Fantasyland 02 The Golden Dynasty (64 page)

And this didn’t take into account the way
he doted on
me.

Dax Lahn was proud of his family and he made
no bones about it. As he would be mostly because I dug my heels in
his shoulders as payback in the heat of the moment. I’d forgotten
that my Mom’s Mom had been a twin and I’d researched this ages ago
to discover what it might mean to my future and found it was the
woman who was genetically predisposed to carrying twins.

So it was my fault-ish, or, more accurately,
my boon.

I did not share this information with
anyone and therefore everyone was crowing their Dax was not only
mightiest but also the most virile, seeing as his
other
powerful sword sired two
children on me. They had no idea it was me who was predisposed to
it and released two eggs his swimming warriors could fertilize.
They wouldn’t get it even if I tried to explain and, it must be
said, Lahn himself seemed pretty freaking pleased with the results
of our union so I didn’t have the heart to explain.

This was all also, I was
not
admitting to myself, my defense
mechanism against a husband who had injured me deeply but whose
unrelenting sweetness was healing a wound I had stubbornly refused
to allow to heal.

But now, I had forgiven him and I just
didn’t know how to tell him that. And the tables were turning. The
longer I procrastinated, the more it was becoming less a matter of
me telling him I forgave him and more me needing to be forgiven for
my delay in letting my savage brute off the hook.

Why did I always do this?

God, I was so freaking stupid!

And now, because I was stupid, about three
weeks ago Lahn’s sweetness started to hold an edge of impatience,
that edge grew, spread, built and honed and now it was long and
very sharp, like the side of his sword.

Yes. So. Freaking.
Stupid.

“
The Dax is in a foul mood,” Diandra
snapped, pulling my attention from me being stupid back to her
pointing out the results of my stupidity, “and this foul mood might
come home with him but it also spreads and, being the Dax, when it
spreads, it spreads
far
and it
spreads
wide
. I can
assure you that if he shares his frustration with you at home, you
can take this a hundredfold at how he shares it with his warriors
and anyone close enough to receive the lash of his tongue.” She
leaned into me. “I can assure you of this because
Seerim told
me
that King Lahn is
surrounded by an aura of black and everyone, be they warrior,
trainee, free man or slave, is giving him
and
his aura a
very wide berth.
”

Oh man.

Being Diandra, she kept at me. “And, I
would say, that Dax being
Dax Lahn
it is a good possibility that lash might graduate to the
tip of a whip or the edge of steel should you carry on much longer
holding your grudge and
withholding your charms
. The man is practically begging for a challenge
or
some
reason to
unleash some of his impatience on
someone
and the only thing I know is that someone
will
not
be
you.
”

Oh man!

Before I could even open my mouth, she kept
right on going. “What I’d like to know is, are you willing to be
responsible for one of the trainee warriors not buffing his saddle
to a deep enough shine and having his back opened up for this
perceived mistake?”

No. One could say I didn’t want that, like,
not at all.

Though I was surprised Lahn had his saddle
buffed. I didn’t think a savage brute would care about something
like that.

“
No, Diandra,” I whispered and my hand
curled tighter on my son’s head because, really, I was so…
fucking…
stupid!

Her hand dropped but she didn’t move out of
my space.

“
I understand, my dear, after you told me
how he reacted to your being who you are and where you’re from… the
words he said, how this would mark you. Words make marks deeper
than fists; they last longer and sometimes never go away. But The
Eunuch
told
you
Dax Lahn stopped at
nothing to bring you home and when he got you here, to keep you at
his side. And I saw the fear...” her eyes narrowed on my face when
mine widened, “oh yes, my dear, I didn’t miss it when you were
delivering upon him your children and he thought you would be lost
to him in a way no magic could bring you back.” She sucked in
breath then kept right on going. “I love you, my beautiful friend,
my golden queen, you know I love you dearly, but this has gone far
enough. I know with the instances you and I have shared that you
find it difficult to speak to those you love when you feel you have
done them wrong…” Jeez, freak me out, she
totally
knew me. “But I also know that you are our warrior
queen, your heart is as fierce as it is warm, and that you can pull
up the strength to find the words to mend wounds and find
forgiveness.”

Her hand came back to mine at Tunahn’s head
and her eyes looked deeply into my own.

“
Find words, Circe,” she urged gently.
“Mend the wounds in your marriage, forgive your husband and let him
forgive you. Do it for you, for him, for your wee ones and, by the
gods, for us
all
.”

I bit my lip.

Then I looked through my posse.

Then my eyes lifted and, one by one, caught
Zahnin and Bain’s.

Zahnin tipped his chin up. He’d heard. He
agreed with Diandra.

No surprise there.

Bain grinned. He’d heard. His thoughts were
already beyond the hard part and getting to the good stuff.

And one could definitely say I missed the
good stuff.

So no surprise from Bain either.

I shook my head at Bain then dropped it and
Diandra took her hand away as I rested my lips against my son’s
fuzzy head.

Then I heard a flurry of movement, my head
came up and my hand left Tunahn’s head to wrap an arm protectively
around him as I saw Zahnin detaining a young boy with his big hand
wrapped tight on his shoulder.

“The Dax commands his golden queen’s
attendance. It is urgent. She is ordered not to delay,” the boy,
out of breath from his run, rushed the words out.

Oh shit.

My eyes went to Zahnin to see him jerk his
chin at me and then he moved as commanded, that is to say, without
delay. My posse fell in and Zahnin took point, Bain took rear as we
hurried through the marketplace and the streets of Korwahn up to
Lahn and my house.

