Chapter 14 - Golden Kingdom

— Part IV: Departure —

The return to Zleyval took three days. We were slowed by having to manage the unwieldy Hollows and Leed’s injured ankle. We encountered small groups of Hollows twice more, but Taio and I easily dispatched them. Now, in the midday light of the fourth day, we finally came upon the expanse of crop fields on the plain above Zleyval. A light snow dusted the harvested rows, and I hoped it hadn’t snowed in the valley. I was tired of being wet and cold and smelling like rotting flesh.

Two of Leed’s warriors met us shortly after we were visible from the fort. They endeavored to behave as though they were unfazed by our prisoners, but as soon as one of the Hollows grunted, one of the men jumped at least a foot in the air. I tried not to laugh.

Leed directed the warriors to take the Hollows to the arena and lock them in cages.

“I’ll go with them,” Taio said.

I opened my mouth to protest, but then I remembered what Taio had told me about how he learned to fight Hollows—or Twilight Men, as he called them. Leed had captured several, caged them, and allowed Taio and the other warriors he’d been training to practice stabbing them until they learned how to deliver a killing blow. The Hollows had been kept in cages, and I wondered if the cages Leed spoke of now were the same ones they’d used years ago. No doubt Taio would make sure the Hollows were not mistreated and made comfortable. I tended to agree with Leed that these Hollows didn’t feel pain or need comfort, but I respected Taio’s desire to treat them well. His care of even these monsters was one reason I loved him.

But I was not going with him. I wanted a bath, food, and clean clothing—in that order. I knew Taio would want to speak to Ngaro and Kintle’s family before he took any care of himself. He would find me when he was finished.

The rest of us took the air boat down to Zleyval. I was not as familiar with this side of the city, and on the way down, I spotted some glass buildings on the near side of Gold House. “What are those?” I asked Omira.

“Crop houses,” she told me. “We keep them warm and grow fruits, vegetables, and legumes all year long. By the end of winter, everyone’s stores are thin, and the bounty from these crop houses can feed the people through the spring planting.”

The Zulenii were so very clever. If I survived the return to Highcastle, I would tell the people about these crop houses and suggest we build some. Most years our household gardens and the abundance from the outerlands was plenty for everyone. But there were lean years, and we could benefit from being able to grow crops all year long.

When we reached the docking platform, Leed took my arm. “Mara, be ready after breakfast tomorrow to begin experiments with the cure. I will speak with the healers this evening and ensure they are prepared.”

“I’ll be ready,” I said. Then Yung hugged me, and we parted ways. Omira took my hand. “I will lead you through a path no one uses. I want no questions right now and”—she gave me a quick glance—“if anyone sees you, they will be even more terrified than usual.”

I looked down at the blood and black ooze that had dried on my coat. “I will have to burn this coat,” I said. “And the rest of my clothing.”

“I think that best,” she said. “I may never get that stench out of my nose.”

“I don’t even smell it anymore,” I lied. She gave me a disgusted look then laughed when she saw I was not serious. We entered Gold House through a side door, surprising a man exiting one of the offices on the ground floor. He balked when he saw us, then gagged when my scent wafted past him.

“Sorry!” I said in Zulenii. Omira tugged me down the corridor and up a set of side stairs as quickly as possible. We managed to avoid seeing any of the other courtiers and she left me at my door then hurried down the corridor to her own.

I was surprised at how much my chamber felt like home to me when I entered. I’d barely spent any time here, but the bed and the sunken tub as well as the murals of flowers and mountains on the walls were familiar and made me think of the first time Taio had brought me here. We hadn’t been expected, so there was not a fire in the hearth, but I remedied that quickly enough. Then I turned on the magic faucet and started the bath filling with hot water. I poured a measure of the scented oil from one of the cabinets in the water before undressing. I tossed everything into the fire, piece by piece, only hesitating when it came to my boots. I decided they could be saved and set them on a towel to be cleaned later. I unplaited my tangled nest of hair and dipped a toe into the bath. The water was very hot, and that was exactly what I wanted. I hissed in a breath as I stepped in, easing myself into the water, my skin stinging slightly. A few minutes later, I realized I hadn’t gathered soap or cloths, so I had to leave the bath and fetch those materials. When I returned, I realized dirt and who knew what else floated on the top. Shivering, I drained the tub and started filling it again with clean water.

