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Testing her, he teased her flesh under the coverlet, and she gasped. The paleness of her skin served to highlight her apparent mortification.
It intrigued him.
He was used to women trained in the sensual arts, where a partially naked form on display would not cause any discomfort. In fact they would have reveled in their sensuality.
Uriah cleared his throat.
Ajali tore his gaze from the confounding woman. “What is it?”
“It’s Ceran, my liege. He has returned,” Bastien said tension rife in his tone.
Heat pulsed inside of Ajali.
Ceran one of his most trusted and skilled warrior should not be here. He was on a mission crucial to the future of Nuria. Ajali looked to Sascha.
“Forgive my interruption, my liege,” she said, her eyes flicking to Tehdra. Lady Sascha brought her gaze back to him. “I am aware that my brother is hurt, and I was refused entrance to the war room.”
Lady Sascha and her brother, Lord Ceran, had been in Ajali’s service for years. She enjoyed the privileges of being the king’s hari, and Ceran an elite warrior.
Ajali met Uriah’s grim expression over Sascha’s head with false calm. For her to be denied entrance to the war room meant that Ceran hovered at death’s door.
“I will be with you shortly. Bastien, stay.”
They flashed, blurring with speed from the room, and leaving Ajali alone with his high chancellor. And Tehdra.
“Have hari Tehdra placed in my wing. Assign servants to see to her needs and have caftans and jewelry readied for her. I wish to have a loop for her navel as well. See it done.”
Shock froze Bastien’s features. “Your wing, my king?”
“See it done,” Ajali said. His tone brooked no refusal.
His chancellor nodded stiffly, aiming a look of disdain Tehdra’s way. She, in turn, gripped the coverlets to her and gave him a serene smile.
Cold disapproval emanated from Bastien. “It seems as if my king will keep an untrained hari. Follow me.”
Was Ajali mistaken in the cunning triumph that flashed in her eyes?
He would definitely keep her close. Ajali gathered her and placed her on the chair. He then flashed from the room, trusting his high chancellor to see to his commands.
One of his most elite warriors had been harmed. The mission he’d sent him on was surely compromise.
The enemy was growing bolder.
It begins.
Chapter Three
The king’s wing boasted three hundred rooms and was the size of a small village. The chamber she had been assigned was richly furnished. Instead of gray stones, the purest of marble constructed the room. The floor itself was covered with the softest, most decadent carpeting with intricate designs. Tapestries graced the walls, and they were inlaid with gems of amethyst, emerald, the purest of diamonds and gold creating a royal splendor. Servants peppered the place, but no warriors. Were they lax with his protection, or that confident of his fighting skills? Either way, it was worrisome. It made him an easier target. She explored all the chambers within seconds. Except for the guards she’d passed in the great hall that led to his wing, the wing was unmanned.
Power hummed under Tehdra’s skin as the sun completely sank and her darkness rose. She found it most curious that the stories bandied about the Darkan legends held truths. It was said before the first Great War of Amagarie, over millennia ago, the Ricarkri—ruler and king of the dark ones made a bargain with the Demon king in a bid for power to subjugate and dominate all. A bargain that destroyed one of Amagarie’s suns, leaving the Darkage in perpetual darkness and filling their citizens with chakras from demons—a chakra so malevolent it could not tolerate the light. She’d never thought her darkness would have been so completely suppressed simply by mere sunlight.
Protect.
The hiss of her beast had her going cold.
Yes…we must protect our king…Gidon Al Shra, she pushed back through their psychic link. Her darkness went quiet in the cage of her mind, but Tehdra could feel its deadly intent. If she were not careful it could try and wrench control from her. Its only desire was to kill and destroy, and though she wanted to be a strong and capable warrior, she was very careful in the amount of the beast’s chakra she used.
It would only want her to protect Ajali, where her real focus must be on her king. She had successfully infiltrated the impenetrable castle Shelah. Tensions rode high in the Darkage as everyone waited for the attack that would claim the life of their king. Grief tightened Tehdra’s throat. Their realm could not afford to lose Gidon. He possessed a bold plan to raise his people from the mire of darkness they had been trapped in, to a life of prosperity. Of the seven realms of Amagarie, the Darkage was feared, never to be looked on with favor, only revulsion. Their reputation was so reviled that she could not approach King Ajali now for an audience and warn him that treachery abounded within his world. She would probably be killed on sight for simply being a Darkan.
