Savage Splendor (Savage Lagonda 2) (3 page)

Mara smiled. "It was not my intention to disrupt the proceedings. I merely wanted to talk to someone who has a baby so I could compare how my children are progressing. I live such a restricted life here in the palace, shut off from the people. Do you really think Tajarez was angry?"

"I believe he was not overly concerned."

Mara sighed. "It is very difficult at times to be a queen. I do so like the people of the Lagonda tribe and wish to get to know them better."

"You are the queen whom they all adore. I, myself, would have you no different than you are."

They had reached the top of the stairs and Mara looked at Palomas. "Do you really feel that way?" He smiled at her fondly. "It is so, my queen."

Mara spent the rest of the day with the children. She laughed and played with them, and when it was time for Vista to put them to bed for the night, she kissed each of them and went downstairs, where she had promised to meet Sagas the Wise. When she reached the chamber, she saw him across the room looking at the gold sheeting on the wall. His long robe was the same color as the white of his hair, and he wore no ornaments of precious metals, but he was a man who wielded a great deal of power and commanded respect. He was somewhere over a hundred and twenty years old. No one, not even he, knew for sure what his age was.

Mara was helping him decipher the hieroglyphics, and the two of them had become very close. Everyone, including Tajarez, was amazed at the way Sagas had warmed to Mara. His fondness for her was apparent. When she was with him his eyes would light up. He was thoughtful and considerate of her, two qualities Sagas was not noted for.

To Mara, Sagas was as beloved as her own grandfather, who lived in Philadelphia. She and Sagas would have long conversations, and Mara found him to be, with the exception of Tajarez, the most fascinating person she had ever encountered, although Sagas's powers and insight often left her feeling apprehensive. He had predicted Mara's coming to the Seven Cities even before she had been born, and to many she was still referred to as the Golden One.

Sagas smiled brightly as Mara approached, and she gave him her hand. "I understand you caused some excitement this morning while Tajarez was holding judgment," he told her.

She sighed. "It seems when I do the simplest things they turn into a disaster. I fear Tajarez was not too pleased with me."

The old man released her hand. "When I spoke to him he was indeed pleased with you. Never change, Mara. You will be a great queen, and the people love you well."

"Are you speaking as my friend who wants to comfort me, or have you seen into the future and know I will be a great queen?" she asked, knowing that Sagas could indeed see the future, but very rarely revealed to anyone what he had seen.

"I speak merely as one who has grown to know you and to see the effect you have on the people around you. Have I not seen Tajarez turn from a man seeking happiness that always eluded him to a man who has found love and contentment?"

Mara smiled at the old man. "You would make a great diplomat, Sagas. I wonder why my husband has not considered using you in that capacity."

"I am too old. I want to live out the rest of my life here with you as you reveal the secrets of the past."

Mara looked at the gold sheeting on the wall. "We have already discovered that an ancient pharaoh fleeing death at the hands of his brother found the new world and was aided by the Lagonda tribe. They migrated to this hidden valley and began to build a great city. The Egyptians began to intermarry with the Lagonda tribe and produced the race of today. I have been working on the next part and have unraveled some of it," Mara told the old man.

His eyes gleamed brightly. "Tell me what else you have discovered."

"It seems the pharaoh was ailing and feared he would die. He called his council around him and declared that his rule would pass to his daughter and not his son, who he feared was weak and would be unable to rule. He then ordered his daughter to wed the chief of the Lagonda tribe."

Sagas looked at Mara in disbelief. "He handed the rule to a woman, when he had a son?"

"So it would seem, Sagas."

The old man knotted his forehead in concentration. "Imagine, a woman ruling the Seven Cities."

"You will have to remember, Sagas, there were not then seven cities. The construction had barely begun on one city."

"This is truly a revelation. I must talk to Tajarez about this development. Perhaps he will want to change the charter to read that if a king has no male heir his rule can then pass to his daughter instead of to his brother."

"Do you feel that you should do that? This was written many hundreds of years ago. I suspect the law was changed for a good reason."

"Perhaps. I will think on it."

Mara kissed the old man's cheek. "I am very fond of you. I have enjoyed working with you on the hieroglyphics, and you have infected me with your enthusiasm."

Sagas tried not to show how pleased he was by her words, for he, like everyone who knew her, was her devoted slave. He had seen visions of her throughout the years, and had even seen her birth in a dream. He knew how surprised Mara would be if he told her how much he knew about her life before she came to the hidden valley. "I am going to bed now. I have much to think on," he told her as he strolled away from her with his hands clasped behind his back.

Mara watched him fondly for a moment, then she climbed the stairs to the third floor of the palace where her brother Jeffery and his wife Sasha lived.

Sasha greeted Mara with a hug. "I was hoping you would come to see me today. I have been bored doing nothing," her lovely sister-in-law told Mara. Sasha was expecting a child, so Mara had insisted she take it easy. In the past Sasha had been chosen to wait upon her, but Mara had gradually made Sasha more of a companion than a servant:

"Where is Jeffery?" Mara asked.

"As a matter of fact, he is with Tajarez. I believe they have ridden into the city."

"How are you feeling, Sasha?"

"I am in good health. I heard about the commotion you caused at the judgment today."

Mara sighed. "Word gets around fast. It was nothing more than a harmless conversation with a young mother. I am afraid Tajarez was not well pleased with me. I fear I shall hear all about it tonight."

"Was he angry with you?" Sasha asked, knowing she would not like to be the one to incur her cousin Tajarez's displeasure.

"I believe he was."

"Have you eaten?" Sasha asked, turning the conversation.

