“Mmm…” Roke growled approvingly and pulled her even closer, sucking gently at her tongue as his big hands roved over her back and sides.
The slow, deliberate kiss made Elli remember their brief time together in the storage closet at the humans’ Christmas party. Once again, she found herself nearly panting with desire, her breasts and secret spot tingling and hot, her whole body alight with sexual need…
But I thought that was only because I was drugged last time, she thought, feeling dazed. I shouldn’t be acting like this right now—shouldn’t be reacting to his kiss the same way I was when the aphrodisiac was in my system…should I?
Before she could answer that question, someone cleared their throat loudly and Roke reluctantly pulled away from her, breaking the kiss.
“Ahem.” The Duke cleared his throat again. “Your Majesty, may I present Lady Ellilah and her Heart’s Companion, Roke. Lady Ellilah is the Zorel Entrancer I was telling Your Highness about earlier,” he added.
“Well, well—yes, indeed!” The high, fruity voice came from the Tenebrian Crown Prince sitting on the golden thRoke.
Earlier, when they’d been bowing and then observing the Introduction custom, Elli hadn’t had a chance to really look at him. Now she glanced carefully up through her lashes, trying to study the Tenebrian monarch’s face surreptitiously.
The Tenebrian prince was a bit odd compared to his people, she thought. For one thing, he wasn’t nearly as tall as the other Tenebrian males. Also, his skin was almost as white as one of their female’s, with only a hint of pale blue. He had slightly bulging eyes set in a broad, frog-like face and a little round pot belly which strained the rich fabric of his golden brocade waistcoat. He had tiny eyes which were a pale, watery blue—altogether, a rather ugly specimen of the Tenebrian race, Elli thought.
But she knew better than to judge someone on their looks alone. Maybe the Crown Prince was a lovely person and she just needed to get to know him.
“I have heard much of you, my dear,” he said to Elli. “The Duke here tells me you had that brute of his, Wind Chaser, eating out of your hand within half a minute of meeting him!”
Elli remembered that the Duke had told her he would be doing all the talking, but this remark seemed to merit a reply.
“Thank you, your Majesty,” she murmured, dropping another little curtsey. “It’s true—I do have a way with zorels.”
“You do, do you? I’d like to see that—yes, I ruddy well would!” the Crown Prince exclaimed, slapping one hand on the golden arm of his thRoke with a smack! “As it happens, I have zorel problems myself. Just bought a new mount—goes by the charming name of ‘Demon’ don’t you know. Big brute won’t let anyone near him—not even the grooms!”
Elli saw her chance and jumped on it.
“Oh, your Majesty,” she said, “I would be more than pleased to help you tame and train your new zorel—it would be my honor.”
“You would, would you?” The Crown Prince looked at her with one eyebrow raised. “And what would you charge for such a valuable service, my little Zorel Entrancer?”
“Just a single, tiny piece of your Healing Lattice,” Elli said quickly.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the Duke had a horrified look on his face but the Crown Prince still seemed to be listening with interest, so she pressed on.
“There is someone very dear to me who is dying from a mysterious wasting sickness,” she said, looking up at him earnestly. “And it has been determined that only a sliver of your Healing Lattice can cure her. Please, your Majesty, if you’ll only give me the chance to earn a tiny piece of it, I’ll do such a good job with your zorel—I promise you won’t regret it!”
“Well!” The Crown Prince sat back, his face unreadable. But the Court on either side of the thRoke was murmuring. Elli wondered if she had somehow committed an unpardonable sin asking for a piece of the Healing Lattice. Had she ruined any chance she had by mentioning what she wanted too soon?
“Your Highness, forgive this female’s impudence,” the Duke said quickly. “I never would have brought her, had I thought—”
“No, no—calm yourself, my good fellow.” The Crown Prince put out a hand to stop the Duke’s panicked words. “I like a female who knows what she wants and goes for it,” he said, speaking to Elli directly. “All right then—if you truly can tame my Demon and get him to allow me to ride him and let the grooms groom him, I’ll give you the chance to earn a small piece of our Healing Lattice, which is the Heart of our Court.”
