Daryk Warrior (11 page)

Eryk started to stand. The other Daryk One put his hand up
to stay him.

“Wait, Eryk. You need to know a few other things before you
run off to Asam Boldru. Even though she’s a healer and a good woman…she charges
a fee.”

Eryk wanted to growl, and his next words sounded exactly
like that. “How much does she charge? A fortune, no doubt.”

Garess’ lips twisted. “No. No. She charges a nominal fee
most of the time. Just so she’ll have something to live on.”

“Shite.” Eryk muttered low. “All right.”

Once more Garess held up a hand in placation. “Trust me,
Eryk. Asam is trustworthy. Have I ever turned you in the wrong direction?”

Amusement eased away urgency. “I remember one battle with
rogues not so long ago. That was as close to failure as I want to get.”

Garess blushed. “Then let me make it up to you. If you’re
not satisfied with Asam’s help let me know. I’ll refund her fee to you.”

Eryk couldn’t reject a deal like that. Plus, he trusted the
older man. “Deal. Now where is she?”

After Garess gave him directions, Garess added additional
information Eryk hadn’t expected. “You should be aware, there’s talk of
traitors in the castle. Spies for the rogues.”

Eryk glanced around. The noise in the tavern had become even
louder since he’d entered. Louder than it had to be. “I wondered about that. Is
there word of another attack?”

Garess leaned forward, voice lowered. “Within days. If I
were you I’d get her healed and then head out. Hide in the hills.”

Eryk snorted. “In Imekland? Where am I supposed to do that?”

Garess looked chagrinned as he brought his intoxicating
drink to his lips. “Good question.”

When Eryk returned to his lodging a short time later, Mia
sat straight up on the bed. Her eyes were red, her mouth possessing a frown.
Damn the little chit. She’d been crying while he was gone. Not out of fear for
him, he was certain of that. Unwanted tenderness made him close the door softly
and go to her. He settled on the side of the bed and told her about Asam.

A smile filled her eyes. “Oh Magon. That is wonderful news.
I’m glad we’ve found her.”

“Why were you crying before?”

She turned toward him and as he looked into her beautiful
eyes he tumbled to the bottom and couldn’t say a coherent word.

“I’m tired, that’s all.” Her voice trembled a little. “I’ll
do better, I promise.”

Her statement made him frown. “Do better? What do you mean?”

She stared at him, face a blank canvas for far too long.
What she might have meant dawned on him.

“You don’t have to do better,” he said. “You are fine the
way you are.”

She wiped at her eyes, sniffed and gave him a watery smile.
“I…” She laughed softly. “It takes me a while sometimes to remember I’m not in
Magonia, under their rules. I forget that showing emotion is welcomed in
Dragonia.”

An ache of understanding made him long to protect her. He
wanted to beat the shite out of the men who had devalued her so wretchedly in
the past.

“Show your emotions to me whenever you like. I would rather
you yelled than be stone-cold and fake. If there is one thing I can’t abide
it’s a liar and a fake.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders and drew her
into his body. “You’re new here. It will take time to learn our ways.” He
cleared his throat. “Let’s go to see the healer.”

They stood and headed for the door and the strength of her
step filled him with renewed hope. And that really got to him—when had her
comfort, her welfare become as strong a need as his duty? As his desire to find
and defeat the rogues harming Dragonia? He shrugged off thinking too deeply.

Mia’s elation over seeing the healer overruled her
tiredness, at least for the moment. She’d struggle across an ocean again if she
could find a healer able to cure her. Rather than taking her in a proprietary
grip this time, he offered his arm. She slipped her hand in the crook of his
elbow then farther up to take hold of a powerful left biceps. Night was falling
as they left their lodging and made their way across a courtyard. They wound
through a crooked alley that took them deeper into the cavernous castle. Some
women of ill repute passed by them with knowing smiles and winked at Eryk and
waved.

“Do you know them?” she asked after the women were out of
earshot.

“Prostitutes? I know of them and by name.” He glanced over
at her. “Oh, you mean do I
know
them.”

She pursed her lips and then frowned. “Exactly.”

“I don’t pay women for sex. I don’t need to.”

“Oh.”

He grinned. “And even if those woman offered themselves to
me without cost, I wouldn’t oblige.”

“Oh.”

He laughed. “Is that all you can say?”

“Yes.”

