Mica (26 page)

The Knight kissed her cheek and she embraced him tightly. “Thank you.”

“Don’t deny your heart,” Blaze told her. “Ever.”

She nodded, turning back to Mica.

“I’ll find another room to sleep,” Zareb said. “Use my bed to rest when you’re tired, Dame Sun.”

“Thank you.”

“Pray the symptoms don’t return,” Blaze said, “but if they do call me without haste.”

Both men left the chamber, closing the door behind them.

Sun took the seat Zareb had used and tugged it close to the bed.

Mica slept without sound or motion for the remainder of the day. His fever continued to drop and by evening his skin felt cool beneath her hand. As she lit the lantern on the table in the corner of the room she heard the rustle of sheets.

She sat on the edge of his bed. “Mica?”
His eyes opened, glittering blue in his ashen face.

“Sun.” He swallowed, attempting to moisten his dry lips with an even drier tongue.

She reached for a mug of water and held it while he drank. Even taking a few swallows exhausted him. He closed his eyes again and sank into the pillows. “I’m sorry.”

“Mica, you don’t have to be sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“If I hadn’t brought you there—”

“I chose to follow you.”

He gazed at her. “I haven’t the right but I love you. I can’t bear another attack. I’m dying. I’m sorry.”

“You’re not dying.” She cupped his cheek in her palm. “Valor came with the portia.

It stopped your last attack. You’re going to get well, Mica. Blaze’s cure will work.”

“It can’t be.”

“It is.” She measured out another dose of the portia then held the mug to his lips, thinking how grateful she was that the portia had given him a second chance. “Drink this.”

He swallowed, nearly gagging on the taste, but finished the contents of the mug.

“Go back to sleep.” She fixed his blankets and kissed his forehead.

“Are you all right? You should be resting.”

“I am. It’s not like you’re hard to watch. You’ve been sleeping all day.” Sun smiled slightly as Mica’s eyes slipped shut. “Looks like you will be all night too.”

The physical drain from the disease combined with some of the strong ingredients she’d watched Blaze mix with the portia, she didn’t doubt Mica would be sleeping much over the next week.

Sun sat beside him for several moments before stretching out on Zareb’s bed. While gazing at her lover she drifted into a light sleep.

* * * * *

Mica awoke, the bitter taste of sleep and portia on his tongue. His entire body ached and his scalp felt raw beneath the cushion of bandages. His first coherent thought was of Sun. He glanced at her sleeping in the bed next to his. Sunlight streamed in through the parted curtains and glinted off her hair. Furious, he noted the bruises on her face and healing slashes on her bare arms. Karlus and his bastards had done their job well.

Flashes of Sun’s rape—and his own—raced through Mica’s mind. Violation of his body had been humiliating not to mention painful but watching Sun endure the same indignity—Sun who had already suffered so much—was unbearable. Mica knew his life had been given back to him. The last thing he should consider was taking another life but he was overwhelmed by the desire for revenge upon Karlus and the guards who’d tortured Sun.

He pushed himself the edge of the bed, his stomach lurching. The aftereffects of bog
tremors combined with the strength of Blaze’s potion made him queasy. Slight quivers—nothing compared to what he’d been accustomed to during attacks—coursed through his body, reminding him of how close he’d come to death. A bowl of water and a towel rested on the trunk at the foot of his bed. It took him several moments to rally the strength to move without fear of falling on his face. With slow steps he reached the water bowl where he washed his face and cleaned his teeth and tongue. Though the grime of prison had been washed away—he vaguely recalled Zareb performing the task—he longed for a bath. His skin was dirty with dried sweat and smelled of strong herbal salve that had been rubbed on his muscles in an attempt to lessen the pain of bog tremors. He forced his thoughts away from what he remembered of this last attack. The agony had been so blinding that he’d prayed for death. Now he was glad the Goddess had answered his call in a different way.

If the portia truly cured the disease he would become a whole man again. He doubted he could give up such a gift even to the Priesthood. Not when he could finally have Sun, providing she wanted him after what she’d endured.

“What the hell are you doing up?” Sun pushed tendrils of hair from her face. She stood, took his arm and tugged him toward his bed.

