CAPTIVE AND CAPTIVATED
Chapter Seven
When she awoke, Hikaru was lying between large, lush pillows, remarking at the way the jeweled surface of the comforter below her scratched at her naked skin. A swift intake of breath, and she was up on her hands, peering into the darkness of the room. It seemed vast. Her eyes, accustomed to the light as they had been in the few minutes that she's been in there, (or had it been hours? She couldn't tell...) were unable to pierce the deep gloom. A small fire was lit in the corner. It cast long shadows that licked the ornate tapestries hanging on the wall. The carpets, which would have been a pleasant mauve in daylight, were now a forbidding blood color.
She curled back into the pillow and shook. Hadn't she just been brought in here? It must have been only a few minutes ago. After the long day in the hall, (she didn't want to say the "show," for she would surely go mad) she'd been taken roughly and escorted to the Queen's bedchambers. And there, she waited. In the silence, she dozed fitfully. It couldn't have been longer than half an hour at most, surely no longer than that...
A slight chill crept over her and she searched blindly for a blanket. Nothing; only those monstrous pillows. Whether it was from the cold in the room or from the terrible memories of that day's events that were trying to slowly creep their way back into her mind, she began to shiver. The uncomfortable bed cover beneath her, with rough golden threads and jewels sewn onto it, felt sharp and abrasive against her red and smarting backside. Yes, there will still welts there. Ah, she'd been beaten like a schoolboy, and in front of everyone. For the Queen. And the Queen had laughed...
Hikaru sighed, very nearly resigned to her fate. She thought she had put up a pretty good fight against this world and its slavery. She thought that surely she would be returned to her world soon. Why wouldn't she? Hikaru was a good student, a good daughter, a superb martial artist, thank you, and she was young, pretty and lighthearted. She had no reason to be punished like this. The Gods would surely see that this was a mistake and see to it that she was returned to her world, and quick. Wouldn't they?
But, in only the short week that she'd been there, she was starting to realize that no such rescue was coming. She was firmly bound, decimated and humiliated. Her defenses had been almost completely broken down. Soon, she would no longer be able to fight. Why not accept her new fate? She was a slave, a slave to Lantis' pleasure. But she was in this beautiful castle, and her every need was cared for by other people...
It's no more than a gilded prison cage, she thought. My family is gone. I'm alone, save for Umi and Fuu. I'm alone.
Across the room, the door latch slipped. Hikaru cringed and thought of Lantis. She had only felt his skin once, and his lips around her fingers... She flushed hotly and listened to the soft chatter of servants entering the room. Emeraude's voice, though soft and sweet, penetrated the gloom like the servant's could not have and, though Emeraude very nearly whispered, her voice tolled like bell, making Hikaru quake with fright.
"Is my girl here?" she heard the lady whisper. Her servants clamored around her, assuring her with high-pitched, giggling whispers. Young handmaidens. Probably not that much older than Hikaru. The redhead managed a glance at one of them, poorly lit as they were.
Here it is, she thought, If I had been plain and homely like one of those girls, I would get to wear clothes and walk about with my eyes raised.
"Leave me," Emeraude said softly. Footsteps sounded from the thick carpet and soon, the heavy oak door latched behind them. Silence had taken the room once again. From a far corner, Hikaru could hear very soft humming.
Oh, stark, naked terror. Terror mixed with a curiosity that she couldn't quite understand. She was innocent, that was a fact. Though she'd spent a night lying naked next to her master, she was untouched. He had not so much placed a hand on her. So it was certainly a foreign idea for her to be laying in the bed of a woman, equally naked and vulnerable. And Emeraude was not her master. Though, perhaps technically she was her "Great Mistress," in the grand scheme of things, but...
A constant mantra repeated in Hikaru's head. I am a woman. Emeraude is a woman, too.
"Hikaru," Emeraude sighed from the corner. "Come into the light. Let me see you."
The redhead lingered as long as she dared. For a moment, she fingered the gems sewn onto the coverlet, clenched and unclenched her fists. Suddenly, she flushed a dark red. She'd been naked before Emeraude all day and had never given it a single thought, but now her close proximity, the dark, sensuous light in the room, and her complete nudity, all alone in the presence of the Queen, made her go rigid.
"Yes, Highness," she breathed.
Emeraude had her back to her as Hikaru slipped out of the bed, quiet and stealthy as a cat. Her bare feet made not a sound on the lush carpet. Hikaru covered herself with her hands, but lowered them a moment later. She would have been whipped lightly for that in different company
Emeraude was little more than a shadow. She could see her back and her long, pale hair. She could also see her face reflected in the large, extravagant mirror adorning the vanity at which the Queen sat. She was just near enough the fire to be apart from the gloom, but far enough away to still appear as if she were growing out of it. A beautiful, terrible thing being birthed by the darkness Hikaru felt smothered by.
Oh nonsense, Hikaru tried to tell herself. She's only a woman. And not even a very big one, at that.
As soon as Hikaru could see the cobalt reflection of Emeraude's eyes, however, she felt small and weak. Emeraude was a powerful woman; Hikaru need not ever forget that.
"Ah," said Emeraude who turned slowly on Hikaru. "Look at your tired eyes. This must have been a long day for you indeed, girl. Come," she said, sitting, "Brush my hair for me, and then let's to bed." She looked pointedly at the brush resting on the vanity. Hikaru paused for only a brief moment, slightly confused, but reached out to palm its silver-handled length.
Emeraude had let her hair down. It was long, very long; it would take ages to properly comb. Perhaps that had been Emeraude's plan. Crafty young Queen.
Hikaru gingerly took a lock of golden hair into her hand and began to brush, all the while keeping her gaze set steadily on the reflective gaze of Emeraude. The Queen looked at her every once in a while, but she mostly studied her own reflection. Hikaru had to admit she was rather nervous. She didn't know much about brushing hair or other such girlish things... she'd grown up with nothing but brothers. Well, she'd just have to do her best not to tug or pull...
"Your hair," Emeraude said. Hikaru saw that their eyes were level again. "I have never seen hair that color before. It's lovely, like the petals of poppies. Do many women in your world have hair that color?" She was smiling. Her air was that of perfectly conversational casualness. Hikaru averted her gaze again. "A few, Highness, but not many."
"Then you are a rarity," Emeraude mused aloud to herself. Her smile was sweet and, though Hikaru felt overpowered by those eyes, they showed nothing but kindness. "We would have no less. Though I find my brother-in-law's men to be boorish and swaggering, they did right by picking you beauties."
"As I've been told, repeatedly," Hikaru said without thinking. She gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth.
The Queen only smiled. "I imagine that you grow weary of our ways. You have been doted on, yet you seem in turmoil. My kingdom is not to your liking?"
"You're mistaken, Highness," Hikaru said. "I think your land is beautiful. I only... am taking a longer time than I thought I'd need to get used to your ways."
"Mm." Emeraude smiled at Hikaru through the mirror. "It is a land you'll learn to love, I assure you. There's much more to Cephiro than meets the eye. You'll see that soon enough."
Hikaru merely nodded and continued to brush. She wasn't quite in the mood to make conversation with one of her captors, especially not when she was so worn and weary. She didn't dare open her mouth to say what she was thinking, that she was forced here and was being forced to acclimate herself to their slavery and humiliating punishments. And Emeraude acted as if it were Hikaru who was inconveniencing them by having a hard time adjusting to Cephiro.
"Psh," Hikaru quietly seethed.
Emeraude's cheeks glowed with pleasure. Apparently, she very much enjoyed being pampered by Hikaru. "Tell me, girl, what say you of your Master, Lantis? I know he finally called on you last night. It's been so long since my brother-in-law took a woman. I'm quite curious about how your encounter went, actually."
Hikaru forced a small smile. "Master Lantis allowed his second-in-command, a man by the name of Eagle, to escort me for most of the day yesterday." She conveniently neglected to mention the near-ravishment in front of the old Forge. "Lantis took care of me after that. We watched the festivals in the evening. He is... actually a rather quiet man. I feel I don't know a thing about him, even though I shared his bed."
The Queen's eyes twinkled with merriment. "But not in the sense that he desired, I take it? You seem unchanged since last I saw you. You have not been plucked yet."
"No," Hikaru said, coloring again.
"I find it strange," said Emeraude, "That Lantis would not claim you when he was given the opportunity. But then," she added with a smile, "Lantis himself is strange. He builds walls between himself and the world. He is like a book in a foreign language; impossible to understand and very little fun to try too read." She sighed. "Although, there is an air of illusion to him. He is very like his brother, my husband. Dark and pensive men they both are, but lurking beneath that is a fever, an excitement that must be sought for." She relaxed back into her chair and added, "Both of them make a big show of being perceived as what they are. I wouldn't let on that you see anything other than his cold, statuesque exterior, should you ever do so."
"Yes, Highness," Hikaru agreed, but she was far removed from the idea of Lantis. She didn't want to think about him at all. He had showed such passion for her the evening before, and then today, he allowed her to be humiliated with hardly a word. She ignored the way that the memory of her excitement had risen in her stomach, much like it had with Eagle, whenever she recalled Lantis' mouth closing around her fingertips.
