Dance With the Enemy (11 page)

Chapter 18

Tahruk fought against the dour mood that threatened to encompass him as he walked back through the hidden corridors. Only the thought of the young woman waiting in his bed kept it at bay. The morning had been far more fulfilling than he’d anticipated, at least until his grumbling stomach had demanded a trip to the dining hall. He rolled his eyes. To think they’d considered he might hurt her. As unconventional as everything had been between them thus far, he wouldn’t change a thing. He smiled, thinking about his chosen. She’d surprised him, surprised them both actually, and he was sure the pleasures would continue…

“Damnation!” He swore at the empty bed that greeted him when he slipped into his bedroom through yet another concealed door. A few deep breaths cleared his head allowing his mind to register the opened door to the garden. He blew out a final cleansing breath before going to look for her.

The eyes that greeted him were not those of a woman assured of her position within her lover’s heart. She drew her shawl more tightly about her as he approached, her posture uncertain. Tahruk frowned. He sat the platter of food on the rock beside her, then watched her trace an imaginary design in the water with bared toes. She seemed unaffected by the colorful fish living in his garden pond that swam by her feet. He supposed living in Aleone with the sea as her playground would have made her more at home with these creatures of the water … definitely more so than most women.

And yet she jumped when he brushed the honeyed-cinnamon curls from her shoulder. His frown deepened before he moved away to settle into one of the wooden chairs designed for relaxing beside the pond.

His chosen had none of his warrior’s stealth and he caught her each time she cut her eyes toward him as he studied her. He suppressed his chuckle when she’d quickly look away, seeming to turn her concentration back to the water at the edge of the rock where she sat. At last she sighed, pulling her knees to her chest and hugging them close. She looked at him and then the plate of food.

“Thank you.” Her voice was soft. Tahruk wasn’t sure if he heard the hint of a quiver. Damn it! What would she have to cry over now?

He watched her nibble some of the soft cheese before breaking off a small piece of bread. At this rate, it would take her days to consume the platter he’d fixed for her. Why were women always so insufferable, so difficult to figure out?

Nema would have chastised him had she been there, especially when his thoughts caused him to glower at the girl, when he really didn’t feel angry with her at all. He simply didn’t understand her. Wooing a woman was not something he’d ever had interest in doing before.

Under his scrutiny, she seemed to withdraw more, finally pushing the barely touched food away. Tahruk pressed his lips tightly together. She had to be hungry. He’d been famished. Think, think… what could he possibly do to help her relax?

He laughed to himself. He knew what would make
him
relax, though she’d probably recoil at any advances he might make. She reached for another piece of bread, broke it and tossed it to the fish. His mouth turned up with hers, even if her smile was for the silly fish and not for him.

“You miss the shores of Aleone?”

His voice startled Elenya and she jumped, causing her to nearly topple the platter. She nodded before taking another bite and flinging the rest to the water below.

“I’ve never been away before.”

Tahruk tried to remember the first time he’d been away from home. He was quite sure he’d been around nine or ten when he’d gone on his first three day training mission. It hadn’t bothered him at all to be away. But then, he’d known he would be returning once they were finished. At this point, Elenya had no way of knowing when she’d see her family again. Sometimes the families left their Drilles to start anew closer to wherever the women settled, but it was up to them to decide whether they would do so. Land had been reserved on the far side of the Zanak compound for years, though he’d have to wait until  the head of the Avenille family made his desires known to him before breaking ground. The circumstances between the two families in this case made all decisions most uncertain. They’d both have to wait for word.

“Tell me about your family. I heard you mention sisters to Nema, I believe. Do they favor you?” The warrior did his best to draw her from her melancholy.

Elenya held up a hand with pointer and thumb pressed close together. “We’re all similar in some ways, though very different in others.” She smiled. “There are four of us. All girls, much to my father’s vexation.” The couple shared quiet laughter.

“Tell me about them,” Tahruk coaxed when she didn’t continue.

“I’m the oldest, of course.” She graced him with a shy smile before turning to stare off across the garden. “Denya is but a year younger than I. Taliana is three years behind her, and Vensi turned twelve the day after I left.” Her voice caught, though she quickly regained her composure and continued, no doubt finding comfort in talking of her family. Tahruk was pleased he had thought to ask. “We all share the Princess’ green eyes, though each of us has a distinct hair coloring.”

