Page 24 of Dark Shaman: Love Found
"Always flattered, my love." She handed him his glass, letting their fingers brush in a way that still, after five millennia, sent a familiar warmth through her. "It was stifling in the main dining room with the other ladies and the watchful eyes of the staff. I needed time alone with you."
"As did I." He reached for her hand and kissed the back of it. "If I could have my way, I would spend my days and nights only with you."
She smiled. "On a hidden island in the middle of the Indian Ocean?"
"Yes. After I throw everyone else out, we could frolic nude in the ocean."
Areana assumed a mock stern expression. "You don't frolic, my love."
"No, I don't." He leaned back with his wine glass, his face relaxed and lacking the usual austere intensity. "I can't afford to. I have an image to maintain."
These moments, when he allowed his careful control to slip, reminded her why the Fates had bound them together. Beneath the cruelty and paranoia was a man capable of deep feeling, but he reserved it all only for her.
"Speaking of my image, you need to change the way you act around me. The servants are starting to get suspicious."
"What do you mean? I haven't changed anything about the way I act around you."
"And that's the problem. I try to pay attention to the other ladies so the staff won't start gossiping, but I don't have the patience to put on an act. If you were to throw a few jealous tantrums, it would explain why I pay attention only to you. You are also too friendly with the other ladies. You treat them as daughters or sisters and not as competitors."
He wasn't wrong, but she hated having to pretend for the benefit of the staff. "Can't you just compel or thrall them? That would be so much easier."
"I could, but I'd rather they reinforce the fiction I've been maintaining for thousands of years. Be a little bossier with your ladies, less friendly, and glare at them when I bestow a smile on any of them."
She took a sip of wine. "I'll try."
"You need to do better than try. There is also the issue of hiding who you really are."
She tensed. "I never let myself glow unless we are alone. Did I slip?"
"No, you did not, but it is crucial that you and the ladies maintain the illusion that you are just an immortal like them. They pay you too much deference. Much more than if you were just the first wife."
Great. Not only would she have to act hostile toward her ladies, she would have to ask them to act with less deference towards her.
He leaned forward and took her hand. "You know how important it is to hide your true identity. My entire structure will collapse like a house of cards if my commanders discover that my wife is a goddess."
Areana no longer believed his assertion that his generals would want to end her life if they discovered that she was a goddess, and she also knew that none of them could overpower Navuh's compulsion and harm her.
But she still cooperated and hid her identity on the remote chance that it might create division in the Brotherhood and fracture Navuh's power base.
In Navuh's world, power was the only currency that mattered. Love might bind them, but it would never override his essential nature.
"So, you want me to play the jealous first wife," she said. "Make scenes and stake my claim."
"You make it sound distasteful. It could be fun. I would love to see you act jealous over me."
That got her to smile. "You would, wouldn't you?" She leaned over to kiss his cheek when a knock stopped her. "Dinner must be ready." She leaned back and lifted the little bell, ringing it to indicate that it was alright to enter.
As the servants laid out the elaborate meal she'd requested of roasted lamb with herbs, vegetables, and fresh bread, appetizing aromas filled the room.
Once they were alone again, Navuh carved the lamb. "So, do we have an understanding?" He put a generous portion on her plate.
She nodded. "Tomorrow, I become the jealous harridan you require."
"Not a harridan. You won't be able to put on a convincing enough act. Just a woman protecting her position. Make it believable."
Areana took a few bites, gathering her thoughts before launching into the real reason for the private dinner she'darranged for them. In a way, Navuh's request played right into her hands.
"I'd hate having to put on an act all day long," she said. "Perhaps I could spend my days supervising the harem's restoration with the help of my ladies, Tony, and Elias. That way, we can have some privacy back."