Although, I must make nice to him, she thought, unless I want to spend the rest of my days in the Slave Hall. And... I'm not sure if I can handle another day with Eagle. He excited me, but I do believe that I never want to see him again.
When she looked up, Emeraude was smiling at her again. "Hang onto your man," she said. "He is a good one, and not just because he is a Prince." She rose and held out her arms. "Come, undress me, and we'll retire. You've had a long day."
Hikaru began to shake almost involuntarily. She wanted nothing to do with Emeraude's foreign, female body; nothing. The Queen's eyes reminded her of those of a snake, looking placidly at its prey before it is eventually devoured at the snake's leisure.
As befitted a Queen, Emeraude was dressed in an incredibly voluminous dress that seemed to have no end to ribbons and stays, sashes, boning and puffed sleeves. Hikaru didn't even know where to begin. Emeraude giggled. "I'd forgotten you're not from this world. I'll instruct you, then. Do you not wear dresses in your world, Miss Hikaru?"
"Oh, your Highness, you don't have to call me Miss," Hikaru began to say. She then wondered at herself. Why on Earth worrying over the Queen's informality? "I'm letting this slave stuff get to my head," she said aloud, pressing her hands to her cheeks.
Emeraude laughed again, this time more loudly. It was a lovely, gay laugh. "You must be sweet and kind and obedient, and I see that that is in your nature, so you shouldn't have much trouble!" she said. "Here, take these robes off first, yes, with those ribbons there. Next, undo the lacing along the sides. I can slip out of the sleeves myself. There, now unlace my stays, please."
Hikaru sighed. There were layers upon layers of sashes and robes to remove from Emeraude. But she set her hands to work and unwound, watching the Queen twirl like a little girl in a dress shop, as the fabric fell from her, pooling on the ground around their feet. The blonde woman shed her sleeves and pulled at ribbons that had been laced around her neck. Once the heavy clothing was shed, she stood in a thin, sheer gown. It was belted about the waste and flowed long, very long, across the carpet. Hikaru had not noticed it before. Actually, without the piles of clothing, Emeraude was nearly as slight as Hikaru herself.
"Oh," Emeraude sighed, stretching her arms. "The hour is late. Come, lovely girl, to bed. You shall rest with me tonight.
Hikaru blushed hotly again. Though her own nakedness was humiliating, somehow the sight of Emeraude's body beneath her sheer night dress was even more shameful. Small though the Queen was, she was well rounded. Her body was very much that of a woman's.
She watched Emeraude walk slowly over to the bed and nearly disappear in its quilted, pillowed depths. She heard a faint yawn. "Come, child."
The redhead feared that the Queen could hear her heart, pounding loudly as a drum in her breast, as she crawled into bed next to her. The jeweled coverlet had been removed, and the sheets beneath it were soft and soothing to her still-smarting legs. Emeraude watched her closely. "Poor darling," she said after a time. "The light is dim, but I can see how the rod has marred your lovely skin. That won't do. Tomorrow, I shall send for herbs and simples. A pleasure slave should never bear scars." Her hands passed lightly over Hikaru's thighs. "Yes, like I'd first perceived. Small, but shapely. And with such dainty little feet and hands." Her hand passed upward and moved to Hikaru's chin, which she grabbed and held straight. She was smiling again. "But a fire in those eyes such as I haven't seen in years!" she stated. "You may be a small, pretty thing, but I do believe you have the spirit of a warrior. Am I not right, girl?"
Hikaru could not completely bring herself to agree. In this world of chains and shackles, she felt that her warrior spirit had been stretched thinly indeed, if it were still there at all. Still, she nodded silently.
"And you have fine muscle tone for a woman. I take it you're physically active?"
"Yes Highness. I practice Kendo."
"Kendo?"
"It's a fighting sport. With swords. I've practiced it all my life." She managed a small chuckle. "I was raised with brothers; treated like a boy just like they were."
"Ah, but I see none of that. You have a strong femininity about you."
"Thank you."
Emeraude drew back against the pillows and studied Hikaru serenely. Now, her nudity beneath her thin nightgown was even more apparent. Hikaru colored and looked away. "It has been nearly two weeks since you've been brought here, yes?" The Queen asked. Hikaru nodded. "Two weeks, and I could see at dinner that you've already attracted the worshiping eyes of nearly every man in the kingdom. And every woman, too," she added with a smirk.
"I've never really felt beautiful," the redhead admitted weakly. "This is all very new to me. I've never really known that I could be… desired."
"Well, pity for the poor fools in your world. I imagine that when you return, you'll return a changed woman, blossomed into sensuality."
Hikaru's jaw dropped. "When I–"
"If you return, I should say."
"What… What would make you think that? Highness?" she added.