While I waited for it to fill, a knock sounded on the door. “Come in,” I said in Zulenii. The door opened, and I peered around the privacy screen, expecting to see Omira or Taio. But it was one of the palace servants—too late I recalled the Zulenii said this was not a palace and they didn’t refer to the people who worked there as servants. But essentially, that’s who this woman was. She carried a basket with the materials to build a fire, and when she saw I’d already seen to that, she apologized in Zulenii.

“Not to worry,” I told her.

“Is there anything you need, Princess?” she asked.

Usually, I always declined any offers of assistance. I knew most of the Zulenii were frightened of me. This woman was probably ten years older than me, but she was visibly trembling and keeping her distance. But today I desperately needed assistance. My head pounded from lack of food. She shifted as I tried to remember how to ask for food in her language. Finally, I just said the words I could remember. “Eat. Drink. Please.” I made signs to illustrate, and she nodded and departed. I was in the bath again—this time with cloths and soap—when she returned. She cleared her throat on the other side of the privacy screen, and I said, “Come.”

She averted her eyes when she saw me in the large tub, so I patted the space beside it. I didn’t even wait for her to leave before I removed one of the metal covers and started shoving the bread in my mouth. There was some sort of dip made from oil and mashed legumes, and I ran the bread through it. When that was gone, I used up an entire jar of fruit preserves on the last of the bread. There was also wine, and I drank a good quantity of that before I remembered it was unwatered and went back to water.

My head was buzzing slightly by the time I wrapped my wet hair in a towel and donned a warm robe. I padded across the thick carpets and threw myself on the bed. I lay face down, enjoying the softness and not smelling the odor of Hollows. When I finally had the strength to move, I managed to brush my damp hair and plait it. I was too tired to look through the clothing for something to sleep in, and the room was quite warm now that the fire blazed, so I shed the robe and climbed into the bed naked. I was asleep before my head lay on the pillow.

* * *

THE SCENT OF SOMETHING sweet woke me. I opened my eyes and Taio smiled down at me. “I brought you porridge,” he said, lifting a towel from a bowl he held. The porridge must have been flavored with sugar and spices because it smelled delicious. I sat and reached for the bowl, beginning to eat before I even spoke.

Taio sat on the side of the bed, smiling at me. “You look better,” he said.

“Because I’m naked?”

“There is that, but I mean to say you look rested. The color is back in your face.”

“I feel better,” I said between bites of food. “You look better too.” And he did. His hair was secured in a tail, and he’d shaved the shadow of a beard that had grown while we’d been away. But there was still a strain in his eyes and a line between his brows. I set the empty bowl down and pulled my covers up. “Did you speak to Ngaro?”

He nodded. “I comforted Kintle’s parents and then I went to Ngaro. I would have come to you, but I was with them most of the night.”

I knew Taio must have been devastated to have to deliver such awful news. I could only imagine how shocked and saddened Kintle’s family was, not to mention Ngaro. I had seen the pain families felt when they lost a loved one. I didn’t wish that on anyone. I wished Taio hadn’t had to tell them alone, but I understood he felt it his duty. I had never been any good at comforting people, but I tried to think what Taio might need right now. “Should I embrace you?” I asked.

He raised a brow at me. “Do you want to?”

“If it will make you feel better.”

“I think it might.”

I reached for him and put my arms around him. He rested his head on my shoulder, and I held him for a long time. “I miss him,” Taio said.

“I do too,” I murmured. I couldn’t imagine Zleyval without Kintle.

“I would like to stay here all day,” Taio began.

I pulled back. “I know. We must go to the arena and meet with Leed and the healers.”

“You must go,” Taio said.

“You’re not coming?”

“I am not needed.” He took a breath. “If you do not need me, I would rather not be there.”

I nodded. I did not know what would happen to the Hollows when we gave them the cure. It might be awful. I hoped it would be miraculous, but I understood that Taio did not want to see the creatures hurt. “I’ll be fine on my own.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes.”

I thought he might rise so I could dress and be on my way, but he didn’t move from the side of the bed.

“What is it?”

“Do you think it will work, Mara?” he asked. “Or do you think all of this was for naught?”

“I hope it will work,” I said.

“But you do not believe it will.” He knew me too well. He could tell when I wasn’t confident.

