The Thief and the Desert Flower, page 7
Chala bent over the horse’s neck and urged it forward. Unaccustomed to running in desert heat, the bay had nothing left to give. Machyi easily overtook and ran alongside it.
Kyo didn’t reach toward the horse or rider, instead cantering at Chala’s side as if they’d chosen to take a morning ride together. She glanced at him, and he grinned back at her. “You ride good.”
She faced forward again, eyes on the horizon, aiming for freedom that she must already know was unattainable. As both horses slowed from canter to trot and finally to a walk, Kyo pulled a length of rope from beside his saddle and threw a lasso around the ganza horse’s neck.
Chala’s pretty features were twisted into an ugly scowl reminiscent of Hatchi, the oldest woman in the tribe. She glared at him with a fiery heat that vied with the sun itself.
He shrugged. “Too hot for more riding. We go back now.” Guiding Machyi with pressure from his right knee, he turned both horses back in the direction from which they’d come.
Chala rode beside him in silence for a while before her harsh voice hurled abuse at him. “You’re filth! I’ll die before I give in to you again! When I’m rescued, I’ll make sure they don’t just kill you. I’ll tell them to torture you until you beg to be put out of your misery!”
His own anger hadn’t completely abated, although he’d hidden it with his mocking smiles, and now it surged forth. Pulling both horses to a stop, he faced her with narrowed eyes. “Do not cross me again. I have patience with you, but no more. Now you belong to me!” He leaned toward her. “I show you right here how I punish woman who trick me.”
His threat seemed to cut through her fury. Her eyes widened. She opened her mouth then closed it again.
For a moment, Kyo considered following through on his promise, dragging her off her horse and claiming her right here under the blazing sun. The idea of seeing her pale, nude body stretched out on the burning sand, of fucking her, uninvited this time, awoke something primitive and dangerous in him. But he was no barbarian, despite what she might think. He was a civilized man who’d never taken a woman who didn’t want him to, although he’d used his considerable powers of persuasion on a few stubborn ones.
With a squeeze of his knees and a tug on the lead rope, Kyo got the horses moving again. But he’d been so caught up with his pursuit and capture of Chala, he hadn’t noticed he had a follower of his own. Now, as he looked up, he saw a mounted man heading toward them. He quickly recognized the rider as Kaitan, that troublesome thorn in his foot. Shinjate! How was he going to explain having this woman when he’d refused to allow the others to take any captives?
“Ai, Kyo.” The man’s greeting drifted across the open space between them. “Who’s the woman? Have you finally stolen a bride?”
“Yes.” He played along, letting Kaitan assume the girl was from another tribe. Wearing his cast-off clothes, she could pass as one of their own kind, if the other man didn’t see her too clearly. “I’ve got to be getting her home.” He moved Machyi between the princess and Kaitan, who was getting closer.
“The people are upset by the division of bounty. Everyone wants a share of those jewels you took from the women.”
“And they’ll get it after I’ve traded for something more useful to the tribe. I’ll bring goods as soon as I’m able. ”
Kaitan shrugged. “It’s not me. I’m just letting you know what everyone’s thinking. There’s talk you aren’t the best leader for us. You don’t even live with the clan most of the time. That’s what they’re saying.” As he spoke, he craned his neck to see past Kyo. “Is that…? Is that girl one of Shakze’s daughters?”
Giving a non-committal grunt, Kyo urged both horses forward. “I don’t have time to talk right now. Tell Danje to keep everyone calm. I’ll be by soon with shares of the plunder and we can hold a council then about who should be leader.” He’d be just as happy if Danje took over permanently.
“Wait!” Kaitan spurred his horse closer. “She’s not Shinje. That’s one of the women from the raid!”
Kyo’s heart raced. He despised Kaitan, but couldn’t afford any more bad blood between them. The man was a snake, nipping at his heels and hissing mutiny to the other clansmen. Kyo wouldn’t mind severing his head as he would a serpent’s, but with the delicate balance of relationships within the tribe, it would cause a destructive chain reaction.
“Yes. I’m holding her for ransom. Everyone will get a share when the deal’s concluded.”
Kaitan rode his horse in front of Kyo, blocking his way. “You said no captives.”
“I said no raping the women. A clean theft with few casualties—that’s how we operate,” Kyo repeated what he’d said numerous times. “We raid for profit. Start fucking or killing at random and we enflame the ganzas.”
Kaitan frowned. “So you’re always saying. Then why have you taken this woman? You’ll bring disaster down on us all.”
Hearing Kaitan say what he’d been telling himself ever since the raid was infuriating. The horse’s dung was right. He should never have taken Chala. But there was nothing to do except cover his ass now. “This is a special case. The woman is a princess. Ransom for her could make all of us rich.”
Kaitan’s eyes narrowed to mere slits. “How do you plan to deliver the ransom request?”
“Already done. The survivors will carry my message back to her people.”
“How much have you asked for? Where is the meeting point? When will the exchange take place? How are you going to get away with the money with soldiers chasing after you?”
Kyo guided Machyi forward, forcing Kaitan’s mount aside. “I have it all planned.”
