Drink of Me (29 page)

“I’ll keep your warning in mind,” Reule managed with a straight face as Fit was led toward him, “but until you have a specific example of her discordant influence, Liandra is welcome in my home.”

Reule ended the discussion by swinging up on Fit and heading toward the deep snow blanketing the city below.

Liandra drew back from the cold glass of the windowpane and shivered. Mystique was checking on a young man who’d been caught in the storm and was brought in half frozen an hour earlier.

“They left. I’m telling you, Mystique, something’s wrong. Not even Pack willingly goes riding out in this kind of weather. I can’t read Reule, but Darcio was extremely tense.”

“Darcio is always tense,” she remarked dryly as she drew up close to Liandra, looking out of the window briefly for herself. She watched the men as they urged the horses through the portcullis. But it was when the portcullis itself was lowered behind them, even though it was the middle of the day, that she bit her lip with a twinge of worry. “What would worry Reule enough that he would order the gate to the keep closed? We’re at the end of a miles-long city.”

“It’s habit for him to use every precaution,” Liandra reassured her as she laid hands on her shoulders. “Reule remembers too well the dangers we constantly faced when we first established ourselves here.”

“I suppose.” But Mystique’s belly was suddenly a knot of nerves and fear. Chills raced across the backs of her shoulders until she shivered.

“Come away. The windows make for pretty views, but they are drafty.”

Mystique allowed Lia’s hands to guide her until she was turned completely around. She stopped dead still, however, when her eyes met Chayne’s. The tension running the length of the Prima Shadow’s frame was palpable, a sign of the seriousness of the situation. His presence had never been intrusive, and he truly had become like a shadow to her, there but hardly noticed. It didn’t escape Mystique that he now stood closer to her than he ever had before.

“Chayne?”

“An unknown group approaches Jeth,” he told her readily. He tilted his head, listening internally to the voice of the Pack. “Reule is just being cautious at the moment. No overt threats have been made. It’s an unidentified caravan, large enough to cause trouble to the outlying farms if that’s what they wish to do.”

“I see. Thank you, Shadow.”

Mystique took a breath to calm her edgy nerves. Reule would handle the situation. If it developed into circumstances requiring her skills as healer, she was prepared. For now, she would stay where she was.

Now all she had to do was try not to worry about Reule.

Reule stood on the great Jeth wall at the midpoint, watching the caravan approach the gate with steady purpose. It was clear that Jeth had been the travelers’ goal all along, at least as far as destination was concerned. Much to the dismay of his xenophobic guards, Reule had pulled all soldiers back behind the walls. He didn’t want to flex his muscle in front of these strangers if it wasn’t necessary. That was no way to encourage others to change their opinions about the Sánge.

However, the outer portcullis remained closed tight.

Friendly, not foolish.

It was Saber who called down to the leader of the caravan in salute, Reule remaining silent and allowing him to do his job. He stood in stony preparation for any eventuality.

“Hallo!”

The cry went out and the caravan of men responded by drawing to a halt. Reule narrowed his eyes on the group as Saber spoke with the lead rider. There were a good eight sleds on runners, three of which were single-man cutters meant for speed and distance. The outriders numbered a good thirty. And they were all men. The lack of females hinted that this was no casual party.

These people hadn’t been caught unawares in a storm. They were even better prepared for it than his people would have been. Everyone wore thick furs. Lap robes covered the drivers and passengers alike. Even the horses were thickly built, a breed strong enough to draw sleds through miles of deep snow, their coats made of long, heavy hair for warmth.

Reule kept in careful contact with Saber as he spoke with the lead rider.

“Greetings and welcome to Jeth,” Saber said evenly from his safe station about five feet above the head of the man on horseback.

“I greet you as well,” the rider returned. “My party wishes to break our travel in your city.”

“First we would know who you are and where you’re from, my friend,” Saber said evenly. “We get few visitors in this wild place.”

“I can imagine,” the rider agreed. “We are Yesu. We come from a province in the deep north.”

“There’s nothing but savage mountains to the north,” Saber noted.

“Aye. As I said,” the rider agreed. “The Yesu are a mountain tribe.”

That actually took Reule by surprise. He’d never heard of a civilization in the mountains behind his city. They were impassable. The fact that these people had approached from the mouth of the valley in spite of coming from the northern range was proof enough of that. They must be from a farther, more accessible point.

“We didn’t know there were mountain tribes, and we’ve lived in this valley for over sixty years,” Saber informed the stranger readily.

The leader of the Yesu laughed, the sound echoing merrily against the walls of the valley. “The Yesu rarely leave their mountain home,” he agreed. “But we have heard of your people and this growing city. We’re pleased your tribe has survived in this rough country. It speaks well of your breed.”