"Yes, I ate with the children. I believe I will leave now. I find I am very tired."

As Mara descended the stairs to the chamber she shared with Tajarez, she was frowning. From all that was being said about the incident in the anteroom she feared she would have to face recriminations later that night when Tajarez came home. She had convinced herself that he would be very angry with her. She removed the soft white robe and climbed into bed, thinking she would pretend to be asleep when Tajarez came in. That way he would have a whole night to sleep on it, and perhaps his anger would ebb by morning. She had faced his anger on numerous occasions in the past, but not lately. Tajarez could be very formidable and every inch the king when the occasion called for it. Hearing the door open softly, she cringed on the inside and closed her eyes tightly, hoping he would think she was sleeping. She heard him remove his double crown of the cobra and place it on the stand beside her own crown. Tense moments passed and she knew he was removing his clothing. She felt him lie down beside her and she resisted the urge to peep at him through her eyelashes to see if he looked angry.

She felt his hand close over her arm, but she did not respond.

"Mara," he said in a deep voice. She willed herself to feign sleep.

"Mara, I know you are not asleep. Palomas told me you just entered our room moments ahead of me."

She opened her eyes, trying to see if he was angry with her.

"You have been in the city," she said, unable to think of anything else to say at the moment.

"What is wrong, beloved? Are you not feeling well?"

She hesitated, not wishing to bring up the subject of this afternoon. "I am feeling fine."

"Are you worried about something?"

"No . . . yes. I am sorry about this afternoon, truly I am," she said in English.

"Ah, I see," he said in the language of the Lagonda. "You think I might be angry with you."

"It occurred to me," she said, lapsing into the Lagonda language.

He shook with laughter, and pulled her into his arms. "I am not angry with you, and I would have you behave no differently than you do. My people love their kindhearted queen. I am convinced that the Seven Cities have never known a queen such as yourself. And where my people adore you, I, myself, worship you."

"You are sure? You are not just saying that?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Would I say it if it were not so?"

She laughed and peppered his face with soft kisses. "I am so relieved. I was frightened that you were displeased with me."

"Indeed, I am well pleased with you, and you know I could never stay mad at you for any length of time." His hands moved over her body in the most sensuous way, and Mara drew in her breath. Tajarez had the power to make everything right with his lovemaking.

Mara closed her eyes as his lips descended. She heard him groan as his lips covered hers, and knew she could also move him, as her hand slid along his rib cage to rest on his hip.

"You are a seductress," he murmured against her lips, in English.

"Do I please you?" she asked, in Lagonda.

"Never have I known such pleasure until I took you to my bed," he told her moving his head and staring into her green eyes. His forehead wrinkled into a frown. "Sometimes I will be talking to someone, and you will flash into my mind, like the other day with Sagas. I did not hear half of what he was saying to me."

Mara smiled. "What did Sagas say?"

Tajarez wound a strand of golden hair around his finger and gave her a heart-melting smile. "He told me to quit wasting his time and go bed my wife."

"Tajarez, that's awful," she said in mock anger. "What did you do?"

"I took his advice. Sagas is a very wise man," he said laughing deeply.

"I will never grow accustomed to the easy way the Lagonda treat the act of love," Mara said turning her back on Tajarez.

Tajarez rolled her over and laughingly crushed her in his arms. "It is a natural thing, not something to be spoken of in hushed tones, as the white man does. Do you not find our love beautiful?"

Mara could not resist his inquiring look. "I find everything about you and me beautiful."

His dark eyes fastened on her satiny breast, and he reached out his hand to circle the rosebud nipple with his finger. Lowering his dark head, his mouth settled on the creamy peaks.

Mara groaned as his hands moved over her flat stomach to her thigh.

Tajarez raised his head and looked into her eyes, and she thought she saw pain on his face. "What will I do when I cannot reach out and touch you at night, beloved?"

Mara's legs opened to his gentle pressure, and before she could ask Tajarez what he had meant, he entered her body, reaching deep inside of her, and she was incapable of speech. Tajarez knew all the right places to touch her to make her mindless, while his lips assaulted her mouth. His lovemaking was different somehow. It was as if he was frantic in his desire. Mara writhed beneath him as he drove his manhood into her with urgency. Pleasure coursed through Mara's body. When he raised his head, she sought and found his lips once more.

Never before had Tajarez been so rough with her. Usually he was very gentle, but tonight he seemed to be driven. Mara felt tears in her eyes, but they were not tears of pain. Her body had never known such desire, such fulfillment. Mara felt Tajarez's body explode and she moaned as her body answered his.

Rolling over on his back, Tajarez kissed her tears away as he murmured softly to her.

"I am sorry, beloved. Forgive me, are you hurt?"

"No, my love. I do not cry from hurt, but because of the beauty of our love."

He pulled her on top of him and ran his hands over her back and hips, then he crushed her to him so tightly that Mara did feel pain. He was troubled about something, she could feel it.

"Tajarez, is there something bothering you?"

He lifted her head and gazed at her intently. "How can you know?" he asked as he studied every detail of her beautiful face.

"I love you, and I can sense when you are troubled about something."

His mouth outlined the shape of her face. "Mara, Jeffery received a letter from your brother David today."

"How?"

"I sent one of my warriors to David's home to inform him of the birth of the twins, and he sent a message back by him."

"What was in the letter? David is not ill, is he?"

"No, but he asked that I allow you to visit him and Linda, reminding me of my promise to him before we were wed."

Mara missed her brother David, but she was torn. She did not want to be away from Tajarez.