Untouched Concubine (4 page)

           
Suddenly,
Mandia
was enjoying herself, and sat back, stuffed and happy. “Thank you for the wonderful food,” she said quietly, and couldn’t help but give him a little grin of gratitude.

           
“You have a nice smile,” he said softly.

           
She looked down at her hands, feeling warm. Then she remembered what he had said earlier. She looked back up at him. “What is it we have to do today that’s so important?”

           
Jass
stood and turned his back to her. He said nothing for a moment and she felt nervous, could sense the tension in him. It seemed he was struggling with something, but what?

           
Finally, he turned to her. His green eyes glowed more than usual with a sensitive, yet hard seriousness. “We have to leave the city.
Together.
Alone.”

           
“What? Why?”

           
He ran fingers through his curly brown hair. “
Lenn
is here in a day. I thought we had more time. While you slept, I went to their camp. I had business.”

           
The killing
, she thought.

           
“They would have been here today had I not gone last
night.
I held them back for a heartbeat, but you must be kept safe. I have a place in the mountains, but we need to go now.”

           
Mandia
felt panic rise in her chest. “My mother,” she said. “I can’t go without her!”

           
Jass
shook his head. “I don’t know what happened to her. I heard she was sold as a slave, but that’s all.”

           
“If
Lenn
attacks the city, they’ll kill everyone, including my mother!”
Mandia
stood,
arms out, eyes wide.
Jass
looked at her with his own wide-eyed expression.

           
“We have no choice.”

           
“Please, I’ll beg, do anything you want. I can’t leave my mother behind.”
Mandia
paused, thinking. Then she pulled the neckline of her dress over her shoulder, showing the top curve of her breast. “I mean anything, not that you don’t have the right to just take it.” She could feel the fury burning in her eyes at her own bitter words.

           
Jass’s
gaze passed down over her and to her surprise, he looked sad.
Like she’d revealed a terrible secret.

           
“What?” she said. “Please.
My mother.
I can be anything you want.”

           
“No,” he said, not meeting her eyes. “I have already packed a few things and you need to change into pants. We have climbing to do, lots of walking. And wear comfortable shoes.”

           
Mandia’s
rage was full-on now. What did he want with her? “My mother!” she screamed. “Don’t you get it? What? Why are you doing this? Why don’t you leave me behind? You rescued me, now let me go to find my mother and
she
and I can escape the city!”

           
Without looking at her, he said, “Stay here and change. I’ll be back to get you in one hour. You will do as I say.” The control in his voice threatened her and her anger turned to fear. She felt tears fill her eyes.

           
He left, locking the door behind him.

~~~

           
Mandia
sunk to the floor, shaking in fear, anger,
frustration
. What was this man all about? He said he wanted to save her, that he had some mission because she saved his life. If he was really so dedicated to her cause, then he should let her go, or find her mother, free them both and send them to a safe place. Not this! Was he mad?

           
And why did he give her that sad look when she offered herself to him? Sure, she wasn’t seducing him as she could have. In fact, she was more challenging him, all but screaming, “Have your way with me! Just get it over with!”

           
She heaved deep breaths, trying to calm down. After some time, she climbed from the floor and changed into a pair of black pants and a black shirt. What else could she do? She had no choice but to do as he said, but that didn’t mean she had to be pleasant about it.

           
Jass
came back in an hour, as he said he would. He wouldn’t meet her hurt eyes, instead keeping his gaze on the floor. “I was too late,” he whispered.

           
“What are you talking about?”

           
“I did my duties last night, but it was all for naught.
Lenn
is here and we have to go, right now.” Then he did look at her, and she saw in him such torn pain. And then she understood something.

           
Jass
felt guilty leaving his people to save her. He knew he could fight with the rest of
Farna’s
army and maybe make a difference. But most likely, he’d die.
Lenn
was too powerful. And now, his feeling of responsibility to save her life was tearing him away from the fight, and he felt he was abandoning his people and king.

           
“Oh,” she said softly, taking a step toward him. Tentatively, she reached out and touched his arm. “We can stay,” she whispered.

           
He glanced at her hand,
then
said, “No. We go.” His eyes were hard again and he moved away from her, picking up a brown satchel from the corner of the room.
Mandia
hadn’t even noticed it this morning.

           
“Come,” he said in a low voice. He didn’t bother locking the door behind them, and
Mandia
followed, silently crying out in her mind her frustration of leaving her mother behind.

~~~

           
Mandia’s
feet ached. She was trying to forget the sounds she had heard and the things she had seen as they left the city.
Jass
had a secret way out, under a wall, beyond the
Lenn
soldiers’ reach and knowledge. But he was right; they were in
Farna
, killing, taking everything. Fires burned out of control and
Farnan
men and women alike took up arms against the enemy.

           
They’d been walking for hours through the jungle, the sounds of the battle long gone, only echoes in
Mandia’s
mind. It haunted her of when she escaped
Crona
with her mother. Was that only a month ago? How was
Lenn
everywhere and so relentless?

           
As night fell, they came out of the thick brush and the mountains before them startled her. Because the jungle had been so dense, she hadn’t seen them until now.

           
She and
Jass
didn’t speak at all the entire walk. Her anger had dissipated, and she simply felt despair, knowing her mother was dead. Or if not, would be soon. And she’d made a promise to find her, and now she had failed.

           
Jass
stopped walking and turned to her. His green eyes were dark and emotionless. “Do you have the strength to climb? It will be dark, but if you follow closely behind me, I know the way perfectly.”

           
Mandia
nodded, saying nothing. The idea of stopping made her crazy. She’d have to think about all these things she couldn’t handle right now and if she just kept moving…

           
The path at the base of the mountain they were to climb seemed easy enough.
Jass
looked back at her and she saw a touch of what looked like compassion in his eyes. “You okay?”

           
“Yes. I’m fine.” She wasn’t. She was turning numb.

           
“It gets cold fast the higher we get. We should reach my hideaway in about four hours of hiking up this mountain. I have stores there, food, water and furs.”

           
“Okay.”

           
He turned, paused,
then
looked at her again. “I hate that you had to see the fighting.”

           
Her numbness sharpened into anger yet again. “Why? What do you care?”

           
He sighed and started walking upward. She followed, fury making her strong and taking away her exhaustion. She wanted to scream at him, pound on his chest and demand he take her back to…where? There was nowhere to go but up this mountain in the twilight.

~~~

           
Mandia
ached all over and was freezing. But still something kept her going, and she lost all sense of time and space in the darkness, with only the half-moon reflecting on
Jass’s
daggers gleaming at his hips as her guide on the difficult climb.

           
“We’re here,” he said suddenly. She couldn’t see anything.
“This way.”
He took her hand. It was frigid with cold, as was hers.

           
She made out the shape of a hut set back on a cliff. She guessed they were about halfway up the mountain.
Jass
led her inside and lit a candle.

           
“We cannot light a fire, although we need warmth.
Lenn
assassins are looking for me. I don’t think anyone knows about this place, but I don’t want to draw attention with a fire, just in case.”

           
He watched her for a moment, the candlelight making his eyes shiny and dark,
his
face bronze and shadowy. He looked otherworldly, like a spirit sent by one of the goddesses. This thought made
Mandia
sink to her knees and put her head in her hands. She whispered, “Thank you for saving me.”

           
“You’re welcome,” he said simply, no expression in his voice.

           
She felt him wrap a heavy fur around her shoulders and he sat next to her, bundled in his own fur. He handed her a ceramic mug of water and a piece of dried meat.

           
She ate and drank, feeling some strength coming to her from the warmth of the fur and the sustenance of the food. She took a deep breath and asked what she was dying to know.

           
“Why are the
Lenn
assassins after you, in particular?” She looked at him to gauge his response.

           
“What I did last night. You see, Lenn’s king, King Herean, always goes into each battle. His thirst for seeing people fall by his own axe is unquenchable and he’s an incredible fighter. Nobody can defeat him one-on-one, and he can even take on many people at a time.”

           
Mandia
had a feeling she knew where this was going.

           
“You know what I am. I, too, am an assassin. And I’m very good at it, quiet about it. My king didn’t want me to do what I did. He thought he could make peace before war overcame the city.

           
“I knew that would never happen. I have met King Herean in person, but he didn’t know who I was.
Which was fortunate.
But when I looked in his eyes, I saw madness and a man so driven to kill for power and to have people fear him, he would never go for a peaceful agreement.

           
“And then there
was
you.” He looked at her and the candlelight lit half his face. His eyes were serious, and
Mandia
held her breath.

           
“I couldn’t let anything happen to you from the moment I laid eyes on you. And I’m not talking about in the concubine sales house. I mean when we were children. We didn’t speak the same language, but I knew the meaning of what you said to me. You wanted me to live. Do you know what I said to you?”

           
“No. Of course, I couldn’t understand you.”