Saber’s response was a knee-jerk reaction. “You do know this is a Sánge city, do you not? Not many people seek out Sánge company so willingly.”

“The world is too wide and diverse to let customs come between cultures. My people, you will find, are more tolerant than most. We wish you no harm.”

Reule knew the man was speaking the truth. So did Saber.

“Might I know whom I address?” Reule called down from the midwall.

“Lothas, Second Command to our great lord Derrik, High King of all the Yesu tribes in these mountains. And yourself?”

“Prime Reule, leader of the city and province of Jeth.”

The man touched his open palm to his heart and made a slow, respectful bow of his head. “Greetings and deepest respects from his greatest majesty, High King Derrik, Prime Reule. I’m bid to earn welcome on behalf of our people.”

“And welcome you shall be, Second Command Lothas. Is this your only purpose in coming to Jeth? To strike up relations with the Sánge? I have to admit, it’s an unusual occurrence.” Reule searched, but could find no hostility toward the Sánge in this man’s mind. He did discover, however, a group of minds among them that would bear close watching. There was something innately chilling in some of the psyches he touched. But it was a small and select portion of the group. The rest were neutral, intelligent, and as open in mind as they were announcing themselves to be.

“We don’t blame you for your caution, Prime Reule. We know of your reception among other tribes. We are, as I said, far more tolerant than most. I’m certain there will be things about the Yesu you will find not to your taste, but we hope you will be just as accepting.”

“You will find us so in spite of our caution, but you didn’t answer my query.”

Lothas laughed again with his ringing mirth. It actually made a smile play over Reule’s lips. There was an infectious quality to the man. “True enough! No, my lord, the purpose of our travels, unfortunately, isn’t so pleasant as I believe meeting your people will be. We’ve come down from the mountains in search of a foul murderess, and we’ve tracked her to your province. We come to beg your assistance or any information you might have.”

And in an instant, Reule knew.

They were looking for Mystique.

The bottom had dropped out of his world and the entire Pack went sharply rigid with the whiplash of his emotional fury. Reule felt Darcio’s hand circling his upper arm, squeezing hard to focus him on the task at hand. His voice was hard as he forced himself to speak.

“We’ll speak of this in the comfort of my keep. Enter Jeth and be welcome.”

Reule turned away and moved with speed as he laid commands into the minds of his Pack.

“Bring Lothas and the higher-ranking leaders to the keep as guests. House the outriders in two separate locations in the city. Opposite ends, preferably. Dividing their ranks will keep them harmless. Offer a guard for Lothas if he wishes it, out of respect. Chayne, take Mystique to my rooms. Keep her there at all cost. If you allow her to gainsay you, I’ll have your head. Is that understood?”

“It’s quite clear, My Prime,”
he agreed firmly.

“Saber, I want heavy patrols around the city, especially where the armed men are staying. Don’t make it too obvious, but make certain they feel our presence. No one is to show even the remotest hint of hostility, Defender. Make certain that’s clear. Unless the Yesu threaten to harm someone’s life, don’t move against them. Warning, firmness, informing them of our laws—all of that is acceptable, but not violence or posturing.”

“Understood, My Prime,”
the Prime Defender said grimly.

Reule jerked on his riding gloves as he approached Fit. Again, Darcio reached out and stayed him with a hand against his arm.

“Easy, Reule. You could be mistaken.”

Reule narrowed his hazel eyes on his Shadow with a sharp turn of his head. “Do you think I’m mistaken?”

Shadow didn’t respond, and that was response enough, he knew. He felt the tension in his Prime, like a whipcord of lightning that burned fierce and fast. And there was fear. An enormous amount of fear unlike anything Darcio had ever known Reule to feel before. He hadn’t even known Reule could be so afraid. Darcio was the weakest empath among them, but even he could feel Reule’s growing storm of pain like a fist closing around his heart.

“Reule,” he said softly, “you’re the leader of a powerful city that will stand behind you no matter what you decide. Don’t ever forget that. Don’t ever doubt it. This Sánge tribe would sacrifice itself if you commanded it. They know their lives would mean nothing without you, and they’d be willing to prove it with their last breaths.” Darcio reached out to pat Fit’s flank, as though they were speaking of simple things instead of life, death, and fate.

“Good,” Reule said with bite. He looked hard at his friend. “I love her, Darcio. No man,
no army
, will ever take her from me.”

“Well, you might just be realizing that,” Darcio said with a snort, “but your Pack figured it out days ago.”

With that remark, Shadow turned and threw himself up into his own saddle. Reule looked at him, amusement shattering his fearful tension. He reached for Fit and swung up onto his back. He patted the horse’s withers. “Come, old friend. Let’s go protect our lady.”

Fit shook his head and whinnied in agreement.

