House of Lust (36 page)

“I wish to speak to you privately.” 

Meri bowed and left to arrange the sending of a suitable message.

“Ma’am – this is madness, you being here alone with me.  The emperor will have a fit!”

“Enough has been said; I’ve had enough of his bullying ways and not listening to me.  He’s no better than a spoiled child.  I’m going to miss you, Vosgaris.  It almost makes me want to weep.”

Vosgaris nodded.  “Yes, it’s the last thing I need after what has happened these past couple of years.  You’ve been so kind to me, helping me through my personal nightmare.”

“And your reward is banishment.  It’s so unkind – especially as you helped uncover the traitor here.”

“That was Metila who did that – I had little involvement except blunder from one mess to another.”

Isbel stepped up to him.  “Astiras is a brute; he’s lost sight of what made him what he is today.  He’ll run out of friends and allies if he carries on the way he does.  He treated me like some whore just now; that was the breaking of the last stick.  You’re going in three days and I doubt I’ll ever have the chance of being alone with you again.”  She slipped her hands round him and pressed against his body.  “Now show me what you did with Amne.”

“M-Ma’am...”

Isbel shut him up by kissing him.  She wanted to get revenge on Astiras, and if it meant doing to him what he had done to her, then so be it.  His treatment of her had gone too far.

Vosgaris was shocked.  He’d long desired this woman, but she was empress!  Off-limits.  Death sentence.  He tried to pull away but she was insistent.  Then something broke within him.  Whether it was the gratitude for pulling him through Alenna’s death, or the injustice at being banished, or being accused of something he hadn’t done and well why not actually do it? or something else, he didn’t know.  But what he did know was that here was one of his fantasies coming true.

“Make love to me, Vosgaris,” she whispered.  “No, not sex.  Make love.”

He carried her to his bed, smiling into her eyes, and placed her gently down.  “I will.”  He brushed his lips over her throat and she sighed, arching her head back.  To know the touch of another man after so long, and a younger one at that, after the hard, dominating Astiras, was an exhilarating feeling.  His hands slid over her figure, examining the curves and bumps.  She was much older than any other he’d touched, and there were a few more fleshy parts than he was used to on a woman but she was still attractive and exciting.

To Isbel the feel of a younger, tougher and more energetic body thrilled her.  It was like the stirring of an old memory, something almost forgotten.  Slowly, almost teasingly, he undid her dress and his hands were then against her thighs and waist, exploring, coaxing gasps and sighs from her.  She wanted to see his body – being used to the expanding waistline of Astiras she wanted to see a younger, fitter torso.

Vosgaris obliged, removing his tunic, jerkin and shirt.  There he was, naked from the waist up, muscled, strong.  Isbel ran her tongue over her teeth.  Gods!  She’d almost forgotten how a warrior’s body looked in its prime.  Her hands ran over the pectorals, the abdomen, then – lower, fumbling at the belt for a brief frustrating moment, then opening it and sliding her hands inside.

“Ohh,” she breathed.  A wicked thought popped into her head. 
No wonder Amne wanted this!
  Then she had another, competitive one.  “Take that off and get on the bed.”  Vosgaris pulled down his leggings and slipped off his loincloth.

Isbel removed what remained of her clothing and laid a hand on his chest as he lay on the bed.  “I’ve changed my mind,” she whispered, “I’m going to make love to you!”

Vosgaris smiled and relaxed.  The empress had a less voluptuous figure than Amne, and her breasts were beginning to sag, but still round and full enough not to have started to wrinkle.  There were slight rolls of fat around her waist and one small one on her stomach, but nothing to really remark about.  Her legs were still firm and they clamped against his thighs.  He looked up at her and studied her features really closely for the first time.  Now it was fine to do so – she could hardly complain!  Her skin was still smooth, slightly tinted so not be to marble white, her dark eyes fascinated him, and her wavy brown hair had been loosened to tumble down her neck.  It was just long enough to touch the upper part of her shoulder blades.

There were two dark spots on her throat, small and almost invisible, but just noticeable.  She regarded him as she rested herself against his loins, almost crying out in pleasure.  “What, Captain?”

