Fantasyland 02 The Golden Dynasty (20 page)

“
Then,” she said softly, reaching out and
touching my knee, “I think my guess would be correct and he
took
no
offense at
all, my queen.”

My stomach dipped then it warmed.

Oh man. Here we go again.

“Now!” she exclaimed and my body started. “I
have more news.”

I didn’t know if I could take more news
but because I
was
a dork, I
still asked, “What news?”

“Well, Seerim has found your Narinda.”

I smiled and clapped my hands in front of me
so Ghost lifted her head and blinked at me with tiger cub
irritation before she settled again.

“He did?” I asked.

“He did, indeed, my queen. She is the bride
of Feetak.”

I leaned into her. “Is she okay?”

Diandra smiled gently. “She is. Feetak is a
strong warrior. A dependable one. Seerim respects him. And, he
tells me, Feetak is taken with his bride. This is why she has not
been out and about and he did not go to the games. He has been
spending a great deal of time with her.”

I hoped this was good news.

Diandra went on, proving it was. “There are
some warriors who do this. It is after the fact, of course, but it
is what in our lands would be considered as wooing. He did not
allow her to attend the selection, although he participated as is
mandatory, and this is likely because, as you did, she would find
it distressing. But Seerim says he was seen at the celebration with
her last night. Though he took her back to their cham early before
things got, erm… out of hand.”

Yeah, out of hand. She could say that
again.

Diandra kept speaking. “But she is well and
I know where their cham is so, when you are better and when Seerim
says it is appropriate to approach, in other words, when Feetak
would consent to it, I will take you to her or ask her to attend
you.”

Oh thank God.

“That’d be cool, Diandra, thanks.”

“Cool,” she said on a smile. “You must tell
me about your land one day, Dahksahna Circe. We share the same
language and yet, we do not.”

I’d bet that would be an interesting
conversation.

I grinned at her while changing the subject.
“And your other news?”

She pulled in breath then her face lit again
and she stated, “The Dax has spoken and we do not ride.”

I blinked.

“What?”

“The Dax has spoken and we do not ride,” she
repeated.

“I don’t under –”

She leaned in. “We ride, always. The day
after the selection, starting at daybreak, the camp is packed up
and the instant it is packed up, be it early morning, afternoon or
evening, we ride. But,
you
are
unwell, you had a turn last night, your king is concerned and he
has decreed that until he is content with your health, The Horde
does not ride.”

God, why was it that every time I convinced
myself I did not like this guy he did something to make me like
him?

“That was –” I started quietly.

“
Sweet
of him,” Diandra finished for me on one of her
wicked smiles.

“Right,” I whispered, feeling my cheeks
flame and not from sunburn.

She reached out a hand and touched my knee
and she did this while laughing.

I, on the other hand, sighed.

She’d just leaned back when the cham flaps
slapped open and my eyes went to it to see Lahn bending to
enter.

And again, here we go.

I braced for him to be rude, bark orders and
ignore me.

But he did not do this.

His eyes came right to me and then he did.
Right in front of everyone, he carefully turned me (and Ghost, who
made a purry mew and looked up at him) toward the side of the bed
and then he leaned into me, fists on either side, body bent down at
the waist, face super close.

Then he spoke softly.

“Erm…” Diandra whispered, “your king asks
how you are.”

He didn’t take his eyes from mine as Diandra
translated and I couldn’t take mine from his.

“I’m fine,” I said softly and Diandra
translated, speaking one word.

Lahn spoke more and Diandra interpreted,
“Did you do as you were told and rest?”

“Uh… yes,” I replied.

“Meena,” Diandra said.

“Good,” Lahn rumbled then said more
words.

When he was done, Diandra spoke. “When you
take lunch, he wants you to take more medicine. Do you
understand?”

I nodded.

“Good,” he repeated on another rumble then
spoke more.