“Chayne, this is ridiculous! Why won’t you tell me what’s going on?” Mystique demanded explosively as she paced the breadth of Reule’s private sitting room.

“Reule will be here any second,” he assured her firmly.

Mystique glared at him. He stood like a sentinel—a
jailor
—with arms crossed over his chest and the legs
she
had healed braced firmly apart.

“Aw, come on, Mystique,” he groaned, “that isn’t fair.”

He was right. It wasn’t fair. He was only protecting her and doing what Reule had asked him to do. She walked over to Chayne and touched an affectionate palm to his jaw. “I’m sorry, Chayne. Forgive me.”

“Mystique…” The tough man flushed under her affection like a young boy kissed by his mother in front of all his friends. She giggled and kissed his cheek anyway, knowing he was pleased regardless of what he’d show to her or others.

“And you get the apology even though it isn’t fair for you to read my mind when I can’t do the same in return,” she said pointedly. “I thought there were manners about that.”

“Yeah, well, the rules change when there’s…um…” He hesitated, then sighed. “When there’s potential danger.”

“I see.” She ignored the gist of his words and focused on the etiquette. “So you’re saying that when the Pack is on alert, reading the minds around you becomes acceptable?”

“Automatic, really. Not all at once, of course, because that would overload us, but it’s more efficient to do away with speech. Did you know the Sánge had no spoken language for centuries?”

“No,” she said, honestly fascinated now.

“We’re all telepaths. There was no need. Then, as the other races began to cross our paths—”

The intriguing Sánge history lesson ended when the door flew open and Reule strode into the room.

“Shadows.”

It was a sharp command and both Chayne and Darcio hastened to vacate the room, closing the door behind them. Mystique looked at him, her brows drawing down into a wrinkled line of worry. Reule’s heart turned over as she looked into his eyes with nervousness shimmering through her emotional aura. All he could think of in that moment was how beautiful she was. The curve of her soft cheek where it arched beneath her eye, the endless glittering facets of those gemlike irises, and the pale perfection of skin he now knew was soft and flawless along every inch of her body. A body he now knew better than his own. Its scent. Its varied flavors. Its devastatingly precious warmth.

Reule threw aside his cloak and gloves and crossed the floor to her in three huge strides. He swept her up against him, capturing her mouth. She reached up instantly, unquestioningly, and grasped him by the back of his neck, opening her mouth for him. His hands tightened on her desperately as he filled himself with her taste and drew her warmth into himself. He felt as though he’d crossed the world, rather than the city, to reach her. It was as though their days of lovemaking had happened in another lifetime, rather than having ended a few short hours ago.

When he’d had his momentary fill of her mouth, he buried his face against her neck and drew deep breaths full of her sweet scent. “Mystique,” he exhaled, her name shuddering out of him, his eyes closed against the sudden burn within them.

“Reule, please,” she begged softly, her hands stroking through his hair, “you’re frightening me.”

It was the last thing he’d wanted to do. He’d wanted to reassure her, tell her that she need never fear anyone again, just as he’d promised her. But it would have been a lie. There was someone for her to fear.

Herself.

Whatever had happened, Mystique had blocked it out with a vengeance. Knowing her now, knowing her heart and her need to rescue the lives of others, there was one act that could so destroy her psyche that she’d repress it with everything she was.

Taking the life of another.

Oh, she had the courage to do it if she were pushed to the sticking point, of that he had no doubt. But doing a thing and accepting it were two different issues. Now realization and acceptance were imminent, and he didn’t want to tell her. He’d sensed that it’d be better if she never remembered, and he’d been right. To drive her to murder, the circumstances would have to have been…unimaginable. It shredded his heart to think of it.

“Remember one thing,” he whispered roughly against her neck. “I should have said it before, but I’m a man, and that makes me two parts fool and one part genius. My brilliant part loves you with all of his heart, Mystique. The fool parts as well, only they never know the right time to admit it.” He pulled away to look into her stunned eyes, blinking back emotion. “Do you hear me? I love you as you are now, as you were before, and as whatever you become in the future. You have my heart and always have. Since the moment I first felt your sadness and knew that someone who could hurt so deeply had to also be capable of equal amounts of joy, love, and passion. And I was right. I was so right.”

He caught her startled mouth again in a slow, tender kiss. He waited until he felt her melt bonelessly against his body, then closed his eyes and turned himself over to the emotion rushing through him. By the time he finally lifted from her swollen lips, she was hardly holding up any of her own weight, and her slumberous eyes glittered.

“Reule,” she said with breathy wonder. She reached up to cradle his face in her small hands, her bemused smile so sweet it hurt. “Tell me what happened. Don’t bear your trials without me. I will be your wife and—”

“You
are
my wife. In every sense that matters.” He grasped her waist tightly, squeezing for emphasis. “Remember that, Mystique. You are my wife. My queen. And all will treat you as such or they will answer to me.”

