The Quest for the Heart Orb (42 page)

“How did you get her to agree to this without admitting you know that the Djinn won’t need the tear in the pyramid to make a new tear?” Zakiel asked.

“This plan is contingent upon the Djinn creating a new tear
before
she unmakes the existing one,” Bredon said.  “Of course we’ll all be surprised when the Djinn make a new tear anyway.”

“Bredon, do you think she can do it?” Kapia asked.

“She said that she can do it, and I know that she did not lie.  So yes, with my help, and Vatra’s, she can do it.” 

“All right,” Karma said.  “Let’s assume that the Djinn make a new tear, and Bredon and Marene are able create a shield before any Djinn manage to come through.  Then what?”  Everyone looked at her blankly.  “What do we do about Marene?”

“Is she really so strong now that she cannot die?” Kapia asked.

“Yes, and no,” Bredon answered, choosing his words carefully.  “Her physical body can be destroyed.  Not easily, but it is possible.  However, as you pointed out yourself,
surna
, if that happens, she might just possess someone else.”

“Perhaps Vatra will find a way around that,” Zakiel said, studying Bredon intently.  “After we deal with the Djinn, of course.”

“Perhaps so,” Bredon said.

“All right,” Karma said, clapping her hands together.  She hadn’t missed the silent interaction between the two men, but she would ask Zakiel about it later.  When they were alone.  “We need to go find Tiari and Ren and begin the search for the keystone.  Before anything else, we have to get that pyramid back on Rathira.”

***

A short time later Karma stood beside Zakiel at the back of the King’s Audience Chamber, watching as Kapia, Tiari, and Ren prepared themselves to look into the three orbs and, hopefully, learn the location of the keystone.  Nikura sat beside Karma, his eyes on the orb maidens while he spoke silently, repeating all that he’d overheard between Marene and Bredon.  Karma channeled just enough energy into the Ti-Ank for Zakiel to be able to hear Nikura as well.  When Nikura was finished, Zakiel’s grip on Karma was so tight that it was painful.  She flexed her fingers and he immediately loosened his grip.

“He certainly understands Marene well
,”
Karma said softly.  “At least, I hope so.”

“Meaning?” Zakiel asked
.

“Don’t get angry, Zakiel, but how do we know that it’s not us he’s manipulating instead of Marene?  He certainly sounded sincere about wanting to switch sides.”

“He did sound sincere,”
Nikura agreed.
  “But his scent told the truth.  We needn’t doubt him.”

“Thank you, Nikura,”
Zakiel said with obvious relief
. 
Karma squeezed his hand gently.

“What do you think, Nikura?” she asked.  “Will she be able to create the shield?”

“I think so,”
Nikura said
.  “This may be our only chance at it, so it’s worth a try.  It was quite clever of Bredon to have maneuvered Marene into doing it.”

“Yes, it was,” Karma agreed.  There was something about the idea of Marene using the power of Rathira for any reason that bothered her more than a little.  She tried to tell herself it didn’t matter so long as she used it to permanently block the Djinn from invading Rathira again, but it didn’t help.  Since she had no better ideas, she kept her concerns to herself.

“I understand why he brought up the subject of marrying Kapia,” Zakiel said a little too casually.  Karma knew this was the reason he’d squeezed her hand so tightly.  “It was a relief to know threat wasn’t against Kapia specifically, but I don’t understand Marene’s concern over ritual.”

“They are connected,”
Nikura said. 
“Perhaps a promise made by one would become binding on the other.”

“If that’s true, then we need only ask Bredon to swear that neither of them would harm any citizen of Rathira,” Zakiel said.  “We’d have no more worries concerning Marene again.”

“Good point, Highness,”
Nikura said.  “
I will give the matter further thought.”

“Thank you, Nikura,” Karma said, then turned to look up at Zakiel.  “You aren’t planning to interfere, are you?”

Zakiel glanced down at her, then back to Kapia with a reluctant sigh.  “No, I will not interfere.  It is their decision to make, and none of my business.”  Karma nodded as she broke the thread of energy connecting her to the Ti-Ank.  “Will you tell me what is troubling you then?”

“I still do not know how I’m to share Vatra’s power with Bredon, or anyone, for that matter,” Zakiel said quietly.  “Father said it would come to me, but so far it hasn’t.  That troubles me.”