Elli let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding and relief washed over her.
“Oh, thank you, Your Majesty!” she exclaimed, clasping her hands to her chest. “Thank you so much!”
“You’ll need to stay here in the palace, of course,” the Crown Prince went on. “You and your Heart’s Companion will be issued rooms in our guest wing.” He looked at the Duke. “See that it gets done.”
“Yes, your Highness.” The Duke bowed deeply, so Roke and Elli followed his lead, bowing again as well.
“Go on, now.” The Crown Prince made a shooing gesture with one beringed hand. “I’ll see you tonight at Supper and then again tomorrow in the zorel training ring,” he added, speaking to Elli. “I can’t wait to watch you work with Demon—he’s already trampled two grooms to death and fried a third with his flame,” he added in an offhand tone.
“Fried him?” Elli’s eyes widened. “You mean he’s a flamer?” She’d never been privileged to work with a flaming zorel before and she wondered uneasily if she would have the same connection with such an animal as she had with the steamers.
“Purebred.” The Crown Prince nodded and gave her a cruel little smile. “I hope you foreigners are more fireproof than we Tenebrians are, my dear. Otherwise tomorrow is apt to get a bit toasty for you and you’ll not get the right to earn a bit of our Lattice after all.”
Before Elli could answer him, he waved a hand at the Duke.
“Enough—take them away.”
Then the Duke was herding Elli and Roke away from the ThRoke Room, leaving Elli to wonder if she had just made a bargain to meet her own death.
Seventeen
“I don’t like it!” Roke was pacing up and down the carpeted expanse of their assigned bedchamber, which was located at the end of a very short hallway. There was only one other room in the “guest wing” of the palace—apparently the Tenebrians didn’t have very many visitors.
The room was luxurious enough, with thick purple carpet and gold and purple drapes over the floor-to ceiling windows. But the sleeping arrangements were rather odd, Elli thought. The bed was located in a little cubbyhole in the side of the wall and the middle of the large room, which would normally be where a bed would stand, was covered in an assortment of large, furry pillows in all shapes, sizes, and colors.
“I don’t like it,” Roke said again, kicking a lime green pillow out of the way as he paced.
“Don’t like what?” Elli frowned at him.
“What do you think?” he demanded. “I don’t like the idea of you dealing with a beast that has already killed three grooms! That’s what I don’t like!”
“I’m sure Demon is just a zorel like any other,” Elli said, hoping she was right. “They probably just don’t know how to treat him—that’s all.”
“It’s one thing for an animal to be dangerous and difficult to handle—it’s another thing entirely for it to be deadly,” Roke growled. “I think we ought to give this up and get out of here while we still can, Ellilah. I didn’t bring you in here to get burned or trampled to death!”
“This is the only way I can earn a piece of the Healing Lattice!” Elli exclaimed, glaring at him. “And there is no way I’m going until I get it!” She put her hands on her hips and walked over to him. Looking up into his face, she declared, “Listen to me, Roke. I will do anything I have to in order to save the life of the Priestess Superior—anything! That is my vow and I’m not breaking it.”
; As she spoke the vow, a sudden ripple of energy seemed to leave her body and flow outward. Elli gasped—it was like a current of electricity had washed over her skin, making every hair stand on end with its power.
Clearly, Roke had felt the wave of energy as well, because he looked shaken.
“That was a strong vow you made, little priestess,” he murmured. “I believe the Goddess herself has witnessed it.”
“Well…good,” Elli said somewhat breathlessly. “Because I mean it! I—”
Just at that moment there was a knock at the bedchamber door. Roke gave her a last searching look and then strode over to open it, admitting a Tenebrian girl with an armful of fabric.
“Pardon me, my Lord,” she said to Roke. “But I was sent by the Duke to outfit your Lady for Supper tonight.”
“Outfit me?” Elli said uncertainly, coming forward. “But I already have a dress.” She nodded down at the crimson gown she was wearing.
