The Golden Dynasty

Chapter Fifteen The Gifts

The noises of the Daxshee being disassembled and packed up were all around me but I didn’t see it nor did I hear it.

I was completely in my head.

Being in that world was no good place to be and being in my head wasn’t much better.

Still, it was better so that was where I was going to be.

It was early afternoon the next day after Lahn struck me and I knew from the noises invading the cham that woke me up (alone in our bed, might I add) that the packing up had already begun.

The minute I moved in bed, my girls swung into action, feeding me, bathing me, dressing me like the queen I was and then quickly went to work to pack our belongings for the ride.

Now, I was sitting outside on a big, soft hide with some cushions under a piece of gauze that had been set up on a slant to protect me from the sun. I had a plate of untouched food in front of me, a jug of water, a cup and Ghost was rolling around, playing with some toy one of my girls had made for her (in other words, tearing the thing to pieces).

The activity was intense, the hustle and bustle all around and I watched with distraction six young men who were likely around fourteen or fifteen, clearly Horde warriors in training considering they were all tall, fit and muscular, pulling down Lahn and my cham.

They were good at it. They were strong, fast and clearly had some practice.

Then I felt it before I saw him round the tent. That raw, brutal energy.

Lahn was coming.

I braced and then I saw him move toward me wearing nothing but his hides, his boots, his hair still in the braid I’d plaited in it the day before.

He moved well, I noticed. He’d been trained since he was a little boy to know what his body could do and command every inch of it and that was exactly how he looked when he moved.

All that power was at his complete command.

And now I knew in a way I never wished to know just how much power he wielded.

His eyes were on me the second I was in his line of sight and in that same instant I caught his flinch.

He’d marked me. I knew it. I didn’t have a mirror and I didn’t need to see his reaction to be made aware of it. The skin on my cheekbone was tender to the point that even the lightest touch caused significant pain and it was swollen so badly the skin felt stretched to the breaking point. But even if I couldn’t feel it, I saw it in the eyes of my girls the minute they saw me that morning and then, all day, the eyes of those moving around me. Or, more to the point, those eyes in faces not smiling at me, heads not nodding but avoiding my gaze and, after seeing my husband’s mark, looking swiftly away.

I noticed even with the flinch his gait didn’t stutter as he made his way to me. And I tipped my head way back to watch him as he didn’t hesitate to bend, his hand finding mine, engulfing it and without a word to me he pulled me gently to my feet.

He started moving us, his hand in mine and he still said nothing to me but he barked, “Teetru, Ghost,” and in two short words gave the order to his busy slave to take time out from her important tasks to look after my pet.

He strode around our now fallen tent and into the disappearing pathway that was fast becoming a clearing and I hurried to keep up. Not, this time, protesting his pace. Not, this time, speaking a word.

But I knew his head turned because I felt his eyes on me then his hand squeezed mine and his gait slowed so I didn’t have to half run to keep up.

I didn’t even look at him. I slowed my step and kept my eyes to my sandals.

We entered an area where there were no chams or belongings to pack away but the activity seemed more extreme so I looked up to see we were at the outskirts of the disappearing Daxshee. There were lines of wagons being loaded and there was also a line of horses standing in wait.

I immediately saw Lahn’s firstly because it was at least one hand higher than all the rest, a visibly powerful beast, huge, regal, absolutely perfect for him. Secondly, I saw Lahn’s steed because beside it was a blinding white horse the beauty of which I’d never beheld in my life and I’d spent some time around horses.

My father had scraped and saved to give me horseback riding lessons from the time I was eleven to the time I was fourteen. He did this because he loved me and he did this because he had a daughter who lost her mother and he wanted her to have what she most wanted in the world. I wanted my Mom back but since that was utterly impossible, horseback riding lessons were going to have to do. When I realized how much it was costing my Pop, and how little he could afford it, I asked him to quit paying for them. But I bought time on the back of a horse every weekend for the next two years and I bought it by mucking out six horse stalls for free in order to get it.

And lastly, I knew Lahn’s horse because Diandra and Seerim were standing in front of it.