Mystique felt the sudden rush of icy dread in every vein of her body. Her breath came quick and her eyes rounded with fear as she began to understand.

“Who?” she whispered. “Who has come for me?”

Reule wanted to curse himself and all of his fate for doing this to her, but he couldn’t when it was fate that had brought her to him. He decided to be as direct as always. “They call themselves the Yesu. They have your coloring of skin and seem, for the most part, a fair and pleasant people. A mountain tribal clan. I’ve never heard of them before, but I read them as honest and well-intentioned.”

“Then why are you so upset?”

“They’ve come in search of a criminal they tracked to this wilderness.” He took a breath to steel himself. “A murderess.”

Mystique blinked up at him and he grasped her mind. He heard no thoughts, only felt the stunning impact of his words.

And then she laughed. A single sharp burst of humorless laughter. She wrenched herself free of his hold, stumbling back. She turned and clung to a chair for support. Her dazed eyes searched the room, as if to find the answers she’d been seeking all this time. She laughed again, but this time he heard the hysteria creeping into it.

“Mystique, an accusation doesn’t make a truth,” he reminded her gently. He stepped toward her, but she jerked and raised a defensive palm to keep him at bay. The wall it flung up between them stung, but he wrestled the emotion aside. Her need must take precedence here. “Baby, listen to me. I haven’t even spoken to them yet. They’re being settled in the city. The leaders will be brought to Jeth Keep.”

“What if—”

“No!” He barked it out so hard that she jumped. “Do you hear me,
kébé
? You’re safe here. You’ll meet your accusers on my arm, as my Prima, and you’ll damn well act the part! I don’t care who they say or think they are,
you’re my wife.
You’ll be treated as such or there will be an answer for it. I won’t hide you and I won’t act ashamed, and by the Lord, neither will you!”

She blinked at him, finally realizing what he’d been trying to say to her this entire time. It didn’t matter. None of it. She could have slaughtered a dozen men, and it didn’t matter to him. He loved her, and that was all he needed to know.

Mystique threw a hand up to her mouth to stifle a hard sob. In the next instant he was there, gathering her up against the steady strength of his body. “Stop,” he commanded her gently. “You wouldn’t be capable of slaughtering a dozen men,
kébé
. For starters, despite your spit and fire, you’re far too tiny to pull that off.”

She laughed weakly and dropped her head against his chest, clutching at his vest. “You make jokes now?”

“When better? I can’t bear it when you cry, love. I’d rather make you laugh.”

Mystique didn’t know which one she wanted to do more. She was holding in giggles and sobs and was too overwhelmed to keep either to herself. He chuckled softly as she gave in to both, grasping him as though she were afraid he’d disappear. He cradled her close as he let her sort through her vacillating emotions. He wasn’t expecting her to suddenly leap for his mouth. They bumped roughly. She was teary-eyed and sniffling, but she was committed to the kiss. So he let her pull him down into the bliss of her soft lips and seeking tongue.

He didn’t necessarily like that there was fear behind her need, but he understood it. Nevertheless, he didn’t want her thinking she’d earn his support through the value of her body. He swept her up in his arms and found them a seat, keeping her mouth the entire time. He eased her away after a few minutes, ignoring her protestations. He wanted her, he always wanted her, but not this way.

“Listen to me,
kébé
,” he said firmly, boring his gaze into hers, “you’ve nothing to be afraid of. No one is going to abandon you or betray you. As much as I love to love you, in a little while we’ll be greeting the first outlander guests to come peacefully to this keep. It’s an important moment for this Sánge tribe. But it means nothing if they think to threaten you. Do you understand? I don’t need to love your body to remind myself that I’m loyal to you above all others, Mystique.”

“But over your tribe?”

“You are part of my tribe now, baby. Don’t you understand that yet? You are Sánge now. A Sánge queen. A Sánge tribe protects its every last member with all they are. Needless to say, the Prime, Prima, and Pack get twice that effort.”

“Twice ‘all they are’?” She tried to resist, but she had to laugh. “Is that even possible?”

“Hopefully we won’t have to find out. I plan on settling this as peacefully as possible. Now, I want to dress you good and proper. You’ll be holding your head very high when you face your accusers, my love. Para is waiting in your room. Liandra as well. You will look the Prima.”

“And not the
kébé
?”

“You’ll be all that and more. For me. Forever. But this is about making an impressive, united appearance in the midst of a power struggle. I won’t have them thinking I’m ashamed of you, or you of yourself.”

“I’m not ashamed,” she said, her chin lifting stubbornly. “And whatever happened, I was the one who ended up lying half dead in the wilderness.” She spoke strongly, only the twisting of her fingers giving away her nervousness. He caught them in his hands.