“I needed to wash and stretch before I grow to that mattress like fungus. And you don’t have to walk me like an old man.”

“Oh you’re getting better already.” She grinned but didn’t remove her hands from his arm.

He settled back onto the bed. Though he refused to admit it he was glad to rest again. Sun left him to pour a mug full of the foul-tasting potion. “Drink this.”

Mica curled his lip. “As much as I’m grateful for the portia, it’s the most putrid brew I’ve ever tasted.”

“It saved your life.”

“I know. I can hardly believe it.” Mica drained the mug quickly, trying not to scrunch his face like a child forced to eat a dreaded vegetable.

Sun laughed. “I guess it does taste as bad as it smells. Are you hungry? You haven’t eaten in days.”

“Not really.”

The portia sloshed in his stomach. After attacks his appetite always took time to return.

“I’m bringing you something anyway. You need to eat.”

“Sun.” He grasped her wrist, staring into her eyes. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

He entwined his fingers with hers. “About what happened—”

“We don’t need to talk about it. When I’m well I’ll just make it my life’s work to rip out Karlus’ heart and any of those other pigs I can ram my sword into.”

In spite of her callous words, Mica knew Sun well enough to understand she was
disguising her pain. She had spent her life hiding what she considered “weaknesses”

and to give in now would, in her eyes, mean surrender to the filthy bastards who’d hurt her.

“Karlus and the others will be dealt with. You have my word.”

“Mica, let’s not talk about this now.” She dropped to the edge of his bed and placed a hand on his shoulder. Her touch warmed him through the tunic. “You’re going to be cured. That’s all I care about. Karlus and those guards mean
nothing
compared to what’s happened here.”

“Dame Sun, I can’t stand the thought of what they did to you.”

“They did the same to you.”

“I wish it had only been me.”

“My preference would have been neither of us. I’ll be back with something to eat.”

He watched as she left then closed his eyes.

Moments later a tap sounded on the door. It creaked open and the High Advisor stepped inside. Out of habitual respect Mica stood.

“Will you sit?” The Advisor shook his head, crossing the room in two strides and applying gentle pressure to Mica’s shoulders. “I’m sorry I couldn’t have come more often over the past few days but as you can imagine the emperor has been planning his defenses and forming alliances with some of the smaller Kingdoms. It was mandatory that I assist him.”

“I understand. What is our situation?”

“We have everything under control.”

“Details?”

“I refuse to provide you with details and I have forbidden anyone with knowledge of details to burden you with them until you’re fully restored.”

Mica’s anger bristled though he did his best to remain calm in the presence of his superior. “You know I can be of assistance—”

“And you will but not until you’re well. After that we intend to use your expertise as much as we did during the battle with the first false emperor.” Kado folded his hands in front of his floor-length blue tunic. “Is there anything I can do for you?

Anything you need?”

“I’d love a bath.”

Kado nodded and headed for the door. Moments later he returned followed by several servants carrying a wooden tub and buckets of warm water. Once the tub was filled Kado excused the servants and removed his tunic, revealing a vest and trousers beneath. He approached the bed. “Do you need help undressing?”

Mica wondered if he looked as shocked as he felt. “You can’t help me bathe. You’re the High Advisor.”

“Who is also a High Priest and like my brothers spent years in service as a healer
and teacher. Promotion hasn’t weakened my stomach, Mica. You have injuries that need care.”

Mica removed the tunic, his arms and back aching from the overhead movement.

He stepped into the tub and closed his eyes. The warm water soothed his muscles though some of the deep lacerations smarted.

Kado unraveled the bandage on his head. The High Advisor used fresh water from a pitcher to clean his scalp. In spite of Kado’s gentle touch Mica’s head stung. He wondered exactly how much flesh Karlus had ripped off with his hair.

The door opened and Val stepped inside. The Priest’s gaze roamed over Mica with pity then he looked at Kado. “The emperor asks for your presence, High Advisor. He’s in his meeting room.”

“Of course. I need to bandage Mica—”

Val stepped inside. “I’ll do it.”

Kado nodded, wiping his hands dry and donning his tunic before he left the room.
Chapter Thirteen
The slightly built Priest approached, taking a cake of soap and running it over Mica’s back, carefully cleaning the bruised and broken skin.

