then she cleared her throat and
deepened her tone as she answered.
“Aye, priestess?”
***
with the squire. She’d obviously sent
him on an errand, for she seemed to
be asking after something. He looked
over the squire once more, unsure of
what it was about the young man that
struck a nerve with him. He couldn’t
be more than sixteen, although tall for
his age, and he could surely use a
good scrubbing with all that dirt caked
onto his face.
“My lord, was there something that
you wanted from Jamie?” Ishat
suddenly turned to address him and
Varian stared at Jamie long and hard
for a few moments before dismissing
him altogether.
He bowed his head slightly as a
slight smile touched his lips. “No,
Priestess. Good day to you.”
Ishat beamed at him, a radiant smile
from a beautiful woman. “And you,
Prince Varian.”
***
Ishat and Jamie made their way over
to the Castle Temple. As soon as they
stepped in, Jaisyn surveyed the
temple. No one was there, save them.
“Thank you, Ishat,” Jaisyn told the
High Priestess immediately, knowing
that Ishat had gone against some of
her teachings to help her from her
predicament.
“You must stop this, my child,”
Ishat began as they walked to the
altar. “I know that you practice by the
lake with Malcolm and I know that
your husband will not find it amusing
should he find out.”
“My husband finds nothing amusing,
Ishat,” Jaisyn countered, although she
understood what the priestess meant.
When they arrived at the altar, Ishat
turned to face Jaisyn, a small smile on
her face. “Jaisyn, you have always
been the strongest of your sisters, the
most level-headed. What do you think
your husband would do if he finds out
that you have been spending time,
alone, with a Lytherian soldier?”
Jaisyn sighed. “How else am I to
practice my sword arm, Ishat?”
“Perhaps fighting is behind you
now, my queen,” Ishat told her
seriously and Jaisyn turned to her with
a hard glare. Was that a premonition
or an opinion? She hoped it was the
former. “Perhaps it is time to settle
yourself, to release old wounds, to
love your husband, to become mother
to a future generation—”
Jaisyn laughed harshly. “Ishat, I
hold no love for my husband, as you
well know. I only married him to
protect Mathilda from a miserable
life.”
Ishat pinned Jaisyn with a serious
stare and nodded. Turning away from
Jaisyn, she looked to the statue of
Lyria that sat beside the altar. “I have
prayed to Lyria numerous times,
Jaisyn. You are most compatible with
the king of Morden. Lyria approved
strongly of your marriage.”
Unsure what that was supposed to
mean, Jaisyn replied bitterly, “And yet
you betrothed my younger sister to
him.”
Ishat’s eyes left the statue to meet
Jaisyn’s. “Yes, we did. We had little
choice in the matter. If Wilhelm and I
had betrothed you to Vulcan, you
would have fled or found a way out of
it. The only thing that we could do to
ensure the marriage was to betroth
Mathilda and hope that you acted
according to character and took her
place.”
Jaisyn’s initial shock at those words
gave way to hot anger. Of course.
That made perfect sense. Her father
had no intention of marrying Mathilda
to Vulcan; he wanted her to marry
Vulcan. She would have cursed if she
weren’t standing in a holy Temple.
“What if I had not taken Matty’s
place?” Jaisyn asked very quietly,
clasping her hands together to keep
the violent trembling at bay. She was
too upset to speak above a harsh
whisper.
Ishat turned back to the altar. “We
trusted that you would and you did.”
“You will excuse me, Priestess. I
suddenly find the urge to be far from
your presence,” Jaisyn hissed and
spun around to leave Ishat to her
prayers.
“Jaisyn,” Ishat’s voice called out to
her as she was approaching the
double doors. “Everything that was
done was done to make sure that the
people of Lytheria would continue to
prosper.”
Jaisyn continued toward the doors.
She did not care for excuses. She’d
married Vulcan, thinking it had been
for the sake of her sister, when in
actuality, her father and her priestess
had planned it so. She felt betrayed;
worse, with Malcolm prepared to
leave Lytheria, she felt alone.
***
Varian had been searching for
Jaisyn when he’d come across a
pretty serving wench who’d beckoned
him close. In less than five minutes,
the serving wench—he forgot her
name—had been under him as she
screamed out the names of different
goddesses and he drove himself, and
her, to completion. Spent, and
invigorated,
Varian
had
righted
himself, and decided to go in search of
the queen once more. He’d recently
noticed
that
Jaisyn
usually
disappeared for about an hour during
the days. He hadn’t told Vulcan as
yet, because his brother would no
doubt try to scare it out of his wife,
and Varian had a feeling that that
would not work. On a lesser woman,
it would, but not on Jaisyn of
Lytheria. He was still rearranging his
breeches when he stepped from the
room, one of the many empty
bedrooms in the castle, and came face
to face with Isolde.
She was alone. An alluring smile
touched his lips and he easily pulled
the breeches together, smiling as a
blush stained her cheeks and her lips
tightened. He leaned languidly against
the wall.
