A coil of stout rope waited in a decorative clay pot beneath the window for use in an emergency, and the opening could be observed and guarded from the interior courtyard below. Drigo had taken care in building his private rooms, to ensure no one could enter or eavesdrop on his private bedroom activities or conversations.
All this effort now benefited Esk kar, as they passed through the workroom into the bedroom making sure to fasten each door. For the first time in his life, he had something more valuable than gold-privacy. He could speak and be assured that no one could hear.
He took her in his arms and held her, looking down at her face and breathing in the scent of her hair. “Trella… all day I’ve wanted to hold you, to thank you for your words at Nicar’s table. You make everything possible, and now even the Families listen when you speak.”
Her hands went around his neck, and her face pressed itself to his breast. “You said you wanted to talk, master,” teasing him with the slave’s salutation. “Or did you bring me here for other reasons?”
Once again she’d roused him with a few words and the press of her body. “I think… we will talk later.” He took off her dress, pulling it slowly up over her head, enjoying the sight and feel of her body against his.
She spoke the truth earlier. Three days had passed since he’d taken her, a length of time that suddenly seemed far too long.
“Then… we should make haste,” she whispered, loosening his belt and letting it drop to the floor. She helped remove his tunic, her desire no less than his.
Esk kar guided her gently down into the bed and ran his hands over her, taking his time, forcing himself to hold back while he aroused her, wanting her pleasure as much as his own.
He’d never done such things before. Until Trella he’d cared little whether any of his women felt much of anything. He’d heard such things described, and men told stories of women who enjoyed lovemaking as much as their men, stories he had previously dismissed as lies or soldier’s tales. Whatever magic Trella possessed, she brought to him something special, something that increased the love act and made it better than simple coupling. He resolved to keep it that way.
Later he lay there, relaxed, resting on clean pillows and a soft linen mattress filled with cotton and feathers. A small lamp provided just enough light to see. Trella left the bedroom and when she returned, she carried a tray holding a water pitcher and two glass goblets.
The expensive glass cups, rare and hard to fashion, came as a gift from one of many merchants seeking favors. Esk kar drank gratefully, but Trella drank only half of hers, then poured what remained onto a cloth. She used that to wipe Esk kar’s brow, then rubbed down his chest and wiped clean his genitals. Turning the cloth over, she rubbed down her own breasts and loins as well. When she finished, she snuggled against him, pulling the blanket up over them.
He loved the way she looked after him, almost as if he were a child.
“You know, Trella, this life is very good. We’ve a fine house, servants, and gold to pay for everything. For me it’s like a dream.” His arm went around her shoulder. “And most of all, I have you.”
“And if you did not have me, you’d have some other girl in your bed. Men are much the same. My father, Nicar, the rulers of my village
… ouch!”
He pinched her to stop her words. “Yes, I’d have some other girl, but it would not be this bed. I’d be in the barracks with a dozen men grinning as they watched.”
Esk kar turned on his side to face her, serious now. “I know to whom I owe this soft bed. All this is because of you, and I’ll not forget that.” He moved the hair away from her face, then kissed her cheek. “So say what you wish even if you know it’s untrue.”
“Then you still want me,” she whispered, her voice suddenly that of a timid young girl. “Even if I’m not as pretty as the women who now cast their eyes on you?”
“Yes, more than ever.” He slapped her thigh playfully. “But you must tell me how such a young girl knows so much about lovemaking? If all the girls from Carnax are like you, then I must visit this place.” He pulled her on top of him. “Where did you learn to make a man so happy?”
She hid her face and he knew she was blushing, though the lamp barely revealed her face.
“One day my father caught me watching him take his pleasure with one of the servants. He decided that since I was so curious, I should learn how to please a man, to make sure I would be well treated by my future husband. So he had one of his slave women instruct me in the mysteries, and… I… was allowed to watch her with her husband.”
He wondered what else she’d done, not that he cared. “Your father was a wise man. He gave you a great gift, one that I will always keep close to me.” That reminded him of something unpleasant. “Now, tell me about Caldor. What about this look?”
She sat up, pulling the blanket close around her and turned toward him.
“I saw the same look Gatus did, just for an instant. He was embarrassed by his father before everyone. The foolish boy should have kept silent. Then when I spoke and the nobles listened, he was even more angered, that I could speak when he was forbidden. He…” her voice trailed off.
Esk kar took her hand, pressed it to his lips, then squeezed it. “Yes, what else did he do?”
“When I was at Nicar’s house, Caldor wanted… he wanted me. He told me he was just waiting for his father to take me first, and then I’d be given to him. But he didn’t even want to wait for that, he wanted me to… to… get down on my knees for him.”
She stopped, the words coming hard. “I pushed him away and ran off.
I would have run from the house, but Creta grabbed me and made me tell her what happened. She must have spoken to Caldor because, after that, he only looked at me and smiled. I… I was afraid of him.”
I’ll kill him for that, Esk kar decided, but he kept his hand steady on Trella’s, so she wouldn’t know what he was feeling. He cursed himself for a fool, not to have asked her anything about her life at Nicar’s house, as if nothing that had gone on before mattered once he’d taken possession of her.
Still, he couldn’t go around killing everyone who wanted to bed Trella, since that now included most of the men in Orak. “Then what happened?”
“Nothing. A few days after that, Nicar returned from his travels. Two weeks passed, and Caldor and Lesu went off on their trip. Then you came to dinner and I was given to you.”
“And you didn’t know who was worse, the barbarian or the spoiled child,” he said lightly, glad to coax a small laugh from her. “You seemed reluctant enough to come with me. Why didn’t you tell me of this before?”
“Because I didn’t think it mattered. I’d decided anything was better than being a slave, so I planned to run away. But you were gentle and treated me with respect. After I heard you speak to the crowd that night, I decided to help you, to do as Nicar asked, but for my own reasons.”
She touched his cheek. “And then, after we made love together, I felt… different, and now I want only to be your woman. I will have no life but with you, Esk kar. If we fail, then we’ll both die here and nothing will matter. If we win, then Caldor is of no importance.”
Esk kar’s hand tightened at Caldor’s name.
“You cannot kill him, Esk kar, much as I would wish you to. If you kill another one of the Families’ sons, they’ll never forgive you.” She twisted in his arms so that her cheek pressed against his. “You must listen to me.
More is at stake here than just the barbarians. If we win, the victory may be as deadly for you as the barbarians. You’ll have to survive the Families, who will remember you were born a barbarian, remember Drigo’s death, remember those of their own families killed in battle, and remember how much of their gold you’ve spent.”
He started to speak, but she put her finger to his lips.
“Even the soldiers may try to take power from you, with the help of the merchants and the Families. When this is over, many people will be dead, many of them your friends, and you’ll have made new enemies. To hold power over them, there is much you must do, starting now.”
Her breath was against his cheek, and he wanted to hold her in his arms and forget about everything but her. Damn the gods, wasn’t it enough to fight the barbarians? Now he had to worry about a knife in the back and plan for the future at the same time-when he didn’t even know if he’d survive the coming battle.
Demons take them all to the fire! Better a hard fight than all this cursed planning and plotting. He could take Trella and leave Orak behind, trusting to his sword and the gold he’d already earned. Part of him still longed to live