He laughed harder and the low throbbing in her stomach
continued and grew stronger. More powerful. By all that was holy in Magonia,
the man’s strength never failed to awe her or send longings through her. When
that intimate, sweet ache began she couldn’t stop her body’s wanton reaction as
she went damp between the legs. She almost groaned at the deep pulsing that
roared to life inside her. She wanted to take him somewhere, strip him naked
and explore every angle of his hard body. Modesty, quickly disappearing in her
mind, banished as she saw one couple and then another hanging on each other as
they walked by. The couples radiated love and devotion. What would it feel like
to experience a relationship with Eryk like that? She’d seen a glimpse of it,
had felt it here and there in the very short time since she’d met him. But
these emotions were only a glimmer and nothing so deep or genuine. The longing
she felt now had as much to do with wanting something she couldn’t have as it
did longing to heal her body.

They located Asam’s lodging in a dark, hidden area of the
castle near the dungeons. Torches on either end of the alley threw shadows down
the lane.

“She lives here?” Mia asked with caution as they reached the
door they sought.

“Yep. Damned unsavory place if you ask me.”

He knocked on the small square door. It opened almost
immediately. Mia squinted to see in the semidarkness. The very small, round
woman standing in the doorway owned a huge smile filled with warmth and
welcome. Her dark eyes shone with genuine caring. She looked much younger than
Mia expected, though she didn’t know why she’d assumed the woman would be old.
Her small nose and ruby lips made her look no older than forty, if that. Her
hair color resembled the silver of a night planet moving across the sky. The
woman wore a loose purple top that covered her from neck to wrists and matching
trousers that flowed around her ankles.

“May I help you?” the woman asked as her gaze went from Eryk
to Mia.

“Garess Arch sent us to see Asam. I’m Eryk Gauth and this is
Mia Griffi. She’s in need of healing.”

The lady’s round, pleasant face creased into a true frown.
“Oh dear. Yes, I can see that. Please come in. I am Asam.”

The main living area was modest in size but nicely decorated
with personal touches and items. A small cooking area graced the room in one
corner. A door toward the back of the room led to places unknown.

Without dallying, the woman gestured to the padded couch.
“I’ll sit next to Mia.”

Eryk settled in a large, comfortable chair.

Asam sat next to Mia and took Mia’s hands in hers. “Let us
get to it immediately.”

“What is the price?” Eryk reached into his pocket.

Asam shook her head. “After we’ve finished. You can set the
price.”

Mia saw the surprise on Eryk’s face and wanted to gloat a
bit. Obviously he’d expected avarice from the healer.

Asam squeezed Mia’s hands. “Don’t tell me what is wrong.”
Asam closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. Immediately the healer gasped but
she didn’t release Mia. “Draconus. You have the ability. You can heal as
well…but…oh. Your energy is low. You are fatigued often. You’ve been through a
huge ordeal recently but that isn’t what causes your fatigue now.” Asam’s eyes
snapped open and she stared directly into Mia’s gaze. “You…you know this
already. You’re dying.”

Hearing the words took Mia’s breath, halted it until she
thought maybe she’d pass away on the spot. Why the words punched her so hard,
she couldn’t say. After all, she wasn’t hearing anything new.

Mia swallowed hard. “Yes.”

Asam closed her eyes again. “You take on too much. You’re
like a sponge and take on the symptoms of the person you’re healing. Or at the
very least it makes you weak. This disease that came upon you, they told you it
is incurable.” Again Mia’s eyes popped open. “While I prefer to concentrate on
the healing as if everything can be cured, I make no promises. It is possible
that I cannot cure you.”

Mia relaxed when Eryk nodded, although doubt still filled
his eyes. It shocked Mia that she wanted him to believe in her abilities. Why
should she care if he believed in her and what she could do? She hardened
herself to the feeling and concentrated on what she’d come here for.

Mia said, “Let’s begin.”

Mia and Asam closed their eyes, and as soon as they did heat
flowed through Mia’s hands and up into her arms. Well-being and strength
sizzled into her veins. Mia groaned softly as sparkles of renewal knitted and
cured. She knew this sensation intimately and yet hadn’t felt it used on
herself before. Within a short time she realized her strength had returned full
force. Mia opened her eyes as Asam released her hands.

Asam’s smile broke free, wide and happy. “There. How do you
feel?”

“Much better.” Tears threatened Mia’s eyes again. “Thank
you. How can I ever repay you?”

Asam’s smile faded. “My dear, I want you to understand. This
cure may only temporary.”

“Why?” Eryk’s voice was soft but razor-sharp.

Asam leaned toward them, her voice soft. “This disease that
you have is very serious.” She turned her attention to Eryk. “I can see you
have a deep attachment to her. That is good. You’ll need all your strength for
the battle ahead.”

