Gateway To Vallis, page 21
“You’ve got a deal.” Greene’s eyes lit up in anticipation. Electra had a couple of tellings when she was younger, but nothing she was told made much sense to her. With her upcoming betrothal, along with her wedding, she wondered if she could learn more.
The gardens were a disappointment as most of the herbs and spices Electra used for potions were dried up. The owner claimed the lack of rain was the cause, but with the river nearby, Electra believed he was just too lazy to water the plants.
The seer Greene wanted to visit had a colorful tent farther down the lane. The sign out front stated her prices, which seemed low, causing Electra to wonder if she was a true seer or just a charlatan out to make money off tourists and sailors. She gave the woman the price for a full telling for both of them and allowed Greene to enter first. Electra thought about some questions she might ask while she waited.
With the betrothal agreement finished, all they had left to accomplish was to set a date and place for the ceremony. Her parents wanted the wedding to be held in Dankin, but the king of Jekkor wanted a royal spectacle at his palace in the city of Masemba. Electra didn’t care either way, though she hated the idea of being paraded in front of all their nobles. Fendol wouldn’t like that aspect of the wedding, either—though she knew he would do whatever his father wanted, at least until they were wed. They had made plans for after they married—plans King Cossimon would not sanction if given a chance.
The wording of the betrothal contract guaranteed that Fendol and his wife would receive some governing power, along with a tract of land away from the city. They planned to change the future of Jekkor and would start as soon as they were wed. By the time Fendol ascended the throne, all the pieces would be in place to create a country to be proud of.
Other thoughts entered Electra’s mind—thoughts that had nothing to do with her future marriage. Lately, she had surprising daydreams about a certain fellow traveler—Reuben. Somehow, he had wormed his way into her heart. She found him entertaining, bold, honest, and charmingly handsome. Electra missed him the last week and wondered how his quest was going.
Greene frowned as she walked out of the tent. “What did you find out?” Electra asked.
“I need to sort it out . . . She is waiting for you. We can talk when you’re done.” Greene seemed distracted as she sat on a bench to wait.
By the time Electra finished her reading, she was frustrated and angry. The woman could not be an actual seer. The messages were so convoluted and completely foreign, and nothing the woman said made sense in Electra’s life. The first wife of a powerful emperor? What did that even mean? There were no emperors anywhere that she knew of, and what did ‘first’ wife mean? Would she die and be replaced by a second wife? What a waste of coin.
Greene’s telling seemed equally unbelievable—something about a fight with a giant spider and how she needed to use fire to fight the dark. They stopped by a small café for lunch and speculated on what their readings could mean. Both decided they had been robbed, and Electra downed more wine than she was accustomed to.
“I’m going back to the ship before I get drunk on this cheap wine. Why wouldn’t they spend the extra for some of our fine Alvetus vintages?” Electra stood up, somewhat wobbly. She wasn’t completely intoxicated, but she had more than she was accustomed to.
As they neared the wharf, Greene pointed toward one of the shipping offices. “Hey, there’s the captain. They finally made it back. Let’s find out what’s going on.”
“You go ahead, I’m going back on-board, and I’ll speak with Joe later.” Electra waved Greene off. Once she climbed aboard, she decided to see if Reuben was in his cabin. She knocked on his door and heard the rustling of paper inside.
“Reuben? Are you in there? It’s Electra.”
“Yeah, come on in.” Reuben sat on his bunk with a folded letter in his hand. He looked so sad that she wondered if he had received more devastating news. She recalled the last time he crossed back to the old world he had learned his sweetheart had been killed.
“Is everything okay? You look so unhappy.” She sat beside him and looked him over. He was barefoot and shirtless, and his trousers were dirty and rumpled. He seemed healthy, but when she touched his hand to check, her magic was immediately blocked. That had never happened before. “What is going on?”
