A Lotus for the Regent (24 page)

“
You have known me too long to expect otherwise.” Saerileth spoke in
a low voice, her lips barely moving. “I did not leave when you did but waited
for your return.”

“
You are wise, Regent,” Tivanel said, bowing. “I know you will choose
right.”

“
But what is right?” Kamen was in a contrary mood.

Tivanel smiled,
his green eyes glittering in the weak northern sun. “I have presented my claim.
The Seranimesti have always been close to the Tamari and to Kiltarin, as well.”

“
And you'll need Ajalira to legitimize your crown.”

“
She will smooth the rough way to peace.”

Ajalira
considered herself worthless, and though Kamen loved her more than anything, he
was still unable to convince her of her own self-worth. “But how much
legitimacy can she bring? True, she is the last of the Tamar line, but on the
female side, and she was trained as a Lotus.” Kamen trailed off, curious as to
how Tivanel would take the bait.

Tivanel nodded.
“Yes, she trained as a prostitute, and no Ausir of any worth would marry her
under normal circumstances. These, however, are not normal circumstances. If a
whore will bring peace, so be it.”

It took the very
chains of Abrexa herself to keep Kamen from ripping that pretty little blond
Ausir head off. And the only reason Kamen did not give the Seranimesti lord a thrashing
was because of his surprise at how readily Tivanel agreed with Ajalira's own
estimation of herself. Ausir sexual morality was nothing like Sunjaa's.

“
I don't mean to denigrate you, my lord,” Tivanel said, “but your
ways are not our ways. We Ausir guard our women's chastity as a treasure secret
and inviolable.”

In Kamen's
experience, the worst sexual despots were usually the loosest sexual libertines
behind closed doors. He would not be surprised to discover Tivanel a hypocrite.

Cheering. Ansim
had pegged another ring.

“
I will speak with Kimereth now.” Kamen did not bow to Tivanel but
merely walked away, letting the Seranimesti know just how little he thought of
him.

Kimereth was all
smiles, and he toasted Kamen as he approached. “Come, Regent, and crush a cup
of wine with me. The day is fine, and I shall win the wager.”

“
Which one?” Though Kamen, as a politician, could appreciate Ansim's
double meaning, he had no patience for it at that moment.

Kimereth was
untroubled by Kamen's sour mood. “Why, this one, of course. Once I ring the red
peg, I'll have the Seranimesti dog's ship.”

“
You wagered your ships?” Fools.

Ansim nodded and
then sent up a cheer. His men cried out with him, and they all drank.

“
This wager is nothing compared to the other you vie for.” Kamen
wiped the smile from Ansim's face.

“
True,” Ansim said, sobering. “And what of it? Have you made your
choice?”

“
Not yet.”

Ansim took Kamen
by the elbow and led him away. “Then let me tell you that the Kimereth is the
mightiest of all Larenai houses. We control more cities in the Silbrios than
any other, and it would be wise for the Regent to remember this.”

“
A threat?” Kamen removed his arm from Ansim's grasp.

“
Quite the opposite. Choose us, and Arinport will have a mighty ally.
Our ports will build and launch a mighty navy no matter whom you choose, but
wouldn't it be so much better to sail side by side? With us allied, the Fihdal,
Vadal, and all the city states of the northern coasts would have to pay tribute
to us. Bow to us.”

“
And you can do this alone, without the Tamar heiress?”

“
She is no heiress. We Ausir, even the Tamari, have never been ruled
by a female.”

Kimereth did not
consider the Tamari true Ausir, hence the qualifier. “But the Tamari train
their women to fight and die beside them. Surely that shows some equality.”

“
Savagery.” Ansim drained his cup. “No disrespect to you and your
choice, but if it were not politically expedient to do so, I would never marry
the Zomalin girl. I know you have no such scruples, but among the Ausir, Ajalira
would never find a husband. She's lucky she's Tamar, or no one would look twice
at her.” The Ausir lord shuddered, a distasteful bit of melodrama. “To be
trained as a prostitute among people who see no shame in such a profession!”

Tivanel was
right. All Ausir looked at Ajalira the same way. Now Kamen began to see a bit
of Ajalira's own self-hatred, and though he understood it, he would not accept
it. Even her concubinage sullied her in the eyes of her own people, though she
was afforded the respect of a Queen among the Sunjaa. If Ajalira were made the
Queen of the Ausir, those horned bastards would still despise her and mock her.
Where was the honor in that? No, Kamen would not see his dearest love so
abused. He would not give her to someone who would not respect her.

Kamen walked
away after giving some vague assurances that he would decide soon enough, but
he just wanted to be rid of all the Ausir. There was more cheering as he went.
He did not care who won the match. In fact, he hoped one Ausir might throw his
quoit too hard, hit another Ausir in the head and accidentally kill him, and
set off a brawl that left them all dead.

Kamen could read
in Saerileth's eyes her concern, and though they were friends, he did not want
to talk about it. Besides, she already knew. “Not now, Saerileth.” He loved
Ajalira, and he did not wish to give her up. The problem was that he would not
keep her against her will. If Ajalira's honor dictated it, he would give her
over, and his heart, which he had thought mended, would break and forever be
broken.

Kamen put one
heavy foot in front of the other as he mounted the stairs. He dreaded seeing
Ajalira again, for he dreaded her answer. Did she prefer one of the Ausir
lords? If she did, he would choose that one to be King.

Kamen was sick
with hopeless rage.

Chapter Fifteen

Ajalira's eyes
swept over her foes. Only five. She had a chance, albeit slim, of winning.
After all, she was Tamari, and none of these other Ausir were. She kept her
back to the balcony railing and waited for the first Ausir to come in at her.
None moved. They stood there, fencing her in, but they did not raise their
weapons. Then she saw the blow-dart in the mouth of one.

