A King's Revenge: Warlords Series Book 2 (7 page)

The tall bastard’s
fingers twitched and shot a heated look at Tarik before turning toward her. “We
should go to his room to discuss this further, Maliya.”

She shoved both hands through
her short hair. “Don’t call me that! I’m not your Maliya. I’m not her!”

Her voice rose in
volume drawing more stares.

Hensel leaned in his
direction. “Maybe we should just take her, your Highness.”

The deadly look in her
friend’s eyes warned against such action.

Maliya’s cries sent
dagger sharp pains into Tarik’s chest. He never wanted it to come to this. He’d
only wanted to see if through some miracle his wife still lived.

“Lea,” the man
soothed, taking gentle hold of her arms above the elbows. “Calm. Calm. Calm.”

His murmurs seemed to
get through to her as her denials turned to whimpers. Jealousy roared its ugly
head at the clear connection between the two. Tarik parted his lips to remind
them that they needed to get out of the exposed bay when his wife collapsed.

Her body simply
dropped. He jumped forward but she was lifted into large arms that caught her
instantly.

Tarik’s hearts drummed
so hard dizziness assailed him. He reached for Maliya only to pull up short.
Her chest rose and fell. She wasn’t lost to him. “What did you do?”

“She panicked. Her
heart raced in an effort to keep up. It wasn’t good for her so I merely placed
her into a healing sleep.”

Healing sleep?

“Who are you?” Tarik
demanded. More importantly what was he?

“We will speak further
in your room.”

Then he turned his
back on Tarik and headed for the lifts.

***

Lea woke to arguing
voices.

“You need to explain
yourself. Why have you kept Maliya’s existence a secret?”

“You couldn’t protect
her so you didn’t deserve to keep her.”

Silence. She imagined
the rage that would grace Tarik’s features.

At last he spoke. “It
wasn’t your decision to make. I don’t plan to argue the point. She belonged
with her husband. Now tell me how she survived and more important who is the
woman buried in the royal vault with my
wife’s
name and my crest on the door.”

Lea flinched because
Tarik made no effort to hide the ragged pain in his voice. Her mind whirled
with questions. Now that emotions weren’t blinding her she could accept that
she was his wife. It would be easy enough to prove. What she had trouble
comprehending was how she ended in her current situation. Alone. You didn’t
exactly misplace a wife.

“The woman who died in
her place was a servant. One who switched places with Maliya when they realized
their group was about to be ambushed. She favored your wife in coloring.”

Kord’s explanation
solved a few of Lea’s own questions.

“Shara,” Tarik
murmured. “The guards thought her involved because we never found her body. My
wife thought it funny that people mistook the maid for her.”

Lea blinked away the
tears filling her eyes. Another woman had died for her. She couldn’t take any
more. Lea moved to sit up and swung her feet to the side. The first thing she
noticed was the richly appointed decor.

This was not her room.

The suite was easily
three times the size of hers. Both men walked toward her on the lounger when she
moved. Kord stoic though his touch to her shoulder conveyed relief. Tarik made
no attempt to disguise his pleasure but hesitated when he stood before her.

There were two other
men in the room standing by a closed door that must lead to another room. She
recognized them from earlier accompanying Tarik in the hanger. Servants of some
sort she surmised. Because he was King. And she was…Queen.

Lea bent over with a
gasp pushing her head between her legs.

“Maliya!” Warm weight
brushed her thighs as Tarik squeezed onto the narrow lounger beside her.

His arm came around
her shoulder but she flinched and leaned back as far as possible. Tarik’s full
lips turned down but he allowed her the space.

His wife. Staring at
the disheveled brown and gold hair, the blazing purple eyes, she tried to
remember him. Anything.

But her mind remained
blank. Lea pressed her fingers to her temple. What kind of woman didn’t remember
her own husband? How could she have forgotten such an integral part of her life?
Sharp pangs stabbed her eyes.

Her fingers drifted
from her head to her brow. “My visor?”

Kord handed them to
her and Lea put them on immediately. Her pulse settled. She took a deep breath
and exhaled. Her head continued to throb.

“Stop.” Tarik’s
whisper stirred the hair covering her ear.

She must look a mess. Lea
lifted her gaze to his from the security of the tinted glasses.

