Page 40 of Tashama
“Oh.” She pushed her curls behind her shoulders. “I’m really famished, and I’m having difficulty concentrating.” She frowned at the prince. “It has something to do with a certain kind of drink I’ve been plied with.”
“See, she will not answer our questions! She dallies with us.”
The servants hurried into the room with trays of cheese and apples. Tashama smiled. “Are you not going to join me?” She picked up a slice of cheese and wrapped her full pink lips over the snowy-white morsel. Aleron studied her. “It’s excellent. To answer the sorcerer’s question, I don’t remember the name of the village.”
Aleron glowered at her. “She’s not answering your question!”
“She doesn’t seem to remember the place of her birth, sire.”
Carissian offered her a goblet of wine.
“It’s not drugged, is it?” she asked.
“There is no need.”
She took a sip and nodded. “This is what the prince drank before.” She ran her finger over the top of the cup, then slipped her finger into her mouth as she sucked the wine from her skin. Her brows rose when Aleron followed her movements with intrigue. Picking up a slice of blue apple, she ran her tongue over the length of the fruit. “I hadn’t remembered it tasting like peppermint.” She took a bite and savored the crispy, sweet fruit, then lay down on the pillows. “Are you afraid of me?” she asked the prince.
“Who are you?”
12
“You have not asked this of me before. Nobody has asked me who I am. I’m an insignificant Karthlander—a woman. Why do you fear me?” she asked.
“She has not said who she is, Carissian. What does this mean?”
“She says she taught herself to swim.”
“Mortals cannot swim!” The prince paced. “Put her in my bath.”
“What of her wounds?”
“Have my healer look at her injuries. I want to see her swim.”
The servant was dispatched to find the healer, and Carissian said, “Since you cannot tell us your birthplace, where did you live before we found you at the lake?”
“Texas.” Tashama reached for a slice of bread. She savored the scent of garlic-soaked butter coating the bread, then took a bite. “Hmm, the food here is very good.”
“Does she speak the truth?”
Carissian nodded.
“I know of no such place. Why will she not tell us what she is called?”
Tashama ignored the prince as she sucked the flavored butter from her fingertips. Then she lay back down on the pillows. “Are you not hungry?” she asked the prince.
Carissian leaned against the edge of the desk. “You’ve never been kissed before.”
“What an odd thing to say to me. Of course, I’ve been kissed before.”
Carissian eyes grew hard as he studied hers. She shook her head. “Quit trying to read my mind!”
“What is it, Carissian?” The prince tensed. “Who is she?”
“She has not been kissed before by a young man, but family members have kissed her. There was someone, I couldn’t see, who wouldn’t allow anyone to get close to her. But her thoughts drifted back to an earlier time, and I could see a hazy memory of her mother and father kissing her cheeks. She has not seen them for many years.”
Tashama grabbed her goblet from the servant. “You do not play fair!” She drank the remainder of the cup, then lay back down.
The servant glanced over at the prince, who motioned for him to refill the goblet. Then Carissian said, “I asked you before if you were a sorceress, but you answered me with a question. I ask again, do you meddle in sorcery?”