“I think we need the wolf saliva,” I told him. “Even if we had it, I would not be confident. I can’t decide if the cure is a story written to entertain or the recipe of a healer. I know it purports to be from a healer, but I find it difficult to believe anything could reverse what has been done to those...to the Hollows.”

Taio looked down at his hands hanging between his knees. “I suppose we must try it. If it works, the loss will have been worth it.”

“No.” I grabbed his arm and squeezed. “Nothing is worth losing Kintle.” Or Finnrey, I added silently. But that I blamed on Gaz. Gaz and my father.

* * *

LEED MET ME JUST INSIDE the door of the arena. Like the arena in Highcastle, this one was circular and open air. Unlike Highcastle, this arena had not been maintained. The bricks on some of the walls crumbled, and much of the floor was either mud or long grasses, now dead from the cold. Even in the open air, the place reeked of Hollows. The two of them were in separate cages in a covered area. As I entered, one of Leed’s warriors pulled a heavy cloth off a cage, revealing a Hollow who cowered from the light then gnashed his teeth at the warrior, who jumped back. Taio had done what he could for these two prisoners, both men of middling years in clothing that looked to be decades old. He’d put them in large cages, protected them from the elements, removed their chains and hoods, and covered the cages to give them some semblance of safety.

Now we were about to take that semblance away.

Leed led me to Avinil, the teacher of healers, who sat wrapped in a blood-red mantle before a wooden table that had obviously been brought to the arena from another location. The table was laden with jars and bottles as well as several pestles and mortars. Beside the healer was a large cauldron which had been hung over a fire. Lesser ranked healers dressed in white tended the fire and poured what looked like water into the cauldron. “Earslander,” Avinil said as I drew near. “How do you like our dry season?”

“I prefer the milder season in Earsleh,” I answered.

He laughed, a sort of huffing sound that was almost like a cough. “We will toughen you up,” he said. I gave Leed a look, but he smiled.

“She does not know your sense of humor, Avinil,” Leed said. Even if I’d understood he was joking, I probably wouldn’t have found it amusing. Two Hollows stood in cages nearby, both hissing and growling, and I couldn’t relax or joke with monsters who might kill us all so near. I kept my hand on the hilt of my skullcrusher.

“Come.” Avinil gestured for me to join him on the other side of the table. He rose slowly as I came around and one of the other healers left the fire and took his arm. “I have done as you asked,” Avinil said. He gestured to the row of ten or so bottles, each a different color and arranged from lightest to darkest. “I concocted the cure in ten potencies, and I have the means to make more of any of them shall it be deemed necessary.” He lifted the lid of one of the jars, and I smelled peppermint.

“We brought two Twilight Men back,” Leed said, indicating the cages. The Hollow in the uncovered cage reached through the bars and attempted to push his body through the metal. The other cage was still covered, but we could hear the hissing inside. “If you agree, we will commence with this one.”

“That is fine,” Avinil said then looked at me. I nodded. Avinil gestured to the bottles. “With which potency shall we begin?”

Apparently, this question was directed at me. I supposed they thought because I had translated the cure I had some insight into how these experiments should go. But the scroll had only said that when Vasta’s husband had taken the cure, the effects of the red vein virus had been reversed. One potion was as likely to work as any other, so I ran my fingers over the bottles and chose the one in the middle, which was a light blue color.

“Not too strong and not too weak,” Avinil said. “An excellent choice. Shall you deliver the cure?” he asked me.

I opened my mouth to say I knew not what. I sputtered a moment until Leed said, “I will do it.”

I remembered Taio’s insistence that Leed had been unnecessarily cruel to the Hollows they’d trained on, and I shook my head. “I will do it, but I am not sure how I will manage to get him to swallow this.”

“Leave that to me,” Leed said then signaled to one of the soldiers. I noticed it was Zhava, the young woman I had thought Taio interested in. She looked quite pale and quite frightened now. She was barely more than a child, and she was being asked to do something that would terrify even the bravest among us. She lifted a metal rod with a U at the end. It looked a bit like a modified farm implement.

“Cadet Zhava will restrain the thing’s head, and Cadet Bonju will grab its arms.” Bonju pulled on thick, long gloves, a helmet, and a thick apron. Then he moved behind the cage, wisely keeping his distance. “You see that step stool there?” Leed asked, pointing to a small wooden piece with two steps up.

“I stand on that and pour the potion into his mouth?” I confirmed.

