Warrior Queen (Skeleton Key) (5 page)

He wanted to believe he was here for a reason and once he’d done what was needed he’d be able to leave. “And I will be able to go home?”

Once he was done the key would work again. The idea was tempting to hold onto. He was grasping at anything that would make this make sense.

“If the gods will it.”

“And what gods are there here?” None that he’d be familiar with, that was for sure.

“The gods are everywhere.”

“Here?”

She frowned. “Of course.” She patted the rock. “The earth, the air, the ocean.”

“Nature?”

“Gods have the magic to weave each life, but each life has the power to make its own pattern. Without the gods there would be no magic. No magic, no life.”

“And the temple and the priests are where the magic happens.”

She smiled. “Exactly. It is important to use the magic all around us. To ignore it would mean turning away a gift. You are a gift from the gods. I have yet to decide how best to use you.”

Keleti tilted her head and the light caught the curve of her pointed ear, reminding him that he wasn’t on Earth anymore and that he could take nothing at face value.

“You don’t practice human sacrifice do you?” He tried to make his voice light.

She gasped. “The Telsila are not some barbarian tribe from the south. Is that common among your people?”

“No…I just…I don’t know what to expect here.”
I need to know how expendable I am.
“You could drop me over the cliff and no one would be any the wiser.”

“One doesn’t drop a gift from the gods over a cliff. That is reserved for the worst kind of criminal. But I don’t know if I can trust you.”

“You have the key, my only way home. I’m not going to run.”

She finished what she was eating and licked her fingers. “You are here, and we don’t know why. You want to get home. We are on the same side, I think. If you help me, you may have your key.”

“Help you do what?”

“We are at war.” Her expression suggested that the rest of the answer was obvious.

He didn’t know how to fight a war. “And if you lose?”

“Then we will all be enslaved.” She stood up. “The choice is yours, Bryce. But I warn you, if you do betray my trust or try to steal the key, then I will drop you over the cliff and call you a test from the gods.”

Bryce found his lips curving despite the threat. She wasn’t a woman to mess around with. “I think you’re right. If the door doesn’t open, I need to do something before it will. I’m willing to find out what that it is—as long as it doesn’t involve dropping me off the cliff.”

“Good.” She unwound the cloth and was naked again. Her body was lithe and golden. She was magical and it seemed to radiate from her. It was no wonder she was called the Heavenly.

He looked away before he could be caught staring.

“You do not like what you see? Or does your tribe find the body shameful?”

“People generally keep their clothes on unless they are about to sleep together.” Now he could feel his cheeks burning. He was feeling like a fourteen year old boy getting caught with a lingerie catalogue under his bed.

“Your people are odd.”

“Yeah.” But he still didn’t look at her.

“Sit on the cloth and I will carry you back up.” She walked toward the cave entrance. “Make sure you get close to the edge.” Then she jumped.

His stomach lurched. He was never going to get used to seeing that.

K
eleti sat
and read messages while Bryce was bathed. Water was already being rationed in preparation for the siege, so instead of a bath, there was a bowl of water and two attendants with cloths and soap. A night in the cave had done nothing for Bryce’s odor—nor had the night prior to that drinking. His clothes had been sent for washing. They were quite curious, especially the metal fastening on his pants. Southerners wore pants, but not like his. The fabrics were also different from anything she’d ever seen.

Aside from the attendants there was also the messenger. This was her private bathroom. She could have sent him to the public baths under guard, but she wasn’t ready to let him out of the palace.

Nor did she want him in the servants’ quarters.

She wasn’t ready for people to be talking about him, and she didn’t know how to explain his presence. She would need an explanation or people would create their own. No, the reasoning behind his sudden appearance had to be carefully crafted to be in her advantage.

He kept a hand over his genitals as though uncomfortable being naked around people. He had flinched when the attendants had started washing him, but was now standing still. His back was to her, so she had time to study him more closely and without him realizing.

Would he be more worried if she told him that she was looking at his legs? The shape of his back, and the curve of his arms? Clothing was cut to show off strength. He turned enough that he could catch her gaze. His hand was still firmly in place. Was he worried that everyone in the room would stare at what was between his legs? What was between his legs? Was it something odd like his ears? She slowly turned her head as though she didn’t care that he had caught her looking—she didn’t care—but her curiosity had been pricked even though she shouldn’t be wondering about what he was hiding. Genitals were really only interesting if something was going to happen.

Nothing was going to happen.

She didn’t have time for anything to happen.

Her gaze flicked back to the foreign man. His body was like that of normal men, though a little hairier. His skin had obvious lines between the areas that saw the sun and those that didn’t. His forearms were tanned against the paler skin of his belly. His brown hair darkened and snaked down from his navel. She bit back her smile as he was doused in water. He was nothing like a Southerner in looks or manners. He was completely strange and from somewhere far away…the thought lingered.

