Woman of Silk and Stone (13 page)

I was distracted from this train of thought
as Hamsum reappeared abruptly and knelt before me, bowing his head.
He clenched a fist and pressed it to his forehead, forearm straight
and stiff in front of his somber face. "
Beleti
Honey,
Halqu
of Earth,
I pledge my sword to your safety, my feet to your path, my heart to
your joy, and my blood to your blood. To the last of your breath
will I defend you, and with my last breath will I serve you. To the
land of no return will I follow you, and to the gates of the
Ilati
will I carry you."

The fire at my side blazed into life,
casting a brilliant glow over Hamsum's earnest face. A hush fell
over the room and I felt a cold stone in my chest, a weight making
it impossible to breathe. I had no idea what had just happened, but
I knew it was significant, not only by the reaction of the crowd,
or the solemnity of Hamsum's vows. It was the hovering sense of
destiny, of some presence witnessing the pledge and waiting to see
if it would be accepted. Unsure of how to respond, I glanced at
Tam, knowing that of everyone in the room, this boy was the only
one I truly trusted.

He seemed to grasp my dilemma and leaned
over to whisper in my ear. "He offers his pledge as your warrior,
your personal guard. It is the highest honor he can bestow, and a
pledge he can only make once in his life. He will remain with you
until he dies, and if you die before him, he will follow."

I swallowed thickly, completely overwhelmed
by the gravity of the situation. I had no idea what was making this
man I had only just met pledge the rest of his life to mine, nor
was I certain how to respond. I didn't need anyone to tell me
explicitly that refusing his vow would be a grave insult; clearly
the fact that he made the offer at all was a big deal and not to be
treated lightly. Still, the implications of accepting his offer
were far-reaching and without understanding his motivation for
making it, I was wary of just jumping in.

"Honey, you must accept!" Tam whispered
urgently, his young voice edged with command. "He will be forever
shamed if you do not!"

Sick to my stomach, I realized I was backed
into a corner with no way out. Everyone's eyes were on me, some in
disapproval, some in envy, and a few in slack-jawed shock, but it
was Hamsum's gaze that burned me, that made my skin tighten and
writhe with nervous energy. His roughly carved face was void of
emotion, but eyes the color of polished turquoise pierced through
me, intent and focused, trying to communicate with me through sheer
will.

Glancing at Tam again, whose eyes were still
wide with worry, I sighed in defeat. I was getting really tired of
having crisis after crisis shoved on me since landing in this
world. I still hadn't really managed to get my bearings or get a
clear understanding of the culture in which I was now living. It
seemed as though every step I took was over a trap waiting to
trigger and suck me down into a pit of snakes.

Why couldn't I have been magically
transported to some nifty futuristic dimension, one with flying
cars and a progressive government, rather than this odd
amalgamation between Victorian England and some barbarian kingdom?
Or couldn't someone have passed me a handbook when I got here, one
that outlined what was expected of me and any pitfalls into which I
might blunder?

The silence had stretched on too long and
now everyone was shuffling awkwardly, Hamsum's expression taking on
a pained mien of mortification.

Well, shit.

"Hamsum, I am honored by your offer. If it
is truly what you wish to do, then I happily accept," I finally
ground out, trying to match my tone to the occasion. His face
relaxed and everyone in the room seemed exhale at once. The fire
flickered and a phantom hand seemed to squeeze my shoulder before
the impression faded.

Man, as soon as people stopped trying to
kill me, I was going to look into that.

Swiftly, too quick for me to guess what he
was about, Hamsum gripped my right hand and slashed the palm with a
small knife he kept strapped to his belt. As I gasped in pain and
dismay, he did the same to his own hand and slapped it against
mine. A strange heat seemed to flow between us, almost as though
the mixed blood was fusing something into place.

"Blood binds me, and may it only be shed in
your service," Hamsum stated solemnly, holding out his good hand to
one of the other guards, who gave him a pristine white cloth. A
sick feeling swirled through my gut as he wiped my wound clean
before releasing me and turning his attention to his own cut. I
closed my fingers over my palm, feeling the tingling and stretching
sensation that had bewildered me earlier when I struck the wall and
healed so quickly. Hoping that no one would notice or ask to see, I
put my hands solidly in my lap and tried to look as though I had
giant warrior men pledging their lifelong loyalty with a blood bond
every day of the week.

Ninna noticed my sudden agitation and gave
me a shrewd look, but I ignored it and watched Hamsum, who had
regained his feet and was moving to stand just behind me, in what I
guessed was going to become his new favorite position. In all the
commotion, the body had been removed and most of the crowd had
begun to disperse, leaving just our small group huddled around the
couches.

"Well, this has all been very exciting,
but..." I started, trailing off as I realized there was really no
socially acceptable way to end this impromptu party.

Thankfully, Ninna caught on to my dilemma
and began the task of dismissing everyone. "We will begin the
investigation immediately. In the meantime, Honey, perhaps you
would like to be moved to a different room?" she asked, rather
thoughtfully. Although I wasn't wild about showing weakness to this
crowd, I had to admit that spending another night in a bed where I
nearly died wasn't terribly appealing. Still, the knowing look on
Efrim's face and my own stupid pride made me dig in my heels.

"No, there's no need. If we can just get
this room...uh, cleaned up...it should be fine," I said, less than
convincingly.

Hamsum nodded in agreement. "It is still a
more easily defensible room if there should be another attack. I
will stand guard outside until more permanent arrangements can be
made."

At last, the room finally emptied.
After
I had given Tam a reassuring hug and
promised him once again that I didn't blame him.
After
Ninna had patted me on the shoulder and
confirmed that a better permanent solution would be found.
After
Efrim grudgingly expressed his
relief at my continued survival.
After
the
servants had cleared away the bedding and washed the blood off the
stone floor.
After
Hamsum thanked me for
accepting him as my personal warrior and swore to hang around just
outside my door until the end of time.

And that's when I curled up in front of the
fire and stared into the flames, knowing I would never sleep
soundly again.

Once again, the flames seemed to grow
brighter, and I saw colors in them that shouldn't have been there.
A deep emerald flickered in the heart before morphing into indigo,
and then back to the red of the hottest flames again. Something
about those sparking colors comforted me, made me feel less hollow
sitting there in my big, lonely room. Smiling a little, I blew the
fire a kiss goodnight and fell into a dream of strong arms
enfolding me, and a low, soothing voice whispering, "
Soon, ti arrami, soon
."

And I slept peacefully until morning, smoky
phantom arms surrounding me.

I am sitting in a vast, barren field with
rocky soil and chill wind sinking into my bones. I recognize the
dreamscape as one I have visited since I can first remember
dreaming. But this time, there is no sound of encroaching battle,
no hooves pounding the ground.

The smoke is there, though.

For a moment, it surrounds me, blinding me
to everything but its presence. I feel it trail along my skin, warm
lips brushing against my neck, fingers stroking my lower back and
around my hip. My head falls back and a sense of warm contentment
rolls over me, the scent of cardamom and coriander seeping into my
skin and burying itself there like a brand.

"
Open your eyes, ti
summu
," a dark, rich voice murