Enslaved by a King [Sold! 5] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (13 page)

“You do not have to feel this way toward me.” Mingor smiled, turned, and continued walking down the long hall of what he called the observation area. “I only tell you because it came as such a surprise to me.”

From this area at the front of the house, Mingor could see the entire island. When the weather was foul, the windows could all be closed and heat would rise up from the floor. Noah realized he was only thinking of those things now because he wasn’t certain how he felt about Mingor confessing that he loved him. Noah cared about him a great deal, but love seemed too much too soon.

“Why are all these fountain things empty?” Noah realized it was possibly the most inane question, but he wasn’t ready to think too deeply about his feelings. Surviving death had made him extremely emotional. He didn’t want to confuse feelings of relief with much deeper emotions. Mingor was an amazing man, and Noah was bound to him for the rest of his life, willingly, at that, but he needed time to think. Somehow, even after everything they had been through, Noah found the prospect of love intimidating.

“I felt it was inappropriate to surround myself with pure water in such quantities when those below me struggle.”

“I thought you made pure water for them?”

“I do. But I am only allowed to make so much.”

“Why? I mean does it drain you to do it?”

“No.” Mingor looked over at the village below, and Noah followed his gaze. All the fires were out now. It seemed to Noah they had all gone to sleep shortly after the sun set. Since night was only six hours long, he supposed that made sense. “My advisors keep tight controls over the amount of water and consequently salt. In this way, they keep the populace in their place and also keep the price of our salt high.”

“That is the only product Thand exports?” Noah could not imagine an entire economy based on salt.

“The land that you see before you is all the land that exists on this entire planet. We can barely grow enough food for those we have. Imports are excessively expensive.”

“But it’s just salt.”

“It is a curious kind of salt.”

“Can I see some?”

“Of course.” Mingor led him across the observation area to what turned out to be their dining room. “I had my staff working overtime on finding food suitable for you.”

Noah looked at everything rather dubiously. The table was enormous but only the one end was set.

“Forgive the inappropriate table. It is simply too big to move. I have requested a smaller one be fashioned for us.”

“I’m not worried about the table.” Noah figured over thirty people could eat there with plenty of elbow room. The only concession they would have to make was that the table was much lower to the floor than what Noah was used to. He figured after a few months he’d be able to mimic Mingor’s graceful way of falling down into a seated position.

“What does cause you concern?”

“Given how disappointed your advisors were that I managed to survive, I don’t know how keen I am to eat anything.”

“I assure you that nothing here is poisoned.”

Noah nodded but still didn’t want to eat.

“If you wish, I will go first.”

“No!” Noah didn’t want something intended for him to end up in Mingor’s belly. Or vice versa. “I honestly don’t know how you can eat anything, either.”

“My staff is chosen by me from the worshipers below.” Mingor extended his hand toward the sleeping village. “They would never wish to harm me.”

“I thought they weren’t allowed up here?”

“That is not so.”

Again, it had been something Noah assumed since he’d seen the advisors’ children working on the platform and not the ragged people from below.

“But the crew of your starship couldn’t wait to blab to your advisors.”

“They were not Thandlings.”

“No?” When Mingor sat down, Noah followed suit. Rather than chairs there were hard cushions similar to what they’d used on the starship.

“They were a merchant crew that I compelled to transport me.”

“Compelled?”

“Yes.” Mingor did not blush, hang his head, or offer up any indication that he was ashamed of what he’d done. “I needed to go somewhere else to find a
sephir
. Since traders are the only way on or off Thand, I compelled them to appoint a room for me and take me where I needed to go. There is no doubt in my mind they had no ill intention when they told my advisors I was on board their vessel. Certainly, they were asked why they wished to land and they told them I was on board and I had someone with me. This in turn prompted my advisors to demand the trial by fire.”

“Oh.”

Mingor laughed.

“What?”

“Recall how annoyed you were when I would only answer with yes or no. You are now only answering with oh.”

“Yeah. Sorry. I’m just—I feel like I have a million questions to ask.”

“Then ask.” Mingor settled in.

Noah tried to get comfortable but couldn’t until he sat on the table with his plate in his lap. “Do you mind?”

“I do not mind.” Mingor’s gaze washed down Noah’s body. He was wearing a dark-blue robe that fit him because it was made for him, but it also molded to him. “I enjoy the way the fabric clings to you.”

Noah grinned. He may not be sure about loving Mingor, but he was certainly in lust with him as much as he was in lust with Noah.

“Ask.”

“Right.” Noah considered his questions as he ate a bit of what was on his plate. It was surprisingly good if not a bit salty. “Salt. Can I see it?”

Mingor handed him a small crystal bowl. Inside was a fine, lightly purple power. “Whoa.”

“Tilt the bowl back and forth.”

When he did, the salt changed color from purple to blue to white. “This explains the color concept of your home.”

“Yes.” Mingor grinned. “My clothing is blue like the water but my home reflects the colors of the salt.”

“But the water looks purple.”

“When we arrived today, it did. That is because of the cast of the sun. At other times it is very deep blue.”

Noah thought about the water he’d almost drowned in today. It was clear just like the water on Earth. “Was the water clear today because it was from the clouds?”

“I believe our water only shows this coloring scheme when the salt is dissolved within.”