“I’m fine. I’m just feeling sorry for myself. I’ve read most of the correspondence and hadn’t even realized how long it has been. I keep forgetting that double the time passes back there. Olly not only finished school, but he passed the bar and got married. I missed every important event in my best friend’s life . . ..”
“I’m sorry for you, but remember, your friend is missing everything you are doing as well. You chose to make a life here, Reuben.” Electra noticed the leather thong around his neck with a metal pendant in the center. “What is this? It feels like magic.” She touched the medallion and realized it was the cause of the blockage.
“My dwarf friend made it for me using the iron we supplied. He is something called a singer. I’m not sure what sort of magic that is, but he can implant a spell in metal by chanting some spell. It is supposed to guard against reader magic.”
“It guards more than that. I tried to send a tendril of my healing magic to check your system, and I was blocked. This is strong magic.” Electra rubbed her fingers over the pendant, trying to get a sense of it. “We could make a profit selling these trinkets.” She looked at it closely before realizing how close her face was to Reuben’s bare chest. Without thinking, her fingers began to trace a pattern around his pectorals and down toward his abdominal muscles. He had a fine chest, nearly devoid of hair, but utterly masculine and enticing.
“Hmm . . . Electra,” Reuben whispered in a husky tone. He placed his larger hand on top of hers, though he didn’t push her away, and then tipped her chin up with his other. Her gaze went directly to his lips, and he seemed to sense what she wanted as he lowered his mouth and covered her own.
Electra moaned and closed the space between their bodies. It felt like an automatic response to the heat of his kiss. Reuben moved his hands around her and squeezed her tighter against his chest, and without breaking their kiss, he eased her over so she lay on her back on the cot.
When he did end the kiss, she filled her lungs and opened her eyes only to discover he was staring at her, nose to nose. Electra’s mind was a jumble of sensations and her normally organized thoughts were drowned in a fog. She couldn’t speak, so she did what felt right and reached her lips up to meet his once more. He captured her tongue and nibbled on her lips while moving his deft fingers down her chest, unbuttoning her vest, and lifting her tunic. She shuddered when she felt him rain kisses and little bites down her neck and onto her chest.
Electra had been confident in her knowledge of human anatomy and had believed she was aware of all the nerves which could produce a sense of pleasure, but Reuben awakened areas she had never known existed. She was so wrapped up in all the erotic sensations rampaging through her body that she hadn’t noticed when he removed her trousers. She felt a moment of panic—her muscles tightening to push him away—when she felt his lingering kisses down near her core. Sweet goddess! How did she not know this was possible? Why hadn’t anyone ever mentioned something so world-shattering?
Instead of pushing him away, Electra wanted nothing more than for him to continue—forever. She may have spoken those thoughts aloud as she felt Reuben’s attentions pause for a moment.
A sharp pain ended her musings as Reuben burst through her hymen. “Ah . . . was that what I think it was?” he asked.
“Oh, gods, I didn’t think . . .” What could she say? She never imagined that a simple kiss would lead this far. She would have stopped had she not lost complete control of her senses.
“Are you in pain?” Reuben completely froze when he first penetrated, but now he began to move slowly.
“Yes, I mean, no.” There was a little pain, but the more he moved, the less it mattered. Neither seemed able to speak, and he began to kiss her once more, and any thought of pain was but a distant memory.
“Bloody, flaming balls!” Joe stood in shock at the cabin door. Reuben tensed and moved off to the side. “What have you done? Oh, bloody hell, Uncle Samuel is going to kill me.” Joe looked first at Electra, then at Reuben, and finally, he must have noticed the bloody bedding. “Sweet goddess, I am a dead man.”
Electra sat up and found her tunic. “Such drama, cousin. You know he isn’t going to blame you if he finds out. And he’ll likely never know unless you tell him.” She slipped her tunic back on. Though she found her trousers, she didn’t think she wanted to put them back on. Now that the ecstasy was over, the pain had returned. Fortunately, her tunic fell to her knees, and she could carry the rest of her clothing.
