Chapter Four

Can You Do This?

Part Two

~*~

 

 

 

 

Kelvaran's eyes darted to the doorway as he called Avetya's face to mind again – those clear blue eyes that had seemed so gentle and friendly with him, until today.

“Gorvan is her father?” he asked. “Who is her mother?”

“Gorvan is her sire, yes,” Kazia answered. “Her mother was a maid here. She died when Avetya was very small. Avetya was raised by Mrs. Ludel.”

“Did Gorvan...? He seems to make a habit of murdering the mothers of his children.”

“Not that time, I don't think,” Kazia said, her voice now tired and soft.

She lay with her face turned to him, her eyes still blank and cold, but now drooping languorously.

“There was going to be another child. Both perished in the birth. I've heard that she was the only woman he ever loved, but I've also heard that he forced her. I don't know how much he could have loved her if he could do that. It's all hearsay, anyway, pieced together from rumors. He adores Avetya, though.”

“But she's unrecognized,” Kelvaran mused, “and he made her Housekeeper? That seems...”

“I think both are his way of protecting her. If she's unrecognized, she needn't be raised according to 'Devratha tradition'... which you've witnessed today. Her position... may be his way of giving her the house that should be hers by right someday. Who can fathom his mind?”

“She's older than Abrizhen? Does he know?”

“I think so. I think many here do. In the south wing gallery, there is a portrait of Gorvan's mother. Viewed at a certain angle, when the light comes in just so, you would swear it was Avetya. I told her as much once when I was a child, and she made me promise not to tell anyone else about that. So I've never spoken of it, even to Zhen. I do hope that if Gorvan ever does us the favor of dying, then Abrizhen will recognize her.”

“She'd be the rightful Heir then, unless she wouldn't want it.”

Kazia's eyes had closed, but she opened one now to regard him.

“He might prefer that,” she said. “Zhen has... other wishes for himself.”

“He does seem protective of her,” Kelvaran noted. “I don't think Yilina likes her much.”

“Yilina...” Kazia groaned. “Something will have to be done about her.”

“You certainly gave her something to think about earlier,” Kelvaran said wryly. “You've gained some control of your energy?”

“Some. More if I feel a threat of danger. It's inconsistent, but let's keep that between us. I need them to be... uncertain of my capabilities... for my plan to work.”

“Kazia... what are you planning? How did Mistress Amelys allow this? She can't be happy about it.”

“I wasn't a prisoner in Caedra,” she pointed out. “It wasn't for our Mistress to allow.”

“But she gave you the portal... and the plans?”

“The Queen gave them to me.”

“You went over her head!?” Kelvaran was incredulous. He turned onto his back, cradling his head on one arm and staring at the velvet canopy overhead. “She really can't be happy about that.”

“She's not,” Kazia admitted. “But as I explained to the Queen, I am best positioned to get close to Gorvan and his cronies, to find out about this project of theirs, and if it really is something dire then perhaps I can make certain it doesn't work.”

“Sabotage?”

“Exactly.”

He turned up onto his side again to look into her eyes, shaking his head slowly. “Kazia, this kind of work... infiltrating and spying... trust me, it's-”

“Exactly what Gorvan trained me to do,” she asserted. “He wanted to raise a snake. Well, now that snake will bite him.”

 

 

For another hour, they lay side by side talking about all that happened to them while they'd been apart. Kelvaran told her about his dreadful trip to the capital, although she'd heard much of it through the transmitter. Kazia told him about the Off-Switch and its effects, and about the progress she'd made with her ethereal energy. Her near-portaling incident was gravely concerning. How she could feel him from such a distance was a mystery.

After Kazia fell asleep, Kelvaran lay staring up at the canopy for some time, pondering the day's deluge of information, calculating and recalculating his position. His plans had always been subject to many unpredictably moving pieces, but Kazia's unexpected arrival had not been one of them. His mind whirled until he fell into a restless sleep.

He woke in a panic to the sounds of barely restrained weeping. He had been having one of his nightmares, the first time that had happened with Kazia sleeping beside him. Her presence tended to keep them at bay.

Night had fallen, although it felt early yet. Moonlight spilled through the uncovered windows and across Kazia's cheek, illuminating her tears.

“Kazia.” He turned toward her and smoothed her hair away from her face.

“Stupid,” she whispered, her voice hoarse and ragged. “What was I thinking? I can't be here. I can't do this.”

“The potion has worn away?” he asked softly.

“Mm,” she answered. “That stupid potion. It makes me think I'm invincible.”

Kelvaran heaved a shuddering sigh, fighting back tears of his own. He cupped her face and wiped her cheek with his thumb.

“You may not be invincible, but it isn't stupid, Kazia. It's a good plan. If you want me to take you back, though...”

“I...” Her voice caught, and she swallowed thickly. “I don't know. That should be a last resort. It would destroy your mission. They'll never believe you had nothing to do with it twice. And... I have to try, don't I? Is it really a good plan, though?”

“I don't like it,” Kelvaran admitted. “It's risky, and I don't like you being here in harm's way, but you're right. You are the best person to get close to them, and you can do this. I believe that you can.”

“You'll be with me,” she said, grasping his hand and squeezing it in her own. “I promised Mistress Amelys that I'd keep you close. If we really must get out...”

“At any time, you just say the word. Until then, I'll be your right hand. I'll follow your lead.”

“You don't mind pretending that I've commandeered you?” she asked with a small laugh that ended in more sniffling.

“Kazia,” he chuckled, leaning forward to brush a light kiss to the tip of her nose, “where is the lie in that? I truly do belong to you.”

Kazia shifted over to kiss him, but winced at the movement.

“Can I please help you with that?” Kelvaran implored. “Just a little?”

She nodded with a resigned sigh, sinking back down onto her cushions. Kelvaran untied the belt of her dressing gown at her side, then drew its hem up her legs, just far enough to get his hand beneath the fabric. As his palm slid over her hip and up the small of her back, Kazia made a soft sound of pleasure.

“I missed you,” she murmured, her voice full of desire.

“That's not what we're doing right now,” Kelvaran admonished with amusement, kissing her satin-covered shoulder.

Kazia answered with a petulant groan that turned into a hiss as his hand reached the folds of bandages wrapped around her bust and released a light stream of energy into her wound. He added some warmth into the energy, to soothe her, and she moaned so enticingly that the sound seemed to vibrate in his every cell, his body instantly rebelling against his good intentions.

That is not what we're doing right now, he reminded himself.

Kazia chuckled. “Feels like you missed me, too,” she teased.

Kelvaran ceased the energy flow, intending to withdraw and straighten her clothes again, but his traitorous hand moved so slowly down the curves of her back, savoring the warmth of her skin. His palm smoothed over one soft buttock down to her thigh, and he sucked in a breath when his thumb slipped over the moisture there. They both moaned at the same time.

A clattering came from outside the room and Kelvaran's heart leapt in panic as a knock sounded at the door. He whipped Kazia's gown back over her bare legs as she clicked her tongue in frustration.

“That's probably dinner,” Kelvaran said, jumping up from the bed and hastily straightening himself out.

Kazia laughed quietly, burying her face in the pillows before looking back at him with gleaming eyes.

“Don't let my sister see your... enthusiasm,” she said slyly.

Kelvaran glared at her and gave a long-suffering sigh.

“You really aren't going to make this easy, are you?”

 

~~~*~~~