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Dharman hadn’t expected any assistance.
He certainly knew Khul’lanna well enough to accept that simply because she’d
felt desire for him and Sal that she would not immediately ask them both to
Khul’s blankets. In fact, he expected the reverse. Her reluctance to hurt Khul
in any way was too great. “How much leeway do I have to convince her myself?”

Khul grinned widely and slapped him on
the back. “As much as you dare, lad.” He paused, ignoring Khul’lanna’s sharp
inhale and fierce surge of ire through their bonds. “Nay, you’re a lad no
longer. If you desire to win your way to my blankets, warrior, then you are
welcome to try through any means you deem necessary.”

“Over my dead body.” Khul’lanna advanced
on Khul and shoved him in the chest. The mighty warrior didn’t even budge.
“You’re not going to simply stand there and let them…”

“Nag you?” Sal asked brightly.

Her cheeks flooded with color. She
whirled, but froze. A flood of nausea swamped her bond.

Dharman immediately stepped up to her,
his senses alert. Sal took her other side, all thoughts of co-mates and finally
making love to her wiped from their minds. They scanned the hallway, seeking
any shadow or threat that would clutch her stomach with such fierce cramps of
sickness reserved for the darkest, most tainted Shadow, but all they saw were
the twins.

Nearly three years old, Rhyra and Anya
ran toward their mother, hair sungold and dark sable respectively. No one
questioned the stamp of each child’s parentage. Both as lovely as their mother
with dark blue eyes, Rhyra was obviously Khul’s daughter, while Anya was the
Shadowed Blood’s. Khul’lanna might have only taken Gregar to Khul’s blankets
the one time before he died, but his gift lived on in his daughter.

Both girls had sticky faces and hands,
as though they’d been eating a special sweet, and Rhyra held a small china
plate.

Whatever was on that plate made
Khul’lanna stagger. Lunging forward, she smacked it out of her daughter’s hands
and fell to her knees, retching and crying.

“Mama, Mama,” the girls cried, clutching
her.

“You didn’t eat that, did you?” She
cupped Rhyra’s face and stared deeply into her eyes. Dharman felt a wash of
cold spring water fill their bond, the Lady’s power rushing through her blood.
She turned to Anya. “Did you?”

“Nay, Mama, but Sara's sick. She fell
down.”

“Oh, Lady.” Khul’lanna wrapped her arms
around the girls and hugged them tight. She looked up at Dharman, desperate
horror shadowing her eyes despite the gleam of her tears. “Someone tried to
poison my babies.”

CHAPTER

TWO

SHANNARI
HUDDLED AGAINST THE HEADBOARD WITH A SLEEPING CHILD UNDER EACH ARM, TUCKED
CLOSE TO HER SIDE, WHILE HER BARBARIAN PACED AND GROWLED. She’d never seen Rhaekhar
so angry and close to losing his formidable control. Then again, she’d never
seen anyone try to kill his children.

“Great Vulkar, it’s an abomination!” He
drew his
rahke
only to shove it back
in its sheath. “How could any man or woman think to kill a child? What could
they possibly gain with such a sin?”

She knew very well why her enemies
wanted her children dead, but she dared not speak it aloud. The truth would
only infuriate him more. As difficult as the delivery of the twins had been for
her, there would be little hope that the Last Daughter could produce more heirs
for the Rose Crown. In fact, after
Kae’Shaman
had utterly exhausted his resources to pull her back from the brink and had to
be carried from Khul’s tent, Rhaekhar had returned to drinking
drakkar
, the warriors’ method of birth
control on the Plains.

Dharman shifted slightly. She knew what
he wanted, but she refused to look at him or acknowledge his presence. Not
after that debacle in the hall. Blessed Lady, what had she been thinking? “I
want the head of whoever sent the poison, don’t get me wrong, but they’re
impossible to stop. There are always more fools willing to try their hand at
cowardly murder for enough gold.” Or in this case, the fame of eliminating the
Last Daughter’s daughters, bringing the end to generations of Our Blessed
Lady’s bloodline in the Green Lands.