Emeraude shrugged. "We do not always keep the slaves we capture. We do, of course, when the slave has captured an extra special eye. It's not uncommon for masters and mistresses to marry their adopted slaves. But in your case, I'd say that it's unlikely for you to be married. No, nor your two lovely friends. Lantis has never married and has never shown impetus to do so. Prince Ferio… well, my brother is young. He's had many women. I think he'll continue to have many more. And Mage Clef is old beyond reasoning, older even than myself or my husband. Also, he is the Master Mage. It is forbidden for one in his rank to marry."
"Why so?"
"Think of him as an ordained priest of the highest rank. They are permitted no luxuries which might cloud their vision and compromise the great responsibility endowed upon them by the Gods. Clef is of the Old Religion, and they are set in their ways."
Hikaru shook her head slowly. "I really don't know anything about this world."
"You will learn," Emeraude smiled. "For now, lay with me and talk of idle things." She pulled Hikaru down to her and slid her against the pillows. In a very motherly way, she tucked sheets and blankets beneath Hikaru's chin.
Tears welled behind the slave's eyelids. So, there was a possibility that she could be returned to her own world. But, only a slim one. Lantis was not a marrying man. He would tire of her. If he did, they'd have no use for her and would send her away, unless they had other plans for her, perhaps to make her work as a chambermaid, or to be the lover of a lesser man… She shuddered. The idea of taking a lesser man than Lantis was repulsive. Blushing virgin or no, she couldn't abide the idea of being passed off, like chattel, to some lower-ranked buffoon. If shehad to be pledged to a man, a Prince was as good as it got. But, speaking of men who couldn't marry…
"I hope that Ferio wouldn't dispose of Fuu," Hikaru said thoughtfully. Then she bit her lip and shied from Emeraude's touch. "If it's not too bold of me to think so…"
"That I cannot say. I've seen him go through scores of women. He seems to be taken with this one, but then again, he always seems to be taken. Such a lover, my brother is. Terminally chivalrous and perpetually smitten."
"Everyone in this kingdom seems to be that way."
Emeraude shrugged and tugged at the laces of her sheer nightgown. She gave Hikaru a secretive smile. "Do you find me beautiful, girl?"
Oh. Hikaru shuddered again. Revulsion mixed with a dark, pleasurable terror. She didn't want to look. "Yes, Highness."
A soft giggle. "I know you do. Everyone does. I am the Queen. I'm supposed to be thought of as beautiful and flawless. I suppose it comes with my rank." Hikaru heard the whisper of fabric and felt the soft rustling of a gown slipping over her side. Emeraude had disrobed completely.
"I think you beautiful as well," said the Queen, lowering herself to the sheets. She took a pillow, placed it next to Hikaru's, and slid beneath the blankets with her. "My, but it gets chilly in these rooms sometimes," she said conversationally. "I do so like to have a warm body next to mine. Come, let me touch you, pet."
Hikaru felt that it would have been wrong to struggle, and even more wrong to speak, so when tears pushed from behind her eyelids, she let them flow freely. Emeraude seemed puzzled.
"Hush, now," she said. She slid against Hikaru and put her arms about the smaller girl's neck. "Don't cry, dear one. I'll not harm you."
"I am pledged to Lantis," the girl sobbed. "Please—"
"I know you are," Emeraude assured her. "He is my husband's only brother, and so I must respect what is his. I… Well, I feel a strong attachment to you, girl. I believe it's because, long ago, I was once very much like you."
Hikaru only wept piteously in reply.
"It's true," she continued. She brushed Hikaru's unruly bangs from her forehead. "I was a nervous, frightened young virgin once. This castle seemed terrible to me; dark, forbidding… I lived in a neighboring kingdom, and the procession to this castle, which seemed to reach up to the heavens like a cluster of sharpened swords, was terrifying." She sighed. "But, one grows accustomed to it. As will you. I promise." She smiled sweetly again and kissed Hikaru's moist cheeks. "Don't fret, my pretty girl. Hush now."
Oh, affection. Hikaru had craved it for so long and never realized it. She huddled against Emeraude and wept and quaked, letting the woman stroke her and soothe, like an infant.
"I'm so afraid," Hikaru sobbed. "Lantis so rarely seeks me out. I know he finds me beautiful, but he's never once tried to… deflower me. I'm pledged as his pleasure slave, so what else am I good for? I'm so afraid of being abandoned and cast away, simply because he never has time for me."
"But he called upon you last night, my darling. And you shared his bed. Isn't that comfort enough?"
"No. Everyone is always saying that he has no interest in slaves. B-begging your pardon, Majesty, but I think he took me because you bothered him about it. It had been days before he even bothered to send for me. And even then, it wasn't him that sent for me. He let one of his inferiors escort me around all day!"