“What battle?” His voice came out short. His eyes snapped
with red, his mouth a tight line. “I thought you could cure her.”

Asam sighed. “I said it was possible that I could not. In a
normal person this disease would be fatal but this young woman isn’t normal. At
least not the definition of ordinary. That’s what has kept her alive this long.
My guess is there’s only one thing that will keep her that way. Her connection
to you.”

“What are you saying?”

Mia saw the worry on his face.

Asam didn’t hesitate. “I could continue curing her when she
has problems but it isn’t a permanent cure.”

Eryk’s stood and took a step forward. “Then try harder. Make
her well. You claim to be a healer. Do it!”

Mia shot to her feet. “Eryk! How dare you treat her like
that?”

Asam didn’t flinch at his tone nor did she smile. “At some
point in time she will relapse. If I’m not around, what would she do? She needs
a connection to you.”

“What kind of connection?” Mia asked before he could.

Asam cleared her throat and pink appeared high on her
cheeks. “Sexual.”

Chapter Eight

Stunned, he glanced at Mia. Mia’s face had also gone pink.
“Sex? Magon!”

“I can provide sex.” Eryk said it without hesitation.

Mia’s mouth popped open. “But…”

He sank down on the chair again. “But what? You wouldn’t
have sex with me even to save your life?”

Asam shifted toward him on the couch. She gestured with one
hand. “You cannot just sleep with her and expect it to work. She is strong but
she needs love.”

Love?

No. He didn’t fall in love with women. He didn’t. “What if I
can’t? What if we don’t…love each other?”

Asam looked at the floor, her mouth turned down in a deep
frown. “Then there’s nothing in this world that can save her.”

Mia’s face didn’t crumple. She didn’t cry in despair. Yet he
saw a deep hurt in those eyes. Those pretty eyes. He swallowed hard as shame
cut a large swath through him. Draconus, he’d put that hurt there.

Asam took a step toward him. “Keep your money, Eryk Gauth.
See your way clear to help her.” Asam turned to Mia and hugged her. “Don’t
despair. You can keep on coming back to me as long as you need to. Free of
charge, my dear.”

Mia drew a shuddering breath, the sound loud enough for him
to hear. “Thank you. Thank you, Asam.”

“Come by any time, even if it is just to talk,” Asam said.

“Do you leave this place?” Mia asked.

Asam nodded. “Sometimes. Now if you don’t mind, I must
rest.”

“Of course.” Mia headed for the door and Eryk followed.

Mia walked ahead of him down the alley, her steps strong and
her back straight. For the first time in his life, he couldn’t put his mind
around what had happened. He wanted to protect Mia, to see her healthy.

Eryk caught up to her, took her arm. “Mia, wait.”

She jerked away from him. “I won’t have it. You treated her
like…dirt.” Mia looked mad as spit. “She’s a fine, kind woman and you treated
her—” She huffed. “I don’t know what to say to you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry that I acted that way. You know what I think
about healers.”

“I know how you feel, I just don’t know why. You’ve seen my
healing and know it works. You’ve seen Asam’s and know it works.”

Eryk didn’t know if he could tell her what had happened but
he could acknowledge one morsel of truth to banish that sad look in her eyes.
It tortured him, brought him closer to losing control.

She started to turn away again but he caught her arm. “Wait.
When we’re in our lodgings I’ll tell you why I distrust healers.”

She perused him, her gaze sweeping over his face in an
assessing manner that stripped him to the core. Maybe she could see into him in
a way no one else had. Where no one else would dare to venture in a million
rotations of the planet.

After they returned to their room, he went into the bathing
area and stripped his shirt off. He returned to find her already under the
covers, commandeering the bed for her own. With her hair fanned upon the bed,
her skin once more vibrant and healthy, he could almost forget she was dying.

Bit by bit. Degree by degree. Her hope for a permanent cure
dashed by Asam’s earlier statement.
No
. The idea that she might fade
away, that he’d be witness to her slow and methodical destruction, threatened
to tear a hole in him.

Mia opened her eyes and the sadness he’d witness earlier had
disappeared. Her gaze swept his naked chest and part of him wanted to preen
like a dragon. He knew her gaze, understood when a woman wanted a man. Mia
wanted him, regardless of what she said, no matter what she denied.

He would save her life, by Draconus. He wouldn’t allow her
bright flame to smother, her strength, conviction, her freedom… By the god, he
wouldn’t let her freedom fade.

“Why…why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.

The question came out timid. Uncertain.