She leapt at
him, giving her wordless battle-cry, and slashing with her dagger at his face.
It was not the most conventional battle tactic, but she needed to get rid of
that blow-dart. Her opponent had not expected either her swift movement or her
aim for the dart, and she felt his hot blood spurting over her knuckles. He
fell, screaming, and she realized she had cut right through his eye. As he
continued to scream, holding his face, she switched to her favorite move and
slit his throat. She did not wait for his body to still. She whirled to face
the remaining assailants, lofting her dagger once again.

But at that
instant she felt a pinprick at her ankle. She knew, of course, that it was
poison, but she resolved she would go down fighting. She avoided putting any
weight on the ankle that was pricked, hoping to delay the spread of the poison
even if only for an instant. She had the satisfaction of feeling her dagger
pierce someone's flesh before blackness overcame her. Her last thought was a
hope that the dose of poison would be sufficient to kill her.

****

Ajalira opened
her eyes. She was shackled. Heavy chains ran between the shackles, and she
moved one foot ever-so-slightly, judging the weight. She was, apart from the
chains, not in any way uncomfortable or hampered. She was half-reclining on a
soft divan. She still wore the red silk she had donned for Kamen that morning.
She closed her eyes again, taking stock of the room through the screen of her
lashes.

She saw only one
other occupant to the room. He was an Ausir, one of the ones who had attacked
her, but he stood by the door, his back to her. The room itself was not one
Ajalira had seen before, but the opulent furnishings and the tasteful
arrangements told her she was still in the festhall. She inhaled slowly, and
the scent of the sea reached her. So there was a window, probably behind her,
but if she were on the third floor it would not help. If she were on the
second, perhaps.

She hazarded a
glance through her lashes, but through the window the sea was distant. She was
on the third floor.

Ajalira let her
eyes close completely, and she focused instead on the sounds. She could make
out Ausir voices in the hallway beyond this chamber, but their words did not
help her.

“
When do you think she'll wake up?”

“
Probably within the hour. If not, we can wait until she does wake.”

“
Should we call the lord before then?”

“
No, not yet. He will be here as soon as he can.”

Ajalira forced
herself to remain relaxed, as though she still slept in the unconscious
oblivion of her captors' poison. Why was she here? What purpose did her
abduction serve? Who would benefit from this? Did this mean that Kamen had
already named the Ausir to be her husband, and these were men from the opposite
faction?

Surely Kamen had
not had enough time for that before she was carried off?

Tears spilled
from under Ajalira's lashes, tracing damp trails down her cheeks and into the
mass of her golden hair splayed around her head. Kamen. He had left her to go
to the Ausir lords, and he had thought—for how could he think otherwise?—that
she
wanted
to be the Ausir Queen.

Ajalira could
have laughed if it were not so painful. She did not want to leave Kamen. She
loved him.

But if she were
to fail in her duty, then how could she face Kamen? He deserved the best woman
in Gilalion. To give him a dishonored woman would be to insult his own worth.
She would rather be miserable than disgrace him. She was his concubine. She
could do nothing to disgrace him, for all she did would reflect on him.

Ajalira's
thought broke, shattered by the glorious realization. She could not go to any
Ausir lord. They would not even have suggested it had she been Kamen's wife.
Ausir did not recognize divorce. It was only because she was his concubine
merely that they could suggest it. But Sunjaa law recognized concubinage as, if
not equal to marriage, still as a legal union, one with exclusive rights. She
had sworn herself to Kamen and sealed her oath with blood.

Sworn herself.
It was almost more than Ajalira could do to keep from laughing through her
tears. She could not be given to any other man. Even aside from the battles she
owed Kamen, she had sworn herself his. That this oath would not be acknowledged
by the other Ausir meant nothing to her. Reputation was nothing. Honor was
everything, and if she had once sworn herself to Kamen, then she was Kamen's
for as long as she lived. If the Ausir wanted her for a Queen, then they would
have to take her as Kamen's concubine—making Kamen the Ausir King.

“
The poison must have worn off by now. She's probably just sleeping,
not unconscious.”

Ajalira heard
the voices in the hallway, and they drew closer. She had no weapon—where was
her dagger? She would have to bide her time until she could find a means of
escape.

“
My lady?” The guard at the door turned to face her as the door
opened. “Do you require anything?”

Surprise sent
Ajalira's eyes flying open, and she sat up. Why were they being polite? Why
call her “lady”? Why care if she needed anything?

“
Do you require some water? Wine, perhaps? Or food? Are you
comfortable?” The Ausir who spoke looked at her with disdain belied by his
courteous words. He despised her.

Ajalira tilted
her chin. It no longer mattered what the Ausir thought of her. She belonged to
Kamen, and if he were pleased with her, then the Ausir could go hang. The
ferocity of her thoughts and the distaste for her own people were both strange
to Ajalira, but she resolved to puzzle it out as she had the time. For now it
would serve her best to keep her captors speaking.

“
Wine, please.” She shifted on the divan. “Where am I? And why?”

The guard who
had spoken before and whom Ajalira now took to be the chief of them poked his
head out the door. “Fetch wine.”

He did not
mention that the wine was to be for her, and Ajalira wondered how many people
knew where she was.

“
Is there anything else, my lady?” The guard's words were
unexceptionable, but his tone conveyed infinite contempt.

“
Yes. Where am I? And why have I been brought here?” Ajalira knew
that any answer, even a lie, was more useful to her than silence, so she pushed
the question.

“
You are in the custody of … an Ausir lord.”