leads deep into the forest and a remote cabin Galih uses to question people. Isolde will be safe there.”
“Then why are you asking so many questions about my nosebleeds instead of taking us there? You could have questioned me while we walked.”
Isolde was much blunter than Elan ever was. Sartika knew she was right and they could have done this while walking, but she wanted the girl to swear she wasn’t going to do anything stupid and kill herself at the cabin. Sartika agreed to take them through the passages, but Isolde wanted total silence and apparently didn’t intend on talking about what happened when she stole thoughts anymore.
Isolde didn’t speak until Sartika led them to the tunnel that led underground. “I was listening while we walked. I’m guessing we passed several military and high-born quarters? I only have a few names that I could manage to pick out, but several people in your palace are thinking about the fight that is supposed to go down in the pits. Most of them are just thinking about betting strategies and if someone will beat Elan. It’s odd, they don’t know they are betting for or against him. They are betting on a champion, but they don’t know it’s Elan.”
“Were there any threats against you, Isolde?” Elan asked, slipping his hand into hers. Sartika had no idea what happened between them, but they seemed to be closer this morning.
“No, none of them seemed to know me. I had a theory while I was listening. That arena was huge, but what if everyone there is not Children of Fia?”
“Explain,” Sartika demanded.
“Well, our military on Avala is expensive. Weapons, training, recruiting, it all costs money. We know The Children changed from being more of a cult to these fighting rings and trying to get into the faction. What if they started dropping hints to bored high born that clandestine fights were going on? You said your people were scared, paranoid of doing anything to piss off the gods. We know that’s not true for several of your citizens. What if The Children started secretly advertising the fights to bring in more fighters and to make money from the high born?
“It’s what I would do if I was trying to build the perfect warrior to impress Fia and run a secret organization to bring down the factions. The fights are probably bringing in money for all sorts of things you wouldn’t want them to have and recruiting more members. None of you wondered what was happening to all that money in the pits? It obviously wasn’t going to the government.”
Sartika was starting to feel like a complete idiot. She’d known about the pits since she found out about the passages when she joined the factions. She hadn’t put a stop to it at first because she was so busy trying to manipulate Botak and move pieces with Fjola. She wanted to put a stop to it the first time Elan wanted to step foot in the ring. Galih thought it would be good for Elan. It would teach him several styles of fighting, even freestyle, and it would give him better opponents than just Botak. When she tried to explain all of that to Elan and Isolde, Isolde stopped walking and turned to face her.
“Maybe I should get into this Galih’s head too,” she suggested.
“Why don’t we both just ask him? You can hear if he’s lying right? You’re going to need all your strength just in case Meida’s secrets go very deep.”
Sartika expected her to argue, but she just shrugged. “You know him better than I do. How far down are we anyway? I can’t hear anything on the surface.”
“How does it work, Isolde?” Elan asked. “I have to be seeing someone to use my gift. You can hear through walls?”
“I have to be close, but walls don’t keep me out. If they are too far away from me or the wall, I can’t hear.”
“How in the world did Fjola fool you for so long?” Sartika asked. It was probably the wrong thing to say, but if this child could just stand outside a door and hear everything, no one was safe from this gift. In the wrong hands, she could destroy both planets with secrets.
“I learned to tune everyone out when I was eight. She was the first one I stopped listening to. My chambers weren’t near hers, they were further down the hall. My chambers should have been right next door. They were at first. I thought she demoted me to lesser chambers because I was such a disappointment. I guess someone told her what I could do and making me think she hated me was too important to her.”
“She misses you, you know. She thought something bad had happened to you when I missed our scheduled call because you were angry. There’s no cameras in this tunnel or the cabin we are going to, but she’s watching all the cameras I still have active. I didn’t just give you that COMM so all of us could coordinate this investigation. You should talk to her.”
“I’m not ready to talk to her just yet.”
“Mother, drop it,” Elan warned. “You both lied to us, but at least I knew you loved me. How much further?”
“You see that ladder? It leads to a hatch. Climb up and Galih will be waiting.”
Sartika hated going to this cabin. She had only gone once when she joined the faction. No one ever came out there because the swarms were particularly bad in that area of the forest. Isolde looked surprised at all the bugs in her face when she came up the ladder after Elan.
“Let’s fix this together, Elan,” Isolde said, taking his hand. “There’s a few ways we deal with bugs on Avala. They are attracted to light and heat. That standing water over there is a breeding pool for them, but we can use it. Elan, can you make it hot to draw them in?”
“Will it hurt you?”
“No. Jovin tested me on that too. You don’t want to know. I’m not asking you to set the entire forest on fire. Do you have heat lamps here?”
“No. It never gets cold here. Why would we need them?”
“For your pest problem. Heat and cold can kill them as well as sprays. What have you been doing with them?”
“W
e don’t really have the level of science you do. We know they get worse when it rains. One of our scientists, right after the truce, questioned one of the slaves to find out what you did on Avala. She was honest. He developed an aerosol to put into the air. The people were already suspicious and paranoid, even then. They thought the aerosol would kill our crops and animals. They thought the slave fed him bad information as revenge. They burned both of them.”
“I’ll talk about burning people later. Elan stir up some heat and draw them to us.”
Sartika had to step away because it was already hot outside and she was sweating. It didn’t seem to bother Isolde at all. Sartika ran as far away as possible when she couldn’t see Elan or Isolde anymore between the black insects flying around them. The hot, humid weather outside soon became cold and frigid. The black cloud around them started to lessen until there was a pile of dead bugs around their feet. Sartika wasn’t used to cold and didn’t go anywhere near the source. It didn’t seem to bother Elan.
Isolde started walking outside the front of the cabin freezing puddles of water before turning around to face them. “This is just a bandage and won’t last. You shouldn’t have burned the scientists or the slave. You had the answer for this years ago.”
“You got rid of my bug problem. I’ve been waiting for hours. Perhaps you’d like to come in and deal with the mole?” Galih called from the door.
Isolde whirled around. “Your bug problem was easy and it didn’t have to get this bad.”
“Keep in mind what happened to that slave girl and the scientist and get your ass inside before someone sees you.”
Isolde glared at him, but she stomped inside. She was clearly angry again. Sartika hoped she could get what they needed without starting a fist fight with Galih. She was a strange girl for a princess. She skipped over any type of diplomacy and went straight to fighting.
Chapter 14
Elan wasn’t all that familiar with Meida, but he knew who she was. She obviously didn’t know who he really was. He normally had to hide in long-sleeved padded shirts when he left his chambers. He was in a sleeveless leather tunic and pants today because it was hot outside and he still wanted to impress Isolde. Galih was complaining they had taken so long to get there, Meida had woken up. Her eyes widened when she took in his muscular arms and the tunic stretched across his broad chest.
Child of Fire, Child of Ice-A Sci-fi Romance Series Page 9