Chapter 78
Shamara remained with Taeron after the emperor left and they walked into the hall together where there was a flurry of activity to prepare for the feast. There were many people working so Taeron soon gave up looking for Dijana among the men and women setting up temporary tables and seating. Instead he left Shamara with the task of telling Dijana that he would join her later and he left the fortress to go to the camp that Meridon's men had made between the fortress and the landing field. The transports that had shuttled them to the surface had returned to the moon so that the enemy could not make use of them and there were two Teralonian ships in addition to the one hyperspace ship remaining. Danlaer was checking over the systems on that ship, so Taeron stopped to discuss the escape plan with him until a messenger arrived to inform Taeron that he should accompany Darlac to the feast.
Returning to Meridon's camp, he found Darlac signaling to several of his men to follow and Taeron was surprised to see them heft large wooden barrels. He told Taeron that his father had been working with Lady Trynity to make a tasty beverage from a fermented herb that he was sure they would all enjoy. Remembering the last time he had taken wine and awakened to find Dijana abducted, Taeron thought he should probably pass on having any. He would probably lose consciousness again and wake to find the fortress being overrun by thralls.
The feast was already well underway when they arrived to a chorus of approving shouts and one gruff command from Meridon who was seated beside Trey.
"Bring one of those barrels here! The emperor wants to sample our latest recipe!"
Seeing Dijana seated between her mother and Lord Duo who now banged a cup on the table before raising it for Darlac to fill, Taeron went to them. "Have you already sampled Meridon's brew?" he asked as he slid onto the bench between him and Dijana.
"More than he should," grumbled Lady Trynity. "And it is not quite Meridon's recipe since I had a hand in creating it."
Trey leaned forward to spear her with an accusing glare. "Have you spoiled it, Trynity? Is this just a spicy tea now?"
"Try it and find out," she challenged him.
Darlac poured a mug of the amber liquid that fizzed and foamed, then he handed it to the emperor who shrugged off his wife's hand on his arm to take it.
"Don't drink that," warned Arora. "You know what happens when you do and I will not heal your aching head and twisting innards."
He ignored her and raised his cup high. "Let us drink to Meridon and his fine brew." There were shouts of approval and Trey drank from his cup, spilling some on his tunic which had his wife frowning.
Trynity leaned over to Arora. "Don't worry, he won't get anything more than a slight buzz. There is barely any alcohol in it. Because Calabrians are lacking the enzymes to properly disgest alcohol, I have cultivated a plant similar to hops that ..."
"Maxwell, shut your mate up!" barked Trey.
Before she could continue speaking, Duo seized a handful of her hair and dragged her head to his to kiss her thoroughly. The men in the hall banged their cups on the table in approval, until Duo suddenly released her and yelped in pain.
Trey burst into laughter. "Defensive move number one!" He raised his cup to drink and then looked down into it perplexed. "Why is my cup empty?" One of Meridon's men hurried to fill it despite the dark look Arora gave both him and her husband.
"I have some nectar from Teralon," Neria suggested from the other side of Dijana. "Perhaps the emperor would like to try it."
"No!" Arora and Trynity blurted at the same time.
Looking away from them, Taeron reached for Dijana's hand under the table. "Did you rest?"
She leaned against him, raising her face to his. "More than I wanted to."
He did not need her to voice her invitation and he was about to kiss her when a hand dropped on his shoulder. "I don't think my father should try any of the Teralonian nectar." Taeron looked up to see Amyr.
Dijana glared at him. "What are you doing here?"
"Protecting my prince," he said with a chuckle and a smile that told Taeron that he knew he was annoying Dijana.
Neria glanced at Amyr. "Prince Amyr, would you sit by me?"
"Mother, there is not enough room!"
Amyr seized Dijana around the waist despite her gasp of outrage and deposited her on Taeron's lap before quickly sliding onto the bench so that she could not prevent him from sitting. "Queen Neria, I have not had a chance to find out how you are enjoying Calabria."
"I was here several months ago," she reminded him. "Nothing has changed. Calabrians are still blood-thirsty brutes and now that they do not have another world to subdue, they are fighting each other."
As Amyr laughed, Taeron brought Dijana's head to his when he saw that she was glaring at Amyr. "You should be thanking him, princess, for putting you where you want to be."
She slipped an arm around his neck and leaned against him. Taeron wanted to be elsewhere with his wife and wondered if they would be missed if he tossed her over his shoulder and carried her out. Her mother was looking at him with an arched brow as if she expected him to do it.
"I suppose he is good for something," murmured Dijana. She stretched up to whisper in his ear, "Is that your dagger I feel against my bottom?"
Smiling, he produced a dagger. "No, it is right here."
Dijana laughed softly and wriggled on his lap. "I think I feel another."