“I think you’re exceptionally attractive.”

She half laughed.  “Oh, flatterer!”

“I mean it.  I’ve always thought it.  I’ve always wanted to make love to you.”

“I know, you wicked man.  So now you’re realising that wish.”  She slipped up and then down and her mouth formed a complete circle as the pleasure of him sliding into her raced around her sensitive body.  “Oh, by the gods, Vosgaris…. I know I’m going to miss this already!”

He gripped her waist, then her buttocks.  “Let yourself go, Isbel.”  Calling her ‘ma’am’ just didn’t seem right at that moment, and she didn’t correct him.

She began to slip forwards and backwards, her eyes screwed shut, groaning with every push.  He lay there, playing with her breasts, delighting in the fact here was the empress mounted on him and riding hard.  She went faster and faster and the cries of pleasure higher and higher, until she could hold back no more and shuddered, throwing her head up and back and exhaling in one wave of ecstasy.  She sank onto him, wrapping herself against his firm, youthful body.

He lay there for a few moments, stroking her hair, then pushed her onto her back.  “Now I’ll show you how I make love.”  He kissed her throat, her shoulders, breasts, stomach, while stroking her all the time.  Isbel was beside herself; Astiras had never shown such touches in the time she’d been with him.  He was all passion and strength, overwhelming her with power and dominance.  This was something else, and her body tingled and she pushed herself up to meet his lips, demanding he carry on and not stopping.  Finally, he entered her and slowly made love to her, nibbling her earlobes and whispering into her ear that he loved her and what a wonderful, beautiful woman she was.

The room span for Isbel, her head whirled, and she clung to him, rising on a sea of heat and desire, brought to peaks of passion repeatedly.  Finally she felt him tense and groan, and he emptied himself into her in a long, shaking embrace.

They lay together for a short while, until Isbel sobbed and pushed herself up off the bed.  “I can’t stay here too long.  If he finds us together we’ll both be punished.  I’m not sure of his mind these days – he’s a different person.”

“I know, Isbel.  I just wanted to show you just how I feel about you.”

She sat looking at him, and a tear rolled down her face.  He gently wiped it away.  “I won’t be gone forever – he won’t last, and you’re much younger than he is.  I’ll wait until you are free of him, then we will be together.”

She shut her eyes and sucked in a deep, shuddering breath, fighting to keep control of her emotions.  “You’re equally much younger than I.  By the time I’m free I’ll be much older.  You won’t want to look at me.”

“I meant what I told you, Isbel.  I love you.  I want you.  You deserve better than that!” he hissed, pointing angrily at the door.  “I’m going to be fine, out of his way.  But you, you’ll be with him, being watched, being insulted by his selfish manner.”

She put a hand on his forearm.  “I’ll be fine, Vosgaris.  Look after yourself, and I’ll be happy.  I’ll keep the memory of what we’ve done here with me, and look forward to when we can be together.”  She kissed him, then began dressing.  He helped her, speeding up the process, and in hardly any time she was ready.  She smoothed down her dress and looked critically at herself.  “Do I look alright?”

“Fabulous.”

She smiled, then went to the door.  He blew a kiss to her, and she did likewise, then, steeling herself, turned the handle and left quickly.  Guards were outside, and they looked quizzically at her.  “Escort me back to my room,” she ordered softly, and she walked, hardly noting the walls, tapestries, people that she passed.

Once in her room she went to her bed and sat on it.  Her handmaidens had returned and waited for Isbel to tell them what she wanted, but she shook her head.  “Tell anyone who calls for me I’m indisposed; I have a headache.”  She lay on the bed, alone, the door to her bedchamber shut, and idly played with her hair.

She would miss Vosgaris and his touch hugely; having just been with him this once, she knew instinctively that she would yearn for him more than Astiras.  She smiled to herself.  Astiras had accused her of infidelity just to get back at her, not caring whether the accusations were true or not.  What his actions had done was to throw her into Vosgaris’ arms and achieve precisely what he had not wanted to happen.  Ironic.

