The Forbidden Fruit
Page 15
But I didn’t dare voice such a thing out loud because I knew it would only antagonise Kohén further, so I bit my lip and slipped off the horse and into his arms, not even commenting when he let me go too quickly, almost causing me to fall onto my backside. Was he trying to prove how much he had over me, and how miserable I would be without his adoration? Well, more fool him because it only made me wish that I’d come with Kohl instead!
We had our picnic in a valley that had grown over time in the ruins of an old volcano. The caldera that the island had been renamed for had high, rocky ledges forming a craggy peak at the northernmost tip, and a grassy basin beneath spotted with wildflowers, which glowed a pale pink in the watered-down raspberry sky. The ocean lapped against the beach on one side of it, and the village was on the other side of the more elevated western rim, and like a teardrop, the rest of Caldera Island swelled out south from there. Once upon a time, it had been shaped differently, and almost every coastline had been developed. But so far, the Corps had only managed to wrestle that small northern tip free of the jungle’s and ruin’s grip to settle, and a large part inland had been cleared for a patchwork of small farms.
According to Kohén (who’d decided to start talking to me again once he realised that he was the authority on the subject and could take a know-it-all tone with me) the Caldera was the safest place to live because the eruption that had detonated Diamond Head Mountain had happened long before Armageddon, rendering the once active volcano extinct. In fact, the island we were on hadn’t had any active volcanoes at the time of God’s return at all, but our creator had made the plate which lay beneath the entire chain of islands shift and detonate so fiercely, and in so many places, that every one of the islands had been damaged by the power of the eruptions and much of Caldera Island’s ‘Oahu’ Coastlines had been washed away by the ensuing tidal surges. The skies had blackened and the earth had shaken buildings until they toppled, and by the time God had run out of steam, three islands had been rendered uninhabitable and several smaller, underwater volcanoes still posed a threat to the ones remaining. They’d never be able to bury towns again, but they still killed marine life and had power enough to cause earth tremors and sea surges, which was why only the Prime Minister’s house remained on the shore. And as for the plate itself and what lay beneath well… who knew what it was still capable of doing? Officially, some of the volcanoes of the Pacifica region had been active since the dawn of time, and always would be.
Kohén arranged the blanket on the grass and then smacked the picnic baskets right down in the middle of it so that it would be between us, and went about the mission of pouring us champagne (Elijah was generous when it came to getting his child bedded!) and strawberries and chocolate sauce and an assortment of soft cheeses. I watched Kohén spread it all out, and when he took out a handful of white rose petals and scattered them around, my skin crawled like he was scattering spiders. He looked up at me and saw me downing half of my glass in one go to relax myself, his eyes shone for a moment.
‘Is your cliché-detector going off, my well-read friend?’ he asked.
I swallowed the fuzzy sweet bubbles and pressed my hands to my ears. ‘What?’ I asked, too loudly. ‘I can’t hear you over the romance!’
Kohén laughed and thrust a strawberry at me. ‘Take that brat. And yes, I agree this is… trite.’
‘You’re missing the strolling minstrels but yeah…’ I cocked my head. ‘Is this what you do with the other girls?’
‘No,’ he scoffed, taking a big gulp from his own glass then pointing at me. ‘And technically, you’re supposed to be a strolling minstrel. Have you learned a performance yet to recite for me, little slave girl?’
‘I have,’ I said, sitting taller and clearing my throat. ‘Would you like me to recite a passage of text from my Boll Weevil book? Or would you prefer a reading from The Godfather?’
Kohén laughed. ‘Maybe The Godfather later.’
‘That is an offer I cannot refuse,’ I joked, and he smiled politely, missing the reference. I waited a beat, sighing a little to know that Kohl would have laughed, but then changed the subject. ‘Well?’ I prompted him, and he frowned at me.
‘What?’
I motioned around us. ‘These aren’t your moves, so… what are?’
‘You’re not seriously asking how I seduce your friends, are you?’ Kohén looked ill.
‘The ones you seduce are not my friends,’ I pointed out. ‘But yeah, I guess I am asking.’
‘Why?’