“Well, Princess Isolde, from where
do you hail?” he asked slowly. His
eyes took in every inch of her face,
especially her soft pink lips. When he
was through with that, he surveyed
her neck, long and graceful, before
dropping his gaze to the dress she
wore. It was a demure piece: an off-
white day dress with intricate patterns
of red and green highlighting it. The
neckline was high—as usual—and it
flowed all the way to her ankles,
barely exposing the soft boots on her
tiny feet.
“I was unaware that I was to report
to you, Prince Varian,” Isolde replied
haughtily, glaring down her nose at
him.
Varian pushed off of the wall and
approached her. A look of fear passed
over her features before she narrowed
her eyes and tilted her face to the
side, as one does when a petulant
child is being irate.
He stopped inches away from her.
“Well, now you are aware, Princess.
Where have you been?”
***
His question was asked calmly,
without a hint of malice, and although
the smile remained, Isolde knew he
was serious. Very serious. Over the
past days, she’d learned to read him.
Unlike his brother, Varian always
appeared relaxed, but for all their
ruthlessness, they were the same. The
only difference was that with Varian,
you never saw it coming.
“Not that it is any concern of yours,
Prince Varian, but I took a walk
through the city.”
“Alone?” Varian asked softly.
“No.” Isolde’s eyes flashed fire as
she continued, “I was accompanied
by my sister, my ladies and our
guards, of course.”
“Of
course,”
Varian
nodded.
“Which sister?”
“My sister, Princess Mathilda.”
“And did you enjoy your walk?”
“I enjoyed the entire day, that is,”
she paused for effect, “up until now.”
“Of course you did,” he agreed and
stepped away from her. “I won’t keep
you any longer, Princess. I have no
wish to make your day even worse.”
With that, he walked around her and
headed for the staircase. Isolde shook
her head after him. She disliked
Vulcan Mor’an, but she was certain
that what she felt for his brother was
closer to hate than anything else.
***
“Where were you?”
Jaisyn had barely made it into her
chambers when Vulcan approached
her. He was in the solar, naked from
the waist up. She guessed he’d taken
a bath and from the smoothness of his
face, had been shaved as well.
Trying to think up a really good lie
that was somehow steeped in truth,
Jaisyn said, “I’ve been with Ishat.”
Vulcan came to a halt directly in
front of her, his eyes searching hers.
“In the Temple?”
Deciding
that
he
would
not
appreciate it he she told him that
she’d stepped foot off of the castle
grounds, she nodded and stepped
around him.
He followed her and Jaisyn felt the
heat of his body brush up against hers
as she came to a halt in the adjoining
room. She’d already asked Magda to
see to her bath so she’d been intent on
sitting on the soft cushions by the
window and waiting for the water to
be brought.
Vulcan’s arms circled her waist and
pulled her body against his. The
achingly hard part of his anatomy
pressed into her back and Jaisyn
gasped. Her hands reached down to
his, where they were clasped over her
belly, and she tried to pry them away.
She couldn’t do this. Not now. She
was sweaty and tired and not in the
best of moods.
Vulcan managed to nuzzle her hair
and neck before she escaped his
clutches and moved past the tub, over
to the window.
“What is the matter, wife?” Vulcan
asked, his voice slightly edgy. “Will
you deny me what is mine?”
Jaisyn turned to face him and said,
in what she hoped was a rational
voice, “Although I am your wife,
Vulcan of Morden, I am neither your
slave nor serf. I still belong to myself.”
“Is that what you think… wife?”
Vulcan asked menacingly, and Jaisyn
watched, surprisingly unafraid, as he
walked, or rather, stalked, over to her.
His large body blocked her view of
everything as he looked down at her.
“You are mine… to do with as
I see
fit
. And right now, Jaisyn, I see fit to
have you.”
Before she could bat an eye, he
grabbed her hand and placed it up
against the part of him that was
straining to be free of his breeches.
Jaisyn gasped. Vulcan had never put
her hand to him before. She tried to
pull back but his much larger hand
held onto her tightly. She gnashed her
teeth together and bit out, “Release
me at once.”
A rough chuckle escaped him. “You
defy me even when you know of the
pleasures I can give you.”
With that, he released her. Her
triumph was short-lived however,
when he picked her up as if she
weighed no more than a feather and
proceeded into the main chamber.
Jaisyn kicked and screamed and even
cursed at him but he didn’t release her
until they approached the large bed.
When he did, she found herself landed
in the middle of it, a heap of flesh,
cloth, and golden hair.
“You have no sense of decency—”
Jaisyn begun, prepared to give him the
sound tongue lashing that he deserved.
He was suddenly over her, his lips
against her throat. “Witch. You’ve
robbed me of my sense of decency,
among other things. What spell have
you used to bewitch me?”
***
Those words left her speechless for
a few moments as she stared at the
top of his head. That was all Vulcan
needed. He lifted his head and