Touch of Iron (The Living Blade #1) (39 page)

“Brisin, welcome home.”

Shade paled, then stepped into her embrace.

“Myvar,” he started.
Mother
. Nora recognized the word from their short stay with the matriarch. The rest of the short, intense conversation she didn’t understand. Owen sucked in air next to her.

“Brisin,” he repeated in a whisper and leaned closer to Nora. “It means sapphire. I knew Shade wasn’t his real name.”

“Really?”

Still, sapphire was a nice name…for a girl. Nora’s lips twitched with a smile as Shade sheepishly stepped away from the queen. He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged at Nora as she silently studied his face for a likeness to Suranna’s.
Mother.
Was she really? Would the queen have serviced the empire’s fledgling herself? Hard to imagine, though the brief image of those lips pursed in a soft moan sent a jolt of warmth deep down inside Nora. She clasped a hand to the base of her own throat. It was probably more an honorific title, Nora decided.

Suranna caressed Garreth’s cheek in passing and then came to a halt before Diaz. She lifted her eyes, batting long lashes at him, lips slightly parted. The air felt charged, dense with unreleased energy, like a summer thunderstorm, clouds amassing in the humid heat before the first lightning struck and the rain finally fell. Nora gritted her teeth and fought down a flurry of emotions, watching who of the two would make the first move toward the other.

Diaz turned his head away.

The rain fell.

But the burning of summer’s heat lingered in Nora’s chest.

Suranna’s golden eyes ran over Diaz’s body with approval, and she stepped closer.

“Telen.” Her voice was soft and she raised her hand to touch his face. “It has been far too long.”

He leaned back, away from her fingertips.

“So cold?” She reached out with a hint of a smile playing around her full lips and ran her fingers down his throat and let them rest over his heart. Nora saw his hands curl into fists behind his back.

“Don’t stand so close.” Diaz’s voice shook.

He glanced at Suranna as she laughed, pressing herself against him. One hand rose and ran through his hair.

“But I want to,” she whispered, her lips brushing against the corner of his mouth.

Nora watched with a pounding heart as Suranna ran the tip of her tongue up Diaz’s throat before sinking her teeth into the soft flesh of his earlobe. The tip of her nose touched the tiny blood-red rip Nora had caused. He sucked in air audibly and shifted his weight as Suranna squeezed him in a tight embrace, his hands still folded against his back.

“We came for information.” Diaz sounded breathless. “Information on the whereabouts of the Living Blade.”

“I know exactly what you came for, my love.” Suranna chuckled. “I wouldn’t be much of a seeress if I didn’t.”

Her golden eyes met Nora’s, and Nora recoiled as though Suranna had landed a physical blow. A sense of heat washed over Nora’s body as Suranna focused on her. Intense heat. When a charcoal clamp broke and Owen and Nora were frantically shoveling earth to close the leak again, the hot air wavered underneath them, making them want to shield their faces from it. Such was the power of Suranna’s gaze. Nora wanted to raise her arm before her eyes to hide from the queen’s piercing stare. Her mouth was dry, and her throat clicked when she swallowed.

“Twins.” Suranna nestled her chin on Diaz’s shoulder, as though it had always belonged there, still staring at Nora with her falcon eyes. “Dedicated to Tuil and Lara, the Divine Twins of life and death. I have seen you in vision. Give me your name, girl.”

Nora’s feet shuffled, but she squared her shoulders.

“I’m Noraya Smith. My brother, Owen.”

“Owen.” The queen tasted his name, then bedazzled Owen with a smile. “I can see my girls will like you.”

“Er…thank you, milady.” Owen bowed low and Nora saw his ears burn red.

“You, Noraya, come.” Lady Suranna motioned with a flick of her wrist.

Nora stepped up despite herself. So close to Suranna, she could smell the sweet perfume that lingered on the woman’s silky black hair, on her honey skin. The queen reached over Diaz’s shoulder and touched Nora, holding her chin to make her look up into those black-rimmed eyes. A tingle remained where her fingertips rested.

