Akira Rises (27 page)

Dimitri braced arms with each of the men stepping down from the wall. When it came time for Akira to step down he had been hard pressed not to hug her. When they touched and clasped arms he let his eyes lock with hers. He let his eyes linger longer than was necessary. He let them look down to her heaving emotion filled breasts, before traveling back to her sky blue eyes. The challenge was not so subtle. It was bold. It made her blush. It made her insides coil with a responding desire. She looked away from him for a second to regain her composure. Her desire filled eyes locked with the once fat youth whom she formed a friendship with. In that instant, the poor man’s knees almost buckled and he looked as if had the breath sucked right out of him.

~

Mage Morgan saw the look in Akira’s eyes and the effect it had on the young man. It was amazing. Akira had another gift if he read the signs and looks right. His daughter had siren possibilities! He gulped. Poor Dimitri! Was his carefully hidden attraction to Akira of his own free will? Or was it Akira’s will? The mage did not envy them the problems they would face if what he thought he just discovered was a fact. Dare he help Akira harness this gift? Was it just a trick of his own wishful imagination?

The mage stood transfixed as Akira shuttered her emotions. He watched the unintended recipient of her desire filled eyes shake his head as if recovering from a mystifying moment. The bewildered young man put his new rose emblazoned shield in front of his groin. Mage Morgan watched as the now embarrassed looking young man excused himself from the celebratory group.

Mage Morgan’s face alternately expressed sympathy, confusion, amusement as his mind raced with the possibilities of his imaginings. It was now more important than ever for Akira to be reunited with her mother. This possible new power needed to be addressed with the expertise of a woman. It would be more than awkward to train a daughter to use desire and sexual attraction to distract men and weaken them. Akira would be crushed if her budding attraction to Dimitri, and Dimitri’s definite attraction to Akira were not natural. Just as Akira’s life seemed to be getting easier, fate was adding new complications, new twists.

Morgan’s thoughts turned to Lady Shy.
My love my love, our daughter needs you, I need you… an affair of the heart may be leading to heartbreak.
Morgan’s excitement to imagine his daughter a possible siren was dampened by concern. He feared difficult times ahead. He decided he would need to consult with the great minds in the monastery as soon as he could excuse himself from the festivities. Clearly, he himself was in need of guidance. Perhaps another mage would be best suited to work with Akira if she wanted to explore and control this power of a siren that had just started unfolding before his eyes. Morgan searched the faces around him to see if anyone else appeared to notice the occurrence that he just witnessed. Fortuitously no one else seemed to have eyes lingering on Akira, Dimitri and the young man who had left the laughing crowd raising goblets of wine and making toasts to each other. Mage Morgan chuckled. The poor man did not have a clue what had just happened and it was better that way.

Mage Morgan watched his daughter closely. All through the banquet to celebrate the end of the training days, and the beginning of spring, he watched Akira and Dimitri like a hawk. There were many glances back and forth. Each of them was always aware of where the other was. Finally, he could watch no more. He needed wisdom. Morgan approached the oldest, wisest monk.

“Artimus, I’ve need of your wisdom.”

“You honor me, Morgan, what little wisdom I have, I will happily share with you.”

“Can we talk in private as my dilemma is of an utmost delicate nature?”

“Of course, let us retreat to the outside courtyard. I think best in cool fresh air.”

The two men walked a long corridor, robes flowing behind them, shoulder to shoulder. Neither man took a lead. Under the stars, Artimus sat on a stone bench opposite the bench Morgan sat himself upon. Artimus looked inquiringly at Morgan.

Morgan cleared his voice with an ahem. “As you know Akira is my daughter.”

Artimus nodded.

“She is reluctant to accept me as a father. She has just recently begun to view me as a friend at least, and an appreciated teacher at best. I’ve discovered something I need to warn her of that which may hurt her.”

“And you fear this discovery will alienate her from you?”

“Yes, and this discovery may affect any affair of the heart she may desire.”

“Um- heart troubles can be so delicate.” The monk appeared sympathetic. “You say an affair she may desire. Is this a problem? Young women do fall in love.”

