Savage Splendor (Savage Lagonda 2) (30 page)

"I will excuse the both of you, since I have pressing business to attend to," Tajarez said, moving away from them.

Mara breathed a sigh of relief, and she felt her tension ebb once she was relieved of his ominous presence.

Sasha played with little Andrew until he fell asleep, then she and Mara had lunch together. Mara was beginning to feel relaxed with her, and she thought they must have been good friends, because she was beginning to like her very much.

When Andrew awoke, Mara accompanied Sasha to the third floor, where her apartments were located. As they passed the second floor on their way up the stairs, Mara looked at the imposing sentinel who guarded the second floor. He seemed to look right past her.

"Sasha, where is the queen?"

They had reached Sasha's apartment and she pushed the door open, allowing Mara to enter and giving her time to think what to say to her.

"The queen is not here for now, Mara."

Mara looked about the spacious room and thought it felt warm and welcoming, like Sasha herself.

"When will she return?"

"I am not sure," Sasha replied avoiding Mara's eyes. "I hope it will be soon."

Mara sensed that Sasha did not want to talk about the queen, so she asked no more questions.

She was delighted with little John. He had much lighter skin than Andrew, and his hair was a deep, rich brown with golden highlights. His brown eyes had green flecks in them.

Mara was finding it easy to talk to Sasha, and she seemed to be learning more about her past from her than she had from anyone else. Sasha had been to her home in St. Louis, so she described it to Mara in great detail. She told about Tess, the serving woman, who had a gruff manner, but was in truth very kind. The afternoon passed quickly, and Mara was almost sorry to leave. Sasha had invited her to take dinner with herself and Jeffery, but Mara declined, not wanting to see her brother.

Sasha escorted Mara downstairs to her own bedroom, and, with a final hug, told her she would see her the next day.

Mara ate a solitary meal in her bedroom. She then played with Andrew until he became fussy. Dressing him in a clean gown, she fed him and put him in the cradle. Time now hung heavily on her hands. It was still early, so she decided she would go into the anteroom again, if no one was about. She definitely did not want to see Tajarez again.

Falon readily agreed to watch Andrew, and Mara pulled a light shawl about her shoulders and made her way to the anteroom. Unlike the night before it was brightly lit, but there did not seem to be anyone about. Mara crossed the floor cautiously, her soft shoes hardly making any noise. When she reached the windows that looked out into the City, she let her gaze wander. It was hard to see anything but the lights. She wished she could view it in the daylight hours. Turning her attention to the gold sheeting, she crossed the room and stood staring up at what she knew would be seen as a great discovery by the scientific world. Soon she was so engrossed in the ancient carvings she did not hear the light footsteps, nor did she know Tajarez stood just behind her.

"I see you are drawn back to the ancient writings, Mara."

Mara jumped guiltily. "I hope you will not think I am intruding. I am fascinated by the hieroglyphics."

"I can assure you that you are welcome to come into the anteroom when it is not being used, which would be early in the morning or in the evenings. I would caution you, though. Do not attempt to leave the palace."

"Am I a prisoner, then?"

"Not at all. It is very cold out, and I would not like you to catch a chill."

"I am not in the least pleased with your interest in my health, and I do not believe your reasons. I just made a trip in extreme cold weather, and I did not become ill. I think you are trying to hold me here against my will. I do not yet know the reason for it, and I do not suppose you will tell me," she said, turning her back to him.

"Let us just say I do not want you to venture past the safety of the palace, and let it go at that."

"Let's not let it go at that. Give me a reason. I like to think I am a reasonable person. If someone gives me a good reason for not doing something, I will try to understand."

He seemed to loom above her. "Knowing you as I do, if I tell you not to do something, that is the very thing you will do," he said, without humor. He could not tell her one of his people might see her, and, by word or deed, reveal who she was. He had taken the precaution of placing a guard at the front entrance, to prevent her leaving.

"Why are you doing this?"

"For your own good."

"Would I be stoned if I went into the streets as a scarlet woman?" she said angrily.

"Mara, do not fight me on this. I grow weary of your sharp tongue."

"I will bid you a good night, then," she said, stinging from his words. Gathering up her swirling skirt she tried to step around him, but he barred her exit. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Do I have your word that you will not try to leave by the front entrance?"

"Would you trust my word?"