Ceasing his frantic pacing, Rhaekhar
gave her his most intimidating warrior stare. “We must return to the Plains at
once.”

“Agreed,” she replied lightly. “In the
morning, I want you to take the twins to safety.”

“
We
shall take them home,” he growled.

Ah, but he was an impressive warrior.
Even after all these years, the sight of him was enough to send her heart
beating double time. He stood tall and proud, slightly thicker and less ripped
than she remembered from that first day years ago when he’d defeated her army.
Age had been kind to him. Rhaekhar was a warrior’s warrior in his prime who had
won so many battles over the years that no one risked his displeasure again.

Except her, of course. “I can’t leave
yet.”

“I swore we would never be parted.” His
eyes blazed like twin suns, his neck, right shoulder, and arm cording from his
fierce grip on his
rahke
. “Where you
are, there I am as well. You will not stay in these Green Lands with such
danger alone.”

“I won’t be alone.” Despite the light
tone of her voice, his eyes narrowed, his jaws grinding with determination.
Next he’d march over, grab her chin, and force her to swear an oath, which she
couldn’t allow.

Without turning to her nearest Blood,
she used her bond.
:Can you remain with
the twins tonight and keep them safe?:

:Aye,:
Dharman replied immediately.
:Jorah and
Lew both will stay near them until Khul and his Blood take them to safety.:

This was just as delicate a dance as the
political waltz she played with her nobles. She didn’t want to wound her
Blood’s sense of honor. In many ways, he was even pricklier than Rhaekhar, and
she couldn’t distract him the same way. Well, she could, but…

Heat flared across her cheeks and she
couldn’t resist a quick glance at the boy standing to her left.

Lady above, she couldn’t keep calling
him a boy, not when he stood as tall and broad as Rhaekhar. She'd have to wrap
her hands around her Blood's biceps to be sure, but she swore his arms were
even larger than her Khul's. Barely seventeen when he’d become her Blood,
Dharman had grown into a formidable young warrior despite her best intentions.
He watched her as carefully as Rhaekhar did, his hand on his
rahke
, his fierce gaze narrowed on her
face.

Great, now she had two warriors to
convince of this plan.
:I need time alone
with Khul.:

Dharman’s eyes flared, his lips
tightening.

Quickly, before he could refuse—for her
First Blood rarely took his eyes off her—she continued.
:I want a private bath with him. You can guard the door. There’s no
other way inside. Privacy, Dharman, just for tonight.:

Her Blood still glowered at her, but he
didn’t deny her request immediately, which she took as a good sign.
Deliberately, she thought about taking Rhaekhar into the sunken pool, the hot
spring water soaking into their muscles, while she licked him from head to toe.
And then she thought of her Blood standing there, watching it all.

She averted her gaze and she didn’t have
to pretend embarrassment.
:Please,
Dharman. I need to know the girls are safe, and I need to be alone with him.:

:Agreed.:

Was it her imagination, or had his Blood
bond heated? He glowed like a well-stoked furnace. Her cheeks definitely burned
and she didn’t try to look at him again. Bloody hell. How could she have
forgotten herself enough to let her stupid body respond to him?

Forcing that dilemma away to deal with
another day, she gave Rhaekhar a sultry smile. “I promised you a bath, didn’t
I?”

“You cannot distract me, Shannari, not
even with a bath. Think you I would ever leave you in these Green Lands with
assassins around each and every corner? If some hurt befell you, no matter how
minor, I would never forgive myself.”

“If anything happens to my babies, I’ll
never forgive myself.” Tears filled her eyes, but she didn’t want to cry again.
She’d done that already, clutching them tightly and sobbing at the thought of
losing one of them. She’d rather toss the Rose Crown into the rubbish heap and
ride hell-bent for the Plains, never to return, than ever see one of them hurt.

