Bound by Sin (18 page)

Jileana laughed at the expression on his face. Try the purple one. It is more tart. We cradle it in kofi leaves, which are sweet, to offset the bitterness. Like this.” She demonstrated, laying the flesh in a cuplike leaf with purple veins running throughout it. She took a bite, then offered the rest to him.

Before he knew it, they had cleaned the plate of every last piece of fish and all the leaves and seaweed. More than satisfied, Jaykun sat back with a sigh and smiled at her.

“I can see now why our foods seemed so different from yours.”

“I am afraid you have a greater variety than we do. But our food is still delicious and there is plenty of it. The ocean is a trove of different kinds of fish and even we have not experienced them all. But we do have our favorites.”

“I think I liked the orange one best.”

She laughed. “Most children love that one.”

“Are you saying I have the palate of a child?”

“You can take it that way if you like. But the delpi is a sweet-fleshed fish and that appeals to children. But it happens to be one of my favorites as well, so believe me, I am not judging you.”

“Well, I will take some consolation in that. So…now what do we do?”

“We sleep. It is late. You still need to heal and rest some more. I have a bed, as you see, or we can sleep in the ocean. There is nothing like sleeping in the water, your body floating free.”

“And risk being drawn out to sea? No, thank you.”

She laughed again. “We tether ourselves so that doesn't happen.”

“I think I will stick to the bed. It is what I am used to,” he said, moving over to it and sitting down upon it. She rose and came over to him, doing the same. She leaned into his side and reached to catch his mouth with her own, giving him a slow, searching kiss.

“Mmm. I don't foresee much in the way of rest if you continue to kiss me like that.”

“Don't worry. I will let you sleep…for now. We have had a big night and it is much to absorb.” She smiled at him and fingered a strand of his hair, smoothing the curl of it. “There will be much to see tomorrow and I must introduce you to the empress. Just remember, she is a woman of great logic. She will want to be reasoned with in an intelligent manner. But like any monarch, she can be pushed too far. She will not tolerate someone telling her what to do.”

“I am usually a bully when it comes to this, forcing Weysa's will upon people. It is my duty to do so. The goddess would not give any quarter and neither must I. However, since there is no way I could bring an army here to bully your people, I will have to be content with using diplomacy. I will be satisfied if I can get your empress to raise even one temple to Weysa.”

“It is a reasonable goal. I don't see how she can refuse.”

“I will ask for more of course and settle for less. I will approach this as a bargaining would be approached.”

“Just be careful. Don't be greedy.”

“No. I won't. Stop fretting. I have done this before,” Jaykun assured her.

“Very well. Now come to bed. Sleep.” She moved to draw him into a reclining position. Once he lay down, she cuddled up along his side and rested her head on his shoulder.

She closed her eyes, and with a deep sigh of contentment, she fell asleep.

J
aykun awoke to a heavy, strong punch slamming into his chest. He was grabbed by both arms and hauled up onto his feet. No mean trick considering his size and weight. Still disoriented, he shoved at the man who was manhandling him and became aware enough in time to throw up an arm and block the roundhouse punch aiming for his head. Instinctively he countered the attack and sent a crushing punch into his attacker's jaw. The man, of equal build and strength to Jaykun, staggered back under the force of the hit. He recovered quickly, though, and lunged forward with renewed fervor.

But suddenly Jileana was between them, shoving the other man away with all of her strength and standing protectively in front of Jaykun. “Silan, enough! Enough of this!” she barked at him.

“What is he doing here?” Silan demanded of her, his big body lunging forward threateningly. But she pushed him back again and Jaykun realized Silan allowed it because he didn't want to hurt her. “In your
bed
?”

“He was sleeping. And I had hoped this morning he would be making love to me. But you have ruined that!”

“Good! You are an unmated woman, Jileana! This is highly improper!”

She sighed as if in exasperation. “Silan, you are the most uptight and prudish selkie ever to be born on this planet. That mode of thinking is so far out of date it has a grizzled old beard. And even if it were a reasonable thought, why would you try to resolve the issue by throwing punches? Honestly. Are all my brothers this pigheaded?”