“Are you taking her to camp now?” Kaitan wasn’t backing down. He continued to ride beside Kyo.
“No. It’s best if she never sees it or knows where she’s at.”
“Then why don’t you have a blindfold on her and why are you riding out here near the oasis.”
“Stop questioning me! I’ll let you know what you need to know, when you need to know it!” Kyo drew himself tall in the saddle and stared at the other man until Kaitan looked away.
Gathering the reins, Kaitan turned his horse toward camp, letting it trot some distance before he looked back. “A leader would have some answers.” With that parting shot, he turned around and spurred the horse to a canter. Its hooves churned up sand which sifted over Kyo and Chala in a choking cloud.
“What did he want?” Chala asked when she’d stopped coughing.
“Nothing.” He kicked Machyi to a canter as well, and Chala fell silent as she focused on keeping astride the horse. She did well for riding bareback.
Kyo kept an eye on Kaitan to make sure he didn’t circle around and follow them. No one but Tanjia had ever known the location of the cave, Kyo’s retreat from tribal life. Kaitan was the very last person he’d want to find his sanctuary. The loot he’d collected over the years would be gone the first time he left it untended.
He gritted his teeth in frustration at the mess he’d gotten himself into. He had a captive woman trying to escape him, the likelihood of revenge from a powerful ruler, and was close to losing leadership of his people all because he’d allowed his balls to usurp his brain. What was he going to do with Chala when he got her back to the cave? How could he show her that he was in control without making her hate him even more?
When they reached the foothills once more, Kyo dismounted and allowed Machyi to walk free. She automatically headed for her little enclosure and a cool drink of water. He lifted his arms to help Chala down from her horse.
She ignored him and dismounted by herself. By her grimaces, he guessed her body was stiff from the long ride with no padding. He boxed her between his body and the horse, a hand braced against the horse on either side of Chala.
She stared at his chest, refusing to meet his gaze.
“Look at me,” he ordered in Shinje then in Genderese.
Her mouth was a grim line and her jaw knotted with tension when she raised her eyes to his. “What? Are you going to threaten me again?”
“You not afraid,” he marveled. “Ready to stab me again?”
She glanced at the half-healed wound on his cheek. “Yes. I will if you try to touch me. What happened last night will never happen again.”
“Why not? You didn’t like?” He was surprised at how much he cared about her answer.
She didn’t answer, but the pink in her cheeks was a telling reply. Suddenly he understood, it was because she’d liked it too much that she’d run away. She was furious with herself for yielding to her body’s needs and giving in to him.
He couldn’t suppress a satisfied smile. It was the wrong reaction. Chala put her palms against his chest and pushed with all her strength, sending him staggering back. “Get away! You disgust me!”
She stalked up the path toward the cave, and he let her go, allowed her to preserve some sense of dignity. He’d learned from listening to his father and mother argue not to press a point when a woman was furious. As his father had explained, it was easier to wrap her around your finger if you gave her the illusion she’d won a fight.
He put the horses to pasture then rinsed the sweat and grit from his body in their little pool. After climbing up the path, he perched on top of the large boulder and gazed at the land below—clear, for now. The survivors of the caravan wouldn’t have made it to Calwas yet and maybe they never would. There was a long stretch of wilderness to cross. Brachas’s men might discover the abandoned wagons and write the disaster off as a loss to the desert. Maybe they’d look no further for Chala and Kyo would be free to keep her for…well, he hadn’t thought that far ahead.
How long did he intend to have her? The rest of his life was a very long time. Was he ready for a bride? Especially one who couldn’t cook, clean or sew and probably had no idea how to cure hides. The thought of taking her to meet his mother and the rest of his people was laughable, yet she couldn’t remain confined in his cave forever.
Hopping down off the rock, he headed inside the cave. As grandfather always said, “Trouble comes to the fox that pokes its paw in the scorpion’s hole.” There was no point in worrying about the future or in prodding at things. He’d give Chala space for now and let time heal her pride. Soon enough she’d grow tired of sleeping alone and crawl back into his bed and what would happen after that…let Shinjate decide their fate.
Chapter Seven
The beast made her spend the rest of the day wringing out dripping wet clothes and laying them on small bushes and rocks to dry in the sun. The heat was unbearable, sapping every drop of moisture from her skin and hair. Her lips were cracked and it actually hurt to breathe the bone-dry air.
The clothes dried to crackly stiffness and she folded them. Her hair frizzed around her face and wouldn’t stay tucked behind her ears. She finally braided it, ripping a hem off one of Kyo’s shirts to tie the end with.
When she carried the stack of crisp clothes back into the cave, she ignored Kyo, who was mending a harness. He didn’t talk to her either, barely glancing up as she entered.
It galled her that he hadn’t even bothered to guard her while she’d done the laundry as if he was certain she wouldn’t dare try to run away again. But, of course, he was right. She knew she couldn’t survive the desert in the midday heat, and she’d probably die before ever finding her way back to civilization. There was no freedom out there.
Once she’d put the clothes in the chest where Kyo kept them, she didn’t know what to do next. As much as she hated him ordering her to do chores, having something to occupy her time was preferable to just sitting there. She glanced at him to see if he was going to order her to do another task, but he kept fiddling with the straps of leather.