“Oh yes—and a lovely dress it is for a Formal event in the ThRoke Room.” The girl bobbed her head eagerly. “But I’m afraid it won’t do at all for Supper. And what about the Bathing Days? You must have something to wear for them as well.”
“Bathing Days?” Elli asked, frowning. She had noticed that the opulent bedchamber didn’t have any bathing facilities, but had assumed that there must be someplace to shower or have a bath close by.
“Yes indeed, my Lady—when the Court all bathes together,” the girl said. “In the Underground Grottos, don’t you know? You’ll need an outfit for that as well, since the Duke says you’ll be staying in the palace with us for some time.”
“Oh, er, all right,” Elli said reluctantly. She didn’t like the idea of taking a bath with the entire Tenebrian Court at all—but at least she would have on a bathing costume while she did it.
“Here we are then.” The Tenebrian seamstress found a rectangular pink pillow which seemed to be much firmer than the rest. She beckoned for Elli to come step up on it so she could take some measurements.
Elli stepped up on the pillow-pedestal obediently and held out her arms so the Tenebrian seamstress could get to work.
“What about Roke?” she asked the girl. “Will he get new outfits as well?”
“Certainly, my Lady. Though I’m afraid it will take an awful lot of fabric.” The seamstress eyed Roke speculatively. “He’s so very broad through the shoulders and chest.”
“That he is,” Elli admitted. She was rather glad the big warrior wasn’t built along the slender, Tenebrian lines. He looked like a proper Kindred, for all that he was half Havoc.
“Now then, I think we’re in luck,” the seamstress said. “It will take me some time to sew up your bathing costume, but I do have a Supper dress that I brought with me which should fit you, my Lady, with just a bit of hemming. See here?”
She dived into the pile of fabric, which she’d deposited on another one of the cushions, and brought out a white lace gown. Or rather, the gown had some lace on it, Elli amended to herself. Patches of delicate white lace held together by some gauzy, see-through fabric that glimmered faintly in the light.
“Oh, that’s a Supper dress?” she asked, frowning at the way the firelight from the fireplace at the end of the room was shining right through the see-through patches of the gown. “Um, what do I wear under it?”
“Under it?” The Tenebrian seamstress seemed confused.
“Yes—this gown is practically see-through.” Elli pointed to the parts of the dress without lace. “If I put it on without underclothes, everyone will be able to see my, er…lady bits.”
“But what are underclothes?” The seamstress shook her head. “Why would you have a set of clothing to wear under your regular clothes? I’m sorry, my Lady, but I truly don’t understand. Is that one of your foreigner customs?”
“It is,” Roke growled, striding over to examine the gown. “But apparently ‘underclothes’ isn’t something the Tenebrians bother with.”
“But I can’t wear this with nothing under it!” Elli protested. “I’ll be indecent!”
“You’ll look like every other lady at Supper, my Lady,” the Tenebrian seamstress promised her. “Everyone must be appropriately dressed in the presence of the Crown Prince.”
“But I—I just can’t.” Elli shook her head.
“Then I’m afraid you won’t be admitted to Supper,” the seamstress said. “Which would be a great scandal, I’m sure, since I’ve heard that it was the Crown Prince himself who invited you! If you insult his Majesty by not appearing…” She shook her head, her eyes going wide. “I don’t even like to think of the consequences.”
“There is also the little matter of your vow,” Roke pointed out, raising an eyebrow at Elli. “Weren’t you just saying that you would do whatever it takes to complete your quest?”
“I…” Elli bit her lip. “I suppose I did,” she admitted in a low voice.
But she had been talking about facing down Demon, the flaming zorel when she’d made her vow. She’d never expected that exposing herself would be one of the things she had to do to in order to get a piece of the Healing Lattice! It would be easier, she thought, to walk into the training ring with the infamous groom-killer, Demon than to go to a public dinner with her body on display.