“Because of the way you’re looking at me.”

To his surprise the corner of her mouth lifted in a
halfhearted smile. “You cannot distract me.”

He returned her smile and pulled his boots off. They thudded
to the floor and Eryk strode to the bed.

He slipped under the covers and she let out a surprised
gasp. “What are you doing?”

“Keeping warm.”

“You could have kept your shirt on.”

He lifted onto one elbow and stared down at her. The
temptation of her scantily clad body near his made his cock throb to instant
full attention.

“My shirtless state disturbs you.”

“Any maiden would be disturbed by your chest.”

“Any virgin.”

She nodded.

He sighed. “My offer is twofold. No sex unless you ask for
it, though I’m even more eager to have sex with you.”

Her lips parted, making his fantasy life blossom to
heightened appreciation. “Why?”

“Because I want you. And if what Asam said is true, then sex
is your cure.”

“Now?” The one word was soft. Appealing to his kinder
nature.

“You cured me. You slaughtered a dragon. You cured Finny
when she was almost dead. I have to believe that you’re a healer and your
talents genuine.”

“Yet you were suspicious of Asam.”

“I’m suspicious of everyone until they prove to me their
worth.”

“A cynic.”

He slipped his hand over her stomach, over the covers. She
shivered and stiffened. He didn’t falter, cupping her waist. “In a matter of
speaking.”

“Hmm.”

“What else do you want to know about me?”

She became less doubtful herself, allowing Eryk full
movement to express himself. “What changed you into that cynical person? The
warrior who expects the worst.”

Time to tell her. He kept her waist cupped under his hand,
her fully clothed body preventing him from feeling her silky skin. “I told you
about my family. But that wasn’t what turned me cold. When I was sixteen a
friend of mine…a young woman…” He swallowed hard. “We were young lovers, and at
the time I thought she was my mate. The love of my life. Other Daryk Ones told
me she wasn’t and that I didn’t show the signs of a man totally mated to a
woman.”

Mia’s pensive frown deepened. “I read about the mating.”

Surprise kicked him. “You’ve heard about Daryk Ones mating
for life?”

“Yes. The Daryk One needs their mate uncontrollably. He
desires her beyond any woman he’s ever wanted before. He cannot live without
her.” Her eyes, such a fascinating color, burned with certainty. “She is
everything to him.” She sighed and averted her gaze. “As I mentioned before,
there are many truths the Scribes keep from Magonian people. Our libraries are
hidden from the average citizen. People follow doctrine like placid animals
unless they are in an ecstasy of belief.”

He was afraid to ask. “What is the belief?”

Her gaze returned to him, troubled and maybe fearful. “Like
your rogue Daryk Ones, those in ecstasy think their beliefs are truth and
required to keep order. There’s no deviation. They’re correct and any
opposition must be eliminated. A few dates back several women training to be
Scribes were punished by the Head Scribe in the most horrific ways when they
admitted they didn’t believe every word in the Chronicles of Magon.”

He wanted to soothe her, to reassure Mia nothing like that
could happen in Dragonia. But he knew it could happen in any society. Even
Dragonia. It disturbed him on a level so deep and profound he felt ill.

When she didn’t speak, she covered her eyes with one hand
and continued. “Zealots still exist within the Scribe school and their
followers include the enforcers, the Truth and Order Police.”

“You ran from them.”

“Yes.”

“Your friends on the ship? Were they running from the
dogma?”

She nodded. “In their own way.”

He tightened his hold on her waist. “Draconus.” He almost
hissed the word. “Then you’ll understand when I explain about my friend Trylee.
My lover.”

He released Mia and rolled onto his back, uncertain how to
explain and deciding jumping straight into the flames would have to do.

“Trylee loved me, I think. She was a healer.” Eryk saw Mia’s
eyes widen in utter surprise but he continued. “A beautiful, confident woman
like you. At first I thought her healing power was wonderful. I saw her work
wonders on old and young and even animals.” Eryk stared at the rock ceiling,
his heart as cracked and old as the stone. “Then a woman named Hylia came to
Bardannia Castle with her parents and little brother. I became friends with
them. I didn’t know Trylee would find them a threat.”

He sat, eager to see her expression more clearly. Her brows
knitted. At one time telling this story had eaten him alive like a parasite
burrowing its way out of its host. Now the pain had dulled to the flavor of a
distant nightmare.

Eryk closed his eyes. “As I said, I was sixteen. Many years
ago. Fifteen to be exact. Hylia was also sixteen. Beautiful as the sun with
yellow hair. Trylee’s hair was black as midnight, as a moonless night. Both
were wonderful girls and yet they were night and day.”