Yet duty held her as firmly as her love
for her children. The Rose Crown was so very, very heavy, even when it was not
on her head. “You know how today’s meetings went. I can’t leave now or they’ll
win. I’ll lose everything I’ve fought for these past years. Another day or two
should be enough to make sure they’ll do as I ordered.”

“We’ve never been separated, not since
you nearly died in that foul cur’s prison.”

“I know,” she whispered, fighting tears.
“I’ll follow you as quickly as possible.”

He sighed heavily, and she knew she’d
won this
kae’don
. Yet she couldn’t be
pleased, not at the defeated slant to his shoulders and the worry creasing his
brow. “You must always keep the Blood near you. I want at least these two touching
you at all times.”

Sal tossed his hair back over his
shoulder. “Even at night?”

That little action never ceased to focus
her attention to him, the long fall of silk drawing her eyes like a moth to
flame. Yes, flame was appropriate, since his hair was the color of a fiery
sunset. He wore his hair longer than ever. Loose of any braids or ties, his
hair fell to mid-thigh, longer, even than the red cloth wrapped about his hips.

“Even at night,” Khul agreed, arching an
eyebrow at her opened mouth. “How many times have assassins tried to sneak into
our bedchamber,
na’lanna
? What if
they begin to lay in wait beneath the bed, or in a closet, or even the bath?”

Dharman snapped his fingers, and two of
the lesser Blood immediately trotted about the room, searching every nook and
cranny.

“Put one of them before you. Sal, I
think. You can use his hair as a blanket.” Rhaekhar allowed his voice to go
husky, his eyes molten gold but not with his anger this time. “Take Dharman
behind you to guard your back as Gregar did. With two wrapped around you, no
one will ever touch you with a blade. Will they,
na’lanna
?”

Clever bastard. She couldn’t help the
blush creeping down her neck, nor her quickened breathing, nor the unmistakable
curl of desire flaring in her abdomen. If she’d thought to persuade him with
desire, he’d done the same to her.

Lady above, it had been so long since
Gregar’s death. Since she’d had two warriors holding her, front to back, bathed
in heat and muscle. The Shadowed Blood still came to her in dreams, but it
wasn’t the same as two living, breathing warriors in her bed.

“Remember, however, that there shall be
no nagging until you return to the Plains and both young warriors challenge me.
If they can fight to my satisfaction—and I’m sure they will, if you are their
prize—then you can take them both to my blankets.”

“It’s an honor to serve, Khul.” Dharman
didn’t argue, exactly, but his low voice was fierce with intent. “However, my
blood is hers. If she asks, then I shall give her whatever she desires.”

Wide-eyed with alarm, she sucked in her
breath and looked from one warrior to the other. She knew warriors had killed
each other over less of a grievance, and one of his warriors—albeit a Blood—had
just refused Khul’s direct order. Varne made a choked noise of amusement or
disbelief, although by the perpetual frown on his face, she couldn’t tell.

“Very well,” Rhaekhar finally said.

She didn’t like the look in his eyes. It
made her heart hurt, and she didn’t know why. Choking on tears, she carefully
crawled out from between the sleeping twins and went to him, wrapping her arms
around his waist. “I won’t ask. I promise. I don’t even want them.”

“Don’t lie to me, my heart.” He wasn’t
angry, but his bond ached, swamping her with sorrow, a moment of rage so fierce
she gasped out loud with pain, but worse was the following grim acceptance.

“I’m not lying. I’ll never touch them if
it makes you feel like this.”

“It’s not them.” He sighed and rubbed
his chin against the top of her head. His hand trembled in the small of her
back. “I don’t want to leave you. I have a very bad feeling about saying
goodbye.”

As
though it may be forever.

He didn’t say the last out loud, but she
felt that spurt of furious grief again.

“Three days,” she whispered, clutching
him harder. “I’ll follow in three days.”

He didn’t say anything, but he held her
closer, need rising in him to claim what was his, as if he needed to imprint
his will and body upon her one last time before it was too late.

She rubbed her lips across his chest,
playfully nipping to lighten his mood. “Even I can stay out of trouble for
three days with nine Blood watching my every move.”