Hope of Earth (65 page)

“But we can’t proceed if you don’t let me,” she said after a moment. She tried to move her hands, but he tightened his grip.

“You are hurting me, Ned,” she said.

He knew he wasn’t. He did not let go.

“Of course I can give you more.” She bent her head and brought it down to kiss him. He turned his face to the side, but she pursued it and managed to capture his mouth with hers.

Then Ned felt his grip weakening. Her kiss transported him, making him heedless of any consequence. But he forced strength into his hands, and maintained his grip. Had she been a man, she could readily have broken it. But physical strength was not her way.

She kissed him again, and this time he turned his face into hers and returned it. But he maintained his hold on her wrists. She could inflame his desire, but could not open his trousers, and therefore could not complete the act.

At last she sighed. “I fear you have beaten me, Ned.”

He didn’t answer. He knew he had merely nullified one ploy. She would have others. In fact this was probably one: to make him relax in seeming victory, and then be lost, in the manner of troops that lost their formation pursuing a fleeing foe, and then got cut to pieces. Wona was just as devious and dangerous in her domain as any Mongol army in its domain.

She gazed into his eyes. Then her own eyes turned wet. Her tears flowed, silently but copiously. “Oh, Ned—I love you so!”

Again, he felt his strength dissipating. The fluid of her eyes was melting his resolve. He knew they were deliberate tears, but they still had their effect. If she tried to free her hands now, she would succeed, for his fingers were numb.

But she didn’t know that. She was waiting for him to let her go. So he waited for the next ploy.

It came with mercurial suddenness, like a summer storm. “Then the hell with you!” she flared, her anger like a suddenly ignited thatch fire. “I don’t need you.”

“Then tell me of the treachery, and let me go,” Ned said.

Instead she kissed him again, savagely. But they remained in their impasse, her hands imprisoned.

She lifted her head and gazed into his eyes. It was as if he could see through her eyes into some other realm, a Moslem paradise, infinitely beckoning. “Do it, Ned, I beg you, and I will tell you everything.”

“No.”

She sighed, and the sound stirred a wave of mixed feeling in him. “Then I must tell you first, and then you will do it.”

“No.” He knew better than to be trapped into her seduction. Because the first would not be the last.

“Ned, you are being unreasonable. You must meet me part way.”

Even seeming reason was part of her repertoire! “All I came for was the information. Give that to me and go.”

She stared into his eyes. Moonlight and clouds danced in her depths. “I have what you want. You have what I want. It seems fair to trade.”

“I want to protect the interests of the khan. You want to have me in thrall to you again. I don’t think you have what I want, and I won’t give you what you want.”

She shook her head. “You are wrong, Ned. You think you know, but you will have a crushing disillusionment coming. This is something you really do need to know.”

She seemed sincere. It could be a ruse, but he feared it wasn’t. “Tell me, and let me judge,”

“I will, but first you must agree that if my news is worthy, you will give me my desire.” She kissed him again. “Your baby. That means a number of sessions, most likely.”

An extended affair. Which would bind him to her, and destroy his marriage. His body was urgent to agree, but his mind was in control for the moment. “No.”

“Even though you know it is no onerous chore I ask of you, while the news I have will affect you profoundly?”

Again, he wavered. She seemed so sure! If she were bluffing, she wouldn’t offer to tell him her news first, letting him judge its merit. She was sure he would complete the deal, once he heard her information, if he agreed on the terms beforehand. So he could afford to make the deal only if he was sure she was bluffing. And if she was bluffing, there was no point in making the deal.

“No.”

Wona shook her head sadly. “Ned, you are going to regret this.”

“I already regret coming here.”

She laughed. Her upper body shook, especially her breasts, and it was all he could do to prevent his face from kissing them. “I think you just need a little more persuasion.”

But it was an impasse. He would not let go of her wrists, and she would not cease her efforts to persuade him. Slowly his resolve was weakening. It would be so easy to yield! And maybe her information really was what he needed to know.

“Yes, I think when you say no, you mean yes,” she murmured, conscious of her increasing power over him. “We have meant so much to each other in the past, and will in the future. Kiss me, my precious. My body hungers for yours.”

