CaptiveoftheStars (3 page)

Maida tilted her head, "Why does he need that particular woman? There are dozens of girls here who would do."

Dorith sipped at her broth. "It isn't his lordship, it is the star that wants her and you know what will happen if he doesn't get her."

Nasha was listening with a sense of understanding as the truth clicked into place. During her years with Ithena inside her, she had experienced a number of occasions when she had been forced into situations that she would not have chosen for herself. A frisson of pity ran through her for Lord Kalowell.

She swallowed the last of her morning meal, "What will happen if the star does not get the other avatar?"

"A year of bad harvests at the best, a cessation of children at the worst." Dorith stood and started to clear the table.

"My hands have healed, may I engage in kitchen duties?" Nasha needed to think and nothing helped her think like smashing a loaf of bread into submission or washing dishes.

Maida looked at her in surprise. "Why would you want to? You only have to attend meals and serve. Why would you want to do more?"

Nasha thought quickly before she said, "Because I have no home and want to make a place for myself here."

Dorith laughed. "Just let General Alsco under your skirts and you can have whatever you wish. We have all seen him watching you."

Maida chuckled as well.

"I have no interest in the general or any man here." It was a lie, but she wasn't about to tell them that. Her daily dose of herbs was keeping it plausible.

"His lordship watches you as well, but there is a different look to him. Like a man in pain." Dorith scraped their plates into the rubbish bin and slid the dishes into the steaming sink.

Pain? She hadn't made eye contact with him since the kiss. She turned to Dorith, "Do you think I can take up more duties?"

The housekeeper shook her head. "No. His lordship wants you only to serve and that is all you will do until he says otherwise."

The noise of a crowd emanated through the keep from the courtyard.

Maida laughed and darted to the window, looking up at the milling beast feet and wagon wheels. "They are back! That was quick."

Dorith grinned. "They probably didn't have to stop to recover straying women on the way."

Nasha blushed.

Her guard of the day, Tonio, came to her. "You are needed to help the Fano women bathe and dress."

She nodded and fought a grin as Dorith yelled out, "You got your wish. New duties."

Nasha walked with Tonio to the guest quarters where she had had her first bath. Pages and kitchen lads were rushing past with buckets of hot water drawn from the hot spring in the lowest level of the keep.

"How many women did they bring back?"

"I don't know, Haella. Lord Kalowell just asked me to bring you." He escorted her to the door and then opened it to let her inside. It closed with a grim finality behind her and she looked over a series of welcomed faces.

"Welcome to Kalowell. You may not remember me, I am Haella." She smiled at the women who looked at her with relief.

Tish grinned. "Ah yes, the madwoman of the village. You seem to have done well for yourself."

"I have survived. My duties are light and Lord Kalowell is kind. It makes me regret what brought us all to this moment. Now, ladies, please enter the large bath and I will help you with your hair and scrub your backs."

Her women looked scandalized, but out of the five that were looking at her, not one would betray her. They all shucked out of their clothing and slid into the pool.

"How did you come to be here?" Nasha scrubbed each of their backs in turn, her hands rapidly getting wrinkled as she worked her way around the tub.

The women blushed as she helped them, but she didn't make a fuss, so neither did they.

Vavi sighed. "We came back looking for you…Haella. There was no trace and the scouts were just waiting for us to emerge from the caverns."

"That was my fault. I led Lord Kalowell to the gateway. I wasn't expecting him to catch on so quickly. Hence, my jewellery."

She poured fragrant soap onto her hand and tapped Tish on the shoulder. Tish ducked down and emerged with her hair wet so Nasha could go to town. The lather built quickly and another light tap got Tish to rinse.

Nasha worked her way down the line to Vavi, Lass, Orial and Mithwai. When all of her ladies in waiting were squeaky clean, she returned to the door and asked for clothing for the women.

Tonio nodded and reached to the shelf behind him for a collection of brightly coloured clothing. Nasha sighed in relief. Her companions were not to be consigned to duty in a kitchen or menial service.