I searched her face and body for hints that Seerim had taken his hand to her too in what appeared to be his anger last night but she had none. However, the minute her eyes could see my face clearly, her face got soft, her shoulders drooped slightly and even over the distance, I saw her eyes get moist.

Yep, definitely, absolutely and truly, I liked Diandra and if I ever made it out of this godforsaken world, I would miss her.

Lahn walked us right up to Diandra and Seerim then stopped us. Dropping my hand, his arm curled around my shoulders and he turned me so my front was held against his side. On display to his people and with no choice, I slid my arms around his waist and looked at Diandra whose eyes were on me as Lahn spoke.

Then Diandra did. “He has asked me here to translate for him.”

“Ordered you, you mean,” I replied and she pressed her lips together.

Then she whispered, “Yes, Dahksahna Circe.”

She called me my title as she was now not just my friend but in the presence of her king.

I nodded; she nodded to me then looked to Lahn.

He turned me toward the white horse and reached out a long arm to catch the horse’s bridle, doing this without letting me go. He pulled the horse’s gleaming white nose, a nose that was so white it seemed an aura of the coolest ice blue shimmered from it, close to us and he spoke.

“This is my gift to my tigress,” Diandra said and my eyes flew to Lahn who was still talking. “When The Horde rides, their queen rides.”

I stared at him without a word. Then slowly my eyes moved to the beautiful beast in front of me.

Lahn spoke as did Diandra. “She has no name, Circe.”

I nodded, my eyes still on the horse and I lifted a hand cautiously to her nose. She allowed the touch so I stroked her.

“Hey girl,” I said softly.

She jerked her head up slightly, the movement controlled by Lahn’s hand still on her bridle but my hand flew away then she came back and butted my hand with her nose so I smiled at her and stroked again.

“You’re gorgeous,” I whispered, moving in close, Lahn’s arm fell away from me, he let go of her bridle and she butted the side of my head gently. “Seeing you, there is no name to capture your beauty so why don’t we try to capture your coat,” I told her. “How do you feel about Zephyr?”

She lifted her head again, shook it briefly then I got three down and ups.

Assent.

I grinned at her, caught her nose with a hand on either side and brought it down so we were eye to eye.

“Zephyr it is then,” I said, she snorted what I hoped was her approval (alas, I could not understand this beast in this world) and my grin turned to a smile.

“Lahnahsahna,” Lahn called and I closed my eyes, gave Zephyr a last stroke then let her go and turned to my husband, dropping my head back to catch his gaze.

He didn’t hesitate to pull me gently into his arms. I placed my hands lightly on the warm skin of his chest then he spoke as did Diandra.

“She pleases you?”

“Meena,” I replied in his language.

“Good,” he replied quietly in mine and I felt my heart wrench.

Then his eyes moved over my face and caught on my cheekbone. He studied it for long moments before they moved back to mine and he spoke softly.

Diandra translated, “I do not like it when my tigress weeps.”

Then you shouldn’t have made her weep, I thought but made no verbal reply.

He waited for it but I didn’t give it to him. He was a man who could have anything he wanted and if not, he was a man who was strong enough to take it.

Except one thing.

Me.

He sighed. Then he lifted a hand to my jaw and his thumb swept the skin under my bruise in a whisper soft touch that still caused a hint of pain that made my brows draw together in protest. He caught the movement and his jaw went hard.

Then he spoke again and Diandra translated. “I do not like it that my queen bears my mark.”

Then you shouldn’t have marked her, I thought but remained silent.

He waited. I gave him nothing but my gaze.

Then he spoke again, this time in a mutter as if to himself but Diandra still translated, “She keeps even her claws sheathed from me.”

Damn straight, I thought but made not a sound.

His eyes focused intently on mine then came more. “I’ve no doubt I’ll very soon earn your claws again, my tigress.”

Don’t hold your breath, I silently advised.

He waited and so did I.

Then he spoke again and Diandra said, “Very well, my Circe, I’ll allow you time to retreat and lick your wounds.”

Well, thanks so much, asshole, I thought sarcastically.

He watched my face, drew in breath and let it out slowly. Then he pulled me closer, his arms going tighter, he bent and whispered something in my ear I did not understand and Diandra didn’t hear.

