Temperance

  “Why, it’s for big bubbles and no troubles, of course.” She gave him a flirty wink before she’d thought better of it, and when he continued to just stare, she let out a long-suffering sigh. “If you’ll allow me the use of my hands, I’ll show you.”

  He regarded her as if trying to decide if she could be trusted or not.

  “I’m going to eat it, not launch an attack.”

  “How do I know it’s not poison? That it isn’t some kind of swift death.”

  It was Naeve’s turn to frown now. “Why would I kill myself? All I’ve wanted since being brought to this damn place was to go home with my sisters. That hasn’t changed, genius.”

  He reluctantly released her wrists, and when she brought them around and reached for the piece of gum, he warned, “Don’t try anything. You won’t like the consequences.”

  Upon taking the square, she unwrapped it and decided she would savor the fruit-flavored goodness. Once she’d brought it to her lips, she bit the piece in half and then rewrapped it, placing the other half in her pocket for later as she started to chew.

  The fruity deliciousness burst over her taste buds and she groaned from the sheer pleasure as she kept her eyes on his. He was watching her as if she were about to morph into a wolf or something—which might not have been so unusual here. She wasn’t sure.

  Then, when it was fully chewed, she pushed her tongue against the gum, and pursed her lips, blowing a huge bubble that inflated between them. His eyes widened slightly, and when the bubble reached its full potential, she opened her lips and chewed it back inside.

  Naeve repeated it again as he stood there in silence, and this time when she drew it back inside her mouth, he asked, “What’s the purpose?”

  “The purpose?”

  He nodded as she blew a small, quick bubble and popped it, drawing it back between her lips.

  “The purpose is fun, I guess.”

  “Fun?”

  “Yes,” she answered and then smacked the gum in her mouth, causing a cracking sound. “Do you even know what fun is?”

  All of a sudden, he snagged an arm around her waist and brought her in close before demanding, “Make another one?”

  She pushed her tongue against the sweet substance and then started to blow. His gray eyes concentrated as they moved to the bubble forming between them, and then he lowered his head, bared his teeth, and bit down into it.

  As the confection popped, he crushed their mouths together, and Naeve felt the gum between their lips. She opened hers and felt his teeth nip at her bottom one before he sucked the gum into his mouth and gave her another quick, hard kiss.

  Releasing her and chewing, he scrunched his face up at the taste right before a wide smile split his usually serious mouth.

  “I can have fun. Hmm, this tastes good.”

  Still in shock from the rare and blinding smile he was aiming her way, Naeve responded without even thinking. “Of course it tastes good. It’s watermelon.”

  “What’s a watermelon?”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “The flavor. Oh, forget it.”

  He pulled out a chair for her, and she took a seat. He then walked around to the large one at the head of the table and sat.

  He looked absurd.

  There he was, sitting in a chair fit for a king, leaning back with an elbow propped on the arm, as he chewed the watermelon-flavored Hubba Bubba.

  “Now,” he said, leaning forward and looking as stern as the first day they’d met. “Teach me how to blow a bubble.”

  Naeve stared at the man opposite her in disbelief. Is he serious?

  There were much more important things to talk about then blowing bubbles, and before she knew she was going to, she asked, “Where are all the women?”

  The expression of anticipation that had been on his face vanished instantly, and she almost regretted her impulsive question.

  “They’re dead. Or gone,” he answered with cool indifference.

  The clipped tone and the flat gray eyes she was now looking at told her there was a lot more to it than that, and she was determined to get some answers from him.

  It was all too strange. Ever since arriving they’d only seen one woman, and that was—

  “The Empress Seraphine cast a curse over them, years ago now,” he paused and raised a hand to rub his fingers over his chin. “She actually cursed the lot of us that day. The women, the men, and eventually all that required the water from the lakes. I’m not sure she realized the extent in which her hatred would spread. She wanted the people to suffer. But I’m not sure she wanted the land to.”

  Naeve didn’t take her eyes off him as she waited silently for him to continue.

  Castles, curses, and Empress’s, she’d never imagined places like this existed in reality. But did they? Was any of this really…real?

  “You say you aren’t from here…” he started.

  When he stopped, Naeve realized he wanted her to speak—but she wasn’t quite sure that she could.

  “That’s…that’s right.”

  He regarded her carefully before continuing, “I believe you. You don’t talk, dress or act like any of the women from around here. You’re also immune to what ails them. But that leaves the question that I keep coming back to.”

  She sat frozen in place as he leaned across and rested his arms on the table.

  “Who are you, really? Beyond what I’ve been told. And what does Seraphine have planned for you?”

  She swallowed, trying to get some air past the lump stuck in her throat.

  “I told you. I don’t know. I’m just a normal woman from America.”

  His eyes examined her, and then he asked something she’d never expected him to.

  “Where is that? Clearly it’s not anywhere here, from my world.”

  Up until now she realized she’d been deluding herself. Hoping against all hope that she was in some sort of dream, or nightmare, for that matter. But as they sat there and she heard the crackle of the fireplace behind her, Naeve knew deep in her heart that this was very real. She wasn’t anywhere near home and this world as he’d put it, was definitely not her world.