“Maybe it will come to you the moment you need to do it,” Karma suggested.

“I hope so,” Zakiel replied.

“You won’t believe this, Zakiel,” Kapia said, standing up with the Moon Orb in her hands.  “The keystone has been right out in the open for centuries.”

“Is it close by?” Zakiel asked.

“Very close,” she replied.  “Just outside Father’s private sitting room, in fact, on the balcony.  But it won’t do us any good until morning.”

“Why not?”

“Because the sun is about to set, and Tiari will need to be able to see,” Kapia said.

“Can’t you use the Sun Orb to see by?” Karma asked Tiari who joined them with Tomas, Ren, and Marl.

“I don’t think its range is large enough,” Tiari said, frowning.  “If there is need for us to do it tonight, we can try, of course.  It’ll be dangerous though.”

“No,” Kapia said, shaking her head.  “The orbs showed us the tasks we must perform in the light of the sun.  I don’t think we should change anything we were shown for any reason.”

“Of course not,” Karma said.  “It’s just as well since we’re all exhausted anyway.  A few hours of sleep won’t hurt any of us.”

“Yes, Karma, you’re right,” Zakiel agreed.  “We will all meet in the King’s sitting room at sunrise.”

***

Kapia tossed and turned in the big, soft bed she’d slept in for years and, yet, she could not get comfortable.  Nor could she silence her own mind.  After what felt like hours, she tossed back the covers in defeat, got up, and pulled on a robe.  She crossed the room in the faint light of the fire still burning in the fireplace, and flung open the doors that led out to her private balcony, sighing softly at the bright light of the moon.  She stepped out, breathing deeply of clean night air.  If she hadn’t just spent a month traipsing through the mountains in snow and rain, the light breeze that blew across her face would have felt cold to her.  As it was, it felt refreshing.

She leaned on the railing and looked up at the stars, distracting herself by trying to find the constellations she’d learned as a child.  It was better than dwelling on Bredon.  Where he was.  What he was doing.  What tomorrow would bring, and what would happen after he connected with Marene.

A quiet sound reached her ears and she stiffened, her every sense suddenly alert.  She moved across the balcony on silent feet and peeked through the open doors to see the outline of a man moving toward her bed.  The balcony held no weapons, and she was far too high to jump to the ground.  She was going to have to confront him, whoever it was.  She watched as the man stopped at the side of her bed, then turned around, but after the bright moonlight, she still saw just a shadow. 

“Kapia?”

“I’m here, Bredon,” she said, the tension leaving her in a rush.  She stepped inside and watched as he walked toward her.  When he was only a few steps away from her, he stopped and stared.  Kapia frowned.

“Oh,” he said softly.  Kapia glanced down, realizing at once that the moonlight behind her rendered her thin silk night clothes nearly transparent.

She blushed but made no move to cover herself as she looked back up at Bredon’s shadowed face.  A heartbeat later he covered the remaining distance between them with two quick steps, wrapped his arms around her and took her mouth in a hot, demanding kiss that set her heart pounding. 

His tongue plunged into her mouth, stroking her tongue, withdrawing, plunging in again.  She followed his lead, plunging her tongue into his mouth when he withdrew, drawing a deep, rumbling moan from his chest.  They broke away, gasping for air.  “I want you, Kapia,” he said hoarsely.  “Now.  Tonight.”

“Marene?” she asked, unable to form a more coherent sentence.

“It’s the ritual of marriage that concerns her,” Bredon said.  “Nothing else.”

Kapia nearly asked why, but stopped herself just in time.  This might well be her only chance to have Bredon but, if she asked questions, or hesitated, the opportunity would slip away and she would regret it for the remainder of her life. 

“Yes, Bredon,” she whispered, “I want you, too.”

Bredon swept her up into his arms and carried her to the bed.  He paused, looking into her eyes for a long moment before setting her down.  “You’re sure, Kapia?” he asked.  “Be sure,
surna
, because there’s no going back after this.  This is surely the most selfish thing I’ve ever done in my life, and I know that.  You need to know it, too.”