He was, in a way, an Ambassador from his country, or even his world.

She studied Bryce again, this time with the gaze of a queen, not a woman enjoying the flesh on display.

Keleti turned her attention to the man standing near her chair. She had received word back from the closest cities already. They would send warriors, but they had not seen Nadri. She had not gone and asked them for help the way she had been supposed to.

Her cousin had vanished.

That was troubling.

The nearest cities wouldn’t be able to raise enough warriors in a few days. They would need to prepare and then attack the invaders from the back, pinching them against the city walls. Her city would have to withstand the siege and prevent the army from getting in. Rations would need to be implemented in preparation. Better to do it now than later.

She would order all water tight containers to be filled. She glanced at her full bath that everyone was forbidden to use. There would be no baths until the siege was over. Like everyone else, she would use only the smallest bowl of water to wash herself. She would rather be dirty than dead from thirst.

Keleti read the full message then refolded it. “Thank you. I want to know immediately when news comes in, regardless of how high the moon is in the sky.”

Nadri had never made it to even the closest cities, which meant that the ones further north were unaware. “Send birds north to alert them to the problem.”

“Of course.” He inclined his head and stepped away.

Where was her cousin? The disquiet in her gut wouldn’t settle. If her cousin had been captured, then Keleti would have to wait for the ransom. How had the Southerners caught her? She would have been flying…unless. She swallowed. Unless Nadri had been shot down, but that would mean that the invaders had spies close by, and her runners had made it to the nearest city. It made no sense.

She couldn’t sit here any longer. “Dry him off and get him dressed. I have matters to attend to.”

What was she going to do with him? The longer she kept his presence a secret, the less it would be a secret. No one knew about the key except for the priest. Perhaps… Yes. She would call him an Ambassador.

“The Ambassador can shadow me today.” She would keep him close and well guarded, yet at the same time it would explain away his sudden appearance. He might even prove to be useful. Surely the gods would not have sent him if he had nothing to offer?

His eyebrows shot up, but he was smart enough not to say anything.

The attendants patted him dry and his face burned like a sunset. It was quite amusing.

He flicked her a glance, his eyes full of questions, but this was not the place to answer them. They would need to be alone for that, and she was so rarely alone. She let her gaze drift down his chest and lower. Perhaps she could find a reason for them to be alone.

Her body gave a twinge of longing. It had been a while since she’d done anything for fun. Bryce let his hands fall to his side. There was nothing strange about what was between his legs.

His country of Australia had sent him as a potential consort. It was a lie that grew too easily. He hadn’t been sent by his country. His country was so far away only magic could reach it. There would be no political ties or beneficial trading. She shoved aside all thoughts of pleasure.

She was Queen and had to think of her people first.

She met his gaze. “Why do you keep your hair short, Ambassador Bryce?”

He chin jerked at the title. “It was a requirement for the job. Most men keep their hair short. Some women.”

The attendants held out a variety of skirts for her to choose from. She hadn’t been sure what to dress him in or what role to give him. Now she knew. “Not the green or blue.” They were both too plain. If he was an ambassador he should wear something befitting that station. “The orange.” It had a small sunburst pattern.

The attendants wrapped him in the skirt.

Her heart did a little jump like when she leaped before shifting.

He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled. Now there was a warrior waiting to be unleashed. But she refused to let the smile form.

“Can I not wear pants?”

“Yours are being washed and we have none. Besides, why would you want to wear such restrictive clothing?”

He opened his mouth and shut it promptly. Instead he took a few steps as if testing the garment out. Each step revealed and hid the curve of his thigh. She didn’t want to look away so she let herself watch and enjoy. She could allow herself that small delight.

Bryce stopped walking and faced her. “What about under garments?”

Keleti lifted an eyebrow. The bath attendants stifled laughter.

“They are for children who haven’t learned to control when to release their waste. I’m sure you don’t need them.” She smiled at him. Dressed as one of her people, he no longer looked so strange—his hair would grow and cover those ugly ears.

He had that pinched look that she coming to recognize as uncertainty, but he was just going to have bite his lip instead of speaking.

She wanted to know what his home was like if he found everything here so disconcerting. Would she be just as perturbed if she was there? She’d ask him later. Maybe this evening. She stood. “Come, Ambassador, there are things to do and preparations to be made.”

B
ryce followed
Keleti around the palace. He was very aware he was wearing a skirt and no underwear. It felt wrong. There was too much of a breeze between his legs. Surely she’d been having him on about the underwear. He found himself trying to work out if other people were going commando.

He could see no tell-tale panty lines on anyone, male or female. The whole thing was distracting. Why was no one else distracted? …Then he realized that to them this was normal, and there was nothing weird about free-balling in a calf length skirt. After listening to her talk with various messengers and watching the hawks be sent out, he had a much better understanding of how dire the situation was.