Then suddenly his body tensed, his head came up and he looked over his shoulder. Then he let one arm drop and he turned to my side.

That was when I saw Nahka, carrying her baby daughter strapped to her chest, her hand holding onto her little boy’s. He also had a hand in Narinda’s who was walking with Nahka, the boy in between them. They seemed to be rushing but not having an easy time of it with the boy slowing them.

In front of them at least five paces was a warrior wearing a grave expression, carrying a long, squat box made of gleaming wood, his eyes were on me and he seemed to be heading our way.

What on earth?

My eyes went back to Narinda who was smiling at me and I knew the minute she caught my mark because her lips parted, her step stuttered then her eyes flashed to Lahn and her face filled with fear.

But Nahka kept dragging her little boy and Narinda had no choice but to keep on coming.

The man stopped in front of Lahn with something obviously on his mind, he did not wait to say it and Diandra immediately started translating.

“Dax Lahn, I’ll have a word with your wife,” he stated.

“You’ll have a word with me first,” Lahn replied, his meaning clear.

“Then you have not heard,” the man declared.

“Heard what?” Lahn asked.

“Yesterday, in front of my wife and many witnesses, our true golden queen saved the life of my son.”

Lahn’s arm around the middle of my back tensed. Then Diandra translated his, “What?”

“He was not breathing. She executed some maneuver she said she learned in her land and expelled a piece of meat he was choking on. If she had not done that, my son would not have lived to serve his Horde,” the man explained and I felt Lahn’s eyes on me.

“Is this true?” he asked and I looked up at him.

“It was nothing,” I said softly and Diandra translated then kept doing it when words flew from the warrior’s mouth.

“I do not agree, my queen, that it was nothing for my son lives today instead of being prepared for his pyre,” the man stated and I looked from Lahn to him.

“Uh –” I mumbled.

Diandra didn’t translate my mumble but did translate his words.

“I serve my king, I serve my Horde and before yesterday, as was my duty, I served my new queen. Now, my debt to you will never be paid. My family stands strong. My wife does not peek from under the veil of mourning. We have our time with him before he leaves us to take the paint. Gods willing, he will live to gather his own bounty and spill his seed in his wife to guarantee the future of The Horde, as I have done and my father did before me. This is not nothing, this is everything, my queen, and when you owe everything, it is a debt that cannot be repaid.”

Um…” I whispered, “okay.”

“But, even so, with Dax Lahn’s consent, I offer you a gift,” he stated then opened up the box and I blinked as the sun flashed on the gleaming silver and jewels.

Then I stared with my mouth hanging open.

It was a dagger made of perfect, shining silver the hilt covered completely in jewels. These were not rough hewn but perfectly crafted so their brilliance reflected everywhere. There were emeralds and sapphires, in abundance, but there were also diamonds and not a small amount of those either. It was not small, it was not large but just the number and size of the jewels made it obviously valuable and the craftsmanship, even from someone like me who knew nothing about it, could not be denied. In my world, the thing would be worth tens of thousands of dollars. Maybe hundreds of thousands.

Holy crap!

I looked at him and started, “I can’t –” but he (and thus Diandra) talked over me.

“The silver and jewels were pulled from deep within Korwahk, but the artisan who created this is from your land. It is Valearian and it signifies our queen, once of the Vale, now Korwahk, forever bound together to create beauty.”

That was so beautiful (albeit untrue) that tears sprang to my eyes and I whispered, “It was just the Heimlich maneuver. Seriously. A lot of people from my, uh… land know how to do it.”

“It is not just anything, my true golden queen,” he retorted.

Lahn spoke softly on a squeeze of my back and Diandra translated, “Quiet your protests, my doe, and take the dagger. You do Bohtan a dishonor by hesitating.”

Quickly, my hands came up, Bohtan placed the box in them and I blinked the tears away as I looked up at him.

“I… I don’t know what to say,” I whispered, Diandra translated my words and his reply.

“Say nothing, my queen, except that you will grace our cham in future, make my wife laugh and do it casually as you did even just hours after you saved our son’s life.”

“I, uh… okay,” I replied, his serious face melted and he smiled at me.

