Page 15 of Hot Zone

Tessa.

What was she up to? Was this an attack of some kind? Testing his power against hers when he was unconscious and his defenses were lowered? The little witch.

He surged out of bed, ignoring his discomfort, and threw on a pair of loose trousers. He grabbed a length of linen and tossed it over one shoulder, too irritated to bother draping and belting it properly. Slamming his feet into sandals, he stormed out of his quarters.

He burst into her room without bothering to knock. Empty! Where in the halls of hell was she? He cast his thoughts outward. And got back a buzz of disjointed energy. Oh, she was out there, all right. He just couldn’t sense where.

Fury, and a faint frisson of fear, lashed through him. He spun and strode from her room, on the hunt. When he found Tessa of Marconi, the two of them were going to have a little conversation about her powers.

Soldiers hustled along the streets, jostling Tessa carelessly. But when a gilt litter came by, borne on the shoulders of four African slaves and carrying a heavily veiled woman, the warriors parted respectfully.

“Artemil,” Malah murmured to Tessa, “the emperor’s concubine.”

“I thought he was married to Esther by now.”

“Begging thy pardon?” the girl asked in surprise.

“Who is the Persian empress?” Tessa enquired quickly.

“Esther, Jewess of Susa and Babylon.”

“And she shares Xerxes with concubines?”

Malah grinned. “’Tis said she holds all of his attention. But Artemil is the mother of Xerxes’s firstborn son, therefore she retains her title and status as concubine. But it is also said she comes no more to his bed.”

“Why in the world would she come along on this campaign?”

The maid smiled slyly. “Isn’t it obvious? She wants back into Xerxes’s bed.”

Ahh. Bedroom politics. Artemil’s procession passed by, and Tessa and Malah continued on their way. As they walked, Tessa asked, “Is Esther here? I should very much like to see her. She is renowned even in my land as a great queen.”

“Nay. She stays at Susa and administers the empire with her uncle, Mordecai.”

Malah stopped at the steps of a large building bordered by double rows of tall stone columns in the classic Greek tradition. “Here we are.”

“This looks like a temple.”

“It was. Xerxes expelled the Greek gods from this place and installed the greatest Persian god, Ahura Mazda, in their stead. The emperor and his closest advisors stay here now.”

Gutsy guy, tossing gods out of their homes. Tessa mounted the stairs eagerly, drinking in the gloriously carved friezes, the perfect symmetry and balance of the building’s design.

But when they reached the doorway to Artemesia’s chambers, she hesitated. As eager as she was to meet the great warrior queen, she couldn’t afford to screw up this interview. Be unimportant. Uninteresting. Just some foreigner passing through.

Malah held back a painted leather curtain and Tessa stepped into a giant bedroom dominated by a raised bed that could hold a half-dozen people comfortably. Oh, God. A brawny, naked man sprawled across it, asleep. As far as Tessa knew, Artemesia was a widow. Her lover, then.

Secretly relieved it wasn’t Rustam in the queen’s bed, Tessa averted her eyes from the man and spotted the striking brunette from last night, sitting on an upholstered bench in the far corner, getting dressed. Or rather, being dressed. One serving woman brushed her nearly floor-length hair, while another slipped sandals upon her feet and tied the thongs about her ankles.

“You may approach, white woman.”

Tessa’s steps faltered. She hadn’t intended to stop and wait for permission to approach. Good thing the queen had granted it before Tessa insulted her.

Now what was she supposed to do? She did not want to commit a serious etiquette faux pas with this woman.

Artemesia gestured to a low bench beside her. “Sit.”

Grateful for the instruction, Tessa sank down onto the hard surface, which placed her in a position of having to look up at the queen. Close up, the woman was even more beautiful. Her dark eyes were large and faintly up-slanted, her mouth sensuously full, her skin golden and flawless.

“What is your name?”

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