Why did he have to arrive on the losing side?

It may not be as bad as it seemed. Castles could withstand sieges, he knew that from history. He wasn’t sure if he was in a castle. He hadn’t seen much of the city at all. If he was in Keleti’s position, he wouldn’t be showing himself the city either. He’d be keeping himself on a short leash. Which was exactly what she was doing.

As they walked, and he tried to ignore the guards not that far behind, he decided it was time to start finding out exactly what was happening. He wasn’t looking forward to being trapped in the city by an invading army. “How much food do we have?”

“Enough to last until the warriors arrive.” She seemed calm.

“How close are the Southerners?”

“Too close. When they make camp tonight we will be able to see them from the walls.”

He’d get his first look at who was invading. He wasn’t sure that he really wanted to. “So the siege starts tonight. We could attack them tonight. Would they be expecting that?”

“What makes you think we won’t be attacking them tonight?” She didn’t even look at him. She wasn’t giving him the full picture even though he had been right beside her all morning.

“It sounds like you want the siege instead of a battle.”

“I don’t want any of this. I wish my mother had never started trading with them. They want the copper and gems, but mostly the magic to change form.”

“They want you.” Only the Queen could do that, he knew that piece of information. She was a Heavenly. He didn’t think there was anything heavenly about a giant hawk. Terrifying and deadly were better descriptors.

“They tried that, and I considered taking a Southerner as consort, but I refused to make him king and put him in charge. That is not our way.”

“Only the women can fly.” It was a guess, but from the curve of her lips he knew that he’d got it right. “Why?”

“Who knows? But no man has ever got the golden glint in his eyes or the ability to see to the horizon.”

“So it’s genetic.”

Keleti stopped walking and looked at him. “What is genetic?”

How did he explain genes to a Queen whose people hadn’t started explaining things with science yet? “It means passed down from the parents like eye or hair color.”

“Passed from mother to daughter you mean.” She pressed her lips together. “It is in the royal blood. But not all have it, and not all chose to fly. There are less of us than there used to be. It is why I rule more than one city now. Even if the signs and the desire are there, the shift can only happen after the ritual is complete.”

“Partially genetic then.”

She nodded. “This genetic… if you were to see a family would you be able to tell who had potential?”

“I…I don’t know. I was a cop, not a scientist. Do you keep family trees?”

“Trees? We map royal lineage, through the maternal line.”

“What about the fathers?”

“What about them? Most royal children are the product of ritual. Their fathers are priests.”

He had the feeling that meant she had no idea who the fathers were. “Do you have children?”

“Three.”

“Who can become a priest?”

“Anyone with an aptitude for magic.”

“Like men with royal blood?”

She nodded and her eyes narrowed as she thought. “The priests can show you the map of royal lineage. Perhaps we could restore the blood line.”

“You can’t force people to have…to make special babies.”

Keleti smothered a laugh. To her ears he must be sounding like an ignorant foreigner. “Those babies would be created during ritual anyway. Why not tilt the magic in our favor? The gods appreciate cunning. Perhaps we didn’t take care of the magic they gave us, and now we are faced with Southerners trying to steal what is left.”

Bryce wished he hadn’t opened his mouth, but maybe this is what he needed to do. He was willing to try anything to get home before the bottle started. “Shall I go to the temple?”

“Do you know how to get there?”

He glanced up the corridor in one direction and the other. The ornate wooden carvings on the open shutters gave him no clue. It looked the same in both directions. “No idea.”

“Then tell me more about genetic as we walk.”

Refusing wasn’t an option. So he explained what he knew about the helix and how it could be used to solve crimes because it was as unique as a fingerprint. She wanted to see that too. By the time they made it to the temple he was lost, again, but he was sure that she had taken him via roundabout routes. In return, he had learned that they had telescopes and magnifying glasses.

She put her hand on his arm when they stopped at the open door. “Thank you for sharing some of your world. When I listen, I realize how strange we seem to you. If you want your pants back, you can have them.”

Bryce shook his head. He didn’t want to be seen as other while he was here. If he was other he might get locked up again. “I’m getting used to the skirt.” He stuck his leg out the side split and tried to strike a pose. “I think it makes my legs look good.”

“That it does.” Her gaze had lowered to his thigh.

There was a weird silence for a couple of heartbeats.

“Thank you,” he finally said, not sure what else to say.

She looked him in the eye. “For what? I did nothing.”

Her stare became unnerving. It was intense even without the gold. He made himself stare back; there was a sensation of vertigo as if he was going to fall.

Had she flirted with him, or was he misreading everything? He had no idea even though there was a faint smile on her lips. He looked away first. No one looked that hard at anyone back home. Even when talking to someone. It made him feel naked. Her hand was still on his arm. Her palm was hot. When she blinked there was a glimmer of gold.