"Does he excite you?"
"I don't even know what that means. I've never even gone out with a boy before. I… I think he's handsome, of course, but…" Her mind went to the balcony, to the dim light of sunset and the burning smell of ritual fires, and to the heat that radiated through Lantis' flesh and through her own. Her mind swam with the sensations of his lips against her temple, trembling as if they, too, were heavy with the shame and surprise of virginity. But Lantis was no untried male. And hadn't she felt just the same way with Eagle?
"He touched me," Hikaru said finally. "Or rather, I touched him out of desperation. I couldn't bear the thought of being banished back to the Slave Hall, so I appealed to him as I thought I should." Her heat embarrassed her; she thought that Emeraude must feel it emanating from her tender flesh, baking the Queen's own pale, naked skin. "I don't know what to think about anything."
"You will learn those things, beauty. Your body must learn them. You are a maiden, and an innocent one at that. The ways of the flesh are foreign to you. You must be taught. And you will be, you will be." Emeraude bit back the fact that Lantis was probably not the ideal teacher of the affairs of sexuality.
"I… I don't know how it feels to, you know… Desire a man."
Emeraude pushed her nose into the nest of Hikaru's red hair and inhaled. She smelled as any pleasure slave did; of shampoos, perfumes and body oils. A fine aroma, and an intoxicating one. "You say you touched him. What did you do?"
"I—Well, I fed him."
"You fed him?"
"Yes. You know... I've seen movies and read comic books in which women have fed men grapes and other things… They always seem to get excited over that sort of thing. And I—I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it."
"But did you?"
Well, my fingers certainly did. And my mind seemed not to be coherent afterward.
"If you call that incredible, overwhelming body heat and dizziness "pleasure," than I suppose so."
"That is what you call it." Emeraude sounded delighted. "The first of many baby steps, girl from another world. Would you go to him, if he called?"
"Yes, I think so."
"Oh, love," Emeraude sighed. She pulled Hikaru closer to her and smoothed her thick hair. "Lantis' mind is an opaque, impenetrable elsewhere. He is as foreign to me as you are. But, if he is anything like his brother, and I'm certain he is, then he has deep feelings of love; great, hidden reservoirs of feeling that are just waiting to be tapped. He is capable of such great love. I believe if he loved you, that he wouldn't just love you. He'd worship you. He'd adore you. But he is afraid, as most men are, of his feelings. I'll apologize to you for him. He is a busy young man. He's the commander of a fleet of Mage Knights. He also oversees many political affairs in the palace, since my brother Ferio seems only to care about wining, dining and chasing women." Emeraude bit her lip. "I do not claim to know his mind. I cannot promise you that he will love you. But darling, if he did, it would not matter, because he would not marry you."
Hikaru cried softly. "How could I marry him anyway? I'm fourteen, and I don't even know him!"
"Ah, but fourteen is a good age for marriage, young one. It is in this land, anyway. You're a grown woman, in our eyes. And Lantis is a flesh and blood man, though he may not seem it. I don't expect that he'll be able to deny you for much longer. Wait and see. I shall speak to him myself, if you'd like."
"I just want to actually be useful to someone."
Emeraude seemed to be at her limit of kind words. She said nothing, only continued to pet and fuss over Hikaru. She kissed her cheeks and nose, brushed her fingers through her hair and clung to her. "Let's not be sad. Sleep now. Though," she added with an amused grin, "I suppose it's better for your face to be red and swollen from crying. Your tears, beautiful though they make you, do not move me. They rather dampen the fire I feel for you. And yes, I do so desire you." Her hands were passing over Hikaru's bare back, across her stomach, over her slightly bruised buttocks. They even found her breasts, but Hikaru was far too defeated to care.
"Sleep," Emeraude said again. "I'll slake my lust elsewhere another day. For now, it's enough to lie here with you. I love you dearly, you know, and want you to be happy in my presence." She made Hikaru open her eyes. "Do I make you happy?"
Hikaru sniffed, hiccupped, and nodded.
"Good." Emeraude rested her head against the pillow. "I want you to be happy. I want all three of you to be happy. I hope you can find that for yourselves, in this world…"
Minutes later, she couldn't reckon how many, Hikaru passed into a dreamless sleep. Her senses only registered the perfume rolling on the waves of heat coming from the fire, the perfume of Emeraude's scented hair, and the smoothness of the sheets that enclosed her. For the first time in a long time, she slept fully, without nightmares.