“Tell me, Noraya Smith, why should I let you stay and see the secrets of Shinar?”

“Your secrets do not interest me.”

The queen’s smile broadened. Not letting go of Diaz, she grasped Nora tighter by the chin, pulling her toward her perfect face.

“Then maybe we shall have to find something else that interests you.”

She was close. Her lips so close. The goddess. Nora opened her mouth to say something in response, but nothing came. Instead, a rosemary scent overlaid with sweetness filled her nostrils. Nora closed her eyes for a moment against the reeling sensation, but then the queen’s lips brushed lightly over her own, and without thinking Nora stepped closer, squashing against Diaz’s back to let the queen in, a jolt like a tongue of flame running deep down as their lips met. It was a very thorough kiss, leaving Nora’s knees buckling. The only things holding her upright were the scorching hands on her skin and the mouth that dripped with the sweetness of pears. The queen pulled away first, licking her lips as though savoring Nora. Dazed and confused, Nora stepped away.

“You will be my guest. All of you will be my guests,” the queen said, her warm breath tickling Nora’s skin. “You may leave. Rooms are waiting for you. Rest. Your journey was long, and yet you still have far to go to find the Living Blade. And you will find it, my lord prince, for I will help you.”

Queen Suranna turned to speak to Bashan, and Nora withered from the heat, heart beating like the wings of a caged bird. Owen touched her elbow and she stood straight, shoving a strand of hair back behind her ear. Nora looked to the golden woman again, her lips still prickling from their kiss. She had felt the energy, the power Suranna had held back but could release like a wildfire, devastating the barricades of the soul and laying waste to any thought other than being one with her. Her knees were still trembling.

Suranna clapped her hands twice, and from beyond the blackness a few shining beauties stepped forward with eager faces to escort the gentlemen to their rooms. A young blonde woman as naked as her queen stepped up to Nora and took her elbow with a wink.

“Er…” Nora raised her hand and strained to pull her arm away without touching the girl’s nipples.

“Come on,” said the blonde girl, cradling Nora’s arm against her soft breasts. “I’m fun, I promise.”

“Not her.” A sharp command from Suranna stopped the girl, and she let go of Nora’s arm immediately. “I want her for myself.”

The girl bowed her head and clasped Owen’s arm instead with a question in her eyes. Suranna nodded and Owen, sporting two girls, beamed at Nora, then looked a bit overwhelmed.

Suranna’s eyes flashed. She reached out to caress Nora’s cheek, but like a serpent striking, Diaz caught her hand and held her wrist hard. Nora saw a triumphant smile flicker over Suranna’s beautiful face as she gazed defiantly into Diaz’s eyes.

“Touch her one more time…” Diaz spoke quietly with a threat in his raspy voice.

Suranna laughed and stroked a finger across his cheek.

“Jealous?”

“Suspicious.”

“I see she is special.”

“Special?” Nora echoed.

“Special?” Bashan spoke the same word in an incredulous tone.

“Yes.” Suranna smiled, pulling her arm out of Diaz’s slackening hand. “Every year many young girls come to this place, Noraya. Hundreds. Some years, even thousands. Some come as supplicants to Shinar Himself; they pray at the Deep Shrine and beg him for visions. Some come seeking refuge from the harshness of a man’s world and wish to stay here, taking up work as cooks, as cleaners, as laundry women. And we take them gladly, because this city always needs helping hands. Others, a handful only, come and pay for services they can’t find elsewhere in the world. Others come looking for…a different line of work. But in the end all are led here by their desires, whatever those may be.”

Suranna stood before Nora once more and smiled, reaching for her hand. Nora gasped at the dry heat.

“You, though,” Suranna said, “you have not come to worship. You have not come to seek refuge or seek satisfaction. You’re here, but you don’t know why you’re here. Yet. That blank slate makes you special. Unique. Stay with me a little while longer and I can show you your purpose.”

“My purpose?”

“No.” Diaz crossed his arms. His face was unreadable.

“It’s all right,” Nora told him, but her eyes never left Suranna’s face. “I’ll be fine.”