“Oh. Right. That makes sense.” Noah wetted his finger and stuck it in the bowl. He lifted it and stuck it in his mouth. It was salt. There was a curious aftertaste to it that he couldn’t quite name, but it was still just salt. He looked over and discovered Mingor was looking at him rather oddly. “I wasn’t supposed to do that, was I?”

“Inserting one’s mouth-wet finger in the salt bowl is rather…”

“Bad manners?”

“Yes.”

“I won’t do it again.” Noah looked at the tiny bowl. “How are you supposed to get it out if you can’t stick your fingers in there?”

Mingor took the salt and shook the bowl from side to side, sprinkling it over his plate.

“Ah.” It was basically the same principle as a salt shaker just that this one didn’t have a lid. As Noah ate the items on his plate, he realized the Thandlings didn’t have domesticated animals. They ate things from the ocean, including curious and brightly colored vegetables. “How did your people evolve here? I mean there’s hardly any land and no big animal life.”

“I believe our ancestors were traders or explorers of some kind.” Mingor ate with his hands just like Noah. They didn’t eat things that required utensils. If the food was runny, like the thick stew-like thing that tasted like tuna, they used leaves to scoop it up. It reminded Noah of eating chips and dip.

“Why do you think that?”

“As you observed, there is simply no way we evolved here naturally. The land isn’t big enough for normal evolution. Also, the sheared-off mountaintop leads me to believe when they came, they used some type of laser to create a landing pad here.”

“Why?”

“It would not be this level on its own, and we have no technology to do something like that.”

“Oh.”

“Once they had a landing area, they then built all of this.” Mingor lifted his hands, encompassing his house and everything on top of the semicircle of mountains. “Then they created the valley structures. I think they left people here to gather fish for trade but then they never returned. After so much time had passed, those who were left simply forgot their history.”

“I guess that would explain all of this up here.”

“How do you mean?”

“The stones and stuff aren’t native to Thand.”

“You are very observant.” Mingor finished another bite before he spoke again. “The materials used in my home are not from Thand. Given the way it is shaped, I believe this was a place that they would use to assemble their items for trade. My supposition is confirmed by the many large lifting units that are built into the mountain.”

“Like elevators?”

After a moment for the word to translate, Mingor nodded. “Hundreds of fish and ocean produce could be placed in the units and lifted up to here, where they could be sorted and packaged for sale across the galaxy.”

“And that is how your people came to be the expert harvesters of the ocean.”

Mingor nodded thoughtfully. “I also believe it explains their elevation of one to godhood.”

“How?” Noah had never studied much history, but he’d always been fascinated by how a culture’s traditions came about.

“I believe the soul who ran things up here was seen as the most powerful given that he or she was the one who decided where things would go and how much they would sell for. When the ships no longer returned, that soul must have stayed up here, trying to make contact. His or her work would be seen as vital to all. But when there was no contact, and remembrance of what they once were fell away, the tradition of this leader carried on.”

“But your ability to transform the water. Surely, that wasn’t a skill you just evolved to have.”

“Actually, I think it is.” Mingor lowered his voice and leaned closer to Noah. “I think all Thandlings have this ability within them.”

No wonder he whispered his belief. If the worshipers below discovered they had the same power as their god, it could change everything.

“That’s why your advisors want to kill you.”

Mingor’s eyes widened.

“I figured it out by the way they were glaring at you and your desire for protection.”

“I am sorry I brought you into this.” Mingor hung his head.

“I’m not.” Noah set his plate aside, cupped Mingor’s chin, and lifted his face. “I want to be with you. I may not be all the way to love, but I am pretty damn close.”

Mingor found himself falling in love with Noah all over again. There was something so deeply compelling about him. He couldn’t name it or explain it, so he simply accepted it. Rather than confess the truth of his feelings again, he simply closed the distance between them and kissed Noah.

Very quickly their meal was forgotten as they fell into a lovers’ embrace. Mingor knew part of his passion was prompted by the fact he’d almost lost Noah, and surely, that was driving Noah, too, but there was so much more between them.

“Come to bed with me.” Mingor rose and pulled Noah off the table. “We can come back and finish eating later.”

“Good.” Noah paced Mingor as they made their way to their sleeping quarters. He already had his own robe mostly off when they entered. “Holy shit!”

Mingor listened to the translation and frowned. Rather than ask for an explanation, he chose the wiser path of ignoring what was clearly some kind of colloquialism and not a request for Mingor to defecate.

“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”

Mingor had lived within the walls of the water bearer home most his life, so he had forgotten how it had once struck him. Seeing it now through Noah’s eyes reminded him of how overly lofty many of the rooms were. All the areas had a sleek, harmoniously colored design, but some areas were decidedly decadent. That attention to detail was what compelled him to think there was trade in the goods harvested from the ocean but also there was clearly excess money that was spent on making the living quarters of the overseer and his staff quite luxurious.

As he’d been on his determination to piece together the history of his people, Mingor had looked at each room in light of this entire structure being one for trade. This room must have been some kind of social gathering place given the soft furnishings, lights that could be dimmed or brightened, and the fact that the ceiling was similar to the walls in that it could be opened or closed.

“It’s so Spartan it’s simply stunning.”

“Spartan?”

“On Earth, there was a people called the Spartans. They were very minimalistic in their décor, so we call anything similar Spartan.”

“These Spartans no longer exist?”

“Not like they once did.” Noah found the bedding area, took off his robe, and then knelt down. He looked up at Mingor, grinned, then crooked his finger as if to draw him close.