I smiled wickedly. ‘So I’m adequately prepared for you on my twenty-first.’ I picked up a rose petal, sniffed it courteously and then tossed it over my shoulder. ‘Can I expect to find these on my bed along with my torn contract that evening, sire?’
And I’m asking so that I can feel a little less guilty about how I’d be acting if it were Kohl handing me champagne, rather than you...
‘Nah,’ Kohén scoffed. ‘The white roses are dad’s touch- they’re technically the Barachiel flower but the locusts have been ruining them, so we’ve not seen them bloom in Calliel in over twenty years. They grow in abundance here though, and I expect we will see many next spring back home.’ He lay back on his elbows and eyed me. ‘And no you won’t find them on your bed on you twenty-first.’
‘Thank goodness, I said, then smiled. ‘Though if there is a chance for me to weigh in on how things go that day- I’d much prefer white rose petals, or even a few locusts- to finding Karol in my room again.’
Not that I’ll have to worry about that, because it is I who must go to him that day if he doesn’t find a wife in time...
He chuckled. ‘That’s a relief. But come on... I wasn’t going to pounce you on your birthday Larkin- I’m not an animal, and even though you’ll be free, I’ll still be prohibited from having sex with ladies outside of the harem until I get bound to one legally, remember?’ He waved his hand toward me. ‘Sort of the whole point of your caste to begin with...?’
‘I know,’ I said, abashed. ‘And I’m sorry for how weird I’ve been today. I just feel…’ I shifted the top into place and blushed. ‘Vulnerable, and displaced and still sort of like the world is rocking beneath my feet, and I don’t like that.’
‘Neither do I, which is why I’ve been tolerant of your smart mouth so far.’ He wagged a finger at me. ‘But that stops now, got it? I don’t pick the clothes, and I’m not going to feel bad at staring at you, because you’re beautiful, and ought to get used to being stared at because the whining is getting old. And like I said to Kelia- you two are spared the obligation side of this arrangement but get all the benefits, so the least you can do is treat me with a bit of respect every now and then, all right?’
I lowered my lashes. ‘I only rebel against you because I respect you enough to know that you will take it with grace, tolerance and good humour, Kohén.’ I made my confession while spinning my finger around the rim of the glass. ‘That is me demonstrating how much faith I have in you as my best friend, not a lack of respect for you as my superior- which I have in spades.’
‘Hmm, well...’ I looked up and saw him flush which made me flush on the inside. I’d spent so many months not looking at him that I’d forgotten how cathartic it was to drink him in.
Drink him in? Okay yeah… maybe put the booze down?
Kohén squinted at me. ‘Really?’ his voice was softer and much more self-conscious. ‘You think I have the making of being a leader?’
‘Of course I do,’ I said softly, though whether he was the best candidate for Pacifica was another, more volatile subject. ‘Why would you question that?’
‘You’re such a…’ he appeared to search his brain for the term. ‘Not anarchist, but something like it. I wouldn’t suppose that you’d paused your loathing for the monarchy long enough to consider how I would fit into it.’
‘I consider it every day,’ I said, giving a look to let him know that my words were loaded with what I wouldn’t say. ‘Every decision you make is seen as a fo
undation brick for the nation for me. And the ones you make regarding me well…’ I lay down on my side and smiled at him. ‘They’re fundamental.’
He chuckled. ‘Point taken, as always.’ He lay down across from me and appraised me thoughtfully before saying: ‘and on that note, I’m sorry if I alarmed you back at the dock, or in your room. But I refuse to believe that the love I have for you is cause for distress on your part after how I’ve managed to rise above the constant temptation to claim you as I am legally allowed to, and desperately want to do.’ He twisted his lips to the side briefly then continued: ‘and I’m sorry if I embarrassed you just now in front of them. But Kelia really got under my skin by taking that tone with me, Kohl pissed me off by practically drowning in his own drool over you-’
‘It wasn’t like that,’ I scoffed, brushing a rose petal away.