  Trying the word out in her head, she wondered if anything had been stranger for her to say then when she opened her mouth and said, “Earth.”

  Nope, that’s the strangest thing I’ve ever said.

  “Earth?” he repeated, and sat back contemplating the word—one, which he’d obviously never heard before.

  Naeve nodded quickly as a man wandered into the room holding a huge tray that he placed on the table and slid between the two of them. She stared at the food in front of her and realized she’d gotten so sidetracked with him that she’d totally forgotten to ask what a Hawkog was.

  As she studied the meal she was expected to eat, she noticed the serving tray was elaborately decorated with feathers. When she rose a little and looked into the center of the pretty colors she thought she could see…oh god, are they hooves?

  She tried to hold back the look of distaste on her face but when Kai asked, “Are you okay?”

  She knew she’d failed.

  * * *

  As their food was placed on the table, Kai pondered over the word Naeve had said, America…Earth.

  He’d known before taking on the mission that the women weren’t from around their land. But he hadn’t expected them to be from a different world, a different realm—it made sense though.

  It explained her clothes, her speech, and this…bubble gum.

  It also explained the way she was looking at the food in the center of the table as if it was something distasteful, instead of one of their delicacies.

  “You must be hungry,” he stated when it was clear she wasn’t going to answer on her well-being. He reached for the fork and carving knife, and then stood so he could cut some meat for her. As his chair scraped along the floor she seemed to be brought out of her shock and looked at him.

  “What is that?”

  He stabbed
the two-pronged fork into the hind leg of the beast, and then began carving. He knew this was the best cut, the leg, and as she watched with a look of abject horror on her face he answered, “It’s a Hawkog. One of Arcania’s most prized meals. Fit for an Empress.”

  He was proud of the fact that his men were skilled enough to capture such prey. It meant they were cunning, quick and deadly. All the things he required of those who wished to reside with him.

  “Maybe you should keep it for her then,” Naeve suggested as he moved to place a hindquarter on her plate. It was so plump and succulent that the edges fell off the sides and onto the table.

  “There,” he announced, and when she didn’t move he picked up the blade closest to her and offered it, handle first.

  Without taking her eyes off her plate, she took the knife from him and then poked the blade against the crisp outer skin.

  “Go on. You must be hungry.”

  She finally raised her eyes to his and screwed up her pert little nose.

  “I am, but…”

  “But what?”

  She bit her lip and looked back at the food in front of her.

  “At least try it. If you don’t like it we can work out something else. But you’ve been trekking around the woods for days, and before that you were brought here from wherever—”

  “—I told you where.”

  “Yes, Wilmington. I’m not sure what you eat there but this might surprise you. And it will fill you up.”

  She looked doubtful as a blonde brow rose and she lifted her fork. She timidly stabbed the fleshy part of the flank, and sliced off a piece. As she was about to shovel it into her mouth he halted her.

  “Wait.”

  Her hand stopped exactly where it was, and her entire body became rigid as if he’d announced it was poison. He came around the edge of the table and pointed to a crispy part of the skin that had fallen off.

  “That’s the best part. You have to eat it with that for the full flavor.”

  She gave him a skeptical look and Kai found that he was enjoying himself. He liked getting her to try new things because he couldn’t wait to see what kind of reaction she would give.

  So again she loaded her fork, crispy piece included, and then as if she was putting all her courage into it squeezed her eyes shut and forced it inside her mouth. She dropped the fork down onto the table and chewed as he stood there waiting for her final verdict.

  He watched her throat as she swallowed and when she opened her eyes he swore they sparkled, as a smile widened her mouth and she exclaimed, “It tastes like bacon!”

  * * *

  Ry’Ker stood outside the double doors of the Great Hall and thought about what he wanted to say. He’d thought of nothing else the entire way back from the East chambers and wondered how Li’Am would react.

  Hopefully, he could get him to see his side of things. Convince him that the only way he was ever going to get any information out of Si’Bastian, would be if he trusted him.

  And the only way that will happen is if I can get him released somehow.

  He raised a hand and knocked, waiting for permission to enter.

  When Li’Am’s voice boomed through the thick wooden doors, Ry’Ker made note that he sounded irritated. He pushed them open and strode inside, determined to ask what he needed and then get the hell out of his Commander’s way.

  “Ry’Ker,” Li’Am acknowledge, without even bothering to turn from the window he was looking out of.

  “My Liege,” he replied automatically, and made his way up the stairs and across the dais to come to a standstill behind his leader.

  “How are things coming along with, Si’Bastian?”

  Gods, straight to the punch.

  “That’s actually why I’m here.”

  With his hands clasped behind his back Li’Am finally faced him, but said nothing. Ry’Ker swore he could hear the question in his eyes as he watched him, but still he remained silent.

  “Si’Bastian is quite recalcitrant thus far.”

  “I figured as much,” Li’Am admitted. “He’s always had a stubborn streak.”

  “Can you blame him?”

