ROAD TO CORDIA (19 page)

     Ja'Nil watched open-mouthed as he stripped naked. She must have made some sound because Ee'Rick turned to her. “What?” he asked.

     Ja'Nil's tanned complexion flushed pomegranate red. She quickly looked away from him but his naked image was burned into her memory. She had never seen a grown man naked before.

     “Ja'Nil,” he said. She refused to look at him.

     “You're naked,” she blurted out.

     “That's how I usually bathe.” She heard splashing, and sneaked a look. He was wading up to his thighs into the steamy pool.

     His rear end was neat, and tight, and paler than the rest of him. She had this embarrassing urge to run her hands over his naked buttocks. Her own thoughts shocked her.

     He sat down in the water and gave a sigh of pleasure.

     “I have a slab of soap in my pack,” he called to her. “Would you bring it here?”     Mechanically, she went to his pack and pulled out the cloth wrapped soap. It smelled of the Rosenberry tree. “Bring the cloth, too,” he said.

     At the edge of the pool she stopped. How was she supposed to get it out to him?

     “I won't look at you,” he promised.

     “You won't?”

     He gave her his big grin. “Not unless you want me to.”

     “I don't!”

     “Jadµ.” He shrugged and turned his back.

     Ja'Nil stood at the edge of the pool, the soap in her hand. What should she do? The water was so clear that she could see the individual grains of sand at the bottom. Steam rose gently into the cool air. Just standing near it made her feel better.

     She looked at Ee'Rick again. He was leaning back, up to his shoulders in the water, looking the other way.

     Quickly she stepped out of her moccasins and pulled her tunic over her head. She untied the top of her leggings and tried to step out of them. But they were damp and sticky with mud, and getting out of them was a struggle. She shot an embarrassed glance at Ee'Rick, but he still faced away from her, enjoying the steaming water. Finally, she managed to peel the leggings off. She grabbed up the cloth wrapped soap and put one foot into the deliciously warm water. At the last minute, Ja'Nil remembered Lady Fayre's ring.

     She dropped the soap, and pulled the ring off her finger. To her horror, parts of it came apart in her hand.

     “Oh no,” she said.

     Ee'Rick immediately turned around. “What?”

     “Don't look! Don't look!” Ja'Nil tried to cover herself with her hands. Ee'Rick sighed and turned back around.

     “What's wrong?” he asked.

     “Lady...my ring. It got wet. It's ruined.”

     “A ring? What was it made of, paper?” His voice was scornful.

     “Pach½,” she told him.

     “Well, what did you expect? Pach½ can't withstand water, especially not the kind of rain we've just been through.”

     Ja'Nil removed the rest of the ring and carefully put the bits and pieces in her pack. The courage thing was silly anyway. How could a ring give you courage? More important, would the Queen still be able to recognize it?

     Then she was in the water and it felt sooo good.

     Ee'Rick shared his soap with her. She washed herself from the top of her head down to between each of her four toes. So did Ee'Rick.

     Afterward they just floated lazily. “You'd think this pool would be full of debris from the storm,” she said.

     “It never is,” he replied. “There is a strong power that watches over it and keeps it clean.”

     “A power? Whose power?” Ja'Nil looked uneasily about. Anyone who had enough power to defy the strength of the Funnel was someone to be wary of.

     “Don't know,” said Ee'Rick. “One of the people who live in the forest. Probably more than one.”

     “Do they mind us using it?” she asked.

     “Apparently not. Where are you going?”

     “I'm getting out. To wash my clothes. Don't look!” she ordered.

     Ee'Rick grinned to himself, and politely looked away. The Fisherfolk had very different ideas about modesty than his people. Ja'Nil wasn't bad looking, but she was too young. And of course he wouldn't touch her. That would be like violating some unspoken vow. They were trailing buds, that was all.

     Ja'Nil dug into her muddy pack and pulled out her one change of clothes. Considering the outside of her pack, the clothes were surprisingly dry. She dressed quickly, then proceeded to wash her Funnel drenched clothes.

     When Ee'Rick got out of the water, she kept her eyes averted. Side by side, they washed their clothes and hung them on nearby bushes to dry.