Ah. Brother. Well, that explained things a little more clearly to Jaykun. For a moment he had been afraid that Silan was her lover and Jaykun had inadvertently found himself in the bed of another man's woman. In truth, he didn't know enough about Jileana to know if stringing two men along at the same time was something she would do. But the thought sat ill with him. No, he realized, he did know her well enough to know she wasn't the sort to do something like that. She was a decent and honest person. He had gotten that much of a sense of her.

“Your sister is an adult capable of making her own choices,” he said to Silan. “She is a sensible, intelligent woman. It is her choice who she decides to consort with, is it not?”

Silan seethed, growled, and clenched his fists as if he were trying to use every ounce of his self-control to keep from ripping his sister away from Jaykun and lunging for Jaykun's throat.

Jaykun smiled. Let him try, he thought. He would be in for a rude awakening. Jaykun was not easily brought down.

“Silan, enough,” Jileana again barked at him.

“Where have you been?” Silan demanded after turning his attention back to her. “Do you know the state you've put Father in? You've been to the Overworld, haven't you? That's where
this
is from, isn't it?” he demanded of her, jerking his chin in Jaykun's direction.

“Silan, stop being rude!” she snapped, losing her temper. She placed a hand at the center of her brother's chest and shoved him hard. “Yes, I've been to the Overworld.” She shoved him again. “And yes, he is a human.” Another shove. “And yes, he is my lover. And
yes,
this is none of your business! Now, you either let me introduce you properly and civilly or you leave right now.”

“Fine. I'm leaving. And I'm going to tell Father what you've done.”

“No, you aren't! You are going to allow me the courtesy of explaining myself to Father without your interference and prejudiced opinions!”

“Just try to stop me,” he dared her on a sneer. Then he turned on his heel and marched out of the cave.

“Damn. I'm sorry,” she said, turning to face him. “Truly sorry for my brother's deplorable behavior. Your welcome here should not be like that.”

“It's fine,” Jaykun assured her as he pulled her closer. “He's not the first brother I've met who disliked a man courting his sister.”

“Is that what this is? Courting?” she asked with a tease in her tone. “It feels so much more sordid than that.”

He laughed. “Perhaps. But you are worth more than a cold, thoughtless tumble. I cannot promise you much, but I can promise you that.”

“Why, Jaykun, that's practically romantic,” she said with a laugh. “Now come, let's break our fast, and we can go see the empress and then my father. Hopefully we can attend him before my brother poisons him too harshly against you.”

“Then perhaps we should attend your father first and the empress next. I do not wish for your father to think too ill of me. It's bad enough that I am committing egregious sins with his daughter.”

“How funny humans are, that love is a sin.”

“Well, love is not so much a sin, but a man using a woman for sex with no thought to making her a wife is apparently frowned upon in polite society. It is different from culture to culture of course, but it seems to be a trend throughout all the lands I have been to.”

“It is like that here in some respects as well. Or it was. Some people prefer the old ways, but the younger ones are more free-spirited like I am. My father will have to accept that about me. And he has…for the most part. But my brothers are another matter. They are overprotective of me. Severely so in Silan's case.”

“Well, I do not wish to incur the wrath of any of your brothers or your father. By the by, how many brothers are we talking about?”

“Only six.”

“Six!” Jaykun choked out. “And all are overprotective of you?”

“No. There is a fair enough balance between those who are and those who are not. I mean, to some extent they all are, but some of them understand that it is my life to live as I see fit. So long as you do not harm me, you have nothing to worry about from them.”

“And how many are zealously overprotective like Silan?”

“Silan is in a class by himself. However, there are two others of a similar bent. Not quite so fanatical, but similar.”

“Lovely. And the other three are more fair. Well, at least they are split in twain and not all will be wanting my head on a platter.”

“Don't worry,” she said, patting his chest. “We'll be fine. You'll be fine.”

There was the sound of a throat clearing behind her and Jileana turned about to see Dremu standing there awkwardly.

“Dremu! I forgot all about you! I am so sorry!” she exclaimed.

“It's all right, my lady. I found a place to sleep with some of the other servants. They got a cave just for those who are coming and going as guests. It was nice. Nicest place I've slept in a long time.”

Dremu put the trunk he'd had tied to his back on the floor of the cave. “I checked,” he said. “Not one drop of water got in.”

