Temple of the Traveler: Empress of Dreams (22 page)

“That’s all you want me for?” she said, flashing her ice-blue eyes.

“I would not be opposed to some dance lessons . . . later,” he said, tearing himself away.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t jump in the ice water tonight, because Tashi was already using the Pleasure Dome. Instead, he went back to his own bedroom and thought about the willing woman in a harem robe on the other side of that thin, wooden panel. He held the Eog to his chest and tried to drift off to sleep. But the scent of the carving brought fresh images of Lady Evershade to his dreams.

In the dream, he crawled through the panel over his bed and into the room next door. Lady Evershade looked startled, but he explained, “The palace is rife with secret passages. I can show them to you.” He sat on the bed next to Anna.

She smiled as she circled him. “Then I shall give you your first lesson in the Dance—night visits. You cannot touch the dancer unless she permits you. You should not cry out unless you want the house to wake and your secret visit to end. For the sake of honor, neither of you can discuss what happened in the night; you must pretend it never happened, ever. It is customary, if you are pleased, to send a subtle gift afterward.” He was fixated on her eyes, which glowed in the light of the Compass Star. “Most importantly, the woman’s virtue shall remain covered at all times.
Everything
else is fair game in the competition,” she whispered breathily.

“Like w-what.”

“Anything to entice you to choose that woman. I was Violet’s best student ever, which is how I earned a husband of the highest rank. I only required one visit for him to commit.”

“Can you s-show me?”

“For the sake of the realm,” she purred.

She then showed him a dance with fans made of peacock feathers from her dress. Flashes of skin inspired him as she flitted just out of reach. Part of her wardrobe fell to the floor as she spun. For the finale, the fans slipped slowly down to reveal her in near-naked splendor. Her only covering was silk underpants tied at the sides with butterfly bows. He’d never seen a naked woman before, but hers must have been perfect the way his body responded. The gasp that he made was loud enough to wake him from slumber.

For the first time since his arrival, he started the day completely relaxed. The bird figurine’s eyes had turned sky blue.

Pinetto bunked with the royal guards. The dragon scratch on his neck had been itching for days. When he finally fell asleep, he dreamt of birdsong. He followed the music down to the new lighthouse and the jagged rocks beyond. There were no lights and no patrols out this far. No one ever came to this place of destruction. Serog met him there. “Tell me everything of the palace and the emperor.”

He did so, sparing no detail, even the royal plot to find the dragon.

“He’s a worthy opponent,” she growled. “What do you wish more than anything?”

“To place my hand on Sajika’s tummy bump and feel my child grow inside.”

She had been considering using this man to kill the emperor, but she couldn’t destroy this young wizard who had committed no wrongs. “Something I could do for you?”

“I would like to send my parents a copy of my wedding certificate and appointment as dean of my own school. I want them to be proud of me.”

“Who wouldn’t be, child?”

“And to know they have a grandchild,” he added.

“Do you have each of those things on you?”

“Yes,” he said, reaching into his cape.

“I will perform the service in exchange for you delivering a letter for me. Fair?”

“Yes.”

“Take out your quill and parchment. Write down what I say, verbatim, and deliver it to the purity council.”

He transcribed a formal set of charges against Anna of Tamarind.

“Sign it Abbot Small Voice. After you deliver this letter without anyone seeing you, I want you to forget that you reported to me. Return to your bed and dream of being reunited with your family.”

Pinetto awoke in his bunk on the
Mallard
, with no clue how he arrived there.

****

The palace chamberlain woke Lady Evershade first. “Do you have any special requests, madam?”

Her pleasant dreams left her reluctant to rise from bed. “Regarding?”

“Breakfast and the management of the household. The Lady Anna normally handles such things while his highness exercises in the garden. With so many guests, the kitchen staff doesn’t know where to begin.”

She vaguely recalled Nightglow discussing this daily exhibition. “Prepare thick porridge topped with honey for his highness and Lady Anna. I will feed it to her myself. As for the dancers, take me to the kitchen.”

Once there, the chamberlain told the assembled staff, “In the temporary absence of Lady Anna, his majesty’s good friend Lady Evershade shall be lady of the manor. Obey her as you would Anna.”