Fine. She would tend to making herself as comfortable as she could in this primitive prison. She stripped to her underwear and washed up, including rinsing the sand and oils from her hair. The cool water temporarily soothed the burning heat in her skin from the hours spent outdoors.
After toweling dry, she lay down on her pallet with her back to Kyo, but she couldn’t sleep. She stared at the wall and listened to the small noises he made as he worked, humming under his breath and cursing when he did something wrong. Those mundane sounds floating to her ears seemed as intimate as his whispering in her ear or touching her. She shivered and closed her mind to memories of all the places he’d touched her last night.
Time passed and she dozed then woke to the smell of food. Her stomach rumbled, and when she sat up, the quality of the light told her it was evening. She hadn’t eaten all day.
Kyo silently handed her a bowl with leftover rabbit and some kind of hard biscuit that nearly broke her teeth when she bit into it. She ate every bit, moistened with water, and came close to licking the bowl clean afterward. It was strange how the simple food here tasted better than the most elaborate cuisine eaten off fine china at home.
When she was finished eating, Chala collected the dishes and utensils and rinsed them clean then began to tidy the room for something to do. The shadows grew longer, the air colder and the silence more difficult to bear. At this point, she would’ve been glad to hear Kyo bark one of his commands or make one of his stupid comments simply to break the tension.
It was pitch black now, but for the little fire that smoked in the center of the cave and its reflection in the mirrors placed to capture and magnify the light. Kyo didn’t light the lantern tonight, and when it got too dark for him to work on his harness, he put the leather strips aside and went outdoors.
Chala considered lying down again. There was nothing else to do besides sleep, but she wasn’t tired. It was dark and lonely in the cave by herself. What was keeping Kyo outside? How long did it take to relieve oneself?
She shouldn’t be eager for him to return. With bedtime approaching, he’d try to lie with her and this time she’d have to fight him. It would be humiliating if she gave in on the same day she’d sworn to him he’d never have her again.
But it certainly was empty and quiet sitting all alone by the low-burning fire.
Chala picked up the jamoma and wrapped it around her. Her feet were bare and the stone floor beneath them freezing as she padded to the cave entrance. She stood, looking out at the indigo night. Kyo sat on a flat boulder nearby, his silhouette blotting out the stars. The spangled sky was breathtaking, glittering sparks strewn from one horizon to the other.
Her head dropped back as she craned her neck to look straight up into the inverted bowl. Staring at the great expanse, which seemed to turn slowly above her, made her a little dizzy. She felt as insignificant as a grain of sand in the desert, unimportant and foolish to count herself worth so much. What was a princess? Just another girl in the history of the world—one who happened to be born to a wealthy, powerful family. Whether she made an important marriage or spent the rest of her days as the servant of a nomad thief didn’t really matter in the long stretch of time. The thought made her feel both melancholy and oddly liberated.
“Come. Sit.” Kyo’s voice startled her from her pondering. For a second, she considered refusing, but her feet decided for her, crossing the ground between them. She climbed up onto the rock, to sit beside him cross-legged with the jamoma tucked tightly around her.
There was no moon, but the starlight was enough to faintly illuminate the land below. Rocks, shrubs and vast, pale stretches of sand were laid out before them, the sky arched overhead, and they perched somewhere in between like birds of prey surveying their domain.
After suffering through awkward silence all day, Chala expected to feel uncomfortable sitting in yet more silence. But the hushed stillness of the world, the steady soughing of the wind and occasional distant wail of coyotes wrapped around them, drawing them together in a cocoon of peace. The hard feelings she’d worn like armor to shield her from him melted away, leaving her vulnerable and open.
From the corner of her eye, she saw him move and thought he was going to put his arm around her, but he pointed up at the sky. “You know stories?”
“Of the stars? No. Not really. I’ve never spent time outside at night.”
“Why?” She felt rather than saw him turn his head to look at her.
“I wasn’t allowed outdoors. Not even in the palace gardens. Mother said there was no reason to take chances with my safety. She said something about dangerous men who might try to kidnap me, but I think she just feared the dark herself.”
“She worry for you, but send you across desert alone.”
“I had an escort of armed guards.”
He chuckled. “Not good ones.”
Chala thought of the men held captive and the others sprawled dead on the ground. Kyo had been responsible for their deaths. She had to remember that, to remember what he was—a bandit and a killer.
“Anyway, I didn’t see much of the night sky,” she said tersely. “Except through the glass of the conservatory.”
“What is?”
“A garden indoors with a clear ceiling for the sun to shine through. It was a lovely place to sit on a cold winter’s day. My father…” She paused, and Kyo waited silently for her to continue. “My father didn’t have much time to spend with me, but sometimes we’d meet there and talk for a few minutes.”
She remembered the precious moments spent in his company. “Once when I was little, we looked up at the night sky and he pointed out some stars and he promised to tell me their stories, but he had to leave for a summit meeting that night and he never remembered to later.”
Kyo said nothing.
She glanced at him. “He’s a very busy, very important man with an entire country to run. That’s why he and my mother couldn’t come with me to my wedding. It’s understandable.”