Morgan nodded solemnly. “It could be a problem. I suspect my daughter may have an effect on men that will make it impossible for her to know if a man desires her for herself naturally, A power she may have over them to command them to desire her.”

“Oh. This indeed is a delicate problem if she is to find a true love...if she desires a true and honest love.”

Mage Morgan let out a deep sigh. “If I tell her the man she has feelings for is not truly attracted to her, but is drawn to her because of a power she possesses I fear she will think I’m manipulative and trying to interfere out of some errant impulse to be a protective father.”

“And this power is?” Artimus prompted inquisitively.

“I think Akira has the power of a siren. She has just dropped a long and deep seated hatred and distrust of men and allowed to herself to tolerate and even form friendships with men. Hating men for so long may have suppressed any feeling of attraction or desire for our gender. I’d surmise she had no experience or reason to feel desire, and she certainly did the most she could do to look undesirable to keep herself safe.”

 “My friend … you seem to be wise already, what is it that you need from me?”

“Dare I jeopardize the tenuous relationship with my daughter to protect her from a broken heart?”

Artimus did not give an easy answer. He answered the question with a question. “Which loss for her will hurt the deepest and take the longest to heal?” Artimus studied the stars as if looking for an answer.

“First of all, if I tell her a certain young man has no choice in being attracted to her, she may not believe me. If her feelings for him are deep and his are not because of a spell she has put upon him, she would or should want to know. Her heart will be vexed if not broken, and she may hate me for telling her. If I'm wrong and her feelings are deep and his are, I worry she'll forsake him because she believes me, and when she finds out otherwise, she may hate me.”

Artimus looked pointedly at Morgan. “My friend, it sounds as if your greatest concern is that she may hate you.”

“Well it is a valid concern for me. She has just grown to tolerate me and if I’m not mistaken grown to like me. No easy feat since she has an ingrained disdain for men... but this should not be about me. Thank you for that wisdom. It becomes clear we need to know for certain that she has siren capabilities before I cause her pain casting doubt about the sincerity of this particular man’s attraction to her.” Morgan scratched his head. “It just does not seem right for a father to talk to his daughter about desire and lust…. if that is how one counsels or tutors a siren. Therein is my dilemma, Artimus. I’ve no experience with sirens.”

“Patience Morgan. Your daughter has a most wise and if I may say so….um -ah, sexually experienced mother.” Artimus waited for a reaction from Morgan. Morgan raised his eyebrows. Artimus continued. “A siren would be the best teacher for your daughter, in lieu of a siren, a skilled lover would be the best tutor.” Artimus tried not to smile. Clearly Morgan was uncomfortable. “Sirens were very sexual beings.” The monk smiled as if remembering a siren acquaintance in his past.

“What? You? You have experience, and lived?” Morgan looked at Artimus suspiciously.

“No, no, I’ve no experience in these matters! I read in The Aki’l Volumes in the library about sea serpents and creatures that sirens are very sexual beings. You think I’d be here if I’d met a siren?” The old monk chuckled. I’m a monk not a magician.”

Mage Morgan smiled at his companion. “Well you were young once and not always a monk.”

Artimus chuckled once more rubbing his shaven scalp. “True, true,” he conceded.

“The powers of a siren are very intriguing. From a distance. What a powerful weapon that would be in the right hands.” Morgan made the statement as his mind was whirling with the possibilities. If Akira did not have them would she want to have them? His newly found daughter had chosen the path of a warrior. If there was any way in which he might arm her with extra skills unavailable to those unfortunates who were born of bloodlines that carried no remnants of the magic from other realm ancestors he would do so. As a halfling with her own gift of being unnaturally fast and light on her feet, there was a chance she could be imbued with other powers. Her aura was receptive and sensitive. She was his daughter after all he told himself. He smiled.

 CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Dimitri fixed his gaze on the dark haired beauty that caused him so many sleepless nights. She moved from table to table laughing, and joking with her comrades. It was in stark contrast to earlier days when it was plain as the nose on his face that she felt like a rabbit sitting with a pack of wolves. Yet, she braved their company at first, then tolerated their presence as time passed until she accepted them without prejudice as comrades in arms. She was no longer vulnerable. She was exciting, strong and no longer off limits. Dimitri approached her.

