Fantasyland 02 The Golden Dynasty (53 page)

The second thing I noticed was there was an
older, slightly stooped, short, round woman approaching us. She had
an abundance of coarse, steel gray in her dark hair, lots of
wrinkles on her face and a bustling but economical manner.

I knew this had to be Twinka, the house
slave Lahn told me about who looked after his residence while he
was away.

And she didn’t like me, this I knew
instantly, and I wasn’t sure she was all that hot on Lahn for she
gave me a nod, Lahn a slight bow then stormed right by us without a
word to stand outside the doors, plant her hands at her hips and
scowl in the direction of the wagons that were coming up the
rear.

“She was with my mother and father, this was
their home too. She has called this home longer than I have and has
spent vast amounts more time here than I have. She thinks of it as
her own,” Lahn reminded me of something he’d told me the night
before while we were lying under the stars on our hides.

“Mm hmm,” I muttered, staring at Twinka’s
straight back.

“She does anything you do not like, I’ll
whip her myself,” Lahn muttered back in Korwahk, my eyes snapped to
him and Twinka, whose elderly status obviously didn’t affect her
ears, harrumphed loudly.

I ignored the harrumph and hissed at Lahn in
English, “You will not.”

“Meena,” Lahn said to me then his eyes
turned to Twinka and he finished firmly, “kay jahkan.”*

I pressed my lips together.

Lahn’s eyes came back to me and he glared at
my lips.

I unpressed them.

Lahn glare melted and he grinned.

I rolled my eyes.

Then Lahn turned to Twinka, “Uvoo kah
Dahksahna el cuun, boh. Lee aka lapan ansha bel fahkah yo na
geenheeso.”**

“Meena, kah Dax,” she muttered, stomping
back our way, “kay pahnsay yo nahna tahnhan.”***

I couldn’t help it, at her muttered, skating
on insubordinate words I pressed my lips together as my eyes grew
big.

Lahn kept smiling at me.

“If you whip her,” I said in English, “I
won’t speak to you for a week.”

Lahn’s smile faded before he replied in
English, “If she does something to earn the tip of my lash, you
will not do a thing.”

Oh right. I forgot.

“Right,” I whispered, “I forgot.”

Lahn looked at me a second, then he looked
to the ceiling, likely for deliverance. Twinka made an impatient
noise.

I took off for my tour.

Even if there was a lot of it, there wasn’t
much to it. Lots of rooms, not a lot of furniture. Not that I could
take too much in, Twinka was practically running, pointing at
things, muttering words I barely caught, clearly thinking she had
better things to do than give her new queen a tour and wanted to
get this over with so she could boss around the girls when they
arrived.

I did see they didn’t really have furniture
in Korwahn. Mostly lots of cushions and thick rugs over tiled
floors. Even the dining room-ish room had a long, very low table
with twelve big cushions set on the floor around it. There was no
room with a desk in it that would say “study”. There were six
bedrooms and each had a bathroom-ish type room off it with chamber
pot behind a screen and basin with jug of water and the master (I
was guessing it was the master) had another room with a big, carved
wood wardrobe and an actual chaise lounge. Each bedroom had
real-ish beds, that was to say, the platform was two feet off the
ground, the mattress was twice as thick as the one in our cham,
there were twice as many pillows at the head and it was covered in
silk sheets (no hides) and intricately embroidered silk quilts. But
no headboard or footboard.

The best of the lot in the house was the
bathing room off the master suite that was really like a
bathing
pool
, with cool
blue and green mosaic tiles and blue and green pads on the edges.
The bath was big enough to swim in and had a big window that opened
to a balcony that looked out over Korwahn and the vista beyond it.
At my delighted intake of breath, Twinka grudgingly slid up a
heavy, wooden door and a gush of steaming water flowed into the
bath. I saw that the bottom of the bath had a slight decline and
there were four narrow pieces of some gummy type substance that
plugged up drains at the opposite end to the water.