Somehow he hung on to her wrists, but his hands were feeling paralyzed. At any point she would try to free her hands, and would succeed, and then would complete the act despite his passive resistance. And she would have him. This was a siege in which the besieged was running out of strength and hope. It was only a matter of time.

There was a sound to the side. “Oh, no,” Wona muttered. “I forgot about Jes. The hour has passed.”

Ned had forgotten too. It hadn’t seemed like an hour. Strength returned to his hands. Wona had not seduced him in time. The rescue troops were coming to the aid of the besieged city.

Jes entered the room. “I watched carefully, but there is no threat from outside.” She looked at the pair of them. “I think my brother has defeated you, Wona. If you couldn’t seduce him in an hour in that position, you couldn’t do it in a year.”

“Yes I could,” Wona said. “Give me just a bit more time.”

Jes drew her knife. “I think not. Don’t make me use this on you, Wona.”

Wona scrambled off Ned’s lap. He let her wrists go as she did. “You caught on,” she said.

“I suspected.”

“Caught on to what?” Ned asked. Despite this victory, his desire for Wona was not abating.

“She put love-herb in the food.”

Suddenly it came clear. “That’s why my resistance was weakening! That herb—it takes an hour.”

“That’s why,” Jes agreed. “I ate her food to be sure it wasn’t poisoned. Then when I thought about it, I realized that there could be another way. I came in, knowing what she was up to.”

“You waited too long,” Wona said. “Ned desired me anyway; now he will have to have me. This goes beyond reason; it cannot be denied.”

“No!” Ned said. “I know the remedy. Jes, take me to cold water.”

Wona winced. Evidently she had hoped they wouldn’t know about water.

“This way. I ate too; I need it too.” Jes led the way out.

That intrigued him, passingly. Was the love-herb so powerful that it would cause a brother and sister to merge? He didn’t care to find out.

“But I took it also!” Wona protested.

“Too bad,” Jes said tersely. “There is no other man close by.”

Behind the house there was a stone cattle drinking trough fed by a tiny stream. Ned and Jes tore off their clothing and climbed into it. The water was devastatingly chill: exactly what was required.

Then Wona was there, still naked. “Make room for me,” she said.

Jes laughed. “I have half a mind to keep you out.” But she took no action, and in a moment all three of them were shivering in the trough.

“Well, I tried my best,” Wona said. “It would have worked, had you not caught on when you did. Just a few more minutes—”

“So did you really have any information of treachery?” Ned asked.

“Oh, yes. And I will still make the trade, if you care to get warm with me now.” She inhaled, shivering.

“No.” Her persistence bothered him, though the cold water was effectively damping his ardor. Also, shivering cold flesh was not as appealing as soft warm flesh, however well formed. He could not believe that she truly desired him, other than as a confirmation of her power over men. Yet she had gone to extraordinary effort to seduce him, and was still trying. Why was she bothering?

“What is your interest in this?” Jes asked Wona, echoing his thought. “Obviously you are not motivated by patriotism, and you could have seduced any man you wished, with your body and the love-herb. Ned hardly seems worth your while.”

“But his child would be mine,” Wona said. “So when I learned what I learned, I decided to make good use of it.”

“And you will let the treachery happen?” Ned demanded. “Just to spite me?”

“If I gave things away, I would never be able to bargain. So I give nothing, without its price.”

“To you, love and war are much the same,” Jes said.

“I’m glad you understand.”

Ned shook his head as he shivered. Something was missing, but he couldn’t figure out what. Why hadn’t Wona chosen to seduce some other man in exchange for her information, or traded it for gold? Any of the other advisers could have borne the news to the khan. Why had she fixed on him, so soon after seeing him? He did not believe that it was all for the desire to bear his child; she had not shown much interest in her prior child. Yet she
had
fixed on him, most determinedly. Where was the key?

“I can’t stand this,” Wona said. “I’m getting out.”

“We’ll take turns,” Jes said. “One at a time.”

Wona climbed out, then danced on the ground, recovering her warmth. Ned watched her bouncing body, almost wishing he could feel the desire he should. But the cold was too compelling.