‘Pfft!’ Kohén snorted. ‘He couldn’t SPEAK, darling. And knowing that Kelia has already gone behind my back to express feelings for him, after hiding under her bed from me for the last eight months had me feeling inadequate enough as it was. I mean, what am I- some sort of demon? We look just like each other, so why does she forget her piousness around him, but hefts her guard up around me?’
‘It’s probably a free will thing,’ I said, deciding not to point out that they didn’t look much alike at all right now. ‘I wouldn’t take it personally. It’s common knowledge that the more forbidden something is, the more attractive it becomes to the beholder.’
‘Yeah well, he’s not more attractive or a better person than I am and if she had a lick of sense to go with that free will, she’d batt those lovely lashes at me just once to humour me, as she’s been trained and compensated to do- and stay in my good graces!’ I raised an eyebrow, making it clear that I was unimpressed by the hot air he was blowing and he rolled his eyes. ‘Okay, so maybe I’m a little jealous that he’s like, grown a foot or whatever since I saw him last, and that my mother weeps all over him or that Atticus thinks the sun shines out his butt even though Kohl is responsible for so much unwanted rain- and if I’m being completely honest, I guess don’t care if Kelia’s on her knees right now giving the poor kid a break because I don’t want her anymore either.’ He frowned and I squirmed over the idea of Kelia giving Kohl oral sex. ‘But him looking at you is another thing entirely, so I just had to… I don’t know…’
‘Mark you’re territory?’ I supplied, taking a big gulp of my champagne. Yep, he really did.
‘Yeah.’ He scrunched up his face. ‘Sorry, but it’s a guy thing- and it’s not often that I have to deal with other guys our age drooling on you, you know? I’m not used to it.’
I chuckled ironically. ‘Sucks, doesn’t it? Having feelings for someone and worrying that they’re going to end up wrapped around someone else-’
‘Stop right there,’ he said, sounding instantly aggravated. ‘It’s not the same thing, but you’ve just proven exactly why I won’t be telling you what I do with other girls. You’re jealous enough as it is and I hate the fact that I make you feel threatened in that sense. Besides... it’s sick.’
I screwed up my nose. ‘Gosh! Now I have to know what you do if it’s that abhorrent?’
He tossed a grape at my head and I shrieked and ducked it. ‘Talking about it is sick. What I do is… normal, I guess.’
‘Tell me,’ I said, taking another sip.
‘No.’
‘Why?’ I said, fantasying about pulling out his new spine and beating him over the head with it. Since when did he say no to me? ‘I’m sick of not knowing about what you do and what you think all the time, like I used to- actually you’re right. I am jealous, and I hate sharing you with them, so maybe if you share something small with me I’ll feel less left out.’ I finished my champagne and then sat up and held out the glass for him to fill it with more. ‘Don’t you agree? All of this secrecy is killing us.’
He arched an eyebrow at me as he sat up and fetched the champagne. ‘What secrets do you have?’
I looked down and tossed my strawberry into my glass to see if it would taste as nice as they said it did in my romance books, and avoided his eyes in case he saw Kohl’s warm reflection within them, or my fear over what I would have to do with Karol. Gosh, come to think of it, I had many secrets from Kohén! The formula, my suspicion over Martya’s death, what my mother had said about my father... ‘I just mean... all of the doors that keep getting locked between us.’
‘Well, you’re welcome to unlock yours or join us at-’ he cut off when I gave him a foul look. ‘Okay not funny.’
‘Us?’ I demanded, my face going hot as my temper boiled over. ‘Kohén Barachiel! You don’t go with more than one at a time like your gross brother, do you?!’
Kohén groaned and lay on his back, covering his eyes. ‘Larkin… no, I’m not like that and you know it, and please- stop.’
My relief was more pronounced than even I’d expected. ‘Thank hell for that,’ I took a big gulp of bubbles like I was trying to douse out the hot flames of jealousy licking up inside me. ‘You know I’d never hear an ‘I love you’ out of you again if you even tried…’ I shuddered.
