Page 43 of Tashama
“Your leaders will not allow us to take them over, and of course, we will not allow them to do the deed to us.”
“Why does one have to take over the other? Why can we not live in peace?”
“It has been this way forever.” He touched a handful of her hair to his face, then breathed in deeply and smiled. “The fragrance of the blue water lily coats your hair from your dip in Lake Curaca. I imagine the mermaids in my mural tantalize their companions in much the same way. Her hair is as golden as yours, and her skin as ivory. If you truly can swim, perhaps you’re really a mermaid.”
“I don’t have a tail.” She studied the painting again.
He looked down at her skirts as they draped between her legs. He smiled. “You’re so right about that.” She watched him, and he touched his finger to her lips. “I wish to kiss you.”
“You kissed another in the gardens yesterday when she forbade you to. If I forbid you to kiss me, will you disobey me, too?”
“Women have no say in such matters. Should I desire to kiss you—and you already know that I do—the choice would be mine to do as I pleased.”
“You cannot be serious.” She sat up quickly and furrowed her brow at him. “Your sorcerer has made a mistake about my interest in you.”
“Iamthe ruler of Maldovia.”
“You do not rule over me!”
“I don’t know how things can get so quickly muddled between you and me. The truth of the matter is, you desire me to kiss you, and I wish to oblige you. It’s as simple as that.”
“I want to be returned to my room at once!”
The prince stared at her for a moment, then sat upright. He jumped to his feet and hollered, “Guards!”
“Yes, sire?” two of the palace guards chimed in as they both hurried into the room at once.
“I’m retiring to bed. The prisoner will make her bed on the pillows here tonight. Make sure she doesn’t leave here this evening.”
“As you wish, my lord,” one of the men said.
Aleron turned to Tashama. “Women do not make demands of men. And in particular,nowoman makes a demand of me!” He strode back to his bedchambers.
Tashama grabbed a pillow, but before she could fling it at him, the guard grabbed it from her grasp. “You’re courting disaster, miss.” The guard tossed the pillow behind her.
“You sure are full of yourself!” she shouted to the prince as she collapsed on the pillows. She listened to the sounds of his mattress creaking as he slipped onto his feather-stuffed mattress.
The guards exchanged glances. One turned to her and said, “What does that mean, miss?”
“I wasn’t speaking to you!” She twisted to get comfortable on the pillows. “I need a blanket.”
“Sire,” the guard whispered into the dark chambers of the prince. “Would it be all right for the prisoner to have a blanket?”
“No!” the prince yelled from the abyss.
“You are a tyrant!” she screamed back.
Sometime between thelate-night hour and the early morning one, Tashama woke to find Carissian leaning against the desk, observing her. “The metal workers say the bracelets you wore were made of some gold alloy. Where did you get them?”
“The Virgin Islands.” She rolled over on her side, then closed her eyes.
“Is it an uncharted island somewhere off your coast?”
She shook her head. “If it were uncharted, it would not be named.”
“What is your name?”
“Dallas—you have said so yourself.”
