With a smile and a shrug, she headed for the garden. She had a pocket full of plant shoots that she dug up while JarDan was preparing their picnic site. The delicate wildflowers would contrast nicely with the formality of the rose garden. She knew just where she wanted to plant them along the outer wall and if she hurried, she could get them in the ground and still be upstairs before ArDell started lecturing about her dirty hands and grass-stained gown.
Chapter Twelve
Dinner was the usual combination of controlled chaos and quiet conversations and Melodie felt the now familiar tightness at the base of her neck signaling a headache in the making. So many people still made her nervous. The softly spoken comments from those sitting around her were in direct contrast to the louder conversations from the men below them. At least only the single warriors ate dinner at the castle every night. There were always dozens of women around during the day working on some bit of embroidery or playing one of several musical instruments that were in the solar. Melodie never learned to do fancy stitches but she could play chopsticks on the piano. Picturing the outraged faces of her court as she proudly pounded out chopsticks make her giggle.
“Do you find my father’s tale so amusing, Melodie?” JarDan’s voice whispered close beside her ear.
Still smiling at her mental rambling, she turned toward JarDan, “I’m afraid I wasn’t even listening.” She admitted with a quick glance over JarDan’s shoulder to make sure no one else could hear her. “Was he talking to me?” Anxiety brought a heated blush to her face. Drat! She hadn’t made a single blunder all night and now she’s missed the conversation by letting her mind wander.
“Relax, love.” JarDan assured her quietly. “He’s speaking to hear his own voice. What were you thinking?”
“It wasn’t important.” She mumbled, looking down at her fingers tracing patterns on the skirt of her burgundy gown. She couldn’t prevent another grin at her fanciful rambling.
Trust me enough to tell me your thoughts, Melodie. He knew she wouldn’t -- not yet. By the Ancients, was there no way to reach through her barriers? Sitting here, close enough to smell the delicate fragrance of her soap brought a fierce, burning need to life in his chest. Not just physical need, though he wanted her in his bed so badly he ached, but emotional need. She was the other half of his heart, his soul, and he wanted the life he knew in his heart they could have together.
Her fingers continued to move restlessly against her gown. You’re nervous again, my love. Are you aware of me as a man? A man who wants to kiss that soft shadow beneath your ear? A man who craves the smile you bow you head to hide more than a drink of water? The man who will fulfill your heart’s desire if you will but give him a chance?
“JarDan!” Tiana’s petulant voice intruded into his silent message to his bride. “Your father is talking to you.”
JarDan raised a dark brow in mocking question of Tiana’s tone before turning to his father. “Did you need something, Father?” He wasn’t about to apologize for ogling his wife.
“You seen distracted, son.” Zeth commented with a grin and a wink.
Turning back to his wife, who was watching and listening to their conversation now, JarDan slowly lifted her hand to his mouth and placed a soft kiss in her palm.
“Not distracted, Father.” He replied without looking away from Melodie’s darkening eyes. “Dreaming. I was thinking about kissing my wife just below her ear. Her skin is very soft there.”
The rosy flush that covered her face made him want to jump up and shout. Yes! She knows I’m a man!
“I don’t know what you’re all laughing about!” Tiana stormed, glaring at Dak and King Zeth who were valiantly trying to contain their amusement. “I think it’s disgusting the way she’s making him behave and I don’t want to have to witness it.”
“You’re right, Tiana.” JarDan agreed, before standing. Since he was still holding Melodie’s hand, she had no choice but to follow him. “I’ll take my wife and my desire for her out into the moonlight where our only audience will be the crickets.”
With a mocking bow to his family, he slipped his arm around Melodie’s waist and hurried through the hall toward the gardens, pausing only long enough to bid goodnight to his men.
“JarDan!” Tiana wailed. “Don’t let him leave, Zeth.” She begged. “He spends all his time with her.”
Zeth soothed the girl he would always think of as his daughter. “It is as it should be, Midget. Melodie is the heart of his life. Someday, you’ll be sneaking out to a private place with a special man. Then you’ll understand.”