Vosgaris’ mind was full of Isbel.  She was so different than Amne.  Amne was hot sex, lust, passion, desire.  Fabulous body, energy, wickedness.  Such an alluring trap, but one in which there was no permanence.

Isbel on the other hand, was caring, pleasurable, gentle, loving.  There may be fifteen or so years between them, but he knew she was the one who would make him happy, and he would be the one to make her happy. 

He really hated Astiras.

Amne knelt in the temple, her head covered as protocol dictated.  The priests noted her presence and nodded in approval.  The Koros should be seen to attend the temples, for it told the people that they favoured the gods and set the example to the rest of the empire.

Amne in reality couldn’t care a damn about the gods; her idea of heaven was a night of frenzied passion with Lalaas, but that was never going to happen as long as she was married to Elas.  She wouldn’t actually do anything to help hasten his end, but she could pray to the gods to arrange some unfortunate accident.  Then she shook her head.  No, that wouldn’t be right.  He was what he was, not through a malicious sense of pleasure, but because that was the way he was.  He never meant to hurt the princess, she knew that, it was just that they were utterly ill-matched, and it was just one of those things that happened.

She finished and got up, heading for the door.  The day was bright outside and she paused there for a moment, her escort patiently standing close by.  Nobody was taking any chances with her anymore.  “It is a welcome sight seeing you attend the temple,” Elas said from close by, startling her.

“Oh!  I didn’t notice you here, Elas.  Yes, I come here quite often these days.”

Elas was flanked by four big guards, all carrying their volgars.  The temple was part of the palace complex, so that the imperial family could come and go from the palace without going onto the streets.  The temple was accessible from the streets, but there was a partition running down it that kept the imperial parties from the rest.  A lattice screen formed the upper part and a solid wooden barrier the lower.

“I am heartened to hear that,” Elas said gravely.  “I was told this is where you were and so I came to see for myself.”  He held out his arm and Amne took it.  The two walked slowly towards the garden at the rear of the palace grounds, their guards walking not far behind.  Amne waited for her husband to speak; clearly there was something on his mind.

“I am aware of your wish to visit other parts of the empire,” he began slowly.  “Which is something that would not normally be agreeable, since you have two daughters to think of now.”

Amne looked at her solemn-faced husband.  “Normally?  You mean you are considering allowing me to visit father in Zofela?  And Argan in Turslenka?”

Elas made a non-committal gesture with his head.  “You would have to take Kola and Stana with you, of course, along with a vast army of attendants, supplies and support.”

“Oh, Elas, it wouldn’t be that bad, honestly!  Two carts are all I’d need with four staff.”

“But Lalaas would not accompany you; his position is here.”

“I know,” Amne said brightly.  “He knows his duty.”

“Hmm, but do you?”

“Yes, Elas, that is something I’ve learned recently.  I’ve been a bad girl, but I’ve put that behind me.”

Elas regarded her for a moment.  “You know, for the first time in a long time I actually do believe you.”

Amne smiled dazzlingly and kissed him on the cheek.  “I will be the wife you always wanted – and the mother to your children.”

Elas squeezed her forearm briefly.  “That would make me very happy indeed.”

Amne thought this was akin to Elas whooping with delight and leaping over the palace wall on a cloud of euphoria.  She came to a halt and looked at what stood before her; the stone table that Dragan Purfin had ravaged her over.  Memories….. she recalled how she had felt at that moment, and how she felt now.  Chasing men was something she would no longer do – except in her mind and then only as far as Lalaas was concerned.  A smile played at the corners of her mouth.  Lalaas.  Now she wouldn’t mind if he ravaged her over the stone table.  Repeatedly.

“Something on your mind, Amne?” Elas asked, looking at her closely.

“Oh, just thinking how this place could be tidied up and smartened with a makeover – it looks so neglected and old fashioned.  Clear this corner out and replace this tired looking structure with a conservatory.”

“Why so, Amne?”