"I have never had cause to doubt your honesty."

"Then I give you my word I will not try to go outside tomorrow."

Tajarez was not pacified into believing she would not attempt to go out that night. He could almost see her mind working. He had an advantage she was not aware of—he knew her.

Mara held her head high as she walked away from him. She would show him he could not dictate to her. When she reached her bedroom door she did not enter, but stood outside it, waiting for time to pass. When she felt she had waited long enough, she made her way back to the anteroom. Peering into the room, she felt that it was empty, but she would not venture forth until she was sure. Many of the torches had been extinguished and the room was in shadows. Gathering up her courage, she rushed across the floor. The door seemed a long way off, and she expected to be discovered at any moment. Glancing at the stairs, she saw no one.

When she reached the massive front door, she had trouble opening it. She pulled and tugged at the golden handles and decided that they must be locked. With a final turn, she pushed with all her strength and felt the door open. A blast of frigid air hit her in the face, and she chided herself for not bringing a cloak. She considered going back to get something warm to put on, but decided against it. She might not find the anteroom empty when she returned. She felt elated as she stepped out into the cold night air. She would stand at the top of the steps and view the city below. It felt good to know she was doing something that Tajarez disapproved of.

Hugging her arms about her for warmth, she suddenly came face to face with a fierce-looking warrior. He did not attempt to touch her, but stood with his arms folded across his chest barring her way.

"Stand aside," she said in an authoritative voice, and just for a moment she thought the man would obey her. She saw indecision on his face, but it was soon replaced by a stern look.

"My orders are not to let you pass," he said.

"I do not care about your orders. I say stand aside!"

The guard looked uneasy now, but he did not move out of her path. Mara was on the verge of pushing past him when she felt a fur cape being placed about her shoulders. Its warmth immediately embraced her cold body. She did not need to look up to know who stood behind her.

The guard bowed his head in a salute to the king and moved aside as Tajarez led Mara forward.

Mara could not suppress a shudder, wondering what her punishment would be at Tajarez's hands after she had deliberately disobeyed him.

23

I cry out to a darkened sky.

I have this love that will not die.

"Do you find it necessary to terrorize my guard?" he said in a voice laced with humor. "I should be angry with you."

"If anyone should be angry, it should be me. How dare you order your guards not to let me pass?"

"My guards obey me without question. You would do well to take a lesson from them."

Mara whirled around to face him. "You . . . you are . . ."

"Insufferable?" he supplied.

"Insufferable," she repeated.

"An egotist?" he offered.

"Yes, that too! And arrogant."

"Hmmm, you forgot irritating."

Mara realized he was toying with her and her anger reached its zenith. She had the strongest urge to fly at him and pound him with her fists. He arched an eyebrow at her as if to say he knew what she was thinking.

Taking both her hands in his he swung her around to face him. His hands moved up to rest on her shoulder. "Now it is my turn. I have had to stand here and suffer your arrows, and verbal assassination. I will now tell you what I think of you."

She stared at him haughtily. "I do not want to hear what you think of me."

His arms slid from her shoulders to her back, pulling her closer to him.

"Nonetheless, you will hear me out. You are rebellious, disobedient, and totally adorable and enchanting."

Mara wanted to run, to flee into the safety of the palace. She could stand his anger better than she could the soft tone in his voice. In spite of her anger, she felt tiny shivers of delight race down her spine. His voice was deep and husky, and she could feel his warm breath on her face.

"Release me," she said through trembling lips.

He stared at her so long she thought she could not stand it a moment longer. Her heart was racing as she stared back into his liquid brown eyes. She was frightened that he would try to kiss her, and she was afraid he would not. Dear God, she thought, how could he have such power over her? Why did she love him with her whole being?

She heard him take a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You came out here to see the city. Let me show it to you. Off to your right you will see the marketplace. If one is of a mind to, he can purchase foodstuff, clothing, household items, fine jewelry. Although you cannot see it from this vantage point, to your left is the temple. Behind that is a building, which you would call a school, where the young men of the Lagonda receive their education. Behind the palace are the stables, where all of my horses are kept. Perhaps one day I shall take you there."

In spite of her resolve not to listen to him, he had piqued her interest.

"Are your girls educated?"

"Yes, but not in the same way as the males."

"Do they read and write?"

"We have a written language, yes."