Fuu hid her face sulkily in her pillow. Now that she was finally alone with Ferio, like she'd wanted, (or not wanted, depending what mood she was in) she didn't have the faintest clue what to say to him. He was sitting beside the bed in one of his chairs, hands folded in his lap, watching her with a concerned expression on his face.
Once they'd returned to his rooms, he'd taken the time to smooth her down with salves and creams, in order to sooth her aching legs. It was kind, but she was angry. She was hurt and defeated. At the present moment, she did not desire his company, for she felt it to be nothing but thinly-veiled mockery.
His eyes told a different story. "Are you all right?" he asked.
"No," she replied.
He ruffled his hair. "I want to help you feel better, Fuu. I'm sorry the games today upset you so."
"Games?" she hissed. "Is that all I am to you? Is that all this is? A game?"
Ferio looked taken aback. "Fuu, that's not what I meant—"
"It is," she said wearily. "Men say what they mean. Most people do. I'm no fool, Ferio."
Ferio, she thought. So I've become such a disobedient slave that I refer to my Master by his first name? Why, shame on me.
Ferio sighed. He seemed thoroughly worn. Well, she didn't care. She'd been completely and utterly humiliated, all for his pleasure, and for the pleasure of those he ruled. He represented everything in that world that had hurt her up until that moment. She felt little pity.
She sniffled and rolled over. "I want to sleep. Please leave me be, for tonight."
"Oh, I cannot do that," he said softly. "Not on this night."
"But... Ferio, I feel unwell. My heart aches.
"I am sorry to hear that. I want to help you, if you'll have it."
She blushed, ashamed that she was about to lash out with a nasty retort. What had gotten into her?
"My very soul feels defeated... myprince." She could hardly stomach the word and so said it quickly through clenched teeth. "Couldn't you let me lie here and recuperate?"
"Why such sadness?"
"Why do you think?"
"I don't know, Fuu. I'm not a diviner." He sighed, at a loss for what to do. He wasn't familiar with the hearts of women. He wanted to help, but was impotent. "But... there should be no heartache in this season. These twilight hours are holy, you know."
"What is so special about this night?" When she felt the blankets being pulled away from her, she protested hotly. "No! I want to be left alone, Ferio!" The Prince would hear nothing of it. He tore away the sheets, scooped her up and swept her from the bed. She blushed and stammered. "Please, just let me—"
"No, not on this night," he said again. He carried her in the direction of the open balcony doors, casually reaching down to scoop up her discarded silk robe and proceeded out into the thick night air. The smells of the ritual fires washed around her on the hot breeze, making her feel dizzy.
"Please, no, I feel ill."
"The air of Cephiro will cure you. It cures all ailments," he said merrily. He placed her on the ground and draped her robe over her shoulders. "Come. I want to cheer you. You are pledged to me, but I want you to feel as if you enjoy it. Stand with me." He pulled her to the edge of the balcony. "Look there. See those fires?" He pointed to the ground below.
Fuu slipped her arms into the robe and crossed her arms over her naked breasts. She didn't bother to tie the robe closed. "Yes," she said disinterestedly.
"This is the festival season, as you know." He took a moment to look sheepish. "I regret that it is primarily why I have been away from your side these last few days. Such frivolity requires much planning. Summer is coming. The common folk are worshipping their gods. They light their fires and dance naked under the full moon." He gestured up to the sky. "It is the season of the Red Moon. The Blood Moon, the moon of fertility."
Fuu only sniffled again and nodded.
"They burn special incense. I'm sure you can smell it. It's a rare herb that one must go many miles in search of. Inhaling its smoke can open the gates of the mind to the beyond, to the spirit world. It induces fertility, so they say, by quickening the wombs of women. Later, they'll run off to copulate in the woods and come back with planted seeds. So many fires… so much smoke. I can't deny I feel the power of the spirits myself, on such a magical night." He looked at her. "Do you feel it?"
Fuu shrugged in a defeated sort of way. She didn't care much anymore. It was getting harder to resist his attempts to cheer her. She was just weary. When he pulled her against him to slip an arm around her shoulder, she didn't protest.
He was smiling. "Look at the sky, Fuu. Isn't it lovely? Does the sky look this way in your world? I believe I can see every star in the universe. I can feel them humming and wheeling about over our heads as we speak. Especially on this holy night. Look!"
Indeed, she remarked, the sky never looks this way in Tokyo. I rarely see stars in that city of artificial light. She shivered lightly and leaned closer into Ferio's warmth. "They are chanting now."
"Yes," said Ferio, looking back down at the crowds. "They're appealing to their gods, asking them to make their lands fertile and their herds multiply. They're asking for plenty. It will bring them through the summer and through the next winter, if the gods decide to favor them."
"And they are all painted in strange runes," Fuu observed.
"Markings. Believed to be the language of the gods."