“
We have,” she stated haughtily in Korwahk,
“a direct feed from the hot spring. We are,” she went on snootily,
“one of only
seven
houses in
all of Korwahn who have such a blessing.”

I nodded thinking blessing was the word
for it. The water gushing in (before she slammed the door down
again), was clear and clean and steaming and I could not
freaking
wait
to take a
bath.

Twinka stomped out, I followed her and we
continued our tour. I noticed on the walls there were interesting
paintings or sheets of copper or silver with designs pounded in the
metal and even heavy, carved framed mirrors (and, seeing myself for
the first time in months, I had to say, Korwahk sun, Jacanda
painted face, love and pregnancy suited me – even I had to admit, I
looked freaking
great
).

It was all sparkling clean and clearly well
taken care of by Twinka who looked like she could keel over at any
minute but moved like she was about twenty-three.

That was kind of it except for the square
roof (with the courtyard hole in it) which was absolutely
freaking
awesome.
It had
a bunch of colorful pots, huge to very small, filled with spiked
greens, trailing plants and vibrant flowers. It also had an area
with what looked like lounge chairs for lazing in and catching the
sun that had thick pads on them. Another area with a round iron
table ornate with curlicues and four matching chairs. And the last
area was an abundance of thick mats and huge, brightly-colored silk
pillows.

Total oasis. The best spot in the house, no
doubt.

After the roof, it was downhill from there
and Twinka rushed me through a kitchen at the back that had what
looked like a fire-burning oven as well as rudimentary stove and a
long, battered table. Out the backdoor through a small, tidy
courtyard (with more potted plants) was where the slaves quarters
were, four small rooms, two on top, two on bottom, each room had
two twin-sized pallets on the floor, two drawer wooden dressers
beside each pallet with one, measly candleholder on each
dresser.

Hmm. I was going to have to do something
about that.

Packa, I had learned from Jacanda, had
served Lahn the longest and took care of his food and cham needs
prior to my arrival. He had purchased the rest of them at an
auction two days before the Hunt (where many soon-to-be husbands
saw to the needs of their future wives).

From Oahsee (who asked Bain who answered),
I learned Lahn bought slaves prior to the other Hunts he attended
but did not participate in as Dax then sold them immediately after
when nothing struck his fancy.

Therefore, Packa was the only one who’d been
there.

And by the time we arrived back in the
courtyard area, Lahn was gone but my girls were there with trainee
warriors lugging in our stuff from the wagon outside and the girls
were looking around with awe.

The minute Twinka saw them, she opened her
mouth to speak.

And the minute she did, I got there
first.

See, I dug it that this was her place, I
totally got that, but these were
my
girls.

And no one bossed them around.

In Korwahk, I quickly introduced my girls to
Twinka, Twinka to my girls and then I announced, “These things can
stay here for now. Twinka, please give my girls a tour of the house
and then they’ll need some time to bathe, put on clean clothes,
rest for a bit after that ride and have some food. After that,
these things can be unpacked.”

Twinka squinted up at me with a mouth so
tight it tripled the wrinkles surrounding it.

Then she muttered, “Gay na tahnay,”****
glared through my girls, then raced off.

They all glanced at me as they raced off
after her.

I pulled in a breath and let it go.

Then I went in search of Lahn and found him
coming out of the bathroom-ish room and into the master suite.

“
Hey,” I said on a big smile. “I like your
house. The roof is freaking
awesome.
”

“Dohno,” he muttered as he walked passed me
to the door.

I instantly deflated and I didn’t even know
I’d inflated.

Then I turned rather despondently to follow
him with my eyes. I figured he had Horde and war things on his mind
and was in king mode so he was away to do king things.

But okay, so sure, he only lived here two
months out of the year so this probably wasn’t an important place
to him and sure, he couldn’t know that in my world, a husband
bringing his wife home for the first time was a big thing.