When he departed, the staff bowed deeply. She found that she rather enjoyed this newfound respect. Anna might need to be kept unconscious longer than anticipated. Lady Evershade said, “I seem to recall the potatoes being popular last night. Are there any left?”

“Yes, madam, buckets,” said the cook.

“Prepare them as pancakes with a side of whatever meats you have left ground and disguised as sausage. Waste not, want not. Throw in a few of those leftover oranges in a basket for color. Arrange them in a sun pattern; that seems to be his majesty’s symbol.”

“Blood oranges or traditional?”

“Give me one of each and I’ll ask for further instructions myself.”

“
Very
good ma’am,” the cook said. “Page, guide her ladyship to the garden. Hop to, you slackers!”

****

When she arrived in the garden in only a harem gown, Pagaose thought he was still dreaming. The oranges she held out were like temptations. He realized his mistake when a staff smacked him in the side of the head.

“Pardon, sire,” said the guard who’d been sparring with him.

Lady Evershade was kneeling by his side in a heartbeat. “Are you well, highness?”

He fixated on the fruit she clutched to her chest as he mumbled, “My fault. How can I assist the lady who has so often come to my aid?”

She held out both fruits. “Do you favor blood orange or traditional? Size or boldness?”

When he failed to produce an answer, the man shouted, “For your breakfast, sire?”

“I’m winded, not deaf,” Pagaose said, rolling to his feet. “Both, if you will, lady. Each has its virtues and adherents. I would give my courtiers choices.”

She smiled and he offered his hand to help her to her feet. He trembled inside at the touch, remembering the dream. “Whatever you will, sire.”

As she returned to the kitchen, the emperor pointedly did not watch her behind sway. Instead, he asked Niftkin, “Isn’t Tashi coming this morning? He never misses a workout. Wait until you men see him. No one can beat him at Stone form. Was he up too late in the Pleasure Dome?”

“They never got there, sire. The witch and he spent all night in the throne room.”

“Bother. Something went wrong,” Pagaose said, running to the room where the Door to Eternity hung from the ceiling.

When he arrived, the emperor entered alone to maintain secrecy about the Door. Tashi was laid out on the floor in obvious pain. Sarajah was white-faced, sitting on the throne. “You succeeded.”

The seeress winced at his volume. “He’d been a troll too long.”

He handed her a waterskin, which she accepted greedily. After several gulps, she continued, “He kept healing back to troll form. I had to almost cut the armor off and then transform each limb and block the Door light. It took forever. I tried to absorb most of the pain myself.”

“Let me guess: you’ve exhausted all your mana and have a headache, like a thin blade behind the right eye socket?”

“Yes,” she moaned.

“I have a special tea mixed with willow bark and a hammock I use for just such an occasion.”

“A what?”

“One of the secrets of my Pleasure Dome. Take the medicine. Sleep in the hammock. Once you wake and eat broth, take a soak in the hottest pool we have, and have Violet give you a full-body massage. It usually takes me an entire day to recover after I’ve done a transformation.”

“Very hospitable.”

“You are the Ghost Rose. You represent hope. I can do no less”

“Thank you. It’s been a long time since I’ve spent a day in bed. You know, I’d never considered my own royal symbol. That flower might work. That’s the one that looks plain white to everyone else and beautiful to Imperials.”

“For those who have eyes to see, they are dazzled,” he said, and she blushed. “I’ll send a palanquin for you.”

“What about Tashi?”

At the mention of his name, the former troll sniffed the air. “Do I smell sausage? Gods, I’m hungry.”

Tashi limped to breakfast, leaning on his former teacher.

A dazed-looking Pinetto was already sitting at the breakfast table.

Pagaose asked, “Any energy problems while you slept?”

Tashi had a seat and started shoveling the potato pancakes onto his plate. He grabbed some applesauce and tossed some between the layers. Then, he ate it like a sandwich.

“Still eats like a freaking troll,” said Pinetto.

“At least the smell is gone,” said the emperor.

Tashi responded, “Say what you want. I’m the only one here with a woman. Tonight, I am so sleeping in the Pleasure Dome.”