Queen Neria sniffed and Taeron noticed that Dijana's father was frowning. "I expect better behavior out of my daughter," grumbled Roehan.
"I think she has set a wonderful precedent. The bench is hard anyway." Lady Trynity hopped onto her husband's lap.
"Hey, babe, don't get between me and my food," growled Lord Duo before popping a handful of sandslugs in his mouth.
His wife moved on his lap as Dijana had on Taeron's and his father choked and spit out much of what he had just put in it. The men and women at their table burst into laughter as Trynity slapped him on the back, but once the coughing had subsided and she tried to return to her place on the bench, Duo pulled her back on his lap.
"You started something, Miss Stryfe, that you are going to see to the end."
Taeron noticed Amyr watching them with a wistful look on his face, so he reached over to touch his hand. "Soon you will have Quynn back in your arms."
Amyr gave him a half-smile, so Taeron guessed he was pessimistic about their odds. "At least she is safe at Guerani Palace and I don't think Staefyn would harm her or my children."
"Where is Yori?" asked Taeron, glancing around the crowded hall.
"Jeshed is with him." Amyr sighed deeply. "They are very close, closer than I can be with my son. Once I would have been jealous, but now I am only grateful for the relationship they have. Jeshed will protect him when I cannot."
Before they could speak any more, Darlac stopped at the table with two large mugs of the foaming beverage. Taeron noticed that his father and the emperor were having a second cup, slamming their cups together before they looked as though they were racing to drain them. He raised his own and after sipping the brew and finding it tasty, he drank more and when he had finished he felt momentarily giddy and flushed. Amyr had already finished his and held out his cup for more.
"You are warm, my lord prince." Dijana slipped her arms around his waist and snuggled closer to him. He felt a little disoriented from the foaming brew, but not so much that he did not recognize the invitation his wife was giving him.
Darlac had refilled his cup, and after taking another drink and noticing that Amyr was distracted with Neria and his father was busy with some drinking contest with the emperor while their mates commiserated about their foolish behavior, Taeron swung his legs over the bench and lifted Dijana in his arms. Taking her hand, he did not care who noticed them leaving as if anyone would with the raucous revelry that characterized Meridon's feasts.
They did not go far from the hall, just far enough to find some privacy, and putting his back against the wall, he pulled her to him, kissing her until they were both breathless. Her hands pulled at his clothing as he shifted hers and after a brief mishap with one of his daggers that had them both laughing, they were doing what they had wanted earlier. Although the encounter was short, they found mutual pleasure before he slid to the floor with her in his arms.
He held her close as she panted against his neck, and he breathed in her scent, planting it in his memory so that he could recall it in the days to come when they would be parted. "I love you, Dijana," he murmured into her hair.
She raised her face to his. "I am so frightened, Taeron, that you will not return."
He could see her fear and while the odds they faced seemed insurmountable, he had to reassure her, to give her hope. He cupped her face in his hands and looked into her tear-filled eyes. "I will return, Dijana." He smiled at her. "I have gone through too much to have you, so I will fight thousands to come back to you."
Tears spilled over her lashes but she returned his smile. "I will be very angry if you do not return."
He threaded his fingers through her hair to bring her lips to his. "I would not wish for you to be angry with me again."
Before he could kiss her, he heard females giggling and Dijana turned her head to see the handful of servants carrying platters loaded with food.
"You are blocking the way, my lord prince." The females giggled again and Dijana scrambled from his lap and pushed her gown down as Taeron rearranged his own clothing. His wife's flaming cheeks charmed him and he wondered how angry Trey and Meridon would be if he took his wife to his empty chamber to spend the evening with her. The thought was fleeting because he had an obligation to remain at the feast as did his wife, so with a regretful sigh, he slipped an arm around Dijana's waist and hurried her back to the hall where the feast seemed to have gotten even more raucous.
As he took his place on the bench beside Amyr, pulling Dijana on his lap, he caught Amyr's knowing smile and Neria's arched brows. He was surprised to see that Roehan seemed amused, but then Roehan's face was flushed so he was probably drinking copious amounts of Teralonian nectar.
Taeron was spared the impertinent comment that hovered on Amyr's lips by Meridon pounding on the makeshift table that was no more than a plank across two barrels.
"Darlac! Show us your swords!"
Several dark clad men cleared space in the middle of the hall for Darlac who set aside his serving pitcher to pull the two curved swords he wore at his sides to step to the middle of the opened area. Taeron heard Neria remark that now they would be seeing blood since it was a rare day on Calabria that she did not see someone bleed. Darlac spun his swords with amazing speed as he did a series of movements that were similar to the routine a warrior must master before receiving an imperial sword. When he finished, the warriors in the hall pounded on the tables with approval and Darlac bowed low to the emperor who nodded in approval.
"You can be proud of your son," Trey told Meridon who was sitting beside him.
