The Golden Bell (11 page)

She sank up to her chin and crossed her arms
over her chest. “Go away. Make yourself useful and order some
breakfast or something.”

He laughed and dropped a kiss on her hair.
“See? It’s started already.”

She wasn’t laughing an hour later as Fallon
swept into his mother’s apartment, one arm firmly anchored around
Rain as if to prevent her from running. She might have too, but he
shut the door too quickly.

Apparently his mother, Lady Portae, had been
forewarned. She hurried up to Rain with a cry of delight, enfolding
Rain so deeply in her plump arms that Rain felt she was drowning in
her mother-in-law’s perfumed bosom. “My dear girl!” Mercifully,
Portae released her and held her back at arm’s length, examining
her with hungry eyes. “So you’re the clever girl that finally
snared my Fallon.” Her eyes teared, and she quickly applied a
handkerchief. “Come in and tell me all about it.” Her brilliant
purple robe swished against Rain’s side as she linked arms and led
Rain to a place of honor on a flowered sofa.

As Fallon joined her on the couch, Lady
Portae sank down on the one opposite. A tea set and refreshments
were waiting on the table between them. Apparently Fallon’s mother
was prepared for a lengthy visit. “Pour us some tea, Fallon. We
have so much to talk about.”

Most of the talking consisted of Portae,
(she’d insisted on Rain calling her that, since she couldn’t bring
herself to call Portae mother) grilling them for the story of how
they met, fell in love, and how soon they intended to produce
grandchildren.

With frequent glances at Fallon, Rain edited
and hedged, leaving out the parts that weren’t fit for company.
Eyes sparkling, Fallon supplied the bits where she’d tried to run
away, the rat. It was hard to resent him, though. He’d dressed to
impress today, and his loose trousers and gold trimmed tunic, cut
in the Chinese style, made the gold of his queued hair all the more
striking. While she wasn’t one to drool in public, she caught
herself dwelling on his beautiful green eyes more than once.

Portae smiled as she sipped her tea. “I’m so
grateful you changed her mind, Fallon. I can see you’re looking
impatient, though, so I’ll stop interrupting your honeymoon. I
can’t wait to speak to my friends! Lady Vectrex will be so jealous!
She’s been trying to get her son married off forever.”

Fallon just smiled and kissed his mother’s
cheek. “Don’t forget the party this afternoon.”

“As if I could,” Portae said fondly. “It
isn’t everyday my son is honored for serving his country. I’m
looking forward to it.”

Rain waited until the door had closed behind
them before saying, “You didn’t mention that you were being
honored.”

He shrugged. “It’s nothing. How about a light
lunch before we get ready? There’ll be food there, but I’m
starved.”

“How can you be hungry? You just got done
eating an entire plate of cookies at your mother’s!”

“You call that food? I need something with
meat.”

They passed too close to a pair of Haunt
guards, making Rain sneeze.

“You haven’t been taking your medicine, have
you?”

She frowned in annoyance, ignoring the guilt
his frown triggered. “I’ll take some when we get to my room.”

“Which is now my suite,” Fallon informed her.
“I had Malian transfer your clothes over there this morning. We’ll
move your tools and such once your workroom is finished.”

She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
Moving in with Fallon was weird, even though she knew that they
were married according to his customs. Not only had she not
expected to ever marry, she’d certainly never expected to end up
with someone like Fallon. While he did listen to her, his tendency
to take charge was disconcerting. She had a feeling she’d spend a
lot of time in her workshop, distracting herself from the
complications of living with someone like him.

The truth was, she hadn’t thought at all.
She’d just cruised along, too shell shocked to think anything
through. It had just been easier to let someone else do the
thinking. At the time that someone had been Fallon. Time would tell
if she’d live to regret her complacency, but honestly, she wasn’t
together enough to do anything different yet.

They didn’t make love before the party. She
told herself she hadn’t been looking forward to it, anyway.
Instead, they talked, and Fallon massaged her feet until she fell
asleep on the couch. He woke her with a kiss that almost made them
late and then hurried her into a striped sarong of olive, burgundy
and black. While not what she would have chosen, together with the
sleeveless black top, it looked far better than she expected.