He had finished talking and Diandra didn’t
translate for a few seconds then she said haltingly and with humor
in her voice, “Your king wants to be between your legs tonight,
Dahksahna Circe. He commands you get better in order that that can
be so.”

My eyes got wide, my cheeks again flamed and
I snapped, “Lahn!”

He grinned at me, totally unrepentant.

“I change my mind, you’re not sweet in this
cham,” I declared irately, Diandra translated and Lahn’s hand moved
swiftly, cupping me at the back of my neck, he squeezed hard as he
threw his head back and roared with laughter. “I wasn’t being
amusing,” I informed him, Diandra translated and his waning
laughter instantly waxed.

Brute!

I was glaring at him when his eyes came to
me. He took one look and the smile remained fixed to his face. Then
he spoke.

Diandra interpreted, “It is clear my tigress
feels well or at least well enough to bare her claws.”

“Damn straight,” I snapped, Lahn grinned and
Diandra asked, sounding perplexed, “Pardon, my queen?”

“He’s absolutely right!” I snapped again,
Diandra translated and Lahn chuckled.

Then his face sobered and he whispered,
“Neesoo, kah rahna fauna.”

“Rest, my golden doe,” Diandra whispered and
I pulled in a breath but even though I tried to keep up the glare,
I knew my face had gone soft.

My eyes slid away and I whispered, “All
right.”

Lahn gently pulled me toward him and I felt
his lips at my ear where he murmured, “Rest, baby.”

I closed my eyes and shivered then shivered
again when I felt his wet tongue on the hot skin of my neck. He
pulled back, looked deep in my eyes a moment, straightened and
walked right out of the tent without another word or glance to
anyone.

There was silence in the tent and then
Teetru came forward and placed a plate of cut pears and grapes on
the bed between Diandra and I just as Packa handed us cups of cool
water. I smiled at her, took a long drink and set my cup on the
ground before I grabbed a slice of pear and popped it into my
mouth. Then I looked at Diandra when she started talking.

“
He always frightened me half to death,
even as a young lad. So intense. So ferocious.” Diandra remarked,
still staring at the cham flaps then her head turned to me. “But
I’m beginning to like him.” Then she grinned her wicked grin. “I’m
thinking he
is
sweet.”

I had to put a stop to this, pronto, mainly
because of how it made my heart feel.

“He wasn’t sweet when he made me sit in the
burning sun and close to roasting firepits for nine hours
yesterday, saying not one word to me and not even allowing me to
feed myself,” I reminded her mostly to remind myself.

Her face softened and so did her voice
when she said, “I understand this would be upsetting to you but it
is your place to sit at his side. It is at all times but
especially
during a ceremony and a
celebration. His people spend all day working in the sun, riding in
the sun. He had no idea it would make you ill. It is true, there
are other women from other lands who are wives to warriors but
there are few and King Lahn has certainly had no personal
experience of any of them.”

It sucked but this was true.

Diandra kept talking. “And clearly, my dear,
it cannot have escaped your notice last night… or just now… that
your falling ill and his responsibility for that troubled him
deeply. Seerim and I were dragged from our bed, the healer, The
Horde does not ride and he visits you during the day when he
normally attends his warriors.”

It sucked but this was true too.

“Okay, I’ll give him that,” I allowed and
her lips tipped up. “But yesterday, he didn’t speak to me for hours
and –”

“Did you starve?” Diandra cut me off to
ask.

“No,” I answered shortly.

“Go without drink?”

I looked away and muttered, “No.”

“
My queen, please, look at me,” she called
and I did. “You were correct in what you said to him. In here, he
is
your
Lahn. But
out there, he is the Dax and the Dax is the mightiest of all
warriors.”

“But –” I started to protest and she lifted
a hand.