"Darlac is my brother's son," Meridon told him. "When his father died in battle during one of Prince Dilan's incursions, I took him as my own."
Trey gave him a half-smile. "Have you taken many orphaned males as your sons?"
Meridon snorted with laughter and slapped Trey on the back so hard that the emperor had to throw out his hand to keep his head from slamming on the table before him. "If they were not orphaned, there would be no need! Where is that rascal I recently claimed as my own? Amyr!"
Dijana made a sound of annoyance as Amyr jostled her in climbing over the table to answer the old chieftain's call. "My lord!" He strode to the table and bowed to his father and Meridon.
"Has the emperor seen your skill?"
"I have not had the opportunity to show him," Amyr responded although Taeron saw Lady Arora lean towards her husband to whisper something in his ear.
Trey nodded and said, "My wife has pointed out that you have not properly received your commision as Prince Taeron's imperial guard. Bring your sword to her." As Amyr drew his sword and took it to lay on the table before his mother, Taeron set Dijana aside on the bench before climbing over it to join Amyr.
He bowed to the emperor and his wife. "I present Amyr, prince of house Trey, for your consideration as my imperial guard." Drawing the sword his father had given him, Taeron handed it to Amyr and stepped aside to give Amyr room to perform the moves all imperial guards must know.
As Amyr swung the sword and moved through the compulsory routine that Calabrian children learned at an early age, Taeron moved around the perimeter of the clearing, and when he began to call out more complex moves, he pointed to a warrior for each one. That warrior attacked Amyr who was expected to use the move Taeron had announced to defeat his attacker, and when he finished, another took his place. Taeron mused as he sent one after another against Amyr that not so very long ago Amyr did not even know the names of the moves let alone be able to execute the complicated steps and sword work required to perform them. But Amyr moved well, with the grace and skill expected of an imperial guard and when the exercise had come to an end, there was thunderous pounding on the tables.
Heading to Taeron, Amyr dropped to a knee, lowered his head and raised the sword. "Thank you, my lord prince."
Taeron took back his sword and stepped away when Amyr's mother came to Amyr to hold out the sword he had put before her. Now it was glowing with white Guerani magic that made many gasp who had never seen her present an imperial warrior with a sword.
"I give you this sword to protect the empire, Prince Amyr. How will you use this sword?"
He reached up to take the sword. "In service to the emperor."
When he responded to the imperial vow, Taeron thought of the many imperial warriors among the ranks of house Caron who would use the sword that Lady Arora had placed in their hands in this very hall after this very exercise to fight against the emperor they had sworn to serve. He simmered with indignant anger against the men he had trained as he had Amyr, men he had commanded, men he had fought beside, ate beside and slept beside, men who would now try to kill him. How could they not feel the same deep shame that he had when he believed he had broken his oath to marry Princess Dijana? How could they raise the sword that Lady Arora had infused with her magic against her and the rightful ruler?
Taeron was so infuriated by his thoughts that he had become unaware of his surroundings until he realized that Amyr stood before him holding out his hand, his palm bloody. Although he should not be surprised that Amyr was giving him his bonded oath, Taeron did not think it was necessary. Remembering Amyr's annoyance several years ago at the cut through his palm when Taeron had given his oath to him, Taeron smiled to see the earnest look on his face now. When Lady Arora held out the dagger Amyr had used to cut his hand, Taeron took it, sliced through his palm and grasped Amyr's hand to clasp their bleeding palms together. Lady Arora put her hand over theirs and spoke a Guerani blessing and when she stepped away, Taeron was not surprised to see that the cut was healed, leaving a faint scar behind.
Thunderous shouts of approval concluded the ceremony and Taeron noted that Amyr seemed to walk with a spring to his step as he beamed ecstatically. When they climbed over the table to resume their seat, Amyr took the space beside Taeron's father so that Taeron was forced to sit by Neria.
Dijana's mother frowned at his bloody hand as Dijana inspected it. "I knew there would be blood. I think you Calabrians thrive on the sight and smell of it."
"Mother!" Dijana glared at her. "Prince Amyr has made a sacred vow to protect my husband."
Queen Neria waved her hand. "As sacred as the vows made by the men who will face the emperor on the battlefield by the week's end, I would wager."
Dijana look ready to argue, so Taeron closed his hand around hers and squeezed it to stop her. "My lady, the gods will show that the breaking of a sacred oath does not please them."
She sniffed. "We shall see."
Lady Arora was walking back to the table to rejoin her husband, but Meridon stood and bellowed, "Gracious lady, I have heard much of your skill as an imperial warrior."
"Imperial guard," she corrected him with an arched brow, reminding him that her training had gone beyond that of a warrior.
"Will you demonstrate your skill?"