"Would it be anything like the hieroglyphics on the wall of the anteroom?"

"No. No one but yourself can read the carvings on the wall."

"I think I am beginning to see why I was brought back here and why I am not allowed to leave. You will not allow me to leave until I have completed translating the hieroglyphics."

Tajarez looked down at her and their eyes locked. Again Mara felt her heart drumming. Did he also feel this strong current that ran between them like a bolt of lightning? she wondered.

"Finish the translating, and then we shall talk about your leaving."

"Why do I have the feeling you will never allow me to leave?" Her eyes looked past him to the City below. She could see many people milling about. Her eyes were drawn to the mountains in the distance. Whether Tajarez would admit it or not, she
was
a prisoner, held captive no more by the foreboding mountains than by the tall Indian who stood beside her.

"I must find a way to leave. I do not belong here," she said, looking back to Tajarez who had been watching her intently.

"Mara, what you seek will not be found beyond the mountains. What is lost to you may be much closer to you than you think."

"How can you know what I seek, when I myself do not know?"

He looked upward trying to gain control over his emotions. When he finally looked down at her, his eyes were fierce, and his voice harsh. "I know better than you do what you have lost."

"If you know this, then tell me so that I may know it also!"

Tajarez opened his mouth to speak, then reconsidered. He took her hand and led her back into the palace.

"Do not again attempt to leave the palace, Mara. There is no way you can escape."

"At last you are admitting I am your prisoner!" she cried, jerking her hand free of his grasp. "What do you want of me? Tell me so I can give it to you. I will do anything to gain my freedom."

"I am king. I need no reason to keep you. If I say you stay, you stay."

"But why?" she pleaded.

He moved forward and captured her arm before she suspected his intentions, and drew her to him. "Great Father, can you not see that I . . . want you?" he said in a passionate voice. "I lay in my bed alone last night, and thought of you alone in your bed. I wanted to come to you and beg you on my knees, if need be, to give yourself to me." His hands moved up to cup her face. He brushed a stray curl from her face. His eyes were bright and Mara was hypnotized by them.

"I am not a king with you, Mara, but a beggar. Do you want me to grovel at your feet, Mara? I can assure you I will if you ask it of me."

Mara shook her head. She could not believe the things he was saying to her. It was some kind of trick, she thought. His finger traced the outline of her face, and she closed her eyes, aching from his touch.

"Did you not like the way I made your body respond to me when we made love? Do you not want to feel that way again? Say the words and I will take you to my room. There is denial on your lips, Mara, but I see desire in your eyes." His finger lightly touched her trembling lips. "You want to say yes; I want you to say yes. Come with me now," he whispered, resting his cheek against hers.

Mara turned her face away. Oh, she wanted to say yes, but she would never consent to let him make love to her in the same bed he had shared with his queen. That thought alone gave her the courage to say no.

"I think perhaps you misjudge me, Tajarez. Even I have more thought for your queen than you do. I suggest you wait until she returns. She will give you what you cannot have from me. I do not want you to touch me."

His hands dropped away from her, and when she looked at him, his face seemed to have lost some of its color and his jaw clamped tightly. Mara was never to know what he would have said to her, for at that moment she saw Jeffery enter the anteroom, and she ran toward him.

Jeffery saw the frightened look on his sister's face and put his arms about her. "What has occurred? You seem overly distressed."

"If you have any love for me you will protect me from the man you call king!"

Jeffery's eyes shifted to Tajarez, who had come up behind Mara. "What is the meaning of this, Tajarez? What have you done to my sister?"

It was the first time Mara had heard Jeffery raise his voice to Tajarez, and her spirits rose. Perhaps her brother would now help her to get away from this hell.

Tajarez was still smarting from Mara's words, and it did not help his temper any that she had run to her brother to be protected from him.

"I merely tried to induce your sister to come to my bed. Do you have any objections?"

Mara's eyes moved from one man to the other. Surely Jeffery would not take such an insult directed at his own sister. Tajarez would not be so arrogant once her brother took her side against him. She watched, horrified, as she read indecision on Jeffery's face.

"I wish you would not talk so plainly in front of Mara. I do not like to see her embarrassed," Jeffery said.

"Embarrassed!" Mara screamed. "What about honor, pride, brother-sister love? What about the insult to one of your own blood?" Mara's voice was high-pitched, and she was on the verge of hysteria. "Would you stand by while your sister is held prisoner and humiliated by this man? Are you such a coward that you will not help me?"