     Ja'Nil's short hair had dried into a curly mop. Ee'Rick's hair, longer than hers, thick and dark blond with glorious platinum streaks caused by the sun, was still damp. From the corner of her eye, she watched as he upbraided it and tried to get a wide toothed comb through it.

     “To the Seven Hells,” he muttered.               

     “You’re not supposed to swear.”

       He looked at her for a long moment, and then smiled a surprisingly sweet smile, not his usual teasing grin. “I apologize,” he said. “I did not mean to offend you. I'm annoyed because these have broken.” He held up the string of beads that had been woven into his braids. “My brother says I care too much about how I look and not enough about--,” he broke off.

     But Ja'Nil didn't notice. “They look jadµ to me,” she said.

     “Oh, the beads are fine. It's the string that's broken. It’s too short to use.”

     The beads were multicolored, interspersed with little round bits of gold.

     “They're no good to me,” Ee'Rick said. “Do you want them?”

     She put her hand out and he lowered the broken string into her outstretched hand. “Maybe you could make a bracelet with them but you're going to need something stronger than this string,” he said.

     Ja'Nil stared at the lovely beads. He was right; the string was too worn and fragile to trust. She needed something stronger. Something strong, but flexible and very thin. Her eyes fell on the ruined ring of Lady Fayre. Clearly visible was a very thin scarlet wire that the pach½ had been shaped around.

     While Ee'Rick finished washing his muddy clothes, Ja'Nil carefully extracted the wire from the crumbly ring (saving as much of it as she could) and strung the beautiful beads along the wire. Up close, she could see that each bead, although of similar size, had an individual shape. The combination of the different colors and the different shapes made it sparkle and glow. Only the golden ones were all of the same round shape.

     “They almost look real,” she said.

     “They are,” he answered carelessly.

     “Real gold?”

     “Real gold, real gems,” he said.

     “You‘re giving them to me?”

     He didn't bother answering. She stared at him in amazement. He was not only brave and strong and beautiful to look at, but also rich! For some reason that knowledge depressed her.

     “Jadµ,” he said briskly. “Ready to go are you?”

     Ja'Nil quickly fashioned the wired string of beads around her narrow wrist (it went around twice) and got to her feet. She grabbed up her still damp, but at least clean pack, stuffed the crumbled remains of the ring into her pocket, and nodded to him.

     “Off we are, then.”

     “You're not limping anymore,” she said.

     “The hot pool has medicinal qualities.”

     “It does?” Maybe that’s why she felt so good. No aches and pains from her Funnel Storm bruises. She looked back over her shoulder at the sparkling steamy pool. Whoever owned it was not only powerful but philanthropic as well.

CHAPTER 20

     The Royal Palace in Cordia was huge, and right now, very crowded. The death of Queen Ten'Aj had brought nobles and commoners, statesmen and regional governors, the curious, the worried and the ambitious from every corner of the Queendom. And most of them believed or hoped they were important enough to be granted room in the Palace itself. The head steward was quietly going mad trying to discern who really mattered and who could be ignored.

     The crowds did not concern Lord Raptor. He had his own permanent and very luxurious apartment in the Palace. The idea that he might share those rooms was out of the question. When the head steward approached him with that idea, Lord Raptor hadn't bothered answering. He had just turned his back on the red-faced idiot. The steward had hastily bowed himself out of Lord Raptor's presence and out of the coveted rooms. This was just as well because, in the end, Lord Raptor found he did have to share. His wife, A’Ta, was announced and ushered in with great ceremony. Naturally, he was delighted.

     A’Ta was not beautiful. Like her husband, she was of the Cloud People. She had the typical long slender neck but her skin was an unfortunate blotchy green and her dark green eyebrows tended towards bushiness, which she controlled with ruthless plucking. Her thick white hair was worn in an elaborate style and she dressed in the height of fashion whether or not the fashion suited her rather thick body. She did have beautiful posture and, even though not very tall, managed to look down her nose at just about everyone.

     Only around Queen Ten’Aj had she walked carefully, but now, finally, that problem was taken care of.

     “My Dear,” said Lord Raptor, bowing slightly, and giving her a very light kiss on the check.        