I smiled back.

Then he looked at Lahn and jerked up his chin with a, “Kah Dax,” turned and strode away. I watched him reach Nahka who was stopped some feet away and swing his son up into his muscular arms, attach him to his hip, throw his other arm around Nahka and guide her away. She looked back and waved as did her son. I waved in return.

Narinda remained rooted to the spot, staring at me and I was about to mouth something to her before I heard Lahn bark and my body started. I started paying attention to my immediate surroundings and saw The Eunuch was close and clearly had been there awhile, he had something to say too and he was biding his time to speak.

But his eyes dashed to me twice in the brief time mine rested on him and something about that struck me as wrong.

Before I could put a finger on it, he spoke and Diandra translated. “The Daxshee is nearly dismantled, King Lahn, we ride in an hour.”

“Dohno,” Lahn muttered on a jerk of his chin, The Eunuch inclined his head and his eyes darted to me yet again before he turned and moved quickly away. I lost sight of him when Lahn curved me into his front again, both arms around me and I looked up to him as he spoke and Diandra interpreted. “We ride soon under a sun that still holds heat. Will you be all right on Zephyr or do you need cover?”

“Zephyr,” I replied instantly, ignoring the fact that he was being solicitous and therefore sweet.

Lahn went on after a squeeze of his arms. “My tigress, the pink in your skin has turned to honey but the sun will beat for four to five hours yet before losing its strength. I do not wish you to have another turn.”

“I’ll be fine,” I assured him and I would. Late afternoon sunshine was a lot different than sitting in it all day, I now had an enforced base tan and anyway, I had to do something about these whacked out tan lines. I hadn’t seen myself but I had to look like a freak.

“This is a promise?” he pushed and I locked eyes with him.

“It is a promise, my king, I will be fine,” I stated and his jaw clenched.

Then he muttered, “Nahna Dax.”

Your king. Not just Lahn.

He didn’t like that, I could tell.

Whatever.

I held his eyes as I waited. He held my eyes as something worked behind his.

Then he gave me a squeeze and muttered, “Okay, Circe. Veeyoo…” then a bunch more stuff that Diandra translated as “I will see you as we ride.”

I nodded, he gave me another squeeze with another sigh, he looked over my shoulder and jerked his chin up and I looked too to see a warrior nod and move our way.

My guard.

Then he let me go.

I moved away quickly, closing the box and shoving it under my arm and Diandra was instantly at my side.

Before she could say a word, I spoke.

“Are you okay?” I asked and she blinked.

“Pardon, my dear?”

“Did your husband take a hand to you last night?” I clarified.

“No!” she exclaimed. “Of course not.”

“He was angry,” I reminded her.

“He was, Circe, but he just yelled at me, I yelled back because, you were right, neither of us knew we were doing anything wrong. It was all innocent. It took awhile for me to calm him down, get him to hear me but I did and he realized it was an innocent mistake and all was well.”

“So he doesn’t hit you?” I asked and she eyed me.

Then she answered quietly, “Not anymore, my dear,” then quickly, “and not for some time.”

“Right,” I muttered.

“My goodness!” We heard and both our heads swung to Narinda who was standing in front of us and we would have bowled her over if we didn’t stop. She lifted a shaking hand toward my cheekbone then she dropped it, grasped my hand and tugged me close. “Oh Circe,” she whispered. “What on earth happened?”

“I displeased my husband last night,” I told her shortly, Narinda reared back in shock, her face paling instantly and Diandra sucked in breath.

I turned to her and she had her mouth open to speak.

And I knew what was coming so I lost it.

“Don’t,” I whispered on a hiss, shaking my head at the same time tears sprang to my eyes.. “Don’t. Do not tell me more of how this place and these people work, what they do, what are their ways. No more explanations of who they are and why they behave the way they do.” She blinked with obvious hurt, I let Narinda go, turned fully to Diandra and grabbed her hand, squeezing hard. “I adore you, my friend, you already own a piece of my heart but you and I know there is no excuse for what he did last night, there is no Korwahk explanation that enlightens me to the ways of him and his people that would justify him unleashing his fury on me the way he did. You cannot look at my face, see his mark and know the woman I am and think I could ever do, no matter the wrong he perceives, anything to make him strike me the way he struck me and that would be in any way okay. You know it, Diandra,” I squeezed and shook her hand sharply. “You know it.”