“You’re trying to
remember.”

Her brow creased. That
was the whole point of this.

He raised his hand and
tucked a wayward curl behind her ear. “I wish you remembered me. Remembered our
life.” He broke off whatever he’d been about to say and pressed his lips
together.

“I don’t remember any
of it,” she admitted.

Tarik sighed. His
hands dropped to his thighs. “I know. Your friend explained your memory loss.”
A short laugh escaped. “And yet I remember everything. The way you smell. The
way you look when you’re happy. The way you look when you’re upset. Like now.”

He rose to his feet
and took several steps away from her.

Lea’s chest expanded.
The hidden pressure loosened with the distance between them.

Tarik’s mouth wilted
at the corners, his eyes meeting hers. He hadn’t missed her reaction. No one
could disguise the devastation in his gaze. “I miss that my being close to you
no longer brings you joy.”

It wasn’t all bad. She
might not remember their former life but she remembered their night. His body
appealed to her physically as evident by her nipples tightening the longer he
watched her with such open tenderness.

Lea directed her
attention to Kord. He’d stayed quiet throughout but if anyone in this room knew
what was going on, her friend would be the one. “I need to know everything, Kord.”

He thought about refusing.
She saw it in his blue eyes. Then he closed his lids and his shoulders dipped.
When he opened them, Lea knew she’d won.

“Your father and I
were friends and he tasked me with watching over you when he and your mother
passed.

“When the Warlord
Thenl took over Kaban, there were several attempts on your life.” Kord glared
at Tarik. “
He
made no effort to
protect you properly though you were recovering from losing one babe after
another.”

Lea’s hand flew to her
flat abdomen. Shock froze her. “Baby. I have-”

“No,” Tarik cut in
reading her mind. “There is no child. You didn’t leave a child behind.”

Tension flittered away
as relief left her short of breath. No babies waited for her thinking they’d
been abandoned by their mother.

But she’d lost a child.
More than one. He didn’t have to say it but the truth lay behind the words he
didn’t
say. Her heart ached for the
children she didn’t recall conceiving. How much worse it must be for the King.
No, Tarik, she corrected. In her mind, he was Tarik. He’d lost not only his
wife but their children.

Kord recited the facts
in a straight forward manner. “Thenl planned an attack in a public market place
while you were out. They outnumbered your guards. Shara convinced you to switch
clothing with her. She took the visor you often wore in public then forced you
to run. Thenl’s warriors mistook her for you and killed her.”

Heart pounding, Lea
leaped to her feet.

‘Screams and shouts.’

 
Sweat formed on her upper lip. The two men in
black and gold stared at her. Heat suffused her cheeks. “I-I” She stumbled. Had
to get air.

‘Run, Your Highness!’

Spots danced in front
of her eyes as Lea shoved at Kord who attempted to catch her arm.

Lea thought only of
escape. Heading across the room to the only other door in the room besides the
exit, she came up short. The guards refused to budge.

Tarik hurried toward
her and ordered his men. “Hensel, Mati stand aside.”

Her breath came in
ragged gasps. As soon as they moved, she slapped her palm on the wall release
and entered the room. This one contained a large neatly made bed.

No. Just no.

Lea immediately turned
on her heels but Tarik closed the door behind them and blocked her exit.

“It’s going to be
alright, Maliya.”

“Not…” Lea stopped. She
hadn’t been called by her full name Maliya since childhood. Kord wouldn’t have
let this farce continue if he didn’t believe she was the Queen.

Lea backed away head
swiveling around. Her vision glazed.

“Maliya, calm down. No
one’s here to hurt you.”

Of course not. He
wanted to take her back with him even if he hadn’t said it yet. Return her to a
world she didn’t remember. A world where someone had tried numerous times to
kill her. Fear danced along her nerves. “D-do you have holo images?”

He didn’t pretend to
misunderstand. “Yes.”

She needed to see them.
Desperately. “Show me.”

Tarik hesitated and
then nodded. He strode pass her and reached for a bag with his things. After a
moment he retrieved what he wanted.

Lea held her breath as
Tarik returned and opened his palm. The small silver disc in his hand looked innocent
enough yet her back crawled with icy shivers.

Controlling the
impulse to run, Lea folded her arms across her middle. She would see this
through. “Show me.” Seeing his lips twist, she added. “Please.”