Mia levered up on her left elbow. “They were rivals for your
affection.”

He grunted. “I was lusty, in love with sleeping with Trylee.
But there were holes in her disposition. Things about her I didn’t see through
that lustful haze until it was too late.” He sighed. “And I’m not proud of my
own behavior. I saw the ugly side of her and soon Hylia replaced Trylee in my
feelings. I wasn’t blameless. I handled the situation poorly. I told Trylee I
didn’t want to see her anymore and I was unkind about it.”

“You loved Hylia?” Mia’s voice was soft as a cloud. “Not
Trylee.”

He nodded. “My feelings for Hylia felt more pure. More real.
As I said, I admired the good things about Trylee but her bad side made it
impossible to love her.” Suddenly memories of what happened next ate at Eryk,
pain returning as if it were yesterday. He swallowed hard. “Hylia kissed me and
Trylee saw it. Trylee marched right up to Hylia in the courtyard, put her hand
on Hylia’s chest and killed her.”

He felt deflated and sank back to the bed to stare at that
damn ceiling again.

Mia flattened her hand against his bare chest, horrified.
When she realized she touched hard, glorious muscle, she drew her hand back.
What he’d told her explained so much.

“Awful.” She barely pushed the word from her mouth. “That’s
why you didn’t trust me. Why you still don’t.”

He didn’t answer but truth lay in his eyes. A hollow spot
inside her understood his pain and wanted desperately for him to heal, to cure
the deep hole Trylee had carved into him.

His arms slid around her waist and he drew her on top of
him. She gasped in surprise then settled onto his iron-hard frame. His hard
chest pressed her sensitive breasts. Her legs straddled his hips. In his firm
grip she felt sure and protected. Whether or not he trusted her, she recognized
that she trusted Eryk.

He palmed her back, wandering across her skin with heated
attention. His sinful eyes captured hers, flaming with a need she understood.
Attraction pulsed to life inside her, stirring additional desires. Her nipples
tightened into achy little points and a hot rush of moisture dampened her
between the legs. She ached with her needs, wanting to fulfill them now with a
hunger that wouldn’t be denied much longer. Perhaps she shouldn’t want him, but
she did.

Mia half expected Eryk to acknowledge her accusation that he
didn’t trust her. Instead he explored her spine, drawing patterns with his
fingers. He lifted the hem of her tunic and skimmed over her flesh. Hot and
hard, he tutored her skin, brought it alive. She tingled from head to toe.

“Eryk, you aren’t to blame for what Trylee did.”

He snorted softly. “Her family didn’t think so. They left
soon after and vowed to get revenge upon Trylee and me.”

“What happened?”

“I never saw them again but Trylee was found dead in her
room two days later. She’d been poisoned. At first people accused me of killing
her. The only thing that saved me was that I was in training and had left the
castle the day before her death. I was glad I was gone. Hylia’s death…then
Trylee.”

Anguish punctured his expression, filling his eyes for a
long moment.

“You aren’t to blame,” she said again.

“No? I’ll never be certain. If I hadn’t treated Trylee that
way…”

“You were young. A mere boy. Trylee committed murder.
Misused her abilities.”

She could see he wasn’t entirely convinced. Before she could
think of anything else to say he stuffed one hand into the hair at the back of
her head. His gaze went half-mast, turning red with the sexual heat that
thrummed between them.

Magon, she ached, felt feverish as he drew her into a kiss.
This was his answer. Whether he trusted her or not he wanted her, and the thick
cock pressing between her legs made her squirm and desire more.

His mouth didn’t tease but launched into a full,
unadulterated seduction of lips to lips. Heartbeat thundering in her ears, she
clutched at his shoulders and surrendered to the mystery. Now he touched her
entire body, his attention relentless as her tunic went over her head and left
her topless. Breast pressed chest, hair on his well-delineated pecs teased her
nipples. She gasped and moaned as he slipped a hand into her pants and squeezed
her buttocks. With a swift move he rolled her over and under him.

A soft, unrestrained joy took hold of Mia as she reveled in
her strength. She held two important things. Whether she would have sex with
him and whether their attachment lived and burned brightly enough to save her
life forever.

Forever.

No. No. She would forget for this timeless moment that only
an emotional connection with him could keep her alive. Mia pretended that
perhaps he loved her with all his soul. She surrendered to the notion, glorying
in the moments she knew now, on this day, in Imekland, in Bardannia Castle.