“Why, you could grow warm weather plants here all year round!  Something bright and colourful to decorate the rooms and halls in the drab winter season.  What do you think?  The gardeners could get started almost straight away – they’re going to clear out the winter’s detritus for the rest of the place, and this is so secluded and out of the way it’s cut off from the rest of the gardens.”

Elas looked around, appraising the state of the area.  “You could be right – this is a waste of space that could be used to be productive.  I shall speak to the head gardener about it.”

Amne squeezed his arm and gave him another big smile.  “It will look much tidier and make the place look bigger, believe me.”

“It’s good to see you taking an interest in things outside the palace walls, Amne.  I’ll go plan the garden makeover with the head gardener, and you can plan your journey to Turslenka and Zofela.  We need to make sure security is satisfactory, of course.”

“Oh, thank you Elas,” she kissed his other cheek.  He looked surprised.  She released his hold.  “That’s two kisses you’ve had from me today – you’re privileged.”

Elas bowed.  “As long as they are just for me.”

“I have made a promise to myself, to you and to the gods.”

“Then I have no worries on that.”  Elas watched as she walked away, her two guards in close attendance.  He looked thoughtfully at her, then at the sky, squinting.  Duty.  He had to fulfil a busy day’s schedule yet again.  However he did feel less stressed about it, and surmised that it may be down to the lack of tension between Amne and himself.  Perhaps she had finally settled down?  He sincerely hoped so.

Amne made her way to her bed quarters.  Here her two daughters were playing in their nursery room off through one door.   Kola was now five and beginning her tutoring while Stana was three and still too young for that.  “Girls,” she said, picking Stana up.  “We’re going to go on a journey soon.”

“Oh?” Kola said, looking up from her picture book.  “Where?”

“To see your uncle Argan in Turslenka, then your grandfather and grandmother in Zofela.”

“Isn’t that a long way away?” Kola replied. 

“When are we going?” Stana asked, staring into Amne’s face from a handspan’s distance.

“Yes, Kola, and by the end of the moons’ cycle, Stana.  It’ll be exciting – you’ve never gone out of the palace before, and you’ll be seeing lots of new places.”

“Will we ever come back here?” Kola stood up, jumping up and down in excitement.

“Oh yes, we’ll only be gone until the end of summer.  We’re going now because the weather is much better and we’ll come back before the rains start again.  I’ll write to both your uncle and grandfather, letting them know we’ll be staying with them for a short time.”

The girls squealed in delight.  This was an exciting adventure. 

Lalaas came to her later that day on his daily check and was surprised that she was going to go.  “You mean Elas actually agreed to it?  What did you do to bribe him?”

Amne chuckled, squeezing his hand.  “Oh, you cynic.  He’s quite happy with me at the moment, and isn’t looking over me like some mother fowl.  He approves of the new me, of course,” she fluttered her eye lashes at the guard captain.

“Lucky he can’t read your mind in that case.”

“Mmmm; he’d have you exiled somewhere if he could.  I’ve got him to agree to change the garden, too.  That stone table in the far corner is going, you know, the one Dragan used with me.”

“Ah, yes, the seduction table, as I call it.”

“It wasn’t so much a seduction as imposition.”

“I was under the impression you enjoyed it.”

Amne punched him on the arm.  “You calling me a woman of loose morals?”

Lalaas grinned, and got another punch.

Amne then held his arm.  “I would if you were doing it to me.”

The guard captain nodded briefly.  “We both know that.  Still, now Elas is much happier with you, you see how he’s more prepared to allow you more freedom of movement.  How have the girls reacted to the news they’re going on an adventure?”

“Excited.  I think the time away from here will do them good; it’ll do me good, too, although I wish you were accompanying me.  It’ll be good seeing Argan after all this time.  He writes so infrequently.  Men!  Or boys, to be more accurate.  At least I get something from him every so often.  Istan never writes.  I get more from Sannia and Clora.”

“Oh yes, the wife of the empress’s spy in Niake.  How’s things with them?”

Amne rolled her eyes.  “Clora is desperate to have a child.  She talks of little else.  She asks all the time about my girls and Sannia’s brood.  Poor thing; she’s getting quite frustrated.”

