Page 8 of Tashama
“Yes, sire, she’s very much a Karthlander. I would be wary of this one,” Carissian said. “She’s dangerous to you and the realm.”
Aleron took a deep breath, wondering how the woman could be a danger to him. She wore no weapon, had been injured, was of slight build, and…
His gaze shifted to her breasts. “Whatarethese garments she wears?”
Carissian shook his head. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“Does she speak?”
“She hides her thoughts from me. I gather bits and pieces, but she veils them in other notions. Still, I feel she’s mystified at her circumstances.” He rubbed his smooth chin. “Something has gone wrong, and she’s not supposed to be here.”
Aleron laughed out loud. “EvenIcould have figuredthatout. Why was a female Karthlander caught so close to the palace? Is she a spy?” But her clothes, and the scent of her skin…provocative, luring, and goddess, yes, the same as the woman from his dreams. Yet the blackness around her eyes had disguised her, confusing him at first. “Whatisthat fragrance she wears?”
He sniffed at her neck. She tensed her posture, making him smile. “Sweeter than neferatu—more powerful than barberessa, but subtler than agathan. I cannot tell what it is.”
Tashama wrinkled her nose at him. Joy, but their primitive people would never be able to produce such a heavenly scent. His breath warmed the sensitive skin of her neck, tantalizing her to distraction.Caress me further, prince of my dreams.
Carissian folded his arms. “Joy, is what she says it is.”
Glaring at Carissian, she attempted to clear her thoughts.Meddling sorcerer.Her sensitive touch felt the heat from the prince’s body so close to hers. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and enjoyed the spicy scent he wore.Joy is what I feel when you are close to me.She looked at Carissian and said, “Not! Begone, oh sorcererly one!”
Again, she tried to hide her feelings from the sorcerer’s probes.
“Joy,” the prince said. “Appropriate.” Glancing down at her turtleneck, a perceptible smile crept across his face. He looked at her pale blue jeans, then turned back to Carissian. “She wears the oddest shaped men’s leggings of an indescribable cloth, but then is clothed in a tunic to reveal her feminine stature in bountiful proportion. If she were trying to disguise herself as asoldier, why would she wear something so revealing as this?” Aleron waved his hand at her, brushing her nipples with a light touch.
She ground her teeth, fighting the flame that surged through her body with his fleeting touch. Didn’t he know how that simple form of intimacy had weakened her knees and created an ache she craved to have satisfied?
He considered her shoes. “Her feet have little protection, she wore no weapons—I’m to understand, and yet,” he said, then grabbed her arm and studied her torn sleeve, “she has been wounded in battle.”
“I cannot read her thoughts, my lord. They’re confused and scattered. I see strange signs she voices in her mind—Scarborough Renaissance Faire, Waco, 45 miles,Dungeon Siege. She feeds me these unreal images of buildings towering into the sky, blocking out the sunlight with their translucent structures.
“Wagons move without the pull of horses, rushing down seamless stone roads. I hear strange beats in a primitive form of rhythm through her ears, perhaps a new sound that leads her into battle. She fights my presence. I’ve never known one of their kind to have that type of ability.”
Aleron caught sight of gold glittering through the torn sleeve of her right arm, then he lifted the cloth, revealing a gold chain hugging her wrist. He fingered the bracelet linked together in golden wedges like the shape of geese in formation, then frowned.
“What metal is this?” He peeled back the sleeve of her left arm, then touched the emerald and diamond-studded gold bracelet on her left wrist and shook his head.
“The metal appears to be the same, except it’s smooth in part and intricately crafted into tiny chains that connect the rest. I’ve never seen anything like it.” He glanced up at Carissian,who shook his head in response. “These stones come from our mountains nearby. How could the Karthlanders have stolen our precious gems without having paid the price?” The prince examined the clasp that bound each of the bracelets. “Have you seen anything as odd as this?”
“No, sire.”
“I want them removed at once.” He walked around Tashama in a narrow circle and turned to his sorcerer. “Why would a woman warrior be wearing such things? Only the nobility is allowed to wear jewelry.”
“I’ve never heard of the Karthlanders resorting to using women warriors, sire.” Carissian examined one of the bracelets. “Perhaps one of our metal workers could determine what the metal is.”
The prince motioned to his sorcerer. “Remove them then.”
“I’m not sure how to remove them. They’re not long enough to slide over her wrist.”
“Remove the chains, prisoner!” the prince demanded.
She complied in the slowest manner she could manage as the two men looked on.I should have taken martial arts like I wanted to, but nooo. I had to work on potions and spells.She sighed deeply.A little Kung Fu and I could have given this better-than-thou prince a little what for.
Twisting her mouth in annoyance, she shook her head inadvertently.Couldn’t do that though, could I? Not befitting the soon-to-be ruler of…
She glanced at Carissian whose eyes slimmed as he studied her. “Ruler of naught…put that in your peace pipe and smoke it, oh sorcerer, reader of minds, discerner of nothing.”
“How did she do it?” the prince asked, when she dropped the first bracelet into his outstretched hand.
