THE SHADOWLORD (24 page)

Moving closer to the bed, the servant lowered her voice. "Lady Saahira is much hated in the harem, Milady," she said, coming closer still. "There are those who would slit her throat, given the chance."

Aradia frowned. "I wouldn't mind doing it myself. But what has that to do with me being drugged?"

"There are women here who would gladly take the Lady Saahira's place as the Shadowlord's concubine." She lowered her head. "I am among those women, though my position as a lowly slave would never allow me to be considered for such an honor."

"Honor? I thought women hated Lord Jaelan...ah...what is your name?"

"Nefousi, and not all woman hate Lord Jaelan. You who belong to him should know why those of us who admire him feel as we do."

"You
admire
him?" Aradia said, jealousy poking at her chest. "I still don't understand why--"

"When his name is mentioned, Milady, we listen, for the Shadowlord has many enemies in Abbadon."

"So Sir Tarsis came looking for Sulaimon and they discussed Lord Jaelan." As the woman shook her head, Aradia began losing patience. "Then who was discussing him?"

"Lord Aluino and the Harem Master," Nefousi answered. "The warrior was there at Sir Tarsis bidding to have it explained to you why the Shadowlord would not be coming to you for a few days."

"A few days? What do you mean?"

"I will tell you if you will lower your voice!" Nefousi hissed, then backed away, no doubt fearful of Aradia's reaction to being spoken to in that way.

"Get back here and explain yourself, woman!" Aradia commanded, stabbing a finger at the floor in front of her.

Nefousi reluctantly came closer, and when Aradia did not attack her, she whispered, "They punished him for Joining with you and he is will not be able to leave his bed for several days."

Aradia's eyes flared. Her heart began to race. "Punished him how?"

"As they always punish him, Milady. They sent him to the Temple to be lashed."

A jolt went through Aradia and brought back the vivid memories of the day she first saw Jaelan Ben-Ashaman. Her eyes filled with tears. She staggered back to sit on the bed, slumping onto the mattress. She hung her head. "He knew this would happen."

"The good news is, the King refused to annul the Joining, even though Lord Gehenna demanded it."

Aradia lifted her head. She swiped at the tears on her cheeks. "We are still Joined?"

Nefousi nodded. "Lord Jaelan was willing to suffer the lash of the executioner in order to keep you, Milady. But neither he nor Sir Tarsis reckoned on the evil that would accompany it."

"Of what evil do you speak?"

The other servant returned the room. Over her arm hung an outfit similar to the one she wore. She brought it to the bed and handed it to Nefousi.

"This is Daria," Nefousi said. "She is the one who overheard the warrior and the Harem Master. Tell the Lady what was done to the Shadowlord."

Daria glanced at the door, then spoke in a voice so low, Aradia had trouble understanding her and asked the girl to repeat what she'd said.

"They dipped the barbs of the whip in Maiden's Briar and it has made Lord Jaelan very ill."

Aradia knew of the poison. She covered her mouth with a trembling hand. "How ill is he?"

"I heard just now that he is delirious with the sickness." Daria looked at Nefousi. "I also heard Lord Gehenna sent that red-haired viper to Lord Jaelan's chambers with a bowl of the brew to rub into his wounds. Thanks be to the Prophet, Sir Tarsis discovered what she was about and kicked her ass back here before she could do her dirty work."

"Ah," Nefousi drawled. "So
that
is why the whore came rushing back here as though the hounds of the Abyss were nipping at her filthy heels!"

Fear for Jaelan made Aradia shudder. "What are they doing for him?"

"There is nothing they can do," Daria said. "Lady, he has the power to overcome this, but it will take time. There is no need to fear for his life, if that is what you are thinking."

"Aye," Nefousi agreed. "He was bitten by a ghoret and survived the strike."

Aradia had heard of the poisonous viper and knew no mortal man could live if injected with the venom. That Jaelan had, reassured her. Standing, she threw off the sheet and reached for the pantaloons Nefousi extended toward her.

"No one must know of this," Daria warned. "If the Harem Master discovers we told you, we will meet the same fate as the Shadowlord."