“He’s back home, formulizing your betrothal agreement . . . to a future monarch, no less. What will you do if the prince decides you’re used goods?”
“Now that would never happen. I know for a fact that Fendol has been sexually active for years. He’s bragged about many of his lovers and went into specifics about a couple of them. He would not expect me to be pure. I’m sure he would prefer that I have some experience. Don’t worry so much, all will be fine.”
Joe seemed to relax a little as he sighed once more and gave Reuben a look of supreme disappointment. “Everything is prepared to sail with the morning tide. If either of you needs anything else in town, you have a few more hours of daylight.” He turned and left, not bothering to shut the door.
“I’m so sorry, Electra. I have no idea what came over me. I’ve never lost control like that, but I promise it will never happen again.” Reuben looked adorable, still naked, with his hair in disarray.
“Never say never,” Electra quipped, trying to lighten the mood. With all the emotional drama of the day, along with too much wine, she felt completely depleted. “I need some rest.”
As she turned to go, she noticed the bedding once more. “Better throw these overboard . . . get rid of the evidence.”
“Are you . . .? I mean, do you . . .? Can you take something to make sure you didn’t conceive?” Reuben stumbled over his words, and Electra had to admit that she had not thought of such a possibility.
“I had brought some teas, but I sent them all to Stella. I found a private moment to whisper to her before we left and told her to make the tea after sex to avoid conception.” Electra mentally tallied the days of her menstrual cycle “Don’t worry about me; it is unlikely due to the timing.”
“Can you tell right away? I heard healers can feel new life early on.”
“I can’t use healing on myself. I could ask my mother when we return, but I don’t think I want her to know. Let’s wait and see.”
Reuben seemed to take pains to avoid her after they set sail. Joe spoke to her about their visit with Jonas and his mother, but Electra could feel the friction between Joe and Reuben. And she blamed herself for it. They had been such good friends before that happened.
“What transpired wasn’t Reuben’s fault.” Electra wanted to mend fences. “He was so despondent from reading all the news from the old world. He was missing his friends, lonesome and heartsick. I happened to appear at a low point and had a cup too much of wine, and things just . . . happened. I don’t regret a thing, Joe. I’m only sorry that it has caused a rift between you two. I’m not a little girl who needs my older cousin’s protection; I’m an adult who makes adult choices—right or wrong.”
“I forget that my baby cousin isn’t a little girl anymore. You’ve always been more like a sister than a cousin. Yes, you are nearly a married woman. I did my fair share of exploration of the opposite sex before I met and fell in love with Lanna, so I’m not in a position to judge. I know Reuben has been through heartache, and I shouldn’t hold him accountable. I feel so protective of you because I love you and care about your future.”
“I know, and I love you, too, but please make peace with Reuben. It’s bad enough that I likely ruined the friendship I had with him, and I don’t want to be the cause of damaging yours as well.”
“I’ll speak with him, but I doubt you’ll lose his friendship. He’s a forgiving, loyal sort. Your father adores him, and once he recovers from the guilt he is lugging around, he’ll be fine.”
“I hope so.” Having done what she could for the guys, Electra wondered how she could fix her relationship. She cared deeply for Reuben—possibly a bit too deeply. The feelings he inspired gave her doubts about what she believed she shared with Fendol.
Electra had known Fendol for nearly ten years and in that time, they had become confidants. They shared a love of nature and a desire to protect and nurture all humanity. There were certain causes they would fight for—the most important being child slavery—and they had bonded over their mutual beliefs. Reports came through regularly of ships routinely capturing children living near the coastline of both Jekkor and Wellington.
What about passion, though? Electra had never been particularly attracted to Fendol physically. He had developed a strong body in recent years after a pudgy childhood. She believed he would likely become fat in later years, like his father, but that had never bothered her. She had never dwelled on physical attributes. Even with Reuben, it was his mental abilities that gained her attention before she noticed the amazing body surrounding his capable mind.