Once beyond the towering door of the castle, Melodie pulled out of his embrace but continued to walk beside him. JarDan slowed his pace, adjusting his stride to hers. She might not like being so tall, but he found that, at almost six feet tall, she fit him perfectly. Everything about her fit him perfectly.
“Do you often perform for the crickets?”
Melodie’s soft voice broke the comfortable silence as they strolled toward the garden gate. The entrance from the side of the castle was closer, but he wanted the extra time it would take to circle the castle. Time to be with Melodie.
“Too obvious?” He questioned with mock innocence. When his beautiful wife laughed gently, he clenched the hands that hung loosely at his sides before he could pull her against his throbbing body.
“There are times when Tiana acts like a jealous wife.” His face hardened at the memory of her mockery of Melodie’s love for the garden during their brief breakfast meeting just this morning.
“You’re the only one who seems to have noticed.”
“Is she causing trouble?” JarDan’s tone was steady but even a fool could recognize the threat beneath it.
“Nothing I can’t handle.” Melodie assured him as they reached the gate. “She’s like a small child who’s had her favorite toy taken away. I took her toy.”
“Me?” He asked the question in jest, surprised when Melodie nodded in answer. When she stepped past him into the garden, he reached out and grabbed her arm in a loose grip. He wished he could see her features but the fitful light from the rising moons hid more than it revealed.
“I’ve never given her any reason to think of me as anything except her brother.”
“I know.”
Her calm assurance declared her belief in him and his heart swelled with emotion. Did she realize what she revealed with her unconditional acceptance of his statement?
“Do I have a jealous wife?” Like a sore tooth, he had to keep picking away at the wall she kept between them, prodding her until she let him into her heart.
Melodie ignored JarDan’s question. She wasn’t ready to look for the answer. The more time she spent with him the harder it was for her to remember that he was her enemy. No one, especially a man, had ever made her feel so special and it scared her. Just walking next to him did funny things to her stomach. When he touched her she knew she had to pull away; yet, when she did she wanted to cry and beg him to touch her again. Crazy.
You’re losing your mind, Melodie Anne. Pushing her disturbing thoughts back a safe distance from the present, she opened herself to the beauty of the garden bathed in moonlight. She always felt at peace here. No matter how disturbed her thoughts, the garden welcomed her with serenity when she walked through the gate. The soft breeze danced with the lush roses, carrying their heavy perfume off into the night. Across the courtyard, she could hear the muted voices of the stable boys finishing their nightly duties and the soft whickering of the horses. Occasionally, one of the men would leave the hall and there would be a brief burst of loud male voices before the heavy door closed against the intruding sound. All these things she acknowledged with the edges of her awareness, like background music to a song. And for her the song was JarDan. Now you’ve come full circle, girl. Think about something else.
She was finding it harder and harder to think of anything except the handsome man who was her husband. At the oddest times, like the middle of the night, she
would remember the feel of his mouth kissing hers and the hard press of his body against her softer one. These memories were coming more frequently but leaving her more frustrated each time -- wanting more than just a memory. Well, it’s only natural. He taught you about sex and now your body wants more. You can handle it. But was it just sex?
He told her in a hundred different ways every day that he cared for her and Melodie knew it was more than sex for him. Did he love her? Did she want him to love her? No. If she wanted his love then it would mean she was falling in love with him, too. You do not want to love him.
Too late, a small voice echoed at the back of her heart.
“You’re quiet tonight.”
Melodie jumped at the sound of his voice. She was still reeling from the thought of loving him.
“I’m just enjoying the peace and quiet here.” She must have been silent for longer than she realized since they were standing in the middle of the immense garden, beneath the sheltering branches of a large willow.
“If you still find dinner in the hall so disturbing, I can have our meal brought to our quarters.”