We all barely crowded through the door
before I stopped, shocked to see Lahn standing, arms crossed, legs
planted, face set in granite, in the courtyard. Beside him stood a
woman who had to be older than time. Her hair was all gray, wiry
and there was a lot of it shooting everywhere around her head, down
her shoulders and chest. She was even more stooped and wrinkled
than Twinka, who stood just behind her and Jacanda stood behind
Twinka.

“
Take the children, now,” Lahn barked, my
body started at his tone and Twinka and Jacanda jumped forward
(Twinka, by the by, still did not like me and still did not hide it
but she freaking
adored
my kids,
so much I had to keep an eye on her because I swear, the crazy
slave would spirit them away in the night if I didn’t).

Twinka went to Narinda and Jacanda came to
me, both moving to untie our wraps and take the children as Lahn
kept issuing curt orders.

“The rest, go. Now. I want no ears.” His
eyes sliced to Twinka. “The children will be cared for in your
quarters, do not enter this house until you have my leave,” he
jerked his head at Twinka who nodded and rushed away with Isis,
Jacanda with Tunahn on her heels. “Zahnin,” Lahn finished, “you
stay to escort the witch out when she is through.”

I blinked at the crazy-haired, stooped woman
to see she was studying me and she had the skin and probably used
to have the hair of a Korwahk but her eyes were bright blue.

Weird.

And she was a witch.

Weirder.

I didn’t know what to do with that. What I
did know was that whatever she was doing here, Lahn did not
like.

I didn’t think this was good.

My posse filed out. Zahnin took his place
inside the front doors. And Jacanda and Twinka were long gone with
Tunahn and Isis when Lahn dropped his arms and stalked into one of
the rooms on the bottom floor which was kind of a living room but
then again they all were, seeing as they all mostly just had rugs
and cushions except the room that had a dining table.

When the witch and I followed, he slammed
the door after we entered the room and wasted no time turning,
planting his legs, crossing his arms and barking, “Deliver your
message to my queen.”

My head jerked and I looked from my husband
to the witch.

“You are Circe Kaye Quinn?” the woman asked
in Korwahk.

I opened my mouth to answer but Lahn got
there before me to bite off, “She is Dahksahna Circe, the true,
golden warrior queen of Korwahk.”

The witch nodded to Lahn, a small smile
tipped her lips and her eyes came back to me.

Then she lifted her hand, reached into a
fold in her sarong and pulled out a folded piece of rough-edged,
brownish-yellow parchment.

Then my heart leaped and my head got light
when she announced, “One week ago, I fell into a trance and a
message was delivered upon me by your father.”

“Oh my God,” I whispered, my hands clasping
and coming up to my chest as my eyes stayed glued to her.

“It is in a tongue I do not understand. I
wrote it down as I heard it and I will share it with you that same
way. He expects a response and I have moved quickly through Korwahk
to give this message to you for his spell has bound me and I am not
at my own free will until I provide your reply.”

“What did he say?” I asked and she nodded,
unfolded the parchment and started speaking in halting English.

“Circe, girl, this is your father. I’m
guessin’ you’re gettin’ that I’m leavin’ you there for your own
good and the good of my grandbaby. That asshole ain’t treatin’ you
right, you tell whoever gives you this message and we’ll move
heaven and earth to find a way to bring you all home. He is, you
tell her that too and I wanna know my grandchild’s name. And he
isn’t, you tell him I’m gonna find a magical way to kick his
warrior ass. But I got all the hope in the world that you’re happy,
darlin’. I love you, Circe girl, and I always will.”

I clenched my teeth and swallowed as I
closed my eyes.

“I can assume I know what ‘asshole’ means,”
Lahn remarked tersely and my eyes flew open.

He’d heard the message before, he’d
understood it and that was why he was pissed.

Shit!

I opened my mouth to say something but Lahn
got there before me, barking at the witch, “Leave now. My wife will
give you her reply tomorrow. Come back after the sun begins its
descent.”

She nodded, reading his mood (which was hard
to miss) and got the hell out of there.

The door barely closed on her when I
started, “Lahn –”

But I didn’t finish. This was because he
lunged toward me, grabbed my hand in a tight grip and dragged me
out of the room.

I was running to keep up with his long,
angry strides and he was already at the stairs before I got myself
together to cry, “Lahn! What on earth?”

“Quiet,” he growled.

Uh-oh.

Perhaps Diandra was wrong. Perhaps Lahn
wasn’t going to find someone else to receive the sharp edge of his
impatience. Perhaps that someone was going to be
me.

He went straight to our room, pulled me in
so hard I went flying in five steps when he released me. He came in
after me and slammed the door behind him.

Uh-oh again.

I lifted a hand and started retreating as he
started advancing.

“Lahn –” I whispered.

“Eight months,” he clipped and I
blinked.

“Wh… what?” I stammered as I kept backing up
and Lahn kept advancing.

“Eight months, my queen, I have not taken a
woman.”

Oh my God!

I blinked again and in the nanosecond of
that blink, this news hit me like a shot.

Oh… my…
God!

My eyes stayed glued to him as my heart
started beating fast.

I hit bed, skirted it and kept
retreating.

Then I whispered, “Really?” and he jerked
his chin up.

Then he spat, “
Really.
”

Oh man.

“Uh…” I mumbled, liking this, hating this
(mainly because I wasn’t giving it up to him as I should as his
wife and the woman who loved him), being thrilled by it and feeling
massive guilt at the same time.

I hit wall and slid to the side, hitting
corner and sliding down a new wall as he stopped and slowly turned
his big body to keep facing me.

“
My Circe told me it was important to her…”
he leaned in and his eyes narrowed, “
crucial,
” he hissed, “that I use my body on no one but
her. So I have
used my body on no one but her.
”

Oh…
man.

My heart stopped beating fast and started
thumping
faster
.

“Lahn –” I whispered.

“But she withholds from me.”