Passion Light (8 page)

He nodded in understanding. It did fit with the old man’s personality. He was hard to read telepathically because he was both deceptive and extremely impulsive. It was hard to get a fix on someone’s intentions when they were so changeable. The old man didn’t have a fixed agenda. He had the impulse to do any harm he could in the shortest amount of time and he loved to hurt people.

“Gossip is a skill he has that would make a room full of old ladies look like amateurs,” she continued. “He’s what they used to call a politician or a spin doctor before the wars. Through his ability to use lies and innuendo he can make anyone look like either a hero or a villain. He can make most people believe nearly anything. He’s even been deadly to people who displeased him. Much of his power comes with his ability to look harmless when he isn’t. I guess it’s my turn now. I should have seen it coming. I feel he’s been reluctant to use too much force against me because people here depend on me, thus this arranged marriage. He gets rid of me, the limitations he feels because of me, and he avoids making people too angry. He wants to be able to make people believe he’s not the bad guy he is. He also may have another plan I know nothing about. You seem to understand more about what he plans than I do.”

“I really don’t understand him. He’s very different and illogical, too. He should value you, but he doesn’t,” Evan said. “It’s a dangerous thing what you’ve been doing, standing his way, in the way of what he wants,” he said. “I feel strongly that he plans to harm you…perhaps even try to kill you. It’s part of the reason I am here.”

“In the past it’s helped that he is lazy. I do a lot of work around here, but I also keep him from having all he wants. The only way I’ve been able to move him is through the fact that I oversee the production of all we eat here. It’s important and necessary to Uncle to eat well and the guests expect it, too. To him it’s a selfish and pragmatic marketing decision to keep me in place,” she said, “or at least it was. Obviously he feels he doesn’t need me anymore.”

She didn’t sound heartbroken over it, just resigned.

“Why do you call him Uncle?” Evan asked. “You obviously don’t treasure the relationship.”

“No, it’s true that I don’t,” Isabelle agreed. “I do it to needle him, not that I think it bothers him. He came here playing on the tenuous relationship so my father would allow him in the walls and then he betrayed us. But it also makes it uncomfortable for him to treat me too badly. People would all stop trusting him. Though there are many who know he can’t be trusted he still cares what people think of him. I guess it’s an ego thing. Power, prestige, respect, money and food all matter a lot to him but in reality he’s really shallow and mean.”

“How many men does your uncle command?” he asked.

“About 60, 40 that he brought with him. My father had about 20 men, most loyal to me as much as they can manage, plus Albert has been training 8 women in secret who wanted fighting skills. Generally they are the ones who have been the most abused by men. It seems to help them recover from whatever has happened to them. They train in the dungeons to which I have the only keys.”

“How good are they?” Evan asked.

“Albert says they are adequate, but he’s a master of understatement,” Isabella said. “I have watched them train and trained with them some. They are as good as many of the men and they are more disciplined about training regularly. We encourage all the women to train some.”

“ I brought 20 men with me and 6 women who wanted the warrior way, too,” he answered.

“You allow it?” she asked. “I’m surprised a man would. Most consider women the weaker sex,” she said sarcastically. “Plus men always cause trouble over women if they want them sexually.”

“We don’t ‘allow’ them to train. They choose what they want to do with their lives. They don’t have to seek permission. No one does. It’s customary in our world for everyone, men, women and children to be trained to fight effectively. We also choose our careers and educational specialties as we wish. We have military and exploration adventures while we are young, before we take on the responsibilities of family. If we get hurt or killed it is not so devastating for so many people. We also get the opportunity to learn from our mistakes. All those who chose to come here with me are well trained. Our society requires strategic input for important decisions from both men and women. The decisions tend to be both more balanced and more successful. Neither sex is more successful statistically without the other’s wisdom. It is our way and integral to our need to find the right mate.” 

He continued, “We are not usually celibate before marriage, but private stuff…sexual contact is very private in our culture. That’s why I was so shocked when the priest touched me. No one in our society would touch a stranger sexually. It’s considered rude, even criminal. We have same sex relationships sometimes, just as people do here, but it’s consensual, not exploitive or forced. In a society like ours where people can see things and sense things telepathically privacy has a larger meaning. Normally it would be anyone’s private business if they were discreet. We try hard to keep our minds out of each other’s personal thoughts and opinions unless we are working on a specific community issue.”
 

“I can see that being able to read minds could be intrusive,” Isabelle said. “I don’t know if I like the idea at all.”

He looked worried and said; “You and I and anyone can block things if we want to. We try to merely care for those we welcome to our families and groups while avoiding being overly intrusive, especially in private matters. It’s a fine line most of us don’t cross.”