She glanced from Meridon, to her husband, and then she turned towards Taeron's table. "My lord prince, would you and your lovely bride honor us with song as I perform?"
Since he had discovered that he enjoyed singing, Taeron did not balk at her request although Dijana seemed a little nervous. But she did not refuse and stood beside him.
Lady Arora came to Taeron and held out her hand. "My lord prince, might I use your sword for this demonstration?"
Lady Arora had carried the sword of the crown prince through part of her training, so Taeron handed it to her and she carried it back to the table where her husband sat and placed it before him. They shared a smile before she returned to the center of the clearing where she drew her own sword and nodded to Dijana who began to sing her plaintive song of love.
Taeron had only heard Dijana sing at the banquet when they had given their oaths to each other, and now he listened without the shock and joy that had disoriented him that night. Her voice was powerfully moving, and as she sang, the emperor's wife did the routine that Amyr had done, but she moved with the grace of a dancer, her movements as sensual as they were deadly. She spun her sword with as much skill as Darlac had earlier which was even more amazing because she wielded a long sword, not the two short curved swords that were favored by the warriors of Ulfynaeus.
When she came to the end of the rudimentary moves, Apolo hopped over the table along with the emperor who held the sword of the crown prince. Lady Arora nodded to Taeron who joined Dijana in singing as Apolo began to call the moves Taeron had, but it was the emperor who clashed with his wife, the ringing of the swords adding music to the song he sang with Dijana. Taeron was no less amazed than everyone else in the hall that watched Arora's skill. He knew that she had spent hours upon hours perfecting her swordsmanship so that she would not shame the prince to whom she had been bonded with her oath. But hearing it was far different than seeing the amazing skill and grace she used when combating the emperor's moves. No one could accuse him of holding back because more than once the people watching gasped when he nearly sliced into her flesh with the razor sharp edge of Taeron's sword.
The exhibition came to an end and Trey handed her the sword of the crown prince and stepped away to stand with Apolo. The entire hall was charged with emotion, and Taeron expected the people to shout and cheer again, but Arora held both swords up and she nodded to Apolo and Trey. To Taeron's surprise, they began to sing the battle song that Taeron had turned into a ballad, but now they sang at the speed more conducive to prepare for battle. Lady Arora began swinging both swords now as she spun and leapt with agility that the gods had gifted her with. Taeron could only hope that he had half the skill she had, and when the warriors in the hall began to sing with the emperor and his imperial guard, Taeron joined in as well. As they sang faster, she moved faster and faster, the blades of her swords becoming a blur, her hair flying out behind her as she spun and spun and when the song came to an end, she fell to her knee before Trey, her arms extended as she held out the swords to him.
For several moments there was silence and then Meridon's voiced boomed, "By the gods, Trey, this female is wasted on you!"
To Taeron's surprised, Trey chuckled and reached out to take her swords. "I have known that since the day she came into my life."
Arora frowned at him. "I remember it differently, my lord husband. Perhaps you have had too much of Meridon's ale."
He handed her sword back to her and when she was sheathing it, he snagged her around the waist and drew her to him to kiss her on the lips. The emperor had never shown such open affection for his mate in public, the female that was reviled in all corners of the empire because Dax had placed her in the Wastelands to die, and there was only a moment of awkward silence until Meridon laughed and pounded on the table in approval. His apparent blessing made the entire hall erupt into boisterous approval which only encouraged Trey to kiss her longer, and when she had enough, she twisted out of his grasp, using a move that left him flat on his back as she sauntered back to Taeron with the weapon she had taken from the man her brother was helping from the floor amidst the cacophony of laughter from the men and women in the hall.
She handed the sword back to Taeron. "I thank you, my lord prince."
He bowed to her, then took her hand to guide her gracefully back over the table, but she paused to give Dijana a quick hug and thanked her for her music before returning to her seat. Trey and Apolo leapt over the table, and Meridon bellowed for more ale.
Once cups had been filled, Meridon stood and raised his own, facing the emperor and his wife. "Let us drink to Lady Arora, the finest warrior in the empire!" There were shouts of approval and Taeron joined the others in drinking the ale although the brew made him dizzy. Before he knew it, the cup was being filled again because Meridon demanded more.
"Let us drink to our emperor, Trey of house Zeno!"
After Taeron drained his cup, he was sure he would lose consciousness since he had never been able to drink more than one up of spirits in the past. He was glad that the ale made him feel more relaxed, almost as relaxed as the time he had smoked weed with Shamara. He noticed that she was sitting with Chaela, the two of them enjoying the ale as well.
"To the crown prince!" Taeron was surprised the men and women serving the ale could keep up with Meridon's proclamations.
"To the imperial guards!"
Finally he announced, "Let us drink to all the houses loyal to the emperor and to their imperial warriors. May the gods guide their blades in battle and bring them victory in service to the emperor!"