“Correct. If it gets loose, drop the potion, and jump out of the way,” Leed said. He held up a mask and gloves. “Put these on.”

I donned the mask because it would help with the smell and keep any of the fluids from the Hollow away from my mouth. The gloves were too thick to allow me to securely hold the bottle with the potion, so I left those on the table.

“Are we ready?” Leed asked.

“Ready,” I said, approaching the step stool, but staying out of the Hollow’s range. I held the small bottle with the potion in my hand and prayed it would work. I prayed I didn’t somehow miss the thing’s mouth trying to deliver it.

Leed gave a sign, and Zhava twisted the implement she held, inserting it into the cage bars. The Hollow ignored it but thrashed around so much, it took her several moments before she was able to position it around the Hollow’s neck. Then she shoved hard, forcing the Hollow back against the cage and trapping its head. It made a screeching sound that caused the hair on my arms to stand up. The Hollow clawed at the hook restraining it, but Zhava held steady. Bonju grabbed for the thing’s arms, securing first one wrist then the other in metal cuffs behind its back.

“Now, Mara,” Leed said, but I was already climbing the ladder. I had only ever been this close to a Hollow a few times, and I hadn’t really looked at the creatures. I’d just tried to get away. Now, as I reached my hand through the bars, the uncorked bottle trembling in my grip, I stared at the Hollow’s face. His skin was gray and sloughing off in places. What must have once been raised red veins from the virus were now black lines marring the skin. His eyes were a colorless gray and what appeared to be some sort of film covered the pupils. His nostrils flared as my hand came nearer, and he gnashed his teeth, hissing wetly. His eyes moved to look at me, and we made eye contact. I drew in a quick breath—a mistake as the sickly-sweet smell of death was strong—and positioned my hand just above the Hollow’s mouth. If Zhava gave even a fraction of an inch, the monster would raise his chin and bite me. I’d be dead. She held firm, though, and I waited for the Hollow to open his mouth. He hissed and growled and finally, when I thought the smell might make me ill, he opened his mouth to snap at me. I poured the liquid in, emptying the bottle, then pulled my hand back.

The Hollow gurgled and sputtered as I jumped back and off my steps and out of reach. Zhava and Bonju held fast, and we all watched as a brown liquid dribbled out of the thing’s mouth. But it did look as though most of the cure went down the Hollow’s throat.

“Cadet Bonju, release its hands.”

Bonju did so then scampered away before he could be grabbed.

Finally, Leed said, “Cadet Zhava, withdraw the clamp.”

She complied, fumbling a bit as she tried to pull the implement out of the cage before the Hollow could ram against it. Finally, we were all at a safe distance. In silence, we watched the Hollow. Minutes, then an hour, then two, ticked by. I observed no change at all in the man. His behavior, his appearance all remained exactly as it had been.

“We give it one more hour,” Avinil said, “then we try again.”

“With the other?” Leed asked.

“No. We save it for tomorrow,” Avinil ordered.

* * *

WE REPEATED THIS PROCESS twice more, once with a stronger version of the potion and once with the weakest. We observed no change, except for the Hollow fought harder to be free of the cuffs and the clamp. The creature had taken three doses of the cure and showed absolutely no effects—ill or otherwise. My heart ached for Kintle as I left the arena with Leed. Over the course of the long day, I had begun telling myself that if the cure succeeded then Kintle’s death would have been a noble sacrifice. I know he saw it as one, but I couldn’t come to terms with losing him like that. The longer I watched the Hollow and prayed for some change or alteration, the more I told myself that if that change occurred Kintle’s sacrifice would have been worthwhile.

As Leed and I took the air boat down to the city, all I could think was that the cure was useless, and Kintle should still be alive.

The sun set early these days, and the lights already danced like golden stars around us. I heard the nightly evensong and realized I didn’t cringe at the noise as much as I once would have.

“I must go to the north lookout and see if there has been any change,” Leed said.

“I wanted to go there as well,” I said.

“You aren’t just offering to accompany me because I’m still hobbling about?” Leed gave me a dubious look. I gave him a sidelong glance.

“I’m not that nice.”

He laughed. “I’ve become too used to the Zulenii. Flag down a runner for me, will you?”

“A runner?”

“One of the young people running about pulling the two-wheeled seats. If I try to walk, I won’t reach the air boat on that side until morning.”