“You know, these clothes keep appearing in my
closet…” she said tentatively as Fallon helped her dress her
hair.

“Do you like them?” He closed a hairclip over
the back of her hair and brushed the loose ends off her
shoulders.

Feeling her way, she said carefully, “Yes,
but I don’t need so many.”

He wrapped his arms around her from behind
and breathed in her hair. “It pleases me to give them. Permit me to
provide for my wife.”

She frowned and turned around.

He stopped her with a finger to her lips. “We
haven’t talked about money, Rain, but I have a lot. If you want to
spend the rest of your life lazing on the grass, watching the
birds, you may. However, I know you’re both smart and driven, so if
you want to turn your talents toward helping others, you may. Spend
every dime you make on charity or public works if you like. It’s
what I did with the ambassador position, in a way. You’re in the
position to do a lot of good, if you so choose.

“However, don’t begrudge me the chance to
spoil you if I like. You’re invited to do the same for me.”

She couldn’t help but smile. “You want a
closet full of dresses?”

He kissed her nose. “I was thinking along the
lines of you being a light in my home, but if buying me dresses
makes you happy…” They laughed.

What he’d said about her doing good stuck
with her. She’d never thought much about what she’d do if she had
the wealth to do anything she chose. She definitely didn’t want to
spend her days lying around because she’d get fat for sure, but
she’d never seen herself as working in the public eye. Maybe she
could be an anonymous donor or something. Surely there were worthy
causes out there that could use an influx of cash. There always
were.

Her thoughts served as a good distraction as
they entered the chamber where the party was being held. Once
they’d passed between the Haunt guarding the door, she stiffened.
The glittering crowd within daunted her, unused as she was to
company. Even when Fallon linked arms with her and sent her an
encouraging smile, it still took courage to step into the
crowd.

Right away a mother and her three young
daughters swarmed them. Thanks to the slow aging processes, it took
a little observation to tell who was which, for the mother didn’t
look a lot older than her children. It helped when Fallon
introduced them. “Rain, this is Lady Septis and her daughters,
Justice, Fleur and, ah…forgive me, I’ve been gone a long time.”

“Jael,” Lady Septis said with a smile. “I
don’t believe you’ve met before, as she has so recently come of
age.” She turned the smile, a trifle too bright, on Rain. “And you
are Lord Fallon’s new wife! Word has traveled fast. Congratulations
on your new alliance. But you must find it lonely here in the Dark
Lands. You’re from away, aren’t you? You must come and visit us at
your leisure. It’s never too late to make new friends.”

Rain felt a twinge of suspicion. She wasn’t
the type to make friends easily, and that overdone smile of Lady
S’s made her uncomfortable. Peeking at Fallon’s easy expression
didn’t help, either. Sometimes she hated the façade of his.

The next lady who accosted them helped Rain
to solidify the sensation she was having of something wrong. Young
and bouncing, with a husband in tow, the girl nearly smothered Rain
with overtures of friendliness. “Do you like shopping? Oh, but of
course you do!” The girl laughed giddily. “We should go together
sometime and have lunch. I know this wonderful little shop…”

Rain frowned, her suspicions now knee deep.
The girl was social climbing, and while the Rain didn’t consider
herself of any importance, she did resent friendship offered under
false premises. When the girl started to trail off, her face
showing uncertainty in the wake of Rain’s cool expression, Rain
said slowly, “You have something green in your teeth.”

Horror widened the girl’s eyes. She slammed a
hand over her mouth and sent a chagrined glance at her husband,
who’d been startled into peering at her.

The unfortunate lady’s hand dropped, then
flashed back up to her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t realize…
Come on, Gari! We have to fix it.”

Rain did feel a tiny stab of guilt as the
girl rushed off.

Fallon looked at her with reproach, but there
was laughter lurking in his eyes.

She shrugged irritably and said in her
defense, “She was…well, I’d swear she was brown nosing for some
reason.”