“No,” Melodie assured him, “that’s not necessary. It’s not as bad as the first night. I’m just not used to so many people being around all the time. I can handle it until I leave. Maybe by then, it won’t bother me anymore.”
She was shocked to realize that she hadn’t thought about going back to Earth all day. If she were honest with herself, the idea of leaving no longer seemed so important. Despite all her efforts, this strange world among the stars was feeling more like home every day. She no longer feared the towering giants of JarDan’s armed guard. The men of Falcon Tor were all big and heavily muscled. She just wasn’t used to looking up at anyone, except God. The ladies of the castle were trying to be friendlier and, if Tiana wasn’t there to stir up trouble, she probably would become friends with some of them. She was adjusting to her life here.
It isn’t home, she argued, fighting against this growing feeling of belonging. But it could be, if you’d let it. That thought shocked her into leaning against the tree for support.
“I’ve discovered a bottomless well of patience where you’re concerned, love.” JarDan plucked a rose from a nearby bush and took the single step that was necessary to bring him within touching distance.
Lifting the delicate blossom, he began to gently trace her features with the petals. Across her closed eyes, down the ridge of her nose, and down her cheek to the skin below her ear. Melodie’s breath caught then whispered out on a ragged sigh while her heart stumbled before beginning a pounding beat.
When JarDan brought the petals to her lips, she opened her mouth, moaning as he traced first the upper lip then the fuller bottom lip. She flicked her tongue across that same bottom lip and heard him gasp.
“Melodie …”
Whatever else he might have said was lost when his mouth covered hers in a soft kiss. It was a first kiss -- not the kiss of lovers. It was the kind of kiss they had skipped. A part of the building of passion that they missed because of Torak’s evil drug. Having once tasted that passion, this gentle, questioning kiss wasn’t enough. She wanted more. She wanted to feel his muscles flex beneath her hands. She wanted to feel his chest against her swollen, aching breasts. She wanted him.
“JarDan?” She didn’t know how to ask for what she wanted, but her husband understood and, with a deep groan, pulled her tight against his body.
JarDan immediately took control of the kiss, thrusting his tongue deep into her mouth and she answered his demands with her own. Her hands slipped up around his neck, glorying in the feel of heat and muscle before burying her fingers in the dark cloud of hair against his shoulders. When he slid his hand down to cup her bottom through the fabric of her gown and pull her into his arousal, she actually felt the ground move beneath her feet.
“What the …” JarDan pushed Melodie away as another tremor rocked the garden.
Her small whimper of protest helped calm the raging desire heating his blood. The tree she still leaned against rocked and shuddered against her back.
“JarDan!” She cried. “What’s happening?”
Without answering, he grabbed his wife by her hand and raced with her across the garden. He could hear the cries of alarm from the castle as his warriors surged out. Was this another attempt on his family? Did Morandoni have the knowledge to create quakes? A natural quake hadn’t shaken Falcon Tor for more than a thousand years.
“JarDan!”
Melodie’s scream came at the same instant he felt her fingers slip from his grasp. Turning, he saw her ankle wrapped in the twisting, writhing vine of a burlem plant.
“Be still!” He yelled as he drew the sword at his side, praying the decorative formal weapon was strong enough to cut the vine. “If you fight it you’ll only make the binding worse.”
The polished steel winked in the light from two full moons as his powerful swing severed the vine and embedded the blade in the ground. Grabbing Melodie around her waist, he pulled his sword free and ran, half pulling, half carrying his frightened wife, for the relative safety of the bailey yard.
“Dak!” JarDan yelled when he spotted his friend. “Bring torches, quickly. It’s a burlem and if we can’t destroy it before the second moon reaches its zenith it will destroy the castle.”
“How in the name of the Ancients did one of those cursed plants get into the garden?” Dak growled as he raced to follow JarDan’s instructions. Grabbing a torch, he ran for the garden where the monstrous plant surged skyward toward the brightening moonlight.
“JarDan!” Melodie cried above the frightened screams of both humans and animals as the ground continued to shift and buck beneath their feet. “What’s happening?”
