Page 106 of Dark Shaman: The Lost Treasure
"I am." He opened the door to a suite that was actually not as bad as she'd expected. "This was an experiment that I'm starting to regret, but I'll give it a few more months before I order the decorators to return everything to the way it was."
He'd never consulted her opinion about decorating his other residence, and it stung. She didn't expect him to consult her about the wars he was instigating, but he could have at least asked her opinion about furniture.
"I do not know how it looked before, but I prefer our residence in the pyramid. I hope we can return there soon."
Something flickered in his eyes—understanding, perhaps, or pity. "I'll have the engineers assess the damage as soon as the storm passes. If the structure is sound, and the water can be somehow diverted elsewhere, renovations will start right away. You will have your palace back within weeks. A few months at most."
Months.
Annani would worry when their scheduled call didn't happen. She would assume that something had happened to Areana and might even mount another rescue attempt.
Fates, she hoped her sister wouldn't do that. It would only end in disaster.
"Thank you." She put her hand on Navuh's arm. "We should shower and change and then have a hot cup of tea."
36
TAMIRA
The dress that had been delivered to Tamira's room felt wrong against her skin. It was also too short, too structured, nothing like the flowing silks she was accustomed to. She tugged at the neckline as she descended the stairs, the stiff fabric a reminder that everything had changed overnight.
She'd expected the dining room to look like the ones she'd seen in movies about rich people living in a metropolis, but she'd been too modest in her expectations. The room reminded her of a picture she'd seen of an exhibit in a modern art museum. Glass, chrome, and strange sharp angles everywhere. The artwork on the wall was very colorful but it depicted nothing. It was like the artist had thrown buckets of paint onto the huge canvas, but she had to admit that the combinations of vivid colors were pleasing to the eye.
The other ladies were already seated, looking equally uncomfortable in their new clothing. Liliat kept touching her hair, still damp from the shower. Raviki fidgeted with thebuttons on her blouse, and even Sarah seemed overwhelmed by their unusual surroundings.
Elias sat at the far end of the table, wearing a simple white shirt and dark pants that must have come from the store that served this part of the island, the one that the ladies' outfits had come from as well. The clothes fit him surprisingly well, and Tamira had to force herself not to stare at the way the fabric stretched across his shoulders. Tony sat beside him, drumming his fingers on the glass table in a nervous rhythm.
"Good morning," Areana said as Tamira took her seat. "I trust everyone is refreshed?"
"Thank you for the clothes," Beulah said. "And the hot shower was lovely."
Navuh entered, and the atmosphere shifted, becoming colder and stiffer.
His household staff watched everything with poorly concealed curiosity. These people didn't know that Navuh never touched his concubines, that Elias was far more than an advisor, and that Tony belonged to Tula.
"Ladies," Navuh said, taking his seat at the head of the table. "Elias. Tony."
"Thank you for hosting us for breakfast, my lord," Elias said with a proper dip of his head.
Tony repeated his thanks, and the staff began serving the morning meal, an elaborate spread that seemed excessive, bordering on ostentatious. Fresh fruit, pastries, eggs prepared three different ways, four different sorts of bread, cheeses and cold cuts of all kinds.
Tamira picked at a piece of melon, her appetite nonexistent. Every bite felt like sawdust when all she wanted to do was reach across the table and take Elias's hand and kiss him until neither of them could breathe.
Instead, she buttered a roll that she had no intention of eating.
"More water pumps were delivered to the site," Navuh announced, spreading honey on his toast with precise, elegant movements. "The engineers need the water cleared out before they can assess the damage."
"How long will it take?" Areana asked, and Tamira caught the edge in her voice. Their lady was anxious, and that was unusual for her.
Areana was their rock—always composed, always ready to help with a kind word. To see her so discombobulated was concerning.
Was it the shock of displacement?
They all knew their roles in the harem, the rhythm of their days. Here, everything was uncertain.
Or perhaps something else was troubling her?
As Areana's fingers tightened on her teacup, Tamira suddenly understood. In the harem, everyone knew that Navuh was devoted solely to his first lady, his wife, and that the concubines were there to produce sons he could claim as his own. But here, with his regular household staff and guards watching, Areana's role in Navuh's life was diminished. She was still the first lady of the harem, but she was supposed to share him with six others. She was forced to pretend that her mate was spreading his affections among seven women.
