Sheala (18 page)

“Now go on. Marljas is right behind me. He must introduce you to his parents.”

Sheala swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and stepped out of the ship, stopping long enough to suck in a deep breath of fresh air. A warm breeze blew across the landing pad, carrying with it the smell of freshly mown grass and the spicy odor of—something. She inhaled again. Whatever it was, it smelled wonderful.

As she stood at the top of the staircase, she closed her eyes and let the hot afternoon sun warm her suddenly cold skin. How she’d love to disappear back inside the
Scrathe
! Hendjas and Charjas’ yelling, though, caught her attention, and she opened her eyes in time to see them launch themselves into the arms of a tall Gattan who had to be Marljas’ father, and the lovely blonde woman with the amused expression on her face at his side had to be his mother.

A firm hand slid onto the small of her back. “There’s nothing to fear,
Cheta
. My parents will love you as much as I do.”

“I just bet they will,” she mumbled under her breath. But she acceded to Marljas’ urging and started down the stairs.

The wind carried Hendjas and Charjas’ excited, one-sided conversation with their grandparents back to her as she descended and walked across the landing pad.

“Sheala can spin her swords faster than anyone in the universe!” Hendjas shouted.

“She can kick as high as Marljas’ head!” Charjas shouted equally loudly.

“She knocked him off his feet once.”

“Beti is teaching both her and Sosha how to fight like an Aradab.”

Both turned eager expressions towards their grandmother. “Can we learn how to fight like an Aradab?”

both begged at the same time in their loudest voices. “Father said we had to ask you.”

Before she had a chance to answer, Marljas said, “Mother, Father, this is my wife, Alalakan dem al’

Sheala. Sheala, my mother and father, Teena Seenasdotir and Drefes Cardesson.”

Marljas’ father bowed. “Welcome to our holding, Alalakan dem al’ Sheala, wife of my son. Our hearth is yours.”

Before Sheala could answer, Teena pulled Marljas into her arms for a quick hug then stepped back.

“You have ever been a source of surprises for us, Marljas. What of the proposed betrothal to the queen’s niece?”

Reaching for Sheala’s hand, Marljas laced his fingers through hers and pulled her closer to his side. “I do
not
wish to marry Kadis now, nor did I wish to marry her before I went to Drakan. Kadis is…a bitch.”

A confused expression appeared on Teena’s face. “A what?”

“A derogatory expression we learned on Drakan,” Denieen said as she stepped to Sheala’s other side.

“Greetings, Teena Seenasdotir, mother of my husband.”

Teena smiled and embraced Denieen. “Welcome home, wife to my son. Your presence was missed in our house.”

As he joined them, Wendjas quipped, “You wouldn’t greet Kadis in such a manner.”

Teena sighed but smiled as she embraced Wendjas. “Still defending your younger brother, Wendjas.”

“That’s not a defense, Mother of my heart,” Wendjas said with a grin as he lifted his mother into the air with his embrace, “merely an acknowledgment of the truth.”

Sheala stepped back, watching her husband’s affectionate reunion with his parents.

They were obviously as close-knit a family as hers was.

Beti appeared at her side. “Children who so love and revere their parents are a true blessing.”

Both Teena and Drefes looked up at the sound of her voice.

Drefes didn’t try to hide his amazement. “An Aradab? Here?”

Marljas grinned. “It’s a long story, one better told in the comfort of the house rather than under the hot afternoon sun.”

His mother ignored him, her attention concentrated on the lithe figure behind Beti. “Sosha Kanicsdotir, welcome to my home.”

Sosha bowed her head. “Your welcome is a balm to my heart, Teena Seenasdotir.”

“Your story is one we long to hear,” was Teena’s answer.

Grinning, Denieen nudged her mother-in-law. “As Marljas said, a story for the cool comfort of the house. The sun is warm.”

Whooping with joy, Hendjas and Charjas spotted some other young Gattans standing in a nearby group and took off at a dead run. The other boys joined them, and the entire group headed towards a thick stand of trees.

“Well, we won’t see them until mealtime,” Teena said.

Sheala looked around. A large group of people stood not far away.

“Friends, family and servants who are eager to welcome Wendjas and his family home, Alalakan dem al’

Sheala,” Teena said.

Sheala inched closer to Marljas’ side and slid her hand into his again. She could hear buzzing voices mentioning Drakian, Sosha Kanicsdotir, and Aradab.

Marljas squeezed her hand but looked at his mother. “What about Kadis?”

“She can wait,” was her terse reply.

* * * * *

“An Aradab, a Drakian, and Sosha Kanicsdotir,” the girl answered timidly.

“Sosha Kanicsdotir?” Kadis questioned with a frown. “We thought she was somewhere with a Medirian prince. What did she say?”

“Nothing, Mistress.”

Kadis’ lip curled in a petulant sneer. “Her parents will probably beg Mother to take her into service also, the little slut. Who are the others?”

Kadis tilted her head and admired herself in the mirror. So what if Marljas had once wanted to marry Sosha. She was a nobody whose parents were the caretakers of her mother’s country estate—mere servants—even if her godfather was the ambassador to Drakan.

She tilted her head the other way and admired the slim column of her neck. Marljas would never consider marrying the little upstart with her here proposing a betrothal at the queen’s behest.

“They said nothing about the Aradab,” the maid said swallowing nervously.

“And the Drakian?”

The maid swallowed again. “Alalakan dem al’ Sheala.”

Kadis sneered at her reflection. “Denieen must have brought them. The fool woman is convinced that trade rather than conquest is best. Mother and I will set her right after I’ve married Marljas. Where are they now?”

“They have all gathered in Teena Seenasdotir’s private apartments,” the maid answered with less tension. More persistent questioning by her mistress would have earned her a slap. As it was, she did not plan to be anywhere near Kadis Jadisdotir when she discovered Marljas had married the Drakian woman.

“Send a message that I am ready to join them.”

“I will take it myself, Mistress.”

“Good, you’re finally beginning to learn your place.”

“Yes, Mistress,” the girl answered as she left the room. Tonight she would ask sanctuary from her mistress’s hosts. From everything she’d heard from those who worked here, Drefes Cardesson would pay off her father’s debt to Kadis’ brother and would be much more understanding in their repayment of the debt to him.

Smugly, Kadis Jadisdotir watched her maid leave the room. It had taken only a few slaps and three days with no meals for the girl to learn her place.

Then Kadis frowned. With Denta gone, she’d have to brush her hair herself. Turning to face the full-length mirror, Kadis unbelted the robe she was wearing and let it drop to the floor so she could admire her nude body. Everyone said she was a younger version of her mother, and at forty-five Jadis Franasdotir was still considered one of the most beautiful women on Gattan.

Her mother, Kadis concluded, was correct. She was the great beauty of her generation. Unlike many other members of her tribe, she did not have stripes on her face or the front of her body. Instead, dark brown stripes began at her backbone and circled around her sides, fading into the warm tan skin of her breasts and belly. Black eyes hid beneath thick lashes, and full, red lips smiled beneath what was considered a dainty nose for a Gattan. Dark brown stripes began at the top of her forehead, snaking back through tawny, orange hair that fell to the middle of her back. Kadis was tall and lithe. She had firm, high breasts with pouting brown nipples and a slender waist. Long legs stretched upward to flaring hips, hips which carried the only stripes to completely circle her body. Those two dark stripes rode down over her hips to meet in the tangle of her pubic hair.

Kadis smiled. Once he saw her nude, Marljas wouldn’t be able to resist her. This trap, with her as the bait, would work perfectly.

Kadis’ musings were interrupted by a knock at the door.

She slipped on an exotic robe. “Enter.”

An older Gattan woman entered.

Kadis preened. Teena had sent one of her personal servants. Finally, she was being honored as she deserved. “You are here to escort me to your mistress? You will have to wait until I dress. You may assist me.”

Scowling, the old woman shook her head. “My mistress’s apologies, but she is having a private reunion with her sons. She will be happy to receive you in the morning.”

With those words the woman left the room, leaving Kadis momentarily speechless.

“A private reunion!” Kadis screeched, “with a Drakian, an Aradab, and Sosha Kanicsdotir, the daughter of a servant, present!”

Furiously, Kadis pushed the button that contacted the servant’s quarters.