“Val, thank you for the help but I’m fine.” Mica took the soap from the Priest’s hand.

“You look terrible though not nearly as bad as when you first got here.” Val rinsed Mica’s back and shoulders before reaching for fresh bandages to wrap his head. Most of his long hair had been chopped off along with a patch of flesh at the back of his head and some on the sides. After he’d been rescued, the healer had cut off what was left of his hair to make tending his wounds easier. “That looks painful. All your beautiful hair is gone.”

“That’s the least of my worries.”

“I know. You and Dame Sun suffered terribly.”

“I’m more concerned about her.” In truth her refusal to admit how deeply she’d been hurt worried him, though he knew it was how she chose to cope with the problem.

“I knew you would be. Now that Sir Blaze has found a cure are you going to reconsider your decision to become a Priest?”

Mica sighed, at the moment not wanting to deal with the issue. “I don’t know.”

“If you don’t know then it’s already decided.”

“I don’t want to discuss it.”

“You’ll need to discuss it before your ritual.” Val began wrapping Mica’s head. “At least you have a beautifully shaped head. You could even stay bald and still be considered handsome. Are you going to keep the beard?”

Mica ran a hand over his stubbled chin. He reached for the razor and mirror on top of the trunk and began to shave, cutting in a goatee. When he’d finished he glanced at Val.

“I like it,” the Priest said. “Something wicked about it. Reminds me of how you looked when you were a general.”

A shadow of what I looked like as a general.

He’d been younger then, his face full, his skin dark and glowing with good health.

His eyes had been sharp, cunning. Now they bore fine lines and the cunning had changed to wisdom. One of his eyes was badly bruised, half closed and bloodshot, a gash stitched shut above the eyebrow. His prominent cheekbones appeared even sharper since his illness. Soon with rest and Blaze’s treatment he would regain the strength he’d lost and look healthy again. Such good fortune was almost beyond his
wildest hopes. To become the man he once was in body but possess the humanity that had developed throughout the trials of the past five years was a gift he wasn’t sure he deserved. Only one more thing would make it perfect, having Dame Sun share his life.

He wasn’t worthy of her. Still he knew she cared for him but did she care enough? In the back of his mind through a haze of herbs and pain he thought he heard her say she loved him. Still he thought he’d seen and heard a number of things that could not have been. He thought he’d seen his mother too but that was impossible.

The door opened and Sun stepped inside, a plate of food in her hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were bathing.”

“Just in time, Dame Sun.” Val hurried out the door. “I have duties to attend. You can help him finish.”

“I don’t need help.”

“I brought you some salve,” she said. “If you’re half as sore as I am from being chained up you can use it. I like this.” Sun touched his goatee before she picked up the soap and lathered her hands. Standing behind him, she ran her sudsy hands over his shoulders and chest.

“You don’t have to do this, Sun. You’ve done enough for me already.”

“Don’t you like it?”

“Yes,” he closed his eyes, his muscles relaxing beneath her soapy massage. He more than liked it.

“Then enjoy it.”

Mica drew a deep breath as her hands rubbed slow circles over his chest. Beneath soreness and exhaustion desire stirred inside him. After what he’d gone through he was shocked he could feel anything sexual but Sun was more than arousing. She was affectionate, kind and comforting yet she’d suffered the same as he had.

Grasping her hand, he tugged her to the side of the tub and gazed into her eyes.

There was so much he wanted to say but words wouldn’t come. As if in understanding she smiled and kissed him. His cock swelled and he grasped her shoulders, holding her so close that his wet chest dampened the front of her tunic.

“Mica,” she murmured between kisses. She took his lower lip between her teeth and ran her tongue over it, her arms sliding around his neck. “Mica, no. You have to rest more.”

“I know,” he said, running his lips and teeth down the side of her neck. She moaned softly. Her stiff nipples scraped his chest in the most arousing manner.

“Mica.” She giggled, pushing away and standing.

By the Goddess she looked beautiful. The front of her tunic was transparent from the water. Her plump nipples stood out, beckoning his fingers and lips. Her eyes glistening with lust and good humor, she flung him a towel.