“Circe,” she whispered, squeezing my hand back, “please listen to me. There are things you don’t know. Things you have yet to learn. Things Lahn knows and Seerim told me last night he was wild with worry –”

I shook my head hard, let her go and took a step back. “No. No, I won’t listen to you now. Maybe later when I don’t feel the ache of the back of his hand smashing into my face but not now.”

Then as quickly as I could, before she could say another word and without a glance at either of them, I hurried back toward where my cham used to be.

My guard followed.

* * * * *

I stared at the stars overhead and there were a lot of them. They blanketed the dark sky in a twinkle of lights that was breathtaking. I’d never seen anything like it. Not in my life.

Then I moved my legs and my entire body protested.

We’d ridden from afternoon into the night. It had been years since I’d been on a horse and my body wasn’t used to it. I forgot how much it took out of you physically, riding. Now I remembered.

We didn’t make camp. Once we stopped, I dismounted from Zephyr, a strapping young boy was instantly there to take her away and then Teetru was there, grabbing my hand. My girls gave me water to wash my hands and face, served me a simple meal of dried meat, cheese, flatbread and dried fruit with a cup of water and a chalice of wine. This was cleared away and I was led in the clothes I wore that day to a stack of hides that I took to be my bed. They were out in the open, as everyone else appeared to be bedding, though somewhat removed from the others.

I wasn’t keen on camping though I was an experienced camper. I was the only child of a man who was a man and he liked fishing, hiking and shit like that. So he took me with him. But I’d never slept under the stars and was uncertain I wanted to. I wasn’t in Rome, but I was in Korwahk and therefore had to do what the Korwahks did. So bed under the stars it was.

I slipped off my sandals and slid under the top hide. They were set on a slab of cream stone but there were a lot of them (giving me an understanding of why Lahn had that huge pile in his cham) so although it wasn’t the softest bed I’d ever lain in, it wasn’t hard stone either and my aching body was glad to recline.

The girls had rolled some hides at the top to act as pillows and I lay on my back and stared at the stars.

I had seen Lahn that day, several times. He rode mostly at the front of the procession of hundreds of horses that was followed by at least double that amount of wagons but he would often drop back to ride next to warriors and speak with them. I caught his eyes on me twice but he never got near me.

I rode with the women who rode behind the men. I did this but I did it while avoiding Diandra on her roan mount because I felt badly for my outburst. Not that my words were wrong, just that I should have weighed them before hurling them at a woman who had been nothing but kind to me.

I lost sight of Lahn the minute we stopped and hadn’t seen him since.

The stars were drifting from sight because my eyelids were drifting closed when I heard Lahn’s boots approach. I turned to my side away from his side of the hides and heard, one after another, his boots hit stone. Then the top hide moved. Not a second later, I was hauled across the hides and my body was forced to curve into the large, hard, warm one at my back.

He spoke quietly into the back of my hair as his hand drifted up to cup my breast and I stilled. He kept speaking and I waited for him to do something. It would be just like him to try to have sex with me with hundreds of people camping just feet away.

But his thumb did not wander across my nipple, his hand just cupped me warmly as he continued to speak words most of which I didn’t understand.

Then he stopped talking, his head moved, I felt his beard against the skin of my neck as he used his chin to pull my hair away and then I felt his tongue taste me from the back of my ear down the length of my neck and further down the length of my shoulder.

Throughout its journey, I steeled myself against the shiver and fortunately succeeded in beating it back.

At the point of my shoulder, he rubbed the long hairs at his bearded chin back and forth which felt sweet and nice and made my nose sting with tears that this time I held back with sheer willpower.

He did this for a long time as if he was staring into the darkness deep in contemplation at the same time delivering to me a preoccupied caress that was still, nevertheless, a caress.

Then his arm around me pulled me deeper into him and he settled back into the hides, he tilted his big body slightly into mine and I listened until his breath evened out.

Only then did I allow my eyes to close and my body to fall asleep.