“They didn’t get the red then?”

Elenya shook her head causing her red locks to swirl about her shoulders. She relaxed the shawl, letting it slip down to her waist. Tahruk swallowed hard at the show before him. Even though there was nothing revealing about the full sleeved dress she’d chosen, he imagined releasing her from its confines and letting it slide from her shoulders much as she had the shawl.

“Vensi’s is, perhaps the closest, though she favors our mother. I am told her curls have too much honey to be considered a match for the Princess’. We joke about Vensi’s sweetness being nowhere but in her hair!” Again they laughed together. “Taliana has the golden straw halo of a goddess, and Denya … her curls are as dark as the night. Much like yours, my lord.”

She turned to look at him with her last words, her eyes wandering over his hair. Tahruk imagined her fingers entwined in the strands instead, her body writhing beneath his. Was she remembering as well? He was quite sure he saw her shudder before reaching for the shawl and wrapping it about herself again. He willed her to rise and come to him, though she went back to feeding the fish in his pond instead.

There will be time
, he told himself as he fought back disappointment. That’s all she needed. Time. Hadn’t Nema said that very thing?

“Would you like to pen a note letting your family know you’re well?”

Her head whipped toward him. “A note? Now?”

Tahruk shrugged. Why not? “I happen to know there’s a ship leaving for Aleone tomorrow morning. It sits in the King’s harbor now. Perhaps we could walk down there and present it to the captain…”

Elenya was already halfway off the rock before he finished. “That would be wonderful, my lord!” The rise of her voice left no mistaking her excitement. She stopped beside the chair, bobbing a curtsy at his side.

Tahruk reached for her hand, watched her eyes widen as he pressed his lips to her fingers. She stood still, watching, waiting, the shawl clasped tightly around her with her free hand. He knew she questioned his expectations. With a gentle squeeze to her fingers, he released her hand. “Go.” He tossed his head in the direction of the garden door. “There’s a small writing desk in the corner of the room where you bathed. You’ll find pen and paper inside.”

He chuckled to himself after she left. There’d been a definite redness creeping into her cheeks at the mention of her bath. As intimate as they’d been, and as freely as she’d given of herself during that time, he found humor in the fact that mentioning such a minor act could color her cheeks. He felt a surge of warmth within the lower regions of his body and shook his head. Come to think of it, he’d had to fight hard to keep himself from sending Nema away and pulling the maiden from the water so he could consummate their union right then. Only the knowledge that his mother would be waiting and the fear in Elenya’s eyes had kept him from sating his lusty needs.

He wondered if she still fear him. Was that the cause for the uncertain way she’d looked at him? Perhaps she still viewed them as enemies. Perhaps they were still enemies. Nothing had changed – the past events remained the same. Just thinking about how Zanak’s chosen had been compromised by the Aleone man left Tahruk seething. He leaned forward to hold his head in his palms. No matter how he’d felt before or how deeply ingrained his distaste for Aleone ran, Tahruk could not make Elenya pay for the actions of others. In his heart he knew the Zanak woman had not been innocent in luring the man’s affections just as surely as he knew desire could make a man do crazy things. How well he knew that. He’d been doing them since he’d first caught his chosen’s scent only two days before.

Two days. It seemed like she’d always been with him.

Tahruk smiled as he pushed himself up from the chair. She may not have been with him, but he’d been with her since she was three. His blood flowing through her veins, they’d become one some fifteen years before he’d had the honor of truly making her his own.

With a loudly expelled breath Tahruk headed toward his room. He had a note of his own to take to the ship waiting in the harbor. His letter invited Elenya’s father to bring his family to the Centrehead. He hoped he had made his willingness to forgive the feud between their families felt within his words. He also hoped his willingness would be backed up by the other members of his family, and that Elenya’s family would do the same. Otherwise… It pained him to think of the heartache his Little One would suffer should any of them refuse to comply.

The warrior shook his head and rolled his eyes at himself. There was no doubt about it. He had fallen hard for the red haired beauty from Aleone’s shores. Now he just needed to convince her of his feelings and that his every intention toward her was nothing but honorable. Hopefully what they found in the harbor would be a step in the right direction to doing exactly that.