“Maybe the gods have decided she’s not to have one?”

Amne shrugged.  “They seem to move in odd ways.  I’ve got pregnant twice with Elas quite easily, yet even when I was – abused by Dragan – nothing happened.  You would think if I can be with child that easily with one man, then it ought to happen with another.”

“Then you’re lucky Elas doesn’t want you every night or by now we’d be deep in little Amnes.”

She giggled.  “That’d drive you all mad.”

“Not to mention you.  Kola is quite a spirited girl, a bit like you.  Do you think you’ll clash with her as she gets older?”

“Oh, I hope not!  I’ll be there to make sure she stays on the right path, too.  And don’t look at me like that, Lalaas, I know what you’re thinking.”

“Stana is going to be a beauty, by the looks of things.  Certainly got your looks.”

Amne smiled proudly, and squeezed Lalaas’ hand.  Thank you; yes I think she has got my features.  I may have to keep a special eye on her.”

“It’s not her you’ll need to keep an eye out for; it’ll be the young men around her.”  They both looked at the three year old happily stacking wooden blocks on top of the other, then squealing as the unsteady stack fell over.  “It seems impossible, looking at her now, doesn’t it?”

“Yes – they are growing up so fast, though.  It seems only yesterday they were born.  Ah well, I must go prepare an inventory for my visit to Turslenka.  I must write to Argan, too.”

Lalaas grinned and gave his excuses, needing to continue on his patrol of the palace.

_____

The bridge over the Ister was a cold place.  The three buildings on the Kastanian / Bragalese side offered some shelter, and Vosgaris had spent a couple of days there resting and preparing for his new posting.

He had seen Isbel once after the time they had made love.  She had been in her room flanked by assistants and Astiras, watching him like a hunting avian.  Vosgaris had wondered if he had any inkling of what had happened, but he had supposed not because he had not impaled him through the guts.

Isbel had been formal and correct, and had wished him well on his mission.  She had processed all the documentation for his attachment to the Mazag army, sealed and signed.  Astiras couldn’t be bothered with all that paperwork so he normally got his long-suffering wife to handle that aspect of rule.  He had stood there glaring at the captain.  “Serve us well, Captain,” he had said, “and I shall look favourably on a posting to Kastan City or Niake.”

“Sire,” Vosgaris had saluted.  “Ma’am,” he had bowed to Isbel who had inclined her head briefly to him, a twinkle in her eye that Vosgaris had caught, before she had stood up, all formality.

He had then been handed an equine in the stables and an escort of two men, both soldiers, and they had departed Zofela for the south-west.  Vosgaris had wondered if he would ever see the place again – or Isbel.  Once at the bridge he had requisitioned the best berth for him and gone over the paperwork handed him.

One had been an imperial message for General Vanist which he had left alone.  There had also been a letter to him, written by Isbel but signed by Astiras, giving him clear instructions as to his mission.  There also had been a small note that had slipped out when he had opened the official orders.

It had been from Isbel and Vosgaris had read it before slipping it into his tunic.  He now pulled it out again and read it once more.  ‘Vos, I will miss you so much.  Take care and don’t get hurt.  I will wait for you.  All my love.’  It wasn’t signed but there had been a large kiss symbol at the bottom.  He stroked the words lovingly, his heart heavy.  Who knew when he’d see her again?  The letter could have been from anyone, since it was unsigned, but he knew who it had been who sent it, and he would keep it on him, next to his heart.

“Captain,” one of the other two poked his head round the door.  “Mazag army’s coming.”

Vosgaris sighed and put the note away.  He got off his bed and made his way outside.  There was a light rain but nothing too bad.  There was low cloud and visibility was poor, but the far bank of the river was visible, and coming across the long bridge were soldiers, flags and pennants fluttering, some on foot, others mounted.  The leading soldiers were all mounted and regarded the three Kastanians with interest as they spread out to wait for their leader.

In one of the other huts the four soldiers on duty stayed out of sight.  Vosgaris had assured them all was in order and that the Mazag army was authorised to pass through.