“Akira.”

She turned towards the voice her ears listened for at every opportunity. Expectant blue eyes were turned upon his face giving him her full attention.

“Would you like to walk with me?” Dimitri’s voice was casual. His feelings were not.

“I will walk with you. Can we go to the stables? I want to take a carrot to my horse. It is only fitting he have a treat to celebrate this most auspicious occasion.”

The privacy of the stables suited Dimitri just fine. “That is agreeable to me.” He allowed her to lead him out of the dining hall. “Have you heard from your mother?”

“Yes. There was good news and bad.” She talked as she walked. “My mother has petitioned for an annulment and it seems it will be granted. The bad news, it seems her soon to be ex-husband, who thinks he is my father is hunting me down.” Akira stopped and turned to Dimitri. “She has counseled me to ask for your hospitality when we leave here. She believes it is safer for me to travel with you, and wait for her to meet me at your estate. She has raised a small army of her people that will probably be looking for justice for my mother.”

“Your mother is a wise woman. And of course I offer you my hospitality.” His voice was rich and resonant. He smiled. Akira’s bad luck was his good fortune. He would spend more time with her and more…

“I will want to join that army. I will not run from that demon again.”

“You know that I will offer my services also… the baron has no authority to cross borders and enter another kingdom searching for anyone. He is not above the law.”

“Thank you Dimitri”. She handed him a carrot. Her eyes twinkled. “You need to make friends with Pegasus.”

Dimitri accepted the carrot. “I’d rather be making friends with you.”

Akira turned to him again. “I’d like that.” Her eyes pinned his. “I’d like that a lot.”

Dimitri’s eyes seemed to get darker and more sensuous. His heart beat faster. He decided to push his luck. “Can we think about being more than friends?”

“It has crossed my mind on occasion. You realize you have been a great distraction to me?” Akira let out a soft sigh. The dimples at the corner of her mouth got deeper. She let herself into Pegasus’s stall, rubbed her hand across his back and offered him his treat.

Dimitri chuckled. “Me a distraction? No more than you have been for me I’ll have you know. Do you know how jealous I’m of your horse this very minute?”

“Jealous of my horse?”

“You are caressing him and I’d prefer that you were caressing me.”

Akira gulped. The warm feeling was enveloping her again and this time she did not have to try ignore it. It centered between her breasts and her thighs. Now what to do with it, the feeling. His bold words reassured her that she was not the only one feeling discombobulated. “I’m not experienced with the feelings you make me feel.”

Her honesty struck a chord in his heart. Dimitri entered the stall, fed his carrot to Pegasus and reached for Akira’s hands. “You can start gaining experience like this.” He placed her hands on his shoulders.

Akira’s face flushed. She held him at bay by inches. “I’ve learned…. not to hate all men.” Her eyes widened as he slowly leaned down to her face. “I’ve learned how to be friends with men.” His face came closer. “I’ve learned how to fight with men.” She could feel his warm breath on her skin. “But this … this feeling you make me feel, I know little of …”

He silenced her lips with a sweet kiss. A first noninvasive tender kiss. Then he lifted his head and let his eyes read her reaction. Akira stared back. She wet her lips instinctively in invitation. Dimitri felt a powerful surge of desire take hold of him. It was stronger than any attraction he had ever experienced with any woman. His restraint was on the verge of breaking. The curve of her neck seemed to beg to be caressed with a finger and then a tongue.

The sound of the stable door opening made them step apart quickly. The whistling of a monk as the sounds of hay being tossed into stalls made soft swishing sounds made them each take a deep breath. Akira walked to the opposite side of Pegasus and looked across his back at Dimitri. With Pegasus safely between them she could think. Moments before all she did was feel.

“Well that was-.um, nice.” Akira pretended a sudden interest in untangling Pegasus’s mane. Nice? what made me say nice? It was not nice … it was exciting, a taste, a tease that makes me want more.

“Was it a nice experience you would like to repeat?” Dimitri’s smile was curling her insides again.