“She’s going to need a day before things stop spinning and she doesn’t feel like throwing up,” explained the emperor.

“Meaning?” Tashi asked, grabbing an orange.

The young wizard translated. “Stag night. She has a headache.”

Tashi tore the orange in half with a grunt.

Pagaose changed the subject. “I’ve deeded you some land in the Scar, underneath the observatory. We’re experimenting with some new brick designs and thought your building might be the perfect chance to try them out.”

“I love experiments.”

“Did you have any sudden bursts of energy last night, being so close to the Door?”

“No. I did lose my copy of the official paperwork from last night.”

“I’ll have my scribe draft another. No problem. What happened?”

“I don’t know. I guess it was all the excitement. I sleepwalked down to the ship and slept in my bunk there.”

“This tells me two things. First, you don’t charge up with difference energy in your sleep. That means at some level, you can control it,” Pagaose said. “Second, you need to learn the Way of Water.”

The chamberlain appeared at the door to the dining chamber. “Sire, is it safe for the ladies to enter?”

He nodded. There was a pause as his selected dancing partners filtered in, smiling.

“Tashi started teaching me some of your techniques,” said Pinetto.

The emperor said, “Hah! It took him a year to learn to fall right.”

The ex-troll boasted around bites of food, “It took a year before someone was able to throw me.”

“I had to adapt my techniques to a stubborn pupil,” the emperor insisted.

“You’ll teach me?” Pinetto asked.

“I don’t have time and neither do you. Go see Frond at the beach and ask him to show you the Way of Water.”

“Who’s that?” asked the young wizard.

“He’s awesome,” said Ember. “He’ll teach you things about the water in one day that will change your world.”

Tashi stared at her tattoos. “I’ll go, too. I’m his bodyguard.”

“Leave the sword here, though,” she advised.

The ex-troll looked to his side to see the new scabbard they’d chosen for the Defender. “Sorry, I don’t remember bringing it with me. I’ll take it back to the armory and bring back the
Book of Dawn
for you to read over.”

Pinetto leaned to whisper in Pagaose’s ear. “The Imperial girl hasn’t taken her eyes off your head guard since she arrived, even while she’s drinking her tea.”

The emperor put a finger to his lips. “I encouraged it.”

“Does he know?”

“Nobody does, and I don’t want to spoil it before it develops. I think the girl should tell him first.” Raising his voice, he said to both men, “Pick your crew this morning and plan your expedition while I find a dragon’s lair. We’ll pay for this expedition to Archanos using grant monies for expanded mapping of the south. I leave you in the capable hands of my dancers-in-waiting while I go to check on their final member, the Lady Anna.”

When Pagaose knocked on the bedroom door to see Anna, Lady Evershade said, “She just ate and fell back to sleep. She’s still very distraught. I can let you see her for a short time, sire, while I take the bowl back to the kitchen.”

After holding Anna’s hand for some time and talking to her unconscious form, he noticed a splash of blue sticking out the crack of the twin doors of the closet. Curious, he opened it to find Lady Evershade’s peacock dress. The covering for the breasts detached into fans. Heart pounding, he tugged one toward him and inhaled. He closed his eyes and reveled in the strange mix of humors her scent released in his new body. The echoes of lust locked in this dress were nearly overpowering. He could envision the entire dream over again. One of the feathers came off in his clumsy clutch. He hid it in his pouch, next to the bird statue, and closed the doors, leaving before the lady returned.

****

Seeing Pagaose with his face buried between the breasts of her dress sent a shiver of remembered pleasure through Lady Evershade. However, she stepped silently back into the hall before he could see her. Thoughts of her recent dream sent new thrills through her, stirring areas she’d thought buried with her husband.

“I need suitable clothing,” she muttered to herself.

The chamberlain, overhearing, said, “Shall I send your daughter, or do you wish to ride a palanquin to your home?” He subtly avoided mention of her current bedroom attire.

“My daughter is at the emperor’s disposal. What one gives to the emperor, one can never take back.”

“Very good, madam.”

****

From home, Lady Evershade gathered everything necessary for an extended stay at the palace, including stronger narcotics. On her way back, she stopped to visit Lord Pangborn.