Jeffery looked into the eyes of his sister and saw fear. He knew how he must appear in her eyes. But he was helpless to do anything. What could he say against her own husband? Was this nightmare ever going to end?

"Tajarez, I am going to move my sister into my apartment with Sasha and myself. I think she would feel better there," Jeffery finally said.

"Mara stays where she is, Jeffery. Are you forgetting who I am?"

Mara gathered up the skirts of her gown and fled to her room.

"Damnit, Tajarez, can you not control your ardor until Mara remembers who she is? You are making her suffer needlessly. Heaven only knows what she thinks of me, and I cannot even go to her and offer her comfort," Jeffery said angrily.

"I do not have to answer to you, Jeffery. I have tried to stay away from her, but in spite of my good intentions, I cannot leave her alone."

"In the future you might consider her feelings and try a little harder," Jeffery said dryly, as he turned on his heels to leave.

Tajarez watched him depart, and he then walked up the stairs, feeling as if he carried the weight of the world on his broad shoulders.

When Mara reached her room, she found Andrew awake and hungry. She dismissed Falon so she could be alone with her son. Here, in this room, was the only place she felt safe. Looking at the door she saw there was no lock on it. Suppose Tajarez were to come to her here?

Oh God, what was she to do? It seemed as if the walls were beginning to close in on her. She must find a way to escape! There was no one she could turn to. No one would help her. She had to think rationally. If she did not get away, it would be only a matter of time before Tajarez broke down her defenses and she submitted to him again. He seemed to have a strange power over her. She loved him and wanted nothing more than to be with him.

Andrew's hunger was satisfied, and he fell asleep. Laying him in his cradle, Mara undressed and climbed into bed. Her life had been one upheaval after another since she had first awakened with Jake and Zeke.

Rolling over to her side, Mara tried to fall asleep, but she kept remembering the things Tajarez had said to her tonight. "Why do I love you!" she cried. I do not want to love you. She knew she would never be able to endure another day like today. She prayed for sleep, but it was a long time coming.

The next morning when Falon entered carrying Mara's breakfast tray, she found Mara dressing Andrew. She placed the tray down on a table and smiled at the little prince.

"Mara, if you will allow me to finish dressing Andrew, you can eat your meal while it is hot."

Mara nodded her consent. She sighed as she picked up one of the corncakes spread with honey. Taking a bite she wondered how she would pass the long hours of the day that seemed to yawn before her. She thought about going into the anteroom and studying the gold sheeting on the walls, but quickly rejected that idea, fearing she might encounter Tajarez.

Falon had finished dressing Andrew and lifted him into her arms. "I have a message for you from the king, Mara."

Mara took a sip of the steaming hot coffee and looked at Falon. She wanted to tell the girl that she did not want to hear anything that her king had to say, but she thought better of it. Falon was a sweet girl and Mara knew it would not be right to take out her anger on her.

"What did he ask you to tell me?" Mara asked, trying to disguise the anger in her voice, but not entirely succeeding.

"My king said to tell you that if you wish it, Palomas will accompany you into the garden. He said the fresh air will do you good." Falon frowned. "I do not fully understand the rest of the message."

"What more did he have to say?"

"My king said that you were not to worry, he would not trouble you again."

Mara was immediately suspicious of Tajarez's motives. "Has the queen returned?"

Falon looked down at little Andrew so she would not have to meet Mara's eyes. "My queen is not yet with us. I am told that the king is leaving the City to search for Sagas, the wise."

Mara pushed the breakfast tray aside, feeling somewhat relieved. If Tajarez was out of the City she would not have to worry about running into him. Perhaps with him gone she could search for a way to leave the valley.

The days passed slowly. Winter seemed reluctant to loosen its grip on the land. Fresh snow fell almost daily. The skies were bleak and overcast. The season suited Mara's mood. She now spent a great deal of time with Sasha, glad that her brother had gone away with Tajarez and she would not have to see him.

Mara felt that she and Sasha were forming a strong bond of friendship. They had much in common in their small sons. Mara was finding out that Sasha had a kind and loving nature, and she could see why her brother had married her and chosen to live in the hidden valley, instead of in the white world he had grown up in.