“Someone’s planted a burlem vine in the rose garden. If we can’t stop its growth, it will destroy everything around us. By the Beard of the Prophet, I’ll have the head of whoever did this!”
“JarDan!” Dak skidded to a halt. “There’s a second vine growing in the moonlight but these four,” he held a cluster of seedlings in his outstretched hand, “were still in the shadow of the outer wall.”
“My sweet peas!” Melodie gasped in confusion. “Why did you pull up my plants?”
“You did this?” Dak bellowed. “Do you hate it here so completely that you would destroy us in your determination to return to Earth?”
“That’s enough, Dak.” JarDan warned.
“Is there no end to what you’ll risk for that Earthling? First the crew, then your own life, now this cursed vine. How many have to die to satisfy your lust, JarDan?”
JarDan’s fist connected with Dak’s chin hard enough to snap his neck. The blow would have caused serious injury to a smaller man, but Dak rolled back to his feet almost instantly.
“That’s enough out of both of you.” Zeth demanded. “Settle your differences later. You don’t have time to stand around fighting. The second moon will reach its zenith in less than half an hour.”
Dak turned without a word, spitting blood from his busted lip, and headed back toward the garden.
“I don’t understand.” Melodie whispered. “They were just tiny sprouts of sweet peas. I brought them home from the meadow where we had our picnic this afternoon. These,” she retrieved the wilted shoots Dak threw on the ground at her feet, “can’t possibly grow into those gigantic … things.” Tears pooled in eyes wide with fear.
Shoving Melodie into the arms of his father, JarDan dropped the dress sword to the ground and grabbed his war sword from an armorer’s assistant.
“Keep her here,” he told his father, “and for all our sakes, don’t let her get into anything else.”
Melodie watched him tear across the yard toward the once peaceful rose garden. The ground beneath her feet shuddered and jerked with each growth surge of the twin vines.
“JarDan doesn’t blame you, Melodie. He knows of your fondness for the sweet pea of your world from your mind scan. The burlem is as close as Ander
as can come to what you remember. Only when the plant grows beside the drasan tree is it the delicate vine you saw today. If allowed to flourish anywhere else … well, you see the results.”
She stared at King Zeth in dawning horror. All around her men were running with swords and torches. She could see the orange glow of a dozen fires lighting the night. Like Jack’s beanstalk in the fairy tale, this small bit of vine that she planted with such happy memories of her afternoon with JarDan was growing -- reaching for the beckoning light of the twin moons. Not even the stout stone walls of the outer bailey wall could withstand the strength of the encroaching plant.
I didn’t know. She argued silently as tears flowed, unheeded, down her cheeks. You know this isn’t like home. Home. Had she really thought she could make this alien world her home? The pain of loss washed through her, intensifying the tremors that already racked her body. JarDan. Her heart cried out to the man who held her and kissed her so passionately such a short time ago.
Although she longed to hide in her room, her pride refused to allow her that small bit of solace. She was the cause of this destruction and she would stay until the last fire was out and the last warrior sought his bed.
Gradually, after hours of standing in the courtyard, fighting to stay on her feet when the ground shifted beneath her, Melodie noticed a change in the activity. The warriors were walking instead of running and the acrid burn of smoke wasn’t quite as strong as it was earlier. When the fifth man walked by and deliberately looked away from her, Melodie pushed away from King Zeth. She wouldn’t hide behind the king.
“The danger has passed, my dear,” Zeth whispered. “Why don’t you go back inside the castle and let your maid prepare you for bed?”
“No.” She stated flatly. “I’ll see it through to the end.” She was grateful when JarDan’s father merely stared at her for a moment before nodding his acceptance. His slow return to the castle was a signal to the gathered crowd. Within minutes she was alone in the courtyard, ignored by the returning warriors. Standing straight and tall, she waited for JarDan and the fury of his temper.
The Men of Anderas I: Jardan, the King Page 12