“Look, sweetheart,” Roke murmured, coming to stand in front of her. With Elli on the pillow pedestal, they were almost eye-to-eye. “I can tell you’re modest,” he murmured to Elli. “And I know you don’t come from a culture where this kind of thing is accepted or allowed. But I want you to know that I’ll be with you every step of the way. I won’t leave your side for a moment, all right?”
Elli bit her lip. She hated to admit—even to herself—that the thought of Roke seeing her half naked in the lace dress bothered her more than the idea of the entire Tenebrian Court seeing her. After all, they were strangers and aliens and she would hopefully never see them again after her quest was completed. But the idea of the big warrior seeing her in such a revealing dress made her feel hot and cold and shaky—in other words, exactly how she’d felt after he’d kissed her in the ThRoke Room.
Still, she had made a vow, she reminded herself. A vow witnessed by the Goddess herself. She must fulfill it.
“All right,” she said, nodding firmly. “I’ll wear it.”
“Very good, my Lady.” The seamstress sounded relieved—she probably would have gotten into trouble if Elli had refused her offerings. “Let’s try it on and get it hemmed up, shall we?” she asked brightly. “After all, Supper is coming up in under an hour—we must get moving.”
Eighteen
“Stop fidgeting—you look lovely,” Roke murmured, tucking Elli’s arm more firmly through his own as they made their way down the long hallway. He was still wearing the deep blue frock coat he’d worn to Court while Elli had on the revealing white lace dress.
“I’m just trying to get it to cover a little bit more,” she muttered, tugging again at the dress. The white lace patches mostly covered her more delicate bits— with a few notable exceptions.
There were two swirly patches positioned over her breasts and another over her sex, which was good. Unfortunately, her bottom was bare, except for a lace flower on her right cheek. But there were two seemingly strategically placed openings in the center of the lace swirls that covered her breasts.
Through these, Elli’s nipples could be clearly seen, pressing against the see-through fabric which held the lace together. They were like two pink dots in the middle of a pair of blooming flowers—or so the seamstress had declared. She had been delighted with the fit of the dress, which had only needed minor hemming to be wearable. But Elli couldn’t help trying to shift the lace this way and that to cover her tender points.
The problem was, the dress wouldn’t stay shifted. The minute she moved, it fell back into place and revealed her nipples again, pressed against the see-through, stretchy fabric.
“I told you—you look beautiful, little priestess,” Roke rumbled, giving h
er a frown.
“I look obscene,” Elli muttered. “That seamstress had better be right! If I’m the only female dressed like this—”
“You aren’t—look.” Roke gestured and she saw a Tenebrian couple coming up to greet them from the opposite end of the hall. It was the Duke and his Lady and she was dressed just like Elli, to Elli’s deep relief.
Although, she thought frowning to herself, the see-through dress with lace patches the Duke’s mate wore didn’t exactly have the same effect as Elli’s own dress. Probably because the Duchess—if that was her title—had such pale, milky skin. Even though her nipples were exposed like Elli’s were, they were a shade of white which nearly blended in with the lace.
“Ah, here you are! Delighted to see you again.” The Duke nodded at Roke and Elli affably enough. He seemed to have gotten over his anger at her for daring to ask for a piece of the Healing Lattice—probably because the Crown Prince hadn’t gotten angry at the request himself.
“Good evening,” Roke greeted the Duke. “Are you on your way to Supper? Is it this way?” He nodded down another long corridor which branched off from the one they were in.
“Yes, the Formal Dining room is this way,” the Duke said.
“Do accompany us.” The Duchess had a soft, dreamy voice which seemed to match her milky complexion, Elli thought. “We would be pleased to have you take the couch beside ours tonight.”
“Thank you.” Roke nodded at them both. “We would be honored to do so.”
“This way, then.” The Duke led them down the side hallway and through a set of double doors, into a lovely room made up like an arboretum.
There were potted plants and ferns everywhere and a bubbling brook took a meandering path through the room, its course cut in the shiny black stone of the floor. The water running through the channel was a milky, pale blue shade almost the same color as Tenebrian skin tones, Elli thought. She wondered if the color had any special significance.
The Priestess and the Thief Page 9