"Why do you not participate?" she asked.
He shrugged. "I'm no spiritual fellow. I believe in the physical realm. It's where I reside and all I trust in." He glanced askance at her, and she could very nearly feel the blush that crept across his cheeks. "People excite and intrigue me, not vague mysteries and old, dead gods. I want warmth and pleasure, not the infernal, ethereal unknown that most seek and never find."
She closed her eyes and allowed a small smile. "I suppose that is why you seek me. My warmth. My pleasure?" She blinked and rubbed her eyes. She was getting sleepy.
He turned on her with a strange expression. His eyes seemed to burn into hers. Their golden hues were lit aflame by the fires below. "I seek you for many reasons. You were pledged to me, of your own free will, if I'm not mistaken. You could have chosen not to have me."
Fuu jaw hung limply. "Free will? In this land? Ferio, you are raving."
"Believe it or not, my beauty from another world. If you would have refused, you may have been punished and sent back. I can't guarantee exactly what would have happened but, because of your great beauty, you would have been passed to another Lord. We could not part with one as lovely as you so easily."
"Are you saying that if I refuse you, you'll give me to someone else?"
She hadn't realized it, but her hands had been enclosed in his for some time now. He held them against his robes, looking as if he were delivering a powerful sermon. "I hope very sincerely that that will not happen," he said.
"You, sincere?" Fuu knew she was being petulant and childish. She didn't care. Her heart ached and her spirit was fraying at the edges. And now her head swam. The infernal fumes of the fires were toying with her brain. She could not think very logically. And Ferio's body heat was beginning to make her own skin flush. Was it getting cold outside already? She shivered.
"You think me insincere?" was all he managed to say.
"I do. Most of the time."
His lips parted. He wanted to say something, but couldn't. He drew closer to her. "And what of now?"
She giggled, in spite of herself. "I don't know what to think. You Cephrans and your magical fires are playing tricks with my mind."
"That's the idea," he said with a slow smile. "Your mind is opening onto new realms of understanding. Understand me, and my heart."
Fuu closed her eyes, still feeling light-headed. Damn those execrable fires. And damn this night air. She could not stop shivering, despite the fact that she felt fever creeping into her senses and invading her exposed limbs.
Ferio unpinned his cloak and draped it around her shoulders. "I'd like you to think better of me, Fuu," he said softly. "I adore you."
She grinned. "I'd believe it, too, on a night such as this."
"Yes, on a night such as this," he agreed. "Which is what I have been saying all along." He tugged off his gloves and thrust his naked hands into her hair. "Fuu, you are beautiful. I would be a happy man, indeed, if you could think kindly of me."
Oh, I just bet you would, she thought cynically. But that cynical, cold, calculating part of her brain was shutting off. She was tired. She was curiously warm and cold at the same time. And those dizzying perfumes and melodic chants were soothing. She'd put up enough of a fight today. With some sleep, she'd awaken with new resolve and put Ferio back in his place. Or perhaps she'd wake up again as a frightened young virgin, the trembling, untouched maiden hiding in the depths of her mind that were being locked away by the magic of the night.
Magic. Yes, that's it. This land's magic is filling me, like a goblet. I feel as if I'll overflow.
"You are working your spells on me," she said when she pressed her cheek to his chest. "That's not fair. I've no magic to work on you."
"On the contrary," he whispered huskily. "You have me firmly entrapped in your spells, my girl."
"I will let you think that for now," she said, meeting his gaze at least. It was still flaming gold. Ah, handsome he was, indeed. For now, it was enough to rest against him and feel his warmth. It renewed her, in a way. Let him think that he is enamored of me, she thought. I may be able to use that to my advantage later.
But thoughts of treachery or secretiveness had no room in her mind. She turned her cheek into the hand that caressed her hair. She flushed hotter. More heat and perfume was rolling off of the fires below.
"If I had magic, I'd be able to free myself from these chains."
"I have no chains on you."
"You do, on my heart."
"Fuu, if I had any form of grasp whatsoever on your heart, I could die right now, a happy and fulfilled man."
"Pretty words that sound practiced," she sighed against his cheek. "I'm not the first woman you've said these things to." Even when I'm feeling dizzy and loopy, I can see that!
Ferio averted his gaze. "That doesn't matter."
"Of course it does."
He was quiet for some time. She'd obviously penetrated some sort of well-constructed wall that he'd built against her. Some small part of him had been exposed, and he didn't like it. Or was that look on his face sadness? She couldn't tell. In fact, it was difficult to keep her eyes open. What time was it?
"Nevermind my thoughts or actions. Obviously, they matter not to you."
"They do, though. Everything about you is relevent to me. I'm your slave."