She took the clothing with the matching slippers and ducked back into the bathing room. As each emerged from the bath, she wrapped them in a towel and led them to a chair. When all of the women were seated, she went down the line brushing the hair of each of her ladies in turn.

Each colour went with the woman that it best suited and when they were dressed, she backed away to return to Tonio. "They are dressed and ready. What is my next assignment?"

He looked confused. "Don't you wish to remain with them?"

"They are attired as ladies, I am a servant. It is not appropriate." She waved her hands at her damp gown.

"Wait a moment. Lord Kalowell will be along shortly. He is expecting to find you with them."

"Then I shall wait."

She returned to the women who were gathered in a knot and speaking in hushed tones. "Lord Kalowell will be here shortly. He is actively searching for the avatar of Ithena and believes you will know something about it."

Her companions took seats in the outer room and waited. Nasha gave them all cups of wine and stood by with an empty goblet, waiting for her captor to make himself known.

Nothing that she said or did betrayed her station or the nervous tension that was shimmying in her belly.

She was so calm that when the door opened again, her arms jerked in shock and she almost dropped the goblet.

Chapter Five

Her portrait was staring at her. Not her face, but her back and feet. It was an image of her in meditation facing the rising sun, the icon of Ithena.

The men entering the room were bringing portrait after portrait into the room, holding them so that they faced the women in the room.

Each one was a picture of the avatar of Ithena, but none showed her face. Nasha was pleased. There was one portrait in existence with her face on it, but it had been painted when she was a child.

Something else got her attention. All of her companions were in at least one portrait, clearly recognizable. A ball of lead started to form in Nasha's stomach.

"Ladies. Thank you for accepting my hospitality." Lord Kalowell bowed to the ladies in the room and Nasha did her best to fade into the background.

Tish straightened. "We were not invited, we were taken. Hospitality was never offered."

Nasha winced. She had no idea what his lordship would make of the Fano woman's direct attack.

"I stand corrected. Thank you for not running from your captors as Haella did. I would hate to have to chain you as well."

"Thank you for your restraint." She curtsied and the other women followed suit.

Nasha watched and at his imperceptible nod, she went to serve him a goblet of wine. Her chains clashed and tinkled as she crossed the room and as soon as she finished serving, she tried to bow her way back, but his hand lashed out to grab her wrist. "Stay here, Haella. I think you will be interested in the conversation."

Turning, she set her carafe down on a short table and stood next to his lordship while her ladies looked at her with worried expressions.

"Now, ladies, the scouts who found you also found these portraits. Who is the woman in the portraits with you?"

Her ladies didn't say a word. Poor Mithwai looked as if she wanted to cry.

Lord Kalowell's hand tightened on her wrist and he started to twist it behind her back. The chain dug into her waist as the metal refused to give and she kept her face impassive.

"You know, Haella, I am amazed at your stoic acceptance of pain when it would stop with one word from those ladies." He moved her arm up her back and tears stung her eyes.

Vavi broke. "It is the avatar of Ithena."

He relaxed his grip on Nasha's arm and she breathed deeply. He didn't release her and that let her know that the pain would continue if the questioning stalled.

"Where is she? Is she on the other side of the gap?"

Nasha bit her lip as her arm was raised again when silence ensued.

Tish answered. "She is not. She didn't make it through the gap. She closed it to keep your troops from razing our people. We came out to look for her."

Nasha was able to breathe once again.

"Where did she go?"

Orial spoke, "We don't know. If we knew where she had gone, we would have been with her before now."

A quick glance at his lordship showed a frustrated expression on his face. "Where would she go?"

Tish nodded. "We don't know, my lord. The battle started and she was with the men. When we were all safe, the gap was sealed and she was not seen again. We were afraid she was dead."

He closed his eyes before opening them again. "What are those marks?"

He pointed to the portrait where Nasha was depicted kneeling in a backless, gauzy gown with her marks exposed.

A slow flick of Nasha's eyes and Mithwai offered in her timid tones, "Her avatar mark and the mark of the house of Fano."