"Don't worry about me telling anyone." Aradia stepped into the pantaloons, pleased at their comfort as she tied the drawstring at her waist. She took the tunic. "I must speak to my sister and--"

"Do not tell her!" Nefousi gasped, pulling the tunic from Aradia's grip. "She hates Lord Jaelan more than Saahira!"

"I have no intention of discussing Jaelan with my sister, but I must find out what she intends." Aradia jerked the tunic from Nefousi. "If it is her intent to cause my husband harm, I vow Orithia will remain here the rest of her natural life!"

He was in agony.

His flesh felt as if it were boiling. The poison had spread like wildfire through his body. Though he could not move, he could speak, but his words made no sense to those who tended to him. Spoken in a language none could translate, his rambling, incoherent sentences contained hisses of certain names: Meridia, Gehenna, Jahannum, Saahira.

"Those who have hurt him the most," Tarsis mused.

Sweat glistened on his face and neck. At times, he opened his eyes to stare helplessly across the room, lost in pain and hovering between consciousness and deep sleep. He gave no outward sign he either understood or was aware of those around him. The high fever cracked his lips, and his breath turned raspy.

"His body needs to be cooled," Aluino suggested.

Tarsis shook his head. "But as I said earlier, we dare not rub the venom into his wounds."

"Then take him to the baths and lay him in the water. Would that not wash away some of the poison?"

Tarsis thought a moment, then acted, pushing aside Arcan and gently turning Jaelan onto his back. The moment the delirious warrior's glazed eyes widened, Tarsis knew he had caused unspeakable pain. "I am sorry, son, but this may help you."

Lifting his charge as tenderly as possible, Tarsis carried him from the chambers, Jubil and Arcan behind, Aluino walking in front to clear the way. Kafele brought up the rear. It took time to traverse the stairs to the second floor. Those they passed stepped aside, fear and respect for the warriors giving them ample room.

The baths were full of men laughing and horsing around in the lapping waters. As soon as they saw Tarsis, their joviality stopped. The room became deathly quiet as men climbed out of the pools and wrapped towels around their waists.

"How is he?" one of the older Death Lords asked.

Tarsis recognized the man as a friend and stepped into one of the baths. "Has word reached you of what was done at the Temple?"

"We know of his punishment."

"Do you also know the bastards dipped the barbs of the whip in Maiden's Briar?" Aluino asked.

Grumbles of surprise undulated over the men. A few stepped forward to ask why such a thing had been allowed.

Tarsis lowered Jaelan into the water. "Think you the King knows of it?"

Rashidi Thole, the oldest member of the Tribunal, came to stand by the pool. "The King has been told." He looked at the Shadowlord and shook his head. "This is not the way I ever envisioned becoming Chief Tribunalist."

Tarsis looked up sharply. "What of Abasi Ksathra?"

"Alas," Rashidi said, "he met with an--accident--while shaving this morn."

Since the members of the Tribunal were not allowed to shave their thick beards, Tarsis raised a questioning brow.

"A matter of a blade across the throat, if rumor holds true."

"Couldn't have happened to a more deserving bastard," Aluino replied.

"It doesn't pay to do more harm to the King's man that what is lawfully ordained," Rashidi said.

"No doubt Ksathra took it upon himself to lace the water with Maiden's Briar," Tarsis snorted, "so no other criminals will be investigated."

Rashidi shrugged. "My guess is there will be no further questioning of the matter."

"So Jahannum and his rat-faced sibling Gehenna will bear no censure," Aluino said.

"Do they ever?" Jubil asked.

"Their day will come," Tarsis said between clenched teeth.

For a time, the pain in Jaelan's back intensified as warm water washed over him. Sucking in a tortured breath, he nearly slipped into unconscious until the burning sensation lessened. He had no idea what was happening to him, but the lapping waves tickling his cheek brought sensation to his face for the first time in hours. He managed to lick his dry, bleeding lips.

As full awareness flowed back to his brain, he became attentive to the words being said around him. He listened in a fog, then began to understand the savagery of his punishment. Though the intense burning had dissipated, a brutal pain still lay like a heavy cloak on his back. The motion of the water rocked one particularly deep gash against Tarsis' bony hip, and the pain grew unbearable.

"Hurting me," he croaked, wondering if the old warrior had heard.

"Tell me what to do, son," Tarsis replied.

"Sit..."