“Five more minutes, my lady,” he called to her from his open bedchamber door. He ended up giving her ten, though he’d moved closer to her as time ticked by. Watching her in deep contemplation, he understood the extra time was worth it when he realized how carefully she was considering every word so that both he and the situation were painted in the best possible light. How did he know that’s what she was doing? He could claim intuition, perhaps, though it probably helped that he saw two different phrases as he leaned down to kiss the side of her exposed neck. One was
exemplary hospitality bestowed upon her
. The other:
acceptable, though unconventional match within Zanak
. She hadn’t bothered to hide the paper from him, nor had she squelched her body’s response to his kiss. “Time’s up,” he whispered against her ear. “If we don’t leave now we’ll miss the captain. We may have to wait as it is unless we take a shortcut through the secret passages of Zanak in order to get there.”

The excitement glowing in her green eyes made Tahruk smile. He held out a hand, which she took to help her to her feet.

“I’m looking forward to this afternoon’s adventures with you, my lord.”

“Which of our planned adventures would that be, my lady?”

Tahruk’s quirked brow brought a deep stain to her cheeks that made him laugh. Her remaining innocence warmed him as much as the sense he had that she was a woman who thrived on adventure. That was another area, beyond his bed, where they were
acceptable match
.

Chapter 19

Elenya took to the roughhewn interior passages inside the walls of Zanak with the zeal of an exuberant child. It took her no time at all to grasp the concept of how they worked, how one was expected to move from one to another, and how to know where they would lead. Her sense of direction was uncanny, though not at all surprising considering her trek through the forest the night of the Dremis. No other woman he knew would have attempted such an act. He’d thought her touched in the head at the time, though now he truly admired her for having done it, especially given the circumstances.

He watched her study the inscription on the wall, knew her reaction would be one of surprise when she realized the significance of this particular fork in the passages.

“You have direct access to the Castle interior? Why would they provide such privilege?” Her pursed lips and raised brows made him laugh.

“You knew of me before I knew of you, did you not?” His question was asked with a guarded attempt to hide his mirth.

Elenya nodded, her green eyes wide with anticipation of the answer that had yet to come.

“And you thought what of me?”

“That you were pompous and arrogant. One who felt he deserved to take whatever he pleased.” She covered her mouth with her hand indicating the words had spewed out before she could conceal them with a more palatable answer.

Tahruk roared with laughter. “I have no doubt you believed that. And perhaps your beliefs were true, though I am none of those without justification.” He waited a moment to see if she understood what he was saying.

Taking her face in his hands, he drew her near, rubbing a thumb across her drawn brows. Tension stiffened her body even though her dreamy expression told him she wasn’t afraid. The attraction between them was undeniable and he knew she felt it every bit as much as he did. His eyes roamed over her face memorizing the details, looking for comprehension. He ran a hand through the partially loose curls before ignited passion forced him to cover her mouth with his own in a kiss that left them both breathless.

She clung to him for support, their faces a fraction of an inch apart. “You are also mighty upon the battlefield – a force all your own, my lord,” she whispered.

Tahruk smiled, brushing her lips with his once again before answering. “Yes, Little One. I am. I hold a place of great honor. Before me, my father held that position, and his father before him. We are not only bound to the King by blood lineage, but we have served our lord well throughout the years. He is a man who greatly rewards those who love him and those he loves.” He turned dark eyes to gaze over the inscribed plaque. “Castle tunnels and secret passages are not uncommon, though they were originally designed for security. Someday I’ll tell you how Andorak’s father  and his family were smuggled from the castle along these very passages only moments before Voringlock and his men broke through the supposedly impenetrable North wall.”

“I know the lore surrounding Voringlock’s failed attempt to take the throne of Dorengar, though the story only talks about the King’s family. Zanak specifically was never mentioned.”

“No doubt Aleone’s history books have kept much of the truths about Zanak from you.” Tahruk snorted.

The hurt expression on Elenya’s face made him immediately sorry he’d made such a comment, whether it was true or not. She distanced herself from him and pretended a more in-depth study of the inscription. Tahruk pressed his lips together. He’d be damned if he was going to apologize, even if he did feel remorseful. This woman of enemy blood had effected too many changes in him already. He was not about to begin dropping to his knee to beg for her forgiveness for every little thing.

“Come,” he told her, taking her elbow to steer her through the passageway to the harbor and the ship preparing for her final night before sailing to Aleone.