“You’re telling me sometimes people cross the line?” she asked.

“Sometimes,” he agreed. “It can lead to criminal prosecution in the worst cases. Generally we know where to draw the line, but it can be as tempting as any other vice, like prostitution. That’s one we rarely fall into.”

“Your representative had sex with one of our workers and paid for it with precious metals,” she said, smiling ironically.

“Brian has found his mate, the one from his dreams. He thought she was dead. It was a happy thing for him finding her alive. How did you know anyway?”

“Nothing is as private here as Uncle thinks,” she answered. “I saw him and Glory together. They did seem to be having a very good time. My room is the only bedchamber in the castle without opportunities for spying and listening. I do it all the time. I spy to keep up with whatever’s going on here. It’s another necessary part of my life I would wish I didn’t have to do. Most of the time I don’t get much pleasure from it, but watching Brian and Glory was different. It seemed better than the usual in some way I can’t describe.”

His look took on a hint of admiration, which confused her. Looking through spy holes in a brothel definitely constituted an invasion of privacy in both her world and his. His look contradicted what he had told her. She did not know what to say or how to react so she changed the subject.

“Why would you expect me to be your wife?” she asked. “We could make an alliance that would work without being married or having sex.”

“I think I can understand your reluctance considering what goes on here, but I still think we could work better as more intimate partners,” he said. “Besides I have waited for you my whole life. The kind of connection I feel toward you is very important in our society. It’s not something I am going to ignore. What you saw between Brian and Glory might help you understand better than anything I could say. You obviously sensed the difference between what they were doing and experiencing and the sex lives of most of the people here.”

She looked like she was thinking it over, but then she had another thought.

“What if I can’t have children?” she asked. “I cannot offer you a guarantee that I am fertile. In fact few people here, either men or women are.”

“Fertility is not a problem in our culture but even if it was, any child, including ones we find are raised as our own and nurtured the best we can manage. If you take and pass a parenting course you will find a child or children to cherish and raise,” he said, “but I know you are fertile and that we will have children. I have seen them.”

She couldn’t decide if she was annoyed or offended. “You have seen our children?” she asked, and she sounded annoyed.

He did the grunt and nod thing. He was surprised she was annoyed but decided it would be best to change the subject. “Your uncle made this place into something bad, toxic to everyone here, but things can change. Change is the one thing we can all expect.”

“Uncle plans some changes that are disastrous for the people living here,” she agreed.

“So stop him,” Evan said.

She had thought about it. She had thought about it endlessly, her thoughts and emotions and anxieties circling in her brain desperately and uselessly, a lesson in futility. Things were getting so bad the she was more open to risks than she had ever been. Here was an opportunity that she could exploit and a chance for her to have a life beyond being a brothel keeper. She did hate the job, plus there was little good stuff she could expect in her future besides drudgery and exploitation. Since Uncle had come everything had been going downhill steadily. She had always feared what might happen to her if her uncle had decided to either auction her off to his customers or force her to marry. Clearly she had been justified in her worry. He’d literally sold her to this man.

But…maybe she had been lucky in her uncle’s choice.

Evan didn’t look much like a guardian angel, but he was worth investigation.

Chapter 7

Evan walked close to her, close enough so she could feel his warmth. “I want to kiss you,” he said. “Will you allow it?”

It was remarkably exciting being close to him. She felt an attraction to him. She was not quite ready to say she wanted him, but she did want to investigate further.

Isabelle did not answer him verbally. Instead she reached up and embraced him around his neck, her arms resting on his wide shoulders. She could feel his long hair, silky and thick in her hands. He responded by lowering his head so that she could reach his mouth. Then she kissed him. It was an experiment. She kept her eyes open and kissed his lips feather lightly.

It felt amazingly exciting to embrace him and have him near her. He kissed her in the same way and then nuzzled her face and neck. It was electric and she shivered in response, nestling herself closer to his warm body. His hands came to rest gently on her waist and he pulled her into a tight embrace. For a long time he only kissed her.

He was bigger than Luther who tended to use his size to intimidate anyone who was smaller. Evan’s size made her feel warm and secure not pressured and threatened. He also made her feel sexy, something she had not felt in a long time. She could feel that he was enormously aroused but he didn’t get pushy or violent. His behavior gave her confidence and trust in him to touch him more.

She stepped back and asked him to take off his clothing so she could look at him all over.

He hesitated and then did as she asked. “Isn’t this a bit premature,” he asked.

“I want to see if you are diseased or ill,” she told him.

“You can tell by looking?” he asked her as he loosened his clothing and dropped it to the floor. Stuff clanked and rattled but she ignored it being more concerned about his physical health at the moment. She knew she could check out the stuff in his pockets later.