When Wona was warm, she reluctantly got back in the water, because Jes would not let Ned out otherwise. Ned got out and danced around, while Wona watched, no doubt with similar thoughts. Then he returned, and Jes got out. Ned noted that his sister had put on some feminine flesh, and was no longer as lanky as he remembered her. Marriage had evidently been good for her—or maybe it had simply caused her to fight less and love more.

In due course the hour passed, and they were able to get out and stay out. They carried their clothing to the house, drying off in the air. All of them were shivering and somewhat blue of lips and skin. Ned found that the information Sahara had given him was correct: his desire had waned, and he no longer cared who had clothing. He had not indulged sexually, but evidently the cold water had depleted his energies similarly, and he just wanted to rest.

“I had thought to have had my will of you, and be alone to recover, by this time,” Wona said as she dressed.

“Will you tell me your real motive for all this?”

“Of course not. That deal must wait until we are able to consummate it.”

She was one tough negotiator. Ned realized that he would have been no match for her, without Jes to support him. As it was, it had been a close thing.

Jes looked around the cabin. “We should be getting back to the camp, but I feel depleted. I would prefer to rest until my strength recovers.”

“So would I,” Ned agreed. “But this is Wona’s house.”

“How can that be, when she and her husband just arrived from far away? It is merely a place they saw was empty when they passed by it.”

“We are like combatants after the battle is over,” Wona said. “Stay here and rest; I don’t mind.”

Ned looked at Jes. She shrugged. Why not? Their battle had been fought and ended. So they found separate spots on the floor and lay down to rest. Ned woke as dusk was closing. He hadn’t meant to sleep, but evidently had done so. That love-herb had a wearing effect on the system.

“Too late to return,” Jes said, seeing him stir. “We’ll have to stay the night.”

“I have food,” Wona said. “The herb is in the caviar; the bread and wine are good.”

They shared the bread and wine, and talked about old times, and slept again. It was strange being together like this, but Ned’s lethargy was slow to wear off, so it was easier just to accept the situation. Wona seemed like a different person as she inquired about her daughter Wilda, seeming truly to care.

At dusk Ned performed his ablution toward Mecca, and Wona joined him. Jes abstained, making no comment. She knew why Ned had converted; it was no issue between them.

In the morning Ned’s interest in sex was returning, and he knew that this was true for Wona also. But he knew better than to dwell on that. They rounded up their horses and rode back together. A league before they reached the camp, they separated. “My husband would not understand,” Wona explained. Surely so!

“She professes to be a good Moslem now,” Jes remarked after they separated. “But she made her obeisance to Allah only when you did, and never mentioned Him otherwise.”

“That’s right! She gives only lip service to Allah, when with Moslems. I hadn’t noticed.”

“She gave you other things to notice.”

“Yes.” He wished he could feel good about his victory, but it had been more luck than skill, even with Jes’s support.

“Be alert for that treachery,” Jes told him as she took the horses, leaving him to make his way quietly into the camp afoot “Wona obviously doesn’t care about the khan’s welfare, but we do.”

He nodded. “Thank you for saving me, again,” he said.

“I did it for Wildflower,” she said, looking down.

Wildflower! How eager he was to return to her embrace.

He made his way to the khan’s tent. “Ned! We missed you,” Toqtamish said. “We feared something had happened.”

“I was told of some terrible treachery,” Ned said. “I went to investigate, but could not ascertain what it was, and was unable to return to the camp yesterday. I do not know whether it was a false lead, or whether there is some great threat to your person. I am concerned.”

The khan nodded. “I appreciate that. I am glad you are safe. I will be alert, and will keep you close by my side until we know more.”

“I hope I was not needed,” Ned said. “I did not mean to be derelict.”

“Have no concern. That new adviser, Ormond, developed a great new strategy to implement your suggestion that we make peace with Moscow so we can go after Prince Dmitri elsewhere. The problem was in convincing the Muscovites of our good faith, as we have not been kind to other Russians. We sent some chiefs to meet with them and tell them that we bear them no ill-will; it is only Dmitri, the rebellious prince, that we seek. If they will send me presents, open their gates, and allow me to tour this ancient city and see its curiosities, I will then withdraw and let them be.”