Fantasyland 02 The Golden Dynasty (17 page)

Annoying and, might I add,
insane.

But I played the role of the golden queen,
took food and drink from my king’s fingers at his command, listened
to the drums, watched the dancers and revelry, listened to the
shouts of laughter and cheers and searched the crowd hoping to see
Narinda.

I did not see Narinda. I saw Sheena dancing
a couple of times but no Narinda. I also saw the vendor who I got
the bangles from. He was talking to some people and pointing at me
so I waved at him. This caused him to smile a smile so big it had
to hurt his face, jump up and down and clasp his hands toward the
heavens again which made me laugh the only laugh I’d laughed since
getting to the selection

Shortly after the ceremony was over and the
celebration began, with a terse order, Lahn relieved Diandra of her
duties. She gave me an encouraging smile, moved quickly down the
steps and disappeared in the revelers. This meant I didn’t even
have my new friend to talk to.

If I was truthful, there was a lot of it
that was interesting. The fruit juice, food and even wine were all
delicious. The dancing was manic and strange but fun to watch. And
clearly Lahn’s people were having a good time. This was my first
celebration where I had it in me to pay attention so I didn’t know
the normal vibe but it seemed everyone was very happy, joyous even.
And a lot of those types of looks were thrown in Lahn and my
direction indicating a great many people believed the legend of the
Golden Dynasty was coming true and a future of promise lay before
them.

And, I had to admit, it didn’t feel crap in
the slightest that people rained flowers on me.

That said, I was not wrong and I knew I was
scorching under that hot sun and although Lahn often got up to
wander the top of the dais, chat with the man in robes, warriors
who came forward or other men who approached, I was not allowed to
do so and since my husband could not communicate with me and since
he was in warrior king mode he didn’t try so a lot of the time I
was bored out of my freaking mind.

The sun had long since set and I was glad
for it. Lahn had just offered me wine and it was the third sip in a
row he allowed me to refuse. After that heat and it being hours
since I had any water, I needed alcohol like I needed a hole in the
head. I had been sitting all day but I was exhausted. I needed to
get to the cham, figure out how to communicate to the girls I
needed a cool bath and then I needed to figure out how to get the
fuck out of this place.

I lifted my heels to the seat, wrapped my
arms around my legs and pressed my cheek to my knees, doing all of
this carefully so as not to aggravate the tightness of my skin but
doing it because night had fallen, a chill had hit the air and
against my burning skin that chill was freaking chilly. Then I
turned my unseeing eyes at the dancers.

Then they blinked as what my eyes were
encountering penetrated my distraction and my head came up. Then it
turned away because I had seen a painted warrior with a woman who
was wearing a short sarong, not a long one like mine and all of the
other women I had seen while in that world. The back of her sarong
was at her waist, she was bent forward, he was behind her, she had
nothing but his hands pounding her hips into his groin to keep her
up and they were fornicating.

Fornicating!

On the dance floor!

Diandra called it sordid?

I’ll say sordid. Good God!

My eyes swept the scene and I noticed
something I hadn’t noticed before. Most of the crowd had moved the
revelry amongst the tents. The front of the dais was taken up now
by painted warriors and a lot of women the type I’d never noticed
before. Skimpy bandeau or halter tops (if they had any on at all!)
and short sarongs, bare feet, very painted faces, wild hair.

And I knew that the celebration had changed.
This part was for the warriors and these women were not wives or
brides. They were something else.

And there were a lot of warriors, enough
that at least
some
of them had
to have wives.

Seriously, I needed to get the fuck out of
there.

“Kah Lahnahsahna,” Lahn called and I turned
my head to him. “Vayoo ansha,” he ordered, his voice quiet, his
head tipping to his lap.

I stared at him, my heart lurching.

“What?”

“Vayoo ansha,” he repeated with another dip
of his head to his lap.

Oh God.

I didn’t move, just stared.

He leaned toward me, his fingers curled
around my elbow, gliding down to my wrist at the same time pulling
my arm away from my legs. Once he had it extended to him, he lifted
it high and repeated, “Vayoo ansha, Circe.”