“
There will be times, out there, when he
shows you kindness, affection. But there will be times when
he
will
not.
I am sorry this
distresses you, my dear, and I will tutor you now so, in future,
when it happens, you will understand. A warrior does not ever show
weakness and whether you feel it is right or it is wrong, these
soft feelings are considered a weakness. Therefore, most times
outside this cham, he will be who he is and if you are lucky, which
it is clear you are, in this cham he will be who you need him to
be. Your role as his queen but also simply as his bride is to
understand that and find a way to live with it.”

I made no reply because I had none. She was
making sense which also sucked.

She went on, clearly thinking I hadn’t yet
gotten it. “There have been warriors who have fallen victim to
their wives’ charms and have acted out there,” she pointed to the
cham flaps, “in ways a warrior not only does not respect but they
deride.” She leaned slightly toward me and whispered, “This, as I’m
sure you can imagine, is not received well.”

I bet it wasn’t.

Diandra continued. “There are even warriors
who stop acting on their own decisions and move to carry out the
merest whim of their wife. This is even less well-received.”

I could imagine.

She carried on. “But this does
not
happen often. It is extremely
rare and it is extremely rare because of how it is received and
what befalls the warrior who succumbs to his bride’s charms. But
there is another reason and that is simply because these men are
warriors, that doesn’t happen often because they are who they are
and they’re trained to be that way from the age of five. They don’t
know how to be any other way.”

Fuck, that made sense too.

“
Dahksahna Circe,” Diandra continued, “I
urge you to listen and understand this. It will make your
adjustment to the Korwahk and to your new husband go much faster
and it will make
you
far more
content.”

I bit my lip.

Then I nodded.

She smiled her approval.

Then I pulled in an unsteady breath and
decided I was here, this was happening, I wasn’t leaving, I needed
to find a way to cope until that happened so I might as well know
it all.

“Okay, Diandra, can I ask you to explain
more?” I requested and she nodded as she inclined her head.

“Certainly, it would be my honor to explain
anything to you because you are my queen,” her eyes warmed, “and it
would be my pleasure because you are my friend and I want you to be
content.”

Yep, it was official. I definitely liked
Diandra.

“Thanks,” I whispered then lamely threw out
a hand. “And thanks for… everything. You’ve been very kind and I
don’t know what I would have done if –”

She waved her hand and interrupted, “Let’s
not speak of it. Just know that, too, was my pleasure.”

I smiled at her, reached out and took her
hand to give it a squeeze.

She squeezed mine back.

Then I let her go, leaned back and she
prompted, “You wanted me to explain something?”

I nodded. “It’s the, um… last night, late…
the celebration…” I trailed off, she lifted her chin encouragingly
and I went on, “There were women there, um… dancing and, uh…
such
with the warriors and they were
not –”

I stopped talking when Diandra’s face
changed. Her face was expressive but the look she was giving me I
could not read.

“Xacto,” she said the word like she’d prefer
not to say it.

“Xacto?” I asked and she nodded.

“Xacto,” she repeated.

“Uh –” I began.

“Warrior slaves,” she stated and I
blinked.

“Warrior slaves?” I repeated and she nodded.
“What –?” I began and she sighed.

“Suh Tunak, or The Horde, as a collective,
own slaves. These are not owned by one warrior and they have no
duties to anyone but the warriors as a Horde. They are always young
and attractive and when they lose these traits, they are sold onto
families who can utilize their services in different ways.”

I didn’t want to ask because I already
pretty much knew. But I asked.

“And what are their duties?”

She answered swiftly like she wanted to get
it over with. “They bathe the warriors, wash their hair and plait
it or arrange it as the warrior sees fit. They paint them for
battle or ceremonies. They massage the warriors after battle,
campaigns or strenuous training. They also are available at all
times to receive the attentions of the warriors should that warrior
feel the need.”

I stared at her.

She continued just as swiftly. “They also
have duties to the young warriors. They erm… teach them things that
will… erm… eventually, in future, benefit their wives greatly
should the young warriors be good learners.”

Oh my God. Lahn was good in our bed
because those women
taught
him how
to be so.