‘I know- that’s why I don’t do that kind of stuff with them, and go to them only when I must and not... And don’t say hell…’ he leaned over. ‘Here…’ he reached over and pulled the fastener out of the end of my hastily woven braid, coming his fingers through the still-damp lengths. His eyes moved to mine, and his lip curled in a not-quite smile in response to my perplexed expression. ‘I’m supposed to be wooing you, so you can’t go back looking as tidy as you left,’ he said. ‘The other girls will know something’s up, if you do. As will dad.’
‘So he does anticipate a seduction tonight?’ I asked curtly, but I wasn’t oblivious to the way that the air warmed between us (at least for me) after he’d suggested messing me up.
‘Frankly yes. But before you get all tangled up in that delightful string underwear, bear in mind that I’m only going through the motions to put his mind at ease so he stops hounding me about it.’ He smiled gently. ‘My father is happy that I’ve found romance within the harem, but he’s not going to believe it’s a two-way romance if he never sees evidence of a physical connection between us.’ He strummed my hair gently, untangling it, and his touch was so gentle and sensual that I was holding in a moan with my breath. ‘To buy us time, I’ve told him that I love you and that I intend to keep you around permanently, but that I may not act on it until I can kick the other girls out to appease you- and he’s okay with that... to a degree. But if I can’t get you wearing gold, I need to at least make it appear that I COULD if I wanted to. Hence: sunset picnic.’
I was a little moved by that. ‘A desultory seduction masterminded by the future prince, huh?’
‘Unbearably slow,’ he smiled wryly at me. ‘Seemingly eternal.’ He blew out a breath to his brow. ‘The future prince feels about nine hundred already.’
I tilted my head. ‘Then do you have to do the white rose dance with Kelia too?’
Kohén snorted, shaking his head. ‘No. My father knows that she turns me off, and he understands that completely. Like with him and Maryah, he expects her to get out of this unadorned because we lack for chemistry- but because she’s also so fragile, he knows that I’ll delay kicking her out for as long as I can stand to keep her around.’
‘Turned off by her?’ I asked, startled. ‘But you once said that she was the prettiest one!’
‘She was,’ he agreed. ‘But you’ve eclipsed her on a solar and lunar level since, and she has not developed well in your shadow. In fact, she’s become whiny, demanding, anti-social and spoiled- and her face is almost constantly puckered up-’
‘Okay, okay this is my friend we’re talking about here,’ I reminded him. ‘Ease up.’
‘She’s not your friend,’ he said coldly. ‘She clings to you because you’re the only one tolerant enough not to kick her off, and because she knows being special to you makes her off-limits to me.’
‘Because I’m fucking wild about you, okay?’ he exploded, making me twitch. ‘Because nothing is fake for me when it comes to you and everyone knows it! I make these grand gestures and trip all over myself and demand overseas excursions….’ he grimaced. ‘But you’ve stopped being my shadow since you turned sixteen, and it’s making people speculate. My father doesn’t want to believe that you’re manipulating me because he’s genuinely fond of you but my mother thinks you are trouble and-’
‘All right!’ I said softly, catching his hand and smiling tentatively at him while my heart skipped several beats at the surge of energy that passed between our palms. ‘It’s all right please; don’t make my hair all staticky in your distress. I flipped out this afternoon because you’ve left me alone for months-’
‘You wanted me to,’ he said.
‘I know, and I appreciate the fact that you have. I was just caught off-guard, is all. I mean honestly…’ I shrugged. ‘I’d started thinking that you’d moved past us, you know?’
Kohén’s eyes lifted to mine in shock. ‘Are you kidding? Larkin I… I fall more in love with you every day.’ He leaned over, bracing himself against the ground and added: ‘and I want you more every second! It’s hard for me to stay away from you, but I do it to keep you calm.’
I looked down at the blanket beneath us and bit my lip, confused by the way my heart was pounding. I’d come here expecting to fall harder for Kohl, and yet here I was with Kohén, and the way he’d just looked at me had made me shimmer on the inside, like he’d reduced me to molecules of radiant light and heat.
‘Oh,’ I whispered. ‘Well…’ I swallowed. ‘Mystery cleared up then.’
His hand came down on mine- his winged ring against my wooden one. ‘You still love me too, right?’