Chapter Eighteen

A Moving Lure

Part Two

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The night before Kelvaran was to leave for Caedra, he was just getting into bed when Yilina entered his room without a knock. She crossed the room to him, light from the lantern she carried disappearing into the soft folds of her black velvet wrapper, but dazzling across her loose golden hair.

“I have been ordered to come to you,” she said.

“Why?” Kelvaran asked. “What does Gorvan want now?”

“He thinks you should have a taste of what you want,” she answered in a sultry voice.

Kelvaran stared at her for a long moment, his heart pounding. This was not at all expected.

“He's gone too far, Yilina,” he said finally. “I won't take you unwillingly.”

“I am far from unwilling, Kel,” she said, “and I need to know that you're really with me. I need you to prove it.”

Kelvaran took her lantern and placed it beside the one already burning on his bedside table.

“Has he ordered you to do this sort of thing before?” he asked, a tinge of anger in his voice.

She looked away nervously as he brushed her hair back and turned her face into the light, tracing a finger over the faint yellow remnants of a bruise. She pushed his hand away.

“That was nothing,” she said, covering her cheek with one hand.

“I am with you, Yilina,” Kelvaran assured her. “But not like this.”

She regarded him angrily, her eyes narrowed.

“Well, I can't leave. He gave me an order.”

“Yilina, you could kill him with one finger. Why do you let him treat you like this?”

“You could kill him with one finger,” she retorted. “Why are you here toadying to him? He has what I want, and until I get it, I'll play along. Simple as that.”

“Come,” he said. He pulled the blankets back and lay down, beckoning her to follow.

She stretched out next to him and he wrapped one arm around her as she lay her head on his shoulder.

“Just rest here with me,” he said. “When was the last time you were able to sleep soundly? I can't remember, myself.”

“Are you really not going to make love to me?” she asked, pouting.

“Not tonight,” he answered. “Tell me about Abrizhen Devratha.”

“What? Why?”

“Future Prince or no, I don't think you'd be with him if you didn't care for him. What is he like?”

“Malleable,” she said coldly.

“Yilina...”

She sighed.

“He is kind - to me anyway. Gorvan expects his son to be as ruthless as himself, and Abrizhen tries. He wants to please his father, but it doesn't come naturally. I've been able to... counsel him. So Gorvan finds me to be a good influence.”

“So you don't love him?”

“As a friend. That is real,” she said. “He and I have an understanding. We aren't lovers, and never will be. But we are both performing roles. I don't know that either of us know the other fully. Perhaps we don't even know ourselves anymore. Can there be love in such a situation?”

“A fair question,” Kelvaran answered, stroking her hair.

“Kel, I know how this all looks,” she said, raising herself to look at him, “but I am where I want to be. I will have everything I want when this is finished. Can't you just be happy for me?”

He said nothing, but kissed her forehead and pulled her back to his shoulder.

This is finished, at least, he thought as he drifted into sleep.

~~~*~~~

Kazia walked with Amelys across the bailey toward the Alchemists' tower, having just left another mind-numbing afternoon of listening to Intelligence officers questioning denizens of the castle while she played the role of human lie detector.

There had been no result as of yet, and now that they had finished for the day, Kazia felt free to address the main issue on her mind - namely that Amelys had ordered Tamyn to confiscate Master Giao's portal, removing it from her laboratory.

“The portal requires further study,” Kazia argued.

“And when there is time for that, I'll think about giving it back to you, but for now it's best not to have the temptation.”

“I will not be so impulsive again, I promise.”

“I don't know that you can promise that. You are in love, Kazia, and that is new territory for you. Dangerous territory, believe me. I don't think even you know what you might do. The current situation is far too delicate for going off half-cocked.”

“I won't,” Kazia swore, “but-”

“Kazia,” Amelys said sternly, pausing to fix her with a meaningful gaze. “You are learning new things now about who you are, as a person I mean. The natural course of your growth into self-awareness was derailed for much of your youth. That's not fair, but it is what it is.

Now I see you standing on a threshold of discovery that will be lovely and wondrous, but possibly also frightening and painful. You must give yourself time to work through it. I certainly see you developing a boldness that you lacked before, and you should absolutely explore that - but safely.”

She took Kazia's arm and led her on toward the tower. Kazia considered her words with a reluctant agreement.

“Sometimes I feel as if I'm made up of two entirely different creatures,” she said, “this timid mouse who only wants to hide from the world... and that cold, violent monster that Gorvan tried to make me into.

When I went through that portal, the combat state had already overtaken me. I was ready to kill anything that got in my way. If those Alchemists hadn't been so overwhelming...”

She looked helplessly at Amelys.

“Mouse or monster... I don't want to be either of them-”

Kazia's words choked off as she and Amelys entered the tower to find Kelvaran standing in the entry hall.

“Kel!” They both cried out.

“Mistress,” Kelvaran said, seeming to ignore Kazia.

He cast a fleeting, withering glance her way before turning to Amelys.

His mood felt distant - cold, but deliberately so - and Kazia also detected a fair amount of guilt beneath it all.

“Is it alright for you to be seen here?” Amelys asked, noting that the entry hall and stairways were abuzz with Alchemists coming and going.

“It is,” he answered. “That I am alive is no longer secret. But, Mistress I would like to report in private if you have the time now.”

“Of course.”

“Lady Devratha,” Kelvaran said curtly, then took Amelys' arm and led her down the corridor toward her apartment without seeming to spare Kazia another thought.

She stood looking after them in bewilderment.

So, she thought to herself, back to confusing. What now?

 

~~~*~~~