Kapia’s eyes gleamed at him as she rose slowly to her knees with an artless sensuality that set fire to his blood.  She flung her long silky hair back over her shoulder, baring her throat to him as she shrugged her shoulders, letting the robe slide down her arms to land in a puddle on the bed.  She lowered her chin slowly, sliding her hands down her body to the hem of her nightgown.  Then she reversed their direction, moving even slower now as she raised her hands from her knees to her thighs, the hem of her nightgown caught between her fingers as she revealed herself to him ever so slowly.  Bredon could not have pulled his gaze from her hands if an entire troop of Landorian Germits had burst into the room wielding fire-swords.  He barely breathed as her hands slid up another inch, then another, revealing her triangle of dark curls bit by excruciating bit until it was bare to his eyes, causing his breath to escape his lungs in a whoosh.  But she didn’t stop there.  She raised the nightgown further, baring her hips, then her stomach, so taut and flat, then her ribs.  He groaned at his first glimpse of her white, creamy breasts, and abruptly could stand no more.  He reached out and grasped her nightgown in both hands, then tore it in half down the front baring her breasts to his gaze.  He lowered his head and took one nipple into his mouth, sucking until it stood stiff and hard, then he moved to the other breast and did the same.

He stepped back to admire his handiwork, then raised his eyes to Kapia’s.  She smiled at him, then the tip of her pink tongue ran slowly over her bottom lip before she bit it gently between her teeth.  With a soft growl he bent to remove his boots, then tore at the laces of his pants.  Seconds later he stood before her, just as naked as she was. 

She’d gotten many glimpses of his body, especially his chest, over the past months, but to see him like this, in all his rippling, muscular glory literally took her breath away.  His arms were bigger than her thighs, his thighs bigger than her waist.  He was so strong, so powerful, and yet she knew he would never be anything but gentle with her. 

They gazed into each other’s eyes and for just this one moment in time, the world stopped.  There was nothing but Bredon and Kapia.  Kapia and Bredon.  There was no Marene.  No Djinn.  No worry about what the sunrise would bring.  No fear.  No anger.  No regret.  It was just the two of them, together, in this moment that belonged to them, alone.  What they made of it was up to them.

 Bredon lowered his head, ever so slowly, and pressed his lips to hers.  In a flash the deepest of their desires and the strongest of their needs caused by withholding from themselves the ultimate pleasure for so long flooded them both.  The tender kiss Bredon intended instantly became a heated exchange that stoked their arousal into a conflagration.

Kapia reached eagerly for his erection, holding him carefully in both hands, moaning into his mouth with the pleasure of touching his hot, throbbing flesh.  Bredon broke the kiss, giving them both a chance to gulp much needed air.  He reached up to roll her nipples with his fingers, the air leaving his lungs completely at Kapia’s passionate response.  He pinched them lightly, then ran his fingers down her ribs, over her flat stomach, and into her tight curls.  He slipped one finger lower still and stroked the stiff nub firmly, the way he knew she liked.  Her hips jerked against his hand and he stroked her again, and again.

Kapia responded by tightening her hands around him and stroking him up and down the way he’d taught her.  His head fell back as the pleasure of her touch raced through him.  Then he stiffened and shook his head.  As much as he loved the feel of her hands on him, tonight he wanted more.  Tonight he wanted everything.

“Lay down, Kapia,” he said softly.  She opened her eyes and nodded before releasing him.  She laid down, moving back so there was room for him to crawl up onto the bed beside her.  He took a moment to memorize the way she looked, lying there naked, breathlessly waiting for
him
.  Then he lowered his head and drew his tongue slowly up her throat to her mouth, his eyes closing as he savored the moment.  Thoughts of all the things he’d dreamed of doing to Kapia, and all the things he wanted her to do to him, ran through his mind in rapid succession, increasing his excitement.  He told himself to go slowly and be gentle.  In spite of their play these past weeks, she was still innocent, and he was determined that this experience would be filled with pleasure for her, not pain.

“What do you want me to do?” Kapia asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

“Just relax,
surna
,” he whispered.  “I cannot believe how beautiful you are.”  He caressed her breasts, her stomach, her thighs with slow, gentle strokes of his hands.  “You’re so soft.  I love touching you.” 

Kapia reached up to his shoulder, then ran her hand down his chest to his taut stomach, then to his erection which she brushed lightly with her fingertips.  Bredon shuddered. 

“Please,” she whispered. 

“This is your first time, Kapia,” he said, then swallowed hard.  “I don’t want to rush you.”