“It was a part of the spell I cast. It makes things light and waterproof. It helps when we have to travel here and there with things we don't want to get wet for whatever reason. Though I must say it isn't something that comes up often. We usually don't mind getting things wet. Now come on. We have a busy day ahead. Dremu, you can follow Mishka around today. She is a serving girl who works here. Follow her lead and you will learn what is expected of you.”

“Yes, my lady. Anything you want,” he said, bowing low to her.

“Enough. I am no empress in need of kowtowing,” she scolded him, lifting him up straight. “I am just a woman trying to give a man a new way of life. When you are used to life here you can decide what you would like to do. You will earn coin and you will find people here friendly and accepting. Perhaps even fascinated by who you are. Later I will bring you to my mother and she will cast magic on you that will allow you to breathe underwater. It will be necessary if you are going to be living here.”

“A s-s-spell?” the man said nervously. “Oh, I don't—”

“Dremu, you have been so brave so far already. Surely you have seen mages. A sea witch is no different. Although, I daresay my mother is far more powerful than the average mage. She won't hurt you. No one will hurt you while you are under my protection. If anyone misuses you in any way, you let me know immediately.”

“Yes, my lady,” he said with a tremulous smile.

“Now, I'm sure everyone is hungry. So let me fetch something for us to eat.”

“Oh no, my lady! I can do it! I already know where the…kitchen is. Or rather, the cave where they prepare the trays.” He turned to Jaykun. “It's not really a kitchen so much because there's very little cooking done. But you should see these huge cauldrons they have where they boil the fishes sometimes. The fishes in shells, that is. Like crab and such. I never had crab before last night. I've never tasted anything so good. Anyway, let me go get it. I'll be back in a shake.” Dremu turned and dashed off, heading out of the cave.

“Well, he's excited to be here,” Jaykun said with a chuckle.

“And you aren't?” she asked archly, a brow lifting.

“Oh, I'm excited all right. But it has less to do with being here and more to do with what I'm seeing right now,” he said, sliding a lascivious look down the length of her body.

“Stop!” She laughed. “Time enough for such things later. Dremu will be back quickly.”

“Then I shall have to be quicker!”

She squealed when he grabbed her up off her feet and threw her down onto the bed.

After gorging himself on her and then breakfast, Jaykun followed Jileana out of the cave and, with a harrowing dive off the cliff face, into the water. As they swam downward, Jileana changed back and forth between woman and selkie seal, playfully swimming across his path each time she did. She was quite beautiful in both forms, Jaykun thought. Her body was sleek and dynamic, fast and incredible. He found himself thinking how easily he could get used to her being around. But he quashed the thought instantly. They were from different worlds. He could never live in this world and she would not likely want to live in his. And in any event, in both worlds he was a cursed man. A man with a mission in life that did not leave room for things like relationships with women. As it was, he was letting things get too far out of hand, letting his desire to be around her cloud his better judgment and get in the way of his goals. Now his brothers would have to cope with the aftermath of his rash choices. They would be forced to wait another three weeks for the moon to come full before they could go home to their families for the winter. He felt very guilty about that actually. He had been selfish and his brothers would pay the price for it. He wasn't kidding himself any longer. He had come here under the guise of diplomacy, but the truth was, he had not wanted to leave Jileana's company. He had not yet been prepared to do that. Their time together had been too short. But now he would have her for the better part of a month, until the week of the full moon, and he found himself glad of it. He should feel worse for it, he supposed, but he couldn't make himself hang his head with heavy regret. He enjoyed being with her too much to come by too much guilt honestly.

They went deep into the water, but he did not feel the pressure of it. He should have, but he didn't. He imagined that the sea witch's spell must have something to do with it. As they went down, they passed a great many other people. To his shock, there were more than just selkies. There were morari and mermaids and mermen.

When they reached the seabed, there was a vast plain of white sands that led to a golden gate. They swam through the gate and along a busy byway toward a huge coral reef. Only this coral had been shaped like a castle, built and grown into grand rooms and apartments, more of the caves dotted along every inch of it. There were selkies everywhere and all of them turned to watch him go by with more than a little curiosity. A selkie in human form looked no different to him from a human, but they had no such trouble telling that he was not a selkie.

“It's your smell,” Jileana said when he remarked upon it.

“My
what
?”

“Your smell. Selkies have a very sensitive sense of smell and we know what other selkies smell like. You smell human. It's not a bad thing”—she laughed when he gave her a look—“just different.”