     “I knew you would want me here,” his wife said, as he helped her off with her cloak.

     “When have I ever not wanted you?”

     She studied him carefully. There was always this feeling of distance with him. Then she smiled; it didn’t matter anymore.

      “This is our time,” she said.  “With my family’s connections you will automatically be appointed Regent.”

     Lord Raptor stiffened. His wife was fond of reminding him of how powerful her family was. Well, of course they were, why else did she think he had married her? He just didn’t like being reminded of it so often. He wandered over to the window, idly following the flight of a green-tailed hawk.

     “It won’t be a lengthy Regency,” he pointed out. “Princess Lil’Li is almost of age.”          

     “Then we must marry her off to my nephew as soon as possible.”

     Although that had been the original plan, Lord Raptor scowled. He had taken a tremendous risk in disposing of the Queen. If Princess Lil’Li married that weak-willed idiot nephew of his wife, her family would have a major influence over the young couple. Lord Raptor wasn’t at all sure he wanted to share what he had worked for and planned for so long.

     He studied his wife as she examined the room, running her fingers over the furniture in distaste. “Don’t they ever clean?” she asked.

     “When I let the servants in,” he answered. “As you know, I like my privacy.”

     She smiled her sly smile and crossed the room to stand before him. “
We
like our privacy,” she corrected in a throaty whisper. She slid her arms around him, stood on tip-toes, and kissed him lightly on the mouth. Her breath smelled of peppermint, which clashed with her flowery perfume, underneath it all was the slight smell of dried sweat. Another man might have found it unpleasant, but Lord Raptor did not. Overall, he had found married life with A’Ta quite satisfying. Pity.

     “We make such a wonderful team,” she said. Her hands stroked his chest.

     He smiled down at her. “I believe you would do anything for me,” he said.

     Her expression became very fierce. “For us,” she said. “We will be the salvation of Cancordia.” Then she smiled more softly and nestled her body against his. “My beloved husband,” she purred. “can you convince Princess Lil’Li to marry where you will?”

     He laughed. “Always to the point, my darling wife.” He turned her gently so that her back was flush with his front. They were facing a large mirror. Both watched themselves in the mirror. Lady Raptor’s eyelids were heavy with desire; she licked her lips and rubbed herself against her husband. He could feel his body responding. Should he act immediately or indulge himself, indulge both of them, first? His hands were on her breasts. He lowered his head and kissed his wife’s soft neck. “She will marry as I direct,” he assured her.

     “You will be resolute?” she asked.

     He hesitated.

     “You must be resolute,” she said.

     “Aye,” he said.

     She smiled at his reflection in the mirror. She was still smiling as his right arm came up across her neck and his left hand clutched her across her forehead. She was still smiling as he jerked her head around and snapped her neck.

     The smile was still intact as he stepped away from her dead body and let it fall to the floor.

     “Aye,” he said in a gentle voice to the corpse at his feet. “As I direct, the Princess will marry me.”

CHAPTER 21

     There was nothing like being clean to lift one’s spirits. The further Ja'Nil and Ee'Rick traveled from the site of the Funnel Storm the more beautiful their surroundings became. They mostly traveled silently. Unlike O’Keeven, Ee'Rick was not a constant talker, nor was he trying to charm her. It didn’t matter if he talked or not. Ja'Nil was just happy. It had been a long time since she was happy, four years to be exact.

     Was it because she was with Ee'Rick? Yes, partially.  After all, it was nice to be traveling with a beautiful companion who incidentally had saved her life and who treated her with respect. But it was not just Ee'Rick. She was happy because she had a mission; several of them, in fact. She was going to get a Healer for her village, she was going to find the children’s father, and she was going to deliver a message to the Queen herself!

     Her buoyancy lasted quite a while, however tiredness finally began to nibble around the edges. She didn’t want to sound weak, but Ee'Rick looked as if he was prepared to travel through the night. Didn’t he ever get tired?

     It was after she had stumbled and almost fallen for the second time that she worked up enough courage to stop.  “Ee'Rick,” she said. He turned and looked at her. “How much further to Cordia?”