When she glanced in the mirror, Electra had to admit she was not a beautiful, desirable creature that inspired men to move mountains for her. Though she wasn’t ugly, it was her mind that Fendol liked. He had kissed her a few times, but they had always lacked passion. When he gave her details about some of his sexual exploits, he became glassy-eyed when he mentioned the size of the women’s breasts. Electra glanced down at her meager chest. Had Fendol ever noticed them? Would he pay homage to them as Reuben had? She didn’t think so.
Electra gathered a few of her books and went in search of Reuben. If there was anything she could do to mend the fences, it would involve teaching him something new. She had found several texts while docked in Zuska, which dealt with the culture of both North and South Kammigian. Electra recalled Reuben asking questions about that side of the world, and with the books in hand, she might be able to answer some of them.
25
A KINGDOM WITHOUT AN HEIR
I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life. Leaving Sophia unprotected was the one I’d always felt the most guilt about . . . until now. Not only did I not protect Electra, but I was also the one to cause harm. I’m not sure what to do about it, and though she doesn’t seem to hold it against me, I feel like a monster.
- Reuben Tadesse
The final leg of their journey was more pleasant than expected. Reuben had worried that his friendship with Joe was beyond repair, but after a week at sea, the men seemed to put the past behind them. They never spoke about what had occurred, but Reuben felt some level of acceptance and understanding from Joe. He believed Electra had something to do with Joe’s change of heart. The veiled looks of disappointment and anger disappeared, and sharing their small cabin went from frigid tension back to warm and comfortable.
Though Reuben attempted to steer clear of Electra, she managed to track him down while he dined in the galley. “I forgot I had bought these books for you, Reuben.” She set the books down on the table. He nearly rose to leave, but was curious about what she found. “This one is a history of the country of Kammigian before the split of North and South Kamm. I especially love some of the sketches of the women’s costumes for their holy ceremonies.” Reuben set the remainder of his meal aside to look through the books with her. It seemed like they may get past the awkwardness and back to how their relationship had begun.
Except, no matter how hard Reuben tried to return to their old camaraderie, he couldn’t keep certain images from his thoughts. Like the one of Electra, writhing in ecstasy, smiling beneath him with kissed-swollen lips and lust-filled eyes. He used every ounce of restraint to concentrate on what she was attempting to teach him about the Kammigian culture and the strong, bright women who ruled the country.
Reuben didn’t believe he was the only one who struggled, as he often caught a certain dreamy look come across Electra’s face. He didn’t know if her thoughts involved him or her betrothed. Her thoughts should be on her upcoming marriage, but Reuben held on to the dream that he might be the cause of a few of her distractions.
The voyage continued with all three of them pretending nothing monumental had occurred back in Zuska. Reuben often wondered about Prince Fendol and what the man was like. Though he recalled hearing about the betrothal from Sam, he never actually considered how it might affect him. Even before they had left on this journey, he had grown close to Electra, and not once had he imagined what life would be like once she wed and moved to Jekkor with her husband. Those were now thoughts he dreaded. Being around her constantly might be somewhat painful, but not being near her at all would be far worse. She lit up a room just by entering, and she had touched something deep in Reuben’s soul. Was this love? If it was, he needed to ignore his wants and needs. Her happiness was all that mattered, and to his knowledge, she had never wavered in her desire for Fendol. What had she stated? Fendol would be happy she had received prior experience in the bedroom. Reuben had provided a service to both Electra and Fendol in that regard. So why did he feel like his world would shatter?
Reuben realized his thoughts of Sophia had become infrequent the over last couple of weeks. His mind seemed filled with another—one completely different from his first love. They shared a natural tendency toward compassion, but where Sophia had always been sweet and kind, Electra was strong and direct. Physically they were opposites—Sophia had been soft and curvy, while Electra was hard and lean. Both women had drawn his passion through their sharp intelligence and thirst for knowledge and understanding.