He shrugged. “Get used to it. That one isn’t
all that bad once you get past the gushing, though.” He lowered his
voice and murmured in her ear, “The thing about a sword, love, is
you have to know when to use it. You possess an especially powerful
one. Try not to annihilate too many defenseless young things.”

She sighed, feeling too old for this kind of
torture. “I’m getting the impression you’re somewhat admired here.”
These people surely weren’t sucking up to them to get closer to
her.

Fallon laughed.

The laughter attracted his mother. Rain
wasn’t sure if that was bad or good, because while she at least
knew that Portae liked her for her good sense in marrying her son,
she also proceeded to introduce her to everyone in sight, dragging
her around the room with dizzying speed. Her traitor husband
quickly found a group of friends to hide behind, chatting with them
while his mother showed her off, occasionally gesturing to Fallon
for emphasis.

To Rain’s relief, she got to sit down at a
table reserved for Portae, herself and Fallon while those being
honored, including Fallon, took turns making speeches at the head
of the room. Grateful to be in the shadows, Rain sat back and
studied the two elders who were also retiring.

Elder Azion took his turn at the pulpit,
looking more like Sean Connery than ever. Uncertain of his guilt,
she sat there torn between hating him and giving him the benefit of
the doubt.

Elder Rite was easier to hate, though she
could prove nothing yet. Middle aged like her father would have
been, a fact that made her bitterly resent him, his hair was still
black and his eyes still a piercing blue. He wasn’t handsome, but
he was big, even bigger than Fallon, and built like a concrete
pylon. That black hair gave her pause. There’d been no black Haunt
the night her father was killed, or she didn’t think there’d been;
it had been a confusing night.

She was going to have to speak to them. Her
guts clenched at the thought, emotion riding high.

Her chance came later, as people were
starting to clear out. She’d told Fallon that she wanted to speak
to the men, then whiled away the time as best she could with a
group of Portae’s friends.

“…so then I made his house glow in the dark,”
she related to the amused group of matrons. The story was a about a
bully who’d teased her about being a geek when she was a kid. The
boy had made her life miserable on the bus, and she’d repaid him by
making the neighborhood think his house was haunted. “I also made
howling noises start up when anyone walked up the drive. He never
bothered me again.” She smiled with satisfaction as the ladies
laughed.

“I’ll have to mind my manners around you
then, young lady,” a gruff voice boomed from behind her. “Obviously
you make a dangerous enemy.”

Rain turned and smiled coolly at Elder Rite.
Heart pounding, she offered him the barest of nods in respect to
his status. “You wouldn’t do that, would you, Elder?”

His heavy brows rose. “Still taunting a bear
with a stick, young Rain? I see marriage hasn’t taken care of your
recklessness.”

“I learned when to take chances after my
father died.” Her heart was in her throat, waiting to see a glimmer
of guilt, something that would convict him once and for all.

Instead his face softened. “I am sorry for
your loss. Your father was a good man. There should have been
something we could have done to find justice for you.”

To her horror, she felt tears prick her eyes.
He was making her feel young again, and she hated it. She never
wanted to be a child again. “I survived.”

He sighed. “You did well to marry Fallon,
child. He’ll make you happy.” With a nod of farewell, he was
gone.

Well, that sucked. Disgusted with her
emotions and the pitying looks she was getting, she turned her face
away while she regained control. Happily, the ladies took pity on
her and took up their conversation again.

She’d been aware of Fallon nearby, and no
doubt he’d caught their conversation. By the carefully neutral
expression on his face as he came up to them with Elder Azion,
she’d swear he had.

Azion didn’t seem affected by the somber
mood. “Lady Rain! I’m happy you seem to have settled so well into
your new home. What a pleasure to see that the Dark Lands held
something for you after all.”

Pompous, she thought. Certain he was right.
“So it seems.” Remembering her purpose, she bared her teeth at him
in imitation of a smile. “Fallon is even helping me to set up a new
lab. I plan to jump into my work right where I left off. The first
thing I plan to do is build a new Bell.”

Azion’s eyes gleamed. She would have missed
it if she hadn’t been looking.