He scoffed. "You're making that word sound worse than it is."
"Oh, am I?"
"Yes."
Fuu only giggled and leaned more into his warmth. Really, it was getting quite chilly outside.
"I care for you," he whispered. "It's as plain as that. And I like to be plain, really I do. Fuu, our meeting was not coincidence. I love you dearly."
"Yes," she said. "I know you do. But why?"
His lips moved across her cheeks. "Why not?"
"Fair point." She never raised her lips to his, but when they slipped against hers, she did not resist them. Pressed against his taut, warm body, she thought she'd surely swoon in a moment or two, anyway.
"Ah, Fuu, Fuu," he whispered again to her. Or was it a chant? Didn't the chanting below sound a little something like, "Fuu, Fuu?" No, of course it couldn't be. Why would the people appeal to her as a God? Why would they worship her as if she were a new Goddess? Or was it "Queen" they were chanting?
He had her now, on a long, plush couch that decorated the balcony. His hands roamed her body, followed ever-closely by his mouth. He was memorizing her. Or mesmerizing. The clever Cephrans and their magic. It wasn't fair. Spellwork was against the rules. Her logic could not fight magic.
"Your magic," he said softly, or so she thought. "Has me thoroughly enslaved. Look to the West. That star burns brightest for you."
Fuu opened her eyes, trying to swim up through the slow waters of her magic-enduced trance. Far in the west, she saw a gleaming point of light. "That is not a star," she said casually, not really knowing why she'd said it.
Ferio's hands were away from her. Well, not completely. Her head lolled against the pillows as his warmth pulled away with him. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes again. She could see bright flakes of fire floating upward on the wind. They lit the air and danced, like fireflies. She watched their progression with strange fascination, and soon she began to believe that they were fireflies.
"You are right," Ferio said suddenly. Fuu looked back to the West. "That's no star. Why, I wonder what it could be."
Fuu didn't care. Her head fell back against the pillows and, in the sky above, she could see the wavering lights of the great fissure she'd caused. They appeared only in the dusk, so she was told. Like the Northern Lights—
"An odd twinkle," he said. "Very strange."
—But she'd never been so far north. Was this world in the North? Oh, that was a silly thought. How could a whole world be north? Maybe this kingdom was in the north of this world. Her world. Well, her world was this world, essentially, wasn't it? Didn't they only lie on parallel planes? In a parallel plane, she was a careless, intelligent, practical young girl. So then, this was the parallel of the parallel world? The parallel parallel world? Paralarallel? So, she was the… parallel of her parallel self?
Fuu clutched her head. "Oh, what is wrong with me?" she moaned.
His hands circled her wrists. "Come to bed with me?" She heard him ask. Or thought he'd asked. Had he been speaking this whole time?
"Yes, I'm weary."
"Thank you, beloved." His smiling face was near hers again, and she smelled his foreign, male smell. It excited her, mingling as it was with the magical perfumes of the night. He picked her up. Oh, Kami, she very nearly felt drunk. She did have that glass of champagne at her cousin's wedding last winter. Actually, it had been two. That feeling felt very much like this one. His hands on her skin were foreign, but weren't. She felt them, but didn't.
"My body feels hot," she whispered. Let him do what he likes with me. I don't care anymore. After all, his mouth against mine isn't quite so bad.
"Come my darling, to bed with us. I should have thought better than to expose you to the herbal smoke. You've never smelled it before. I'll take you inside so that you don't get ill."
"Ok," she said weakly, allowing herself to be carried. Or was she flying? Levitation, yes, that was the feeling.
He kissed her forehead. "You'll feel better soon, Fuu. We'll retire early, and tomorrow, you must remind me to tell the Master Mage that Windam's Sky Shrine is alive."
Umi was asleep almost as soon as she was laid against the pillows. Her sleep was fitful, he could tell that much. She tossed and turned, muttering and murmuring against whatever dreams she was having. He could divine them, if he wished, but he had not the energy for it.
It was her body that held his gaze. It was glowing a faint pearly color. Or perhaps a pale blue. His eyes narrowed at her right hand, which seemed to exude the most light. He stared. In all his nearly eight-hundred years, he'd only seen a select few women who displayed such power. If that's what she really was… but no, how could it be? She was just a child…
A child whose mere presence in my bed could condemn me to death, in the eyes of the Gods… Oh Pillar, I've laid hands on the flesh of a Magic Knight…
In his peripheral vision, he sensed the disturbance of one of his divining pools. He looked over his shoulder into the next room. The pool was glowing as well. The ripples spread outward, beckoning to him.
But he wasn't sure he wanted to look into its depths. No, he wasn't quite so sure about that.