Tarsis looked at Aluino. "Let's sit him in the water."

The maneuvering almost cost Jaelan consciousness once more, but as soon as he sat in the chest-high water, the pain again lessened. Tarsis sat beside him and pulled Jaelan's head to his shoulder, smoothing back the long, sweat-soaked hair.

"Is this too much strain on your back, son?" Tarsis inquired.

"No..." He started to ask for water to be poured over his shoulders, but before he could, Aluino and Jubil joined them in the bath, scooping up water and letting it flow down his ravaged flesh.

"Does this help?" Aluino asked.

"Aye."

For more than an hour, men took turns stepping into the pool and pouring water over the wounds. When Jaelan began to shiver, his teeth clicking together, Tarsis held up a hand.

"We need to take you back to bed, Jael. Think you up to it?"

"My b...belly is cramping, T...Tarsis..."

"It will." Tarsis got clumsily to his feet, his old bones creaking like a windmill. He would have scooped Jaelan from the water, but Aluino waved him aside. "Then be gentle with him, warthog!"

"As if I wouldn't!" Aluino grumbled.

Gritting his teeth to the return of the pain, but relieved it felt no worse than it had after any of the lashings he'd endured through the years, Jaelan closed his eyes.

"You prefer that coarse garment to the luxury of silk and suede?" Orithia asked as Aradia joined her in her chambers.

"I prefer my own clothes, but I'm told they were destroyed," Aradia snapped.

"Warrioress clothing is certainly not something the men of Rysalia want to see on their women." Orithia put a finger to her lip, walked around her sister, looking at the muslin tunic and pantaloons. "I must admit, you look comfortable."

"And a lot warmer than wearing transparent silk that leaves nothing to the imagination. Aren't you ashamed of wearing that?"

Orithia smiled nastily. "When you have a body as beautiful as mine, why would you be ashamed?"

"Morals, perhaps?"

"Morals don't always garner a powerful man's notice, Sister, and even when it does, it won't hold his attention for long." She reclined on a lush velvet settee. "Men of authority like their women pliant and rather on the whorish side. Don't you agree?"

"I wouldn't know."

"Oh, I imagine you do," Orithia said, reaching for a bunch of grapes and plucking one from the stem. "Weren't you thought a whore when you were captive in Diabolusia?"

Aradia's jaw clenched, but she refused to take the bait. She sat on an ottoman and regarded her sister. "What is it you hope to accomplish by Joining with the King?"

Orithia smiled as she chewed the grape. "Power. Wealth. Position. Influence. All the things a queen who wields control behind the throne can have."

"You expect to be in command of King Hasani?"

"I do."

Aradia clasped her hands around her knees. "And you think he will allow this?"

"I know he will." Orithia tossed aside the grapes. "He already does whatever I wish. And when we are legally Joined, I'll have the status that will make it possible for me to rule
him
as I see fit."

"You have no desire to leave Rysalia? To be rescued?"

The smile left Orithia's pretty face. "I'm not stupid, Sister. I know how difficult it will be for you and the others to free me at present."

"The others?"

"Phillipa, Euryleia, Okyale. How many more are with you?"

Aradia leaned back, her feet leaving the floor. "Would it shock you to know there are no others? That no one will be coming to your aid when you tire of this game of 'Control the King'? That you'll have to remain here for as long as there's life within you?"

Orithia fanned away the suggestion. "I know better. My mother will see that I'm returned to Amazeen. I'm a princess--my life is valuable."

"Not as valuable as you seem to think, else why has no ransom demand been sent to Amazeen, nor an amount of sovereigns suggested to free you?"

A tick formed in Orithia's cheek. "What are you saying?"

Aradia unclasped her knees and put her feet on the floor. "You're as much a prisoner here as any of the other women. You, though, will be at the beck and call of that detestable, overweight bully of a King. I have no doubt you'll hold his attention longer than most, for you're unlike any woman he's ever known. He'll tire of you eventually and move on to a younger, more beautiful woman with supple thighs and creamy breasts, and you'll be relegated to the confines of this silken prison along with the others."

"That won't happen!"

"I came here to help you escape, but I see the futility of trying. Abbadon is a fortress unlike anything I've ever encountered, and getting out will be a thousand times more difficult than getting in."