  The second the words left his mouth, Ry’Ker wondered where the hell they’d come from. He lowered his eyes immediately and cursed his impudence.

  What am I thinking talking to Li’Am in such a manner? Damn, the sensualeer for getting to me. For making me question a man I respect above all others.

  He heard Li’Am’s boots as he walked over to him, and he wondered if he would be punished for showing such disrespect.

  “Raise your eyes, Ry’Ker.”

  Lifting his head, he let his eyes find the dark ones of his leader. Li’Am was looking at him in a way he didn’t quite understand, but it almost felt like respect.

  “What did you need, Guard?”

  The way he addressed him made him think of the way Si’Bastian had sneered the same word at him earlier, and he almost told Li’Am, nothing.

  Why should he go out of his way to help that ungrateful—

  “Ry’Ker?”

  Deciding he would never be free of his duty until he brought Li’Am back the information he wanted, he asked what he’d come to ask.

  “Is there anyway that we can release Si’Bastian?”

  Li’Am’s eyes zeroed in on him as if he were trying to see inside his mind, and then he asked the one question that he’d been asking himself the entire way across the castle’s grounds.

  “Why?”

  It was a good question. One he was still working on an answer for.

  “I don’t think that Si’Bastian is likely to trust me, unless I appear sympathetic to his…” he trailed off, trying to think of the way he wanted to phrase his thoughts. But before he did, Li’Am stated, “His sensualeer side?”

  Ry’Ker remembered the way Si’Bastian had dared to speak of Kai and his mother, and wondered why the hell he was doing this again as anger replaced any misplaced sympathy he had for him.

  He wanted this over, done, and as far as he was concerned the sooner the better.

  “Yes. I think he’ll tell me more if I can give him back some of his—”

  “—What? Dignity?” Li’Am interrupted.

  Is that what I’m asking?

  “The only problem with that Ry’Ker, is once a sensualeer gains power, they crave more. That’s why as youngins they are constantly growing, morphing at a rapid pace with their urges. I watched how quickly both my sister and Si’Bastian changed. Their emotions are governed by feelings not thought, and are much different to our own. And when they’re provoked, anything can happen.”

  Ry’Ker tried to understand what he was being told, but he also knew there was no way he’d get through to Si’Bastian as he was, chained to a wall and unresponsive. But maybe, maybe if he could get—

  “One cuff,” he suggested. “He’d still be restrained, yes? Still contained?”

  Li’Am took a deep breath and stepped closer, lowering his voice. “They don’t get to choose what stays and what fades away when…incapacitated. So if I say yes, there is no telling which part of him would reassert itself. Are you willing to take that chance?”

  For his entire life Ry’Ker had been brought up to have courage, to stand tall and know how to defend yourself, but he knew that Li’Am was warning him here.

  There was no defense against Si’Bastian except for the one that was currently in place, which he was asking to have disabled.

  So the question remained. Was he willing to take the chance?

  “My orders were to get answers from him. To learn what he is thinking. If you want that, then you need to tell me everything you know of him. I refuse to go into this blind.”

  Li’Am shifted away from him and gave a nod.

  “Very well. I’ll tell you what I know. The first thing you need to realize is that he’s dangerous, Ry’Ker. He may appear harmless, that’s part of the façade. It draws you in. But he’s anything but. I know you think I’m being cr
uel doing what I’m doing but I have my reasons. I’ve been around many of his kind and it’s clear to me, it always has been, that Si’Bastian is very different.”

  The seriousness in his Commander’s tone had him pausing before he asked, “How? How is he different?”

  Li’Am walked back to the window and stated in a voice devoid of any emotion.

  “He’s marked, this we know. But he’s also a descendant of the Guardians.”

  Ry’Ker already knew that. He also knew that Seraphine was a descendant, so why would that make Si’Bastian any more of a threat?

  “He has a second marking, which he believes all of his kind share. But they do not. Si’Bastian he possesses something that he doesn’t even know of yet. Something that I—we, haven’t seen borne for centuries.”

  Curious now, despite his own better judgment Ry’Ker asked, “What? What does he have?”

  Li’Am looked back at him and replied gravelly, “Omnipotence.”

  * * *

  Naeve had eaten two full plates and was fully stuffed. She placed her utensils down and slumped back in her chair with her hand over her stomach. She’d been so busy eating that all conversation had ceased once the salty flavor of the Hawkog had hit her tongue.

  Kai had also taken a seat and eaten his fair share of the, bird?

  As she guzzled water and chewed the meat all the way to the bone, she kept looking at him out of the corner of her eye. He was an impressive man, even when he wasn’t trying to be. Just sitting at the head of the heavy table with half a bird in front of him, he looked capable of ruling the world.

  “Umm…”

  He placed the bone in his hand down on the plate and licked his thumb, as he looked her way.

  “Yes, little rabbit?”

  The name that had originally irritated her made her smile this time. She could only attribute her uplifted spirits to the fact that she was satisfied. Everything always seemed more hopeful and possible when you had a full stomach.

  “You…ahh, mentioned clothes.”