But still…

At the door, instead of walking through it,
he grabbed it and threw it to.

Then he turned back to me.

Then I caught the look in his eye.

Then I gave him another big smile as he
stalked toward me. Then I let out a laughing cry when he got to me
and caught me up in his strong arms.

We tested out the bed first.

It was huge, it was soft and it was
sturdy.

We tested out the bathing pool next.

It was
divine.

* * * * *

Let’s just say Twinka didn’t like Ghost.

Like,
at all.

And we’ll also say she didn’t like the
familiarity, consideration, caring and casualness with which I
treated my girls and flatly refused to respond positively to me
doing the same with her.

But I didn’t care.

I was fucking queen.

I’d endured a H
unt. I’d witnessed a suicide-slash-execution. I’d
watched a challenge for the Dax. I’d survived a bloody attack in my
cham. I’d assisted in a minor medical procedure with only the most
primitive of instruments at our disposal. I’d seen one of my girls
beheaded. I had belatedly made one helluva match between a tiny,
sweet, beautiful, timid Fleuridian girl and a dark, proud, taciturn
Horde warrior.

I could create thunder, lightning, rain,
flowers and rainbows.

And I’d made a savage brute fall in love
with me in a month.

Hell, by his account, it was practically at
first sight.

So she wasn’t going to fuck with me.

Therefore I ignored her and so did my
girls.

It worked great.

* * * * *

Once settled in Korwahn, life went on as
normal. I spent time with my posse (on my roof, their roofs, in my
dining room, their dining rooms, in my courtyard, their courtyards,
you get the picture). I wandered the city with my protectors. I met
my people. I shopped in the marketplace.

Lahn came home for dinner twice and before I
went to bed three times. Other than that, my man was busy.

This stunk.

But I was queen so I sucked it up.

* * * * *

When the morning sickness came, I gave up
Korwahk wine. Lahn questioned this when I stopped him from pouring
me a chalice at dinner and I explained in my world pregnant women
didn’t drink alcoholic beverages as they’d noticed it affected
growth in the womb.

His brows drew together at this but he
didn’t question it further and he didn’t pour my wine.

By the by, the arrival of morning sickness,
thus confirmation I was carrying his child was taken in stride by
Lahn. I was freaked out but happy. He already knew in his pahnsahna
I was carrying his child.

Still, I made him celebrate.

With the way I chose to celebrate, Lahn
didn’t seem to mind.

* * * * *

We were in Korwahn because Suh Tunak was
amassing there before they rode on Maroo.

We were also in Korwahn because Lahn had
sent another message out to his brethren and that was that he was
building an elite squad to be left behind in Korwahn to guard his
golden queen (an elite squad, how cool was that?). Any warrior who
wished to put himself forward for this squad would need to compete
for it and they had to arrive by a certain date.

I was not allowed to go to the competition,
it was warriors only. This was, Seerim told Diandra, because it
might turn my stomach and Lahn knew firstly, I’d had enough of my
stomach being turned and secondly, my stomach was being turned
every morning.

So I was glad I wasn’t allowed to go. Though
I didn’t much like the word “allowed”, I didn’t share this with
Lahn.

Lahn did tell me my guard would number five
hundred.

And he also told me fifteen thousand
competed for these positions.

Yes.
Fifteen thousand.

I was amazed and touched by this.

Then again, who wouldn’t be?

* * * * *

I got to attend the Ceremony of the Paint
where the queen’s warriors painted each other with their new
stripes (the Xacto, I’m sure, not there because of me and the other
wives who attended).

I sat on my throne of horns in the massive
clearing at the very top of the top plateau that was meant for
official business and I watched as the warriors were painted with
three thin black strips that curved from a point at their shoulder
blade, over their shoulder to a point at their pectoral. Three more
were painted from that point and around their arm to the front. And
one thick gold strip was painted in the middle around the tip of
their shoulder.

They did not wear this paint for ceremonies.
They wore it every day.