I left Leed at the air boat dock and walked the length of an alley until I came out to a wider thoroughfare. Immediately, I spotted two boys with the wheeled seats, sitting on a bench and talking. I signaled to them, and they looked at me, then at each other, then back at me. They were clearly frightened of me—the terrifying Earslehen. Impatiently, I gestured for them to follow me. They did so, keeping their distance, but moving more quickly when they saw Leed at the dock. They spoke to him, and soon we were in conveyances, being pulled across the city at a quick pace.

At the north air boat dock, I waited for Leed to join me, and soon we climbed into the mountains, the air growing colder the higher we rose. This side of the mountains was higher than the other, but I couldn’t see the arena or the other air boat because of the mountain peak blocking the view. Finally, the evensong faded away, though, and I felt my shoulders relax at the silence.

At the dock, we were greeted by Taio. I hadn’t expected to see him here, and I felt my cheeks heat with pleasure. He handed me off the air boat then offered an arm to Leed. I could have told him Leed wouldn’t accept assistance, and Leed swatted Taio’s arm away and hobbled ahead. I took Taio’s arm and leaned into his warmth. “What are you doing up here?” I asked.

“The same as you. Watching that horde and hoping they haven’t yet plotted our demise.”

“Have they?”

“No. They are not yet frozen, but they are moving slowly or not at all.” He gestured to the railing, and I went to the edge and looked down. In the growing darkness, it was difficult to see individual Hollows, but I could discern the section of the group that had split off before we’d left on our mission were no longer moving purposefully. Some Hollows did not move at all. I supposed they were in the hibernation phase I’d been told of.

Taio stood at my side, but he looked at me, not the Hollows. “I think you would have told me immediately if you had been successful today,” he said quietly.

I looked at him then back to the horde. “We tried three different potencies, and we observed no change. Mayhap some miracle will occur overnight, but I can’t think something will happen after twelve hours that did not happen in ten.”

“Did you try the cure on both?” he asked.

“Just one today. Tomorrow, I plan to suggest we start with the highest potency on the other. If that doesn’t work, I will ask Avinil to create an even stronger potency. On the other, we can try giving him even more of the cure. Perhaps quantity is important.”

Taio did not ask what we would do if none of these attempts succeeded. I didn’t want to speak of it either.

“How did you spend the day?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“We sang the Death Rite for Kintle today,” he said. “There is a formal one, much longer than the one we sang at the cairn. I led it.”

I didn’t need to ask if he needed a hug this time. I just wrapped my arms about him and held tightly. “I’m sorry. I thought of him often today. I wanted the cure to succeed so his death wouldn’t be in vain.”

“It is his life we care about,” Taio said. “His life mattered. He was a good son, a good friend, a good warrior. We will remember him that way.”

I swallowed. I wish I could remember Kintle that way, but the image of the Hollows ripping flesh off his bones stayed planted in my mind. I shivered at the memory.

“You are cold. We will return to Gold House. My parents wish to honor you with a dinner.”

I gave him a horrified look, and his mouth quirked upward. “Not tonight. My parents declared three days of mourning to honor Kintle. They will honor you after that period.”

We said goodnight to Leed and the other warriors then took the air boat down. “Aren’t your parents still angry with me about the, ah, other thing?”

“The army your father is sending to decimate us?”

“Yes, that other thing.”

“They are not pleased, but I think we have all concluded you cannot be blamed for the mistakes of your father or your people. And you are the woman I love and plan to marry. They would like to know you better and receive you formally.”

Taio still wanted to marry me. As important as marriage was in my kingdom, it was even more important in his. Marriage in Zulen was permanent. There was no divorce here, and Taio told me very few couples actually married. Those who did were tattooed with each other’s name to show the union was forever.

At the air boat dock in the city, Taio took my hand and led me toward Gold House. He made no attempt to take alternate routes, leading me through the busiest thoroughfares. Everywhere we went there was music and light, but I noted the music was sadder and even the dancers we encountered moved slowly and mournfully. I heard Kintle’s name spoken all around and even sung in songs. “The entire city honors him,” Taio said.

“This is...” I didn’t have the words. Lovely seemed too weak, and powerful didn’t quite fit. But it was a beautiful and compelling tribute to him. Taio looked at me, and I did not know how to finish my sentence. “I think he would have liked this,” I said.

“He would have hated it,” Taio said, “but secretly been pleased that he was so respected.”