This couldn’t be any
easier on him. Tarik looked pleased to know his wife lived but he also looked
miserable. Her fault because she didn’t share his enthusiasm but there was
nothing she could do about that for now.

Tarik met her gaze. “I
don’t need a genetic signature to know you’re her.”

Because
he
knew.
Kord
knew. She was his dead Queen come back to life. “I know.”

He sighed. “Activate
image 3655. Maliya, gardens.”

Lea raised a brow at
the specific request. How many images did he have stored on file and carry with
him?

The disc glowed blue
before a six inch holo image of a woman in a white ankle length gown appeared
kneeling in the grass. Her hair was beautiful, falling to the middle of her
back in red gold waves. Cut flowers filled the basket at her side with large
clippers attached to the handle. She smoothed a hand through the blooms
collected then tipped her head up as if enjoying the early day sunlight.

Suddenly she stiffened
and turned to look over her shoulder, smooth brow creasing. She shaded her eyes
with one hand to gaze at something or someone in the distance. Then a large
smile bloomed on her face. Rising to her feet she dropped her hand to her side,
her body fairly vibrating with excitement. Lea’s stomach clenched at the look on
her face. Such pleasure and adoration couldn’t be feigned.

“Hello, husband.” The
woman’s rich tones spoke clearly. Her voice flavored with love.

A man’s arms entered
the holo but the rest of his body was cut off. The hands clasped the woman’s
waist and spun her in a wild circle. Her head leaned back and rich laughter spilled
from her lips.

Laughter that echoed
as the image faded and the disc winked out.

Lea swallowed. Before
the disc had shut down she’d had a clear view of the woman’s face and her eyes.
Familiar eyes in a familiar face. Coldness set in her bones. She swallowed
tightening her arms to hold herself together. “What happened? How did you lose
me?”

“Oh, my heart.” Tarik
took a step in her direction but she choked on a sob and moved back. “Maliya,
if I thought for one moment you weren’t dead, nothing in the universe would
have stopped me from searching for you.”

Lea took a deep breath
and tried to relax. She believed him. He’d given her no reason to doubt.

She thought of the
woman. Her, in the garden scene. The woman in the holo clearly loved him. Lea
couldn’t deal with that yet. “Kord needs to tell me everything. There’s more to
this.”

Tarik frowned grimly.
“Indeed.”

Chapter 13

Tarik cursed under his
breath when she wouldn’t let him soothe her. He battled the impulse to hold her
and never let go. He had Maliya back. It didn’t feel real despite how many
times the phrase danced through his head. Seeing her, talking with her was a
miracle but along with his joy, anger brewed.

Anger that someone hid
her existence from him. Years of mourning and missing her. Years without her by
his side.

The door to his
bedroom opened and Mati stuck his head in. Questions glittered in Mati’s eyes
but his training kept his lips sealed. Tarik guessed he’d be in for a long
night once everyone settled down.

Maliya came over to
his side. Tarik glanced down but her attention stayed focused on the opening
and her friend glaring at Hensel who barred his way from entering.

“Maliya, if you don’t
wish to speak with him right now, you don’t have to.” Tarik made the offer
hoping he’d have five minutes with the hapfe dung. It was all he needed to
drive his fist into the tight face.

“No.” Her shoulders
pulled tight. “I want to hear the rest.”

When they both entered
the room, Kord looked from Maliya to Tarik then back to Maliya.

“You have accepted the
truth?”

Maliya nodded. No
longer pale, the color in her cheeks gradually returned.

“You’re Queen Maliya
Sabarn, wife to King Tarik of the Desani.”

She flinched but
remained steady. Tarik’s admiration for her rose.

“After Shara switched
places with me what happened?”

Kord’s eyes shifted to
Tarik’s men. “For her safety, the few that know details the better.”

Tarik considered
letting them stay. He trusted Mati as he trusted no other and Hensel’s job was
to protect his King. Still, he tipped his head to the side and dismissed them.
Mati’s mouth parted to protest but Tarik shook his head quickly.

After the two men
left, he waved a hand at Kord. “Now tell us how my wife ended up with you and
why you chose to keep her off of Taka.”