“No,” he repeated, shaking his head.

“In Shinar,” Suranna said, her honey-tongued mouth filling out Nora’s vision, “it is always the woman who decides whether she wants to go with the man. Do you want to go with him, Noraya?”

And to her surprise, Nora found she didn’t.

D
iaz marched out of the
throne room without looking back. Owen shrugged at Nora and followed him. As Bashan passed by, he grabbed Nora’s arm and pulled her close.

“I need the Blade, so I need Suranna happy,” he whispered into her ear with a smile on his face. “If you fuck this up, I will make you watch your brother die.”

He pushed Nora away from him and raised his eyebrows at her to make sure she understood. He left with his hand on the bare bottom of a redheaded girl. The doors closed behind them, and Nora was alone with Suranna in the vast black room. Nora shuddered.

Suranna was watching her silently. Then she gave Nora a broad smile.

“What do you think of him?” she asked with a purr.

“Of whom?”

“Your master.”

“Diaz is not my master,” Nora said.

“Quite right,” the queen said smoothly and ran a fingertip across her smiling lips.

She inclined her head and beckoned Nora to follow her back to the dais. She clapped her hands once, and another set of girls stepped out from the shadows, each carrying a golden tray. They stepped close to Suranna, who spread out her arms to let them dress her in a luxurious white linen garment.

“Battle dress,” Suranna said over the servants’ bustle. “Make your vulnerability your armor; then, nothing can hurt you anymore.”

Another servant girl came out with a tray, a golden cup and pitcher balanced on it. Suranna took it and the girl left.

“So, Noraya.” Suranna reclined on the black stone steps of the dais. “Tell me about yourself. You wish to find the Living Blade?”

“No.”

“Yet you are on the path that leads to finding it.”

“Who wouldn’t want to be part of prophecy fulfilling itself?” Nora lifted a shoulder in a shrug.

When Suranna’s eyebrows rose in a perfect arch, she added, “My brother said that.”

“He desires greatness?”

“No.” Nora shook her head. “Not Owen.”

“Ah, but he does and you know it.” Suranna poured from the pitcher and held the cup out to Nora. “Thirsty?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Nora’s mouth felt parched. She took the golden cup and looked inside. The fluid was clear like water, but the scent was fruity and sweet.

“Drink,” Suranna said with a smile.

Nora hesitated.

The queen rose. She took the cup from Nora’s hand, brushing her fingers against Nora’s with a shock of heat. She took a sip, then licked her lips.

“It’s not poison,” she said, smiling.

Nora took a sip. It was a kind of wine. The first taste was a tooth-paining sweetness, but after she swallowed, a hint of fig lingered in her mouth. Another sip and she grimaced. It was very much like mead, she thought. First sweet, then you tasted the sharp alcohol.

“Do you believe in fate, Noraya?”

Nora’s tongue felt heavy already. This stuff was potent. She wished for water instead.

“No.”

“Do you believe you will become a mighty woman warrior like Scyld or Master Siha, wielders of the Blade? Shapers of destiny?”

“Er…no, not really.” Nora laughed breathlessly.

Gods, what was this? There was a faint tingling in Nora’s fingers and her tongue felt numb. Suranna showed no sign of intoxication. She was walking up the stone steps of the dais with no problem. Nora followed tentatively and wiped the sweat from her forehead while the queen wasn’t looking. She swallowed another sip of fig wine, but her thirst seemed to grow.

“Why not?” Suranna sat on her throne, the veils drawn to the side now. Nora stopped at the foot of the dais.

“I’m just…Nora.” She shrugged.

“What if I told you, you were to play a very important role in this history?”

“Have you seen a vision?” Nora asked, half mocking, half in earnest.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned her head, half expecting to see another servant girl, requesting the cup back. But no one stood there. She frowned. And looked down. Her feet glided with the black floor an elbow’s length away from where she should be standing. She gasped and ripped her head back up quickly. Suranna sat on the throne, still smiling.

“I could cast bones into the fire so you may see a vision yourself,” she said.