As we continued to walk, I couldn’t help but notice how the Zulenii smiled and greeted Taio but kept their distance. For a people who embraced all the time, I knew this behavior was unusual. I could also see the way the Zulenii shied away from me or darted their eyes at me fearfully. Some even looked at me with dislike. I knew that expression well as I’d seen it among my own people many times.

“Mayhap we should take our time deciding if we wish to marry or not,” I said. “We can give your people time to grow accustomed to me.”

Taio stopped in the middle of Gold Path and stared at me. “I do not care if my people are accustomed to you or not. I promised to marry you when I won the Claiming Rite—”

“No one would hold you to that.”

“I hold myself to that promise. When I make a promise, I keep it.” He was speaking loudly, and in my language, which caused even more people to give us uneasy looks.

“I just don’t want you to feel obligated.”

“Why should I not feel obligated? Is obligated an unpleasant state among your people?”

“Yes. No one wants to marry someone because they must.”

“I see.” He nodded. “The difference is that I must marry you, and I also want to marry you. Do you not want to marry me?”

I felt my cheeks burn at this straightforward question. The Zulenii really did not understand subtlety at all. He was asking me such an intimate question in the middle of the street with dozens of people around. I felt as though all eyes were on us—and they probably were. Even if the people couldn’t understand his words, they must have understood something of what he said because he put his hand to his heart and his expression was one of sincerity. Had I been watching the two of us, I would have assumed he was professing his love.

“I do want to marry you, Taio,” I said quietly. “Can we talk about this alone?”

“Why? Do you wish to reject me in private?”

“No! I don’t want to reject you, but I do want you to think about what marrying me means for you and your people. Look around, Taio. They don’t like me. Even worse, they are frightened of me. You will be the next head of the First House. Your people will not want you to rule if I am your wife.”

“Then I will not rule. They are free to choose another house to lead them, but I will have you.”

I blew out a breath. What was I supposed to say to that? Warn him that choosing another house might be bad for the kingdom? Hadn’t Saabin’s Second House been behind the revolt that targeted his family? This was not the time to mention politics I didn’t really understand yet. And considering it looked increasingly unlikely the cure would be effective, it wasn’t really time to discuss marriage. I could not stay in Zleyval, and Taio could not come with me back home.

“You are impossible,” I said.

He furrowed his brow in a manner that was almost adorable and very attractive. “How is a person impossible? This is a word for a task.”

“Somehow you manage it,” I said. I took his hand. “Let’s go where there aren’t so many people around.”

He raised a brow in question, but I just tugged him along the path, back toward Gold House. As we neared the palace, we began to hurry, exchanging looks laced with meaning and promise. We hurried up the wide staircase, eager to be alone together. My earlier exhaustion had fled, and every part of me was alive with the knowledge that I’d be in Taio’s arms soon.

In the private staircase, Taio pushed me against the wall and kissed me so thoroughly I could hardly catch my breath. We tripped up the stairs together and tumbled out into the corridor, arrowing straight for his chamber.

Where Saabin stood waiting for us.

As soon as she spotted us, she pushed away from the wall where she’d been lounging and folded her arms in front of her. I wanted to grab Taio’s hand and run the other way—to my chamber—to avoid her. Could she not see my chest heaving and my reddened cheeks? Did she not notice how dark Taio’s eyes were or that his lips were swollen from my kisses? She had to know she was interrupting.

She smiled slightly. Of course, she knew she was interrupting. That was the whole point.

“I have been looking for you, Taio,” she said in Zulenii.

Taio walked past her, pulling me with him. “Not now, Saabin.” He opened his door and tugged me inside, but before he could close it, Saabin said, “You are needed at Kintle’s memorial. Nightsong will be sung for him soon.”

From behind him, I could see Taio’s back stiffen. I did not know what Nightsong was or even if I understood the word correctly, but Taio knew what it was.

“Thank you, Saabin, but I am not needed. I was with Ngaro and the family all day.”

“And now you leave them to mourn alone?”

“No, I leave them to mourn with their kin. I am not kin, as you know. You go ahead, Saabin.”

“I will.” She tossed her long golden hair. “The Second House will be there, though we bear no fault in Kintle’s death.”