Shock rippled through him. "On the bottom of a foot?"

"Yes, my lord. Ithena marked her with the one and her father with the other." Orial curtsied as she spoke.

"One more question, ladies. Why did your lady refuse me when I arrived?"

Nasha deliberately didn't look at him. She felt the pained confusion in his tone.

Tish looked at him with pity. "You should have courted her. With her father dead, the agreement you had with him was dissolved by our customs. The law was designed for this kind of thing, so that men could not make arrangements under duress. She might have greeted you more favourably if she had known what the hell was going on."

He jerked his head and nodded. His body vibrated with tension. "Before I go, ladies, show me the soles of your feet."

Her ladies knelt facing the wall and removed their slippers. Each sole was perfectly smooth and unblemished.

He sighed and his shoulders drooped in disappointment. "What is her name?"

Tish was the easiest to sway by the sight of masculine vulnerability. "Nasha Elorha Fano. Chosen of Ithena."

A cunning grin spread over his features and he looked down at Nasha. "Lady Nasha, I am pleased to offer you the hospitality of my home."

With her mouth tight, she inclined her head. "What was the final clue?"

"You never wear shoes. Even in the portraits, you don't wear shoes. Out of all the bodies on the battlefield, you were the only one found without footwear."

"And I ran through the forest…"

"Naked and without shoes. You knew where you were going, which is how we knew how to capture your ladies when they arrived. They would go where you were supposed to be."

She would have clapped, but her arm was still in his grip. "Well deduced. Can you take the chains off now?"

"No. I believe that you will be wearing them for some time to come. You will not leave this keep until you are my mate in every way. Eshkar is most insistent."

"Good for him, Ithena is not interested." The faint presence of the star was far back in her mind.

He scowled down at her. "It does not matter. She promised him a child centuries ago and you will remain here until you deliver."

"That will be a while as I have not yet had my first heat. Who knows when I will get pregnant if that little tidbit of chemistry does not occur?"

Frustration passed his face and he let out a sharp whistle. Tonio came in with a folded pile of fabric.

"Here you are, my lord. The alterations have been made." Her guard bowed and extended his hands with their burden.

Kalowell jerked his head for her to pick up the gown.

She reached out and thanked Tonio for his service as the fabric crackled over her hands.

Tonio looked up in surprise and then his gaze focussed on his lord's hand on her arm.

Tish came forward and bowed as she took the gown. "If you will excuse me, my lord, we will attend our lady."

"You have five minutes. I will remain here." He took a seat on one of the low couches and smiled grimly.

Her ladies surrounded her and shooed her into the bathing room. The moment that the door closed, she was hugged from all sides.

Tish was weeping openly, as was Mithwai. Orial and Vavi were made of sterner stuff. Lass didn't even acknowledge that anything was amiss.

Vavi opened Nasha's work dress and unlaced the shoulders. It slid from her body in a swish of fabric. The new gown was a similar design with a fuller skirt and more ornate clasps as well as open sleeves. The colour was two shades darker than her own skin.

Tish started on her hair the moment that the gown was on. "My lady, how have you avoided your heat?"

"A berry cocktail. You know the one. The ingredients are plentiful, so they have been my evening dessert."

The low laugh that her ladies shared made her smile. She had missed them.

"We will make sure that you are served the mix every evening if we can."

Orial smiled. "I will head to the kitchens myself if I have to."

"Like you used to when my father insisted that I needed to fast for the star to accept me?" Nasha grinned as Vavi got her shoulder pieces laced into place.

"Exactly, but with less chance of ending up banished. Your father was pissed."

Having the elderly Norcron Fano described as pissed brought a wistful emotion to Nasha's breast. "I miss him."

"We do, too, lady. We also have been missing Ithena." Orial gave her a look of query.

"As have I. She closed the gap and that was the last time she has been truly present. One look at Eshkar's avatar and she was in for the duration."

The stoic Lass gave her a serious look. "That isn't good."