Kord’s blue eyes
narrowed but his tone when he spoke was even. “After Thenl’s attack, Maliya
suffered a severe head injury. The guard who escaped with her was grievously
wounded.”

“Roanal.”

Kord inclined his head
and continued. “Roanal realized the assassination attempt would have been successful
because of the accuracy of the attack. The Queen loved to go out and mingle
among the people. This was not a secret and part of her that endeared Desani
citizens to her.”

Maliya’s brows dipped.
By her expression none of it seemed familiar to her.

“But she also
respected your concern for her safety due to the other attacks. Her schedule
varied day to day.” Kord’s mouth twitched. “Sometimes hour by hour.”

Tarik’s own humor
lightened. Maliya had hated the restrictions placed on her due to her royal status.
Together they compromised on her freedom of movement within reason. Her clever
mind devised a schedule that followed no specific routine. He’d once called her
travel erratic but she was well liked by his people and he had a difficult time
telling her no when she rewarded him so prettily in the bedroom for his good
favor.

“We found Roanal’s
body, how could he have helped her?” The guardsman had taken the job of
watching over Maliya with utmost gravity. When Roanal’s slain body had been
reported less than ten kilometers from the castle Tarik had bowed his head and
prayed like never before. He’d spent the day between his office and state room
as word of the attack dribbled in.

Rumors and snippets ran
rampant but no confirmation of who suffered injuries or loss. It was the
hardest hours of his life and Tarik had longed to assist in the search but his
Captain of the guard put the castle under lock down as armed guards paced
within feet of him. When news of Maliya’s death soon followed, Tarik dropped to
his knees with a pained cry in front of the poor man who’d delivered the
confirmation. Without speaking with anyone else, Tarik confined himself to
their room grief stricken.

Mati handled the
arrangements telling Tarik when and where he needed to be. During the death
rites he’d been numb to it all. Blind to the condolences of his people as he
walked through the motions in a daze.

In the end, right
before they sealed the royal crypt, Mati asked if he wanted to view her body
one last time before they put her to rest. Up until then, Tarik had managed to
avoid having anything to do with the process. Finally the moment was upon him,
to gaze upon her face in repose.

But Tarik had shot
Mati a look of anguish and stormed from the crypt leaving the vault and his
wife behind as fast as his legs could carry him. Now he wished he’d taken the
opportunity to look. Perhaps then he would have known that the innocent woman in
the black lacquered cylinder trimmed in gold wasn’t his wife.

It also explained
where Shara had been all these years. He would contact her family personally to
make arrangements for her sacrifice. Because of Shara he had his Queen.

“Where was Maliya?” The
more Tarik listened to Kord the more questions began to rise.

“Roanal managed to get
her to a space port. Dressed in servants clothing, no one paid Maliya any mind
when he brought her in. Roanal used his sash to stop the bleeding on her head
and it covered half her face and eyes. Keeping her presence a secret in a
storage room, he hoped the heavy security of the port would keep her safe until
he could make it back to the castle to notify you and return with more royal
guards as escort.”

Kord glanced at Maliya
before continuing. “I came too late on the scene of Thenl’s battle and tracked you
there. We met as Roanal prepared to leave. He wanted to inform King Tarik of your
survival but must have been ambushed. After an hour when he didn’t return I
took matters into my own hands and chartered a shuttle to Terra V.”

“You had no right,”
Tarik snapped. His hands clenched at his side.

“You had a traitor in
your home! Her father wanted me to keep her safe and I deemed her life with you
unsafe.”

Tarik spun and slammed
his fist into the wall. He gritted his teeth to still the words he wanted to
spew. Maliya jumped and hurried to Kord’s side. Seeing him wrap a comforting
arm around her shoulders drove him insane.

Tarik roared and
pounded the wall twice more.

“Tarik! Tarik stop.”

Maliya’s shout got
through to him.

The hall door opened,
Hensel and Mati with Tarik’s other guards rushed in.

“Get out!” Tarik yelled.

The door shut with a
swish.

Tarik dragged in his
breath with rough inhales. He faced both of them ignoring the way his hearts
fluttered at their united front. She should be standing by his side. “Thenl is
to blame. That doesn’t mean I have a traitor in my home. Maliya was safe with
me.”

“And the three babes
she lost? Do you think those accidents too?”