It took me a moment to translate her words in my head, and even then I thought I might have misunderstood. I went over them again, but no, I had it correct. Taio was already responding by then, but I didn’t hear what he said because I pushed past him, grabbed Saabin by that long, sleek hair, and shoved her up against a wall. She was taller than me, but I pinned her with my arm. Taio called my name, but I ignored him.

“Say apology,” I demanded of her in Zulenii.

“Let me go! Taio, she’s hurting me,” Saabin screamed.

“Mara, what are you doing?”

“I want her to apologize,” I told him, “for what she said about Kintle. She said it was your fault.” I switched to my rudimentary Zulenii. “Say apology or hair rip.”

“Taio!”

Down the corridor, Omira opened her door, peered out, and saw me with Saabin pinned to the wall. She hesitated for a moment then turned and went back inside her chamber.

“She took offense at you blaming me for Kintle’s death,” Taio told Saabin. “She wants an apology.”

“Well, she will not get it.” Saabin tried to kick me, but I easily evaded her. “Release me, you brute,” she spat.

“Is that the worst you can do? I will show you what a brute I am.” I’d taken a sharp knife from our midday meal and put it in my weapon belt just in case the Hollow got loose when I was trying to dose it with the cure. I wanted a small weapon I could defend myself with if worst came to worst. Now I grabbed the knife and brought it around so Saabin, face still pushed against the wall, could see it.

“Final time I ask,” I said in Zulenii.

“Mara, don’t hurt her,” Taio said. “We do not condone violence—”

“She is about to murder me. Help!”

“Will you speak apology?” I demanded, yanking her hair.

She cried out. “Let me go, ugly brute!”

In a flash, I sliced the knife across her hair, shearing it off just below her shoulders. I held on to the ends, which meant she was suddenly free of my grip. She stumbled forward, reaching back to feel her shorn hair. Light blue eyes blazing, she rounded on me. “Y-you cut my hair!”

I couldn’t deny it. I was standing there with a tail of blond hair in my hand. “You’re lucky that is all I did,” I said in Earslehen. I dropped the tail and stalked into Taio’s chamber. Outside I heard her whining, and Taio speaking to her. I couldn’t concentrate on what they said. I was still shaking with rage. How dare she blame us for what happened to Kintle? She was here, safe and comfortable, while we risked our lives to keep her that way. I should have slit her throat. I should have gutted her and pulled her innards out while she watched. I should have—

Taio slammed the door behind him and stalked toward me. His expression was grave, and I notched my chin up in anticipation of his rebuke.

“Mi guerrira,” he said, as he came nearer. His voice was low. “You should not have done that.”

I glared at him. If he thought I would apologize, he had better think again.

“Saabin is very angry.”

“Good.” I crossed my arms over my chest. Taio came to stand before me and looked down at me.

“And do you know how I feel?”

What had my mother always said? She was not angry, just disappointed. “Disappointed?” I said.

“No.” He put a large, heavy hand on my shoulder.

“Exasperated?”

“No.” He took one of my wrists with his other hand and pulled it from my crossed arms. “I do not think I have ever”—he lowered my hand to his hard member—“been more aroused...”

I gripped him.

“...than I am right now.”

I swallowed before grabbing his neck and pulling his mouth down for a kiss. His hands went around my waist, slid down to my bottom, and lifted me. I wrapped my legs around him as his hands raked through my hair, freeing it of its confines. Our mouths locked in a heated exchange of tongues and teeth as Taio carried me to the bed. He dropped me on it then stripped off his coat, revealing his bare chest. I bit my lip and ran my gaze down his muscled chest and abdomen, pausing on the bulge his erection made in his trousers. But instead of removing those trousers, he bent, yanked off my boots then took my leggings down to my ankles. With the garment still hanging off one ankle, he parted my legs and knelt between them. “I have been wanting to taste you for days.”

His hot mouth covered my sensitive flesh, his tongue so skillful that I peaked in just moments. The orgasm was hard and fast, and I’d barely caught my breath before he was on his feet again and flipping me over. His hands gripped my hips, raising them, at an angle to expose me. I heard the rustle of material then felt him at my entrance. “Yes?” he asked.

“Yes.” I moaned as he pushed inside me, filling me with his hard heat. His hands grasped my hips, keeping me locked against him as he thrust into me again and again. I cried out when one hand reached around to slide into the folds of my sex and caress me. As I felt him swell, I shattered again. He bit my shoulder lightly and murmured what he wanted to do to me next.

It would be a long time before we finally slept.