“Yes?” replied a disembodied voice.

“Where is my maid?”

“She is not here. Perhaps she is on an errand for you?”

“Bah!” snarled Kadis as she severed the connection. “How dare they treat me as a nobody!” Head held high, nostrils flaring, Kadis swept from her rooms towards those of her hostess not bothering to dress in more suitable clothing.

* * * * *

Turning he said, “It is a most unsettling story you tell us, Sosha. Are you sure?”

“I have never been more sure of anything in my life,” she answered from beside Sheala. “I may have been sold to the Drakian by Varcian pirates, but those who kidnapped me were Gattan.”

Placing the poker gently back on its rack, Drefes sat down heavily. “I had never thought to hear of such perfidy on Gattan.”

Marljas’ mother had tears in her eyes. “You’re welcome to stay with us as long as you like, my child. To think that—”

Before she could finish, the door burst open with such force that it bounced off the wall, and one of the most beautiful women Sheala had ever seen stomped into the room, visibly furious. “I demand to know why I was not included in this reunion. As Marljas’ betrothed, I have more right to be here than do strangers and servants.”

Complete silence blanketed the room. Then, before anyone else could say anything, Marljas rose from where he sat and growled, “I do not accept your offer of betrothal, Kadis Jadisdotir. I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last woman in the universe.”

Gasping at Marljas’ blunt rejection, Kadis turned to her hostess. “Teena Seenasdotir, I have never been so insulted in my life. You had better take your son in hand and explain his duty to him. I would have a docile husband.”

Tugging Marljas’ hand, Sheala pulled him back down beside her. Then she glanced over to his mother.

On Drakan, any guest who behaved like this would be sent away immediately.

A smile tickled the corners of Sheala’s mouth as Teena rose to her feet, her expression outraged. “You, Kadis Jadisdotir, are a guest in my house, you are not a family member. No betrothal contract between our families has been finalized. You have no right to tell me whom I can and cannot have as guests in my own private quarters. Even if you were married to my son, you would not have that right, nor the right to barge in here uninvited. I have never seen such a display of bad manners and ill breeding as you have just demonstrated. Be assured, your mother and the queen shall hear of this.” Teena glanced down at Kadis’

robe. “And to appear in such a manner of undress! I am disgusted.”

Just great,Sheala thought,
guess I won’t be walking around the halls naked here.

A haughty sneer joined the anger on Kadis’ face. “Who are you, Teena Seenasdotir, to deny
me
!”

That challenge brought Denieen to her feet, claws unsheathed. “Think, Kadis Jadisdotir, of where you are and what you say. I will
not
allow my family to be vilified.”

Before things escalated, Beti stepped between Kadis and Denieen. “You, Kadis Jadisdotir, intrude where you were not invited. It is best that your return to your own rooms.”

With no further ado, Beti spun Kadis around, locked her arms around her body, and walked out the door. The words “If you continue to struggle, I will knock you senseless” floated back through the open doorway.

Grinning, Marljas closed the door softly and locked it.

Drefes smiled at his youngest son. “Marljas, Aradabs are welcome in our home anytime.”

Sheala looked around the room and uttered her first words since she’d been presented to Marljas’

family. “Brianna’s going to love it here.”

Much later Sheala sat propped up against the headboard of her husband’s bed.

She had spoken little during the remainder of the evening with his parents, simply enjoying the delicious meal and listening to Denieen, Wendjas and Marljas telling and retelling the events, with some judicious deletions, that led up to her and Marljas’ impetuous marriage. It was obvious that his parents hadn’t completely accepted her, but Denieen’s staunch support had won her at least grudging acceptance—that and the fact that neither of them wanted Kadis marrying Marljas.

“They
will
come to love you as I do,
Cheta
,” Marljas said softly as he entered from the suite’s bathroom and dimmed the lights.

Sheala tensed as Marljas lowered himself onto the bed next to her. Gently, he pushed the hair from her face. “I would never hurt you, Sheala,” he said as his lips touched the side of her neck.

Struggling with her inner demons, Sheala stiffened. However, he didn’t touch her anywhere else, and the delicate kisses and nibbles on her neck and face slowly relaxed her.