Kord’s words caught
Tarik off center. He struggled to focus. “W-what?” Maliya never carried for
long. The doctors claimed her female systems not capable of holding a child to
birth. He’d adjusted to the possibility that they might not have children
together.

“Someone poisoned her
each time she conceived.”

Maliya placed a hand
over her mouth. Horror widened her white eyes.

“You lie,” Tarik
charged.

“She’d recently lost a
child before Thenl’s attack. I had the doctor onboard the shuttle run tests and
there were still traces of poison in her system. Poison that would guarantee
she’d lose any child she carried and potentially her life. Do you see now why I
took her King of Desani?”

Tarik ignored the slur
on his title. His mind whirled with this information. To think someone in his
home, servants he’d been with for years could do this. His people. One of them
sought to harm his wife. Conspired with the hapfe dung Thenl? Not possible. “Do
you have proof of this?”

He’d kill those
responsible.

“What more do you
need? When Maliya awakened and I realized she had no recollection of her life
with you, it provided the perfect opportunity to get her away safely.”

***

Lea absorbed
everything Kord said. Someone had deliberately attacked her and plotted her
death. For the last three years, all the travel they did was a means of keeping
her from staying in one place too long. It also explained Kord’s anger when
they’d been unable to go anywhere else for repairs. With the United Alliance in
session the odds of her running into Tarik would have increased.

Surprising her, Tarik
regained his calm. “She’s returning with me.”

Kord’s arm tightened around
her, his low growl making his thoughts on that clear. “She will not return to
Taka.”

Tarik’s grin was slow
and filled with menace. “You can’t stop me. As you mentioned earlier, I’m the
King of Desani, a member of the United Alliance
and
her husband.”

Lea pulled away from
Kord. “Stop both of you.”

Arguing would get them
nowhere.

“Tarik has a point. I
need to go back with him. It might jar my memory and if he has someone in his
home responsible for…” Lea faltered. “He should know if someone in his home
plotted against him. My presence will help with that.”

“Or get you killed,”
Kord snapped.

His outburst was the
most emotional reaction she’d seen from him. He needed to understand that she
had to do this. “Kord, Tarik can assign protection for me.” She raised her brow
in his direction and received Tarik’s abrupt nod.

“As he did before?”

The truth of those
words slammed into her but Lea stiffened. The choice was obvious. She wanted
those missing years back. Going with Tarik could help.

“This time, you’ll be
with me, Kord. And I’m not weak.”

His lips firmed and
silence settled around the three of them. Finally, he shot Tarik a glare then
faced Lea. “We should talk more. This isn’t a decision to take lightly.”

She agreed. “Fine. But
we need to delay our departure. I’m sure King Tarik has things to attend and we
can all discuss this later.”

Tarik looked beyond
frustrated but Kord was right. She couldn’t make a clear decision with her
thoughts soaring all over the place.

“Are you okay with
that?” She asked.

Lavender dipped toward
deep purple as he answered, “I don’t really have a choice.”

Tarik was definitely
pissed. Lea reached out to touch his upper arm then thought better of it.
“Thank you.”

How much more
difficult was this for him? She couldn’t imagine and stared a moment longer
before they said their goodbyes and left. She and Kord went back to her room
where her friend listed all of the reasons why she shouldn’t return to Desani.

Lea heard him out but
couldn’t get over the possibility that she could get her memories back.

“Is it that important
to you that you would risk your life, Lea?”

Instead of answering,
she asked one of her own. “Why, Kord? Why would you never tell me about my past
when you knew how much I wanted to learn about those missing years?”

He cursed but never
broke eye contact. “Your father left his family against their wishes to be with
your mother and you. The two of them kept to themselves. Lived a good life. Family
was everything and all your father asked was that I watch over you if something
happened to them.”

“My father asking you
to protect me had little to do with you keeping something like this from me. I
have a husband. I…I” she could barely spit it out. “I was Queen of an entire
country.”

Saying it aloud caused
her breath to shorten and spots danced in front of her eyes.

“Breathe.” Kord’s
command had her drawing in a deep breath.

Lea stumbled to the
corner of the bed she’d shared with the King this morning. A few hours ago
she’d reflected on the magical night she shared with a stranger and now she had
more questions than answers to her history.