Fuck. He wanted me to come there.

My concern was…
why?

Hesitantly, I slid my heels off the throne,
let my legs go and got up. Lahn didn’t let go of my hand and kept
it lifted high until I was standing in front of him. Then his hand
released mine, both of his came to my hips and he pulled me
forward, not so I was sitting in his lap but so my knees were in
his throne at either side of his hips and I was straddling him.

Shit, shit, shit.

Luckily, I’d been able to use my sarong to
shield my legs from the sun but my current position still wasn’t
comfortable because his horns had no pads and they were hard and
rounded, digging into my shins.

He tilted his hips down and reclined against
the back of the throne so my privates were resting on his and his
hands slid from my hips, up my back, pulling my torso closer.

Shit!

When his hands were between my shoulder
blades and my face was close to his, he spoke to me softly saying
something I didn’t understand.

“You know,” I replied, “I don’t understand a
word you’re saying.”

He tipped his head to the side, his mouth
twitched then he spoke some more.

When he stopped, I informed him on a shake
of my head, “Nope, didn’t get any of that either, big guy.”

“Big guy,” he muttered, his mouth twitching
again.

That was appealing, I had to admit, but not
so appealing I could forget he was a huge dick.

I looked over his shoulder.

“Circe,” he called, one hand gliding down my
back, the other one going up to curve around my neck and I looked
at him again.

“Yes?”

He said something else, it was soft, it was
gentle, it went up at the end in a question and if that didn’t do
it, his brows went up too.

But all I felt was his hand that had lowered
to cup my ass.

Dear Lord, I hoped he didn’t think I would
engage in what was happening all around us.

“Lahn,” I replied, squirming a little with
discomfort in his lap.

He repeated what he’d asked but this time,
his hand at my neck moved around and when he finished his question,
it had curled around my jaw and his thumb and forefinger moved the
sides of my mouth up in a smile.

I guessed at his question and answered, “No,
I’m not happy.”

His hand drifted down my neck, my chest,
over my breast and I sucked in breath when it stopped, holding me
there.

This wasn’t getting better.

“Good?” he asked.

“No, not good,” I answered, shaking my head
and wondering what would happen if I pulled away.

“Okay?” he went on and I shook my head.

“
No,
not
okay,” I stated and lifted a hand to curl it tight around
his wrist at my breast, making my point.

His fingers tensed at my bottom.

“Not okay,” he muttered, his painted eyes
moving over my face.

“Nope,” I affirmed.

“
Me sah,” he stated, his fingers giving my
breast a light squeeze then he took them away and lifted his hand,
touching his finger to my chest, “
Sah
.”

Not this, he said,
this.
In other words, he wasn’t asking if I was okay
with him touching me but if I was just okay.

“No, Lahn, I’m not okay. My skin is burned,
my ass hurts from sitting for hours, I don’t like what’s happening
out there,” I swung my arm behind me but kept his eyes at the same
time I shook my head, “and I’m tired. I want to go back to the
tent.” I pointed at me and then said, “Cham.”

His fingers moved to trail lightly along the
top of my bandeau as he said something in a quiet voice.

“Whatever,” I muttered, looking over his
shoulder.

Then I heard him call out and I looked back
at him to see his head turned. I turned mine in that direction and
saw a woman with a tray headed our way. She nodded, bowed, turned
and scuttled away. I looked back at Lahn when he started talking
and the only word I understood was cham.

I hoped this meant I was released from my
duties and going home.

Then his hand lifted, going around my back,
he pulled my hair off one side of my neck then his hand wrapped
around the back of my neck and he drew me closer and to the side
until his mouth was at my ear. He whispered something there as his
other hand left my bottom and started to stroke my back.

I had a feeling this meant I had the sweet
Lahn back but too little, too late. My skin was fried, I’d been
bored out of my brain and people were fornicating on the dance
floor, something he had to know was not of my culture but
definitely knew I didn’t like. He didn’t give one shit about me. He
could be sweet but when he wasn’t, he
really
wasn’t and there were far more of those times than
the sweet ones.

His fingers tensing at my neck pulled me
back and positioned me until his face was all I could see and his
hand kept stroking my back in a light, sweet way (the brute!) when
he spoke again.

“Me Geoffrey, na kuvoo?” he asked, his face
serious but not hard.

“No Geoffrey,” I stated and he nodded
once.

“No Geoffrey, Circe. Nahna Dax tahnoo tee,
na kuvoo?”*

He shouldn’t have dismissed Diandra; I had
pretty much no clue. The only thing I could do was nod.

“Dohno,” he muttered, his hand left my neck,
his eyes moved to it and I watched his face go soft when he stared
at it.

That look was appealing too, the
asshole.

Then he moved his hand to his chest and
wiped it all around and even in the firelight I saw he was rubbing
my gold dust on his skin.

“
Na loot kay. Rah loot quaxi. Dax loot
Dahksahna,” his hand moved around my neck again and he jerked me
gently forward so my face was in his, “
Lahn
loot
Lahnahsahna
. Nahna rah lapay loh kah luna boh.
Kah
quaxi lapan loh
nahna
luna anah, kah Circe.”**

Seriously, he shouldn’t have dismissed
Diandra.

“
I get that whatever you said you meant it,
big guy, but I… don’t…
understand…
you,” I told him.

He smiled and he knew I didn’t understand
him. But he totally didn’t care.

“Kah Dax?” We heard and both our heads
turned to the side to see a painted warrior coming our way.

My eyes moved to the steps to see another
warrior striding up, eyes on us.

Lahn started communicating his orders before
he got up, both his hands on my ass, holding me to him and my hands
went to his shoulders to steady myself so I wouldn’t take a header
backwards down a killer flight of stone steps. He kept talking as
his fingers gave my bottom a squeeze then he moved me slightly away
indicating I should drop my legs. I did, he set me on my feet and I
heard the name “Geoffrey” in whatever he was saying before he
finished saying it.

The warrior nodded and his eyes cut to me.
Then his arm extended to the steps.

“Cham, kah Circe,” Lahn said softly, his
hand again at my neck, he gave me a squeeze, my eyes went to his
face and then he tipped his head to the warrior.

Another honor guard. I nodded, got another
squeeze, Lahn let me go and his eyes went back to the open
space.

I followed the warrior, the other one moving
in behind, and they escorted me to my cham and once they made sure
the cham was safe for me, the flaps closed behind them.

My skin must have looked as bad as it felt
for when the girls came in and Teetru and Jacanda took one look at
me, Jacanda scurried out and Teetru started giving orders. Jacanda
and Beetus drew me a cool bath with some kind of additive that I
could have kissed them for because it took the sting out of the
burn. Then Packa and Gaal came in with huge, spiked pieces of an
aloe vera plant.

“Shahsha, my beautiful ladies,” I breathed
when I saw the aloe vera. “Shahsha.”

They looked at each other, lots of brows
raised or knit but this went along with smiles and then they kept
busy.

Once I was out of the bath, all five of them
and myself pressed the moisture out of the aloe vera and swiped it
carefully on the burned parts of my skin.

God. Heaven.

Then I put on a lightweight, short nightie
made of sky blue satin. Teetru and Jacanda set jugs of water on the
table with soft cloths, Teetru making motions to me to communicate
I was to use the jugs if I needed cool compresses.

I smiled at her, pressed my hand against my
mouth and then extended it to her, to Jacanda and to Packa, Beetus
and Gaal standing at the cham flaps.

“Thank you,” I breathed, they nodded and
Beetus even hesitantly gave my gesture back to me.

It was cute so I winked at her. She, being
Beetus, giggled and winked back.

Ghost jumped up on the bed, I winced when
she got to me and her paw grazed my skin before Teetru rushed
forward, confiscated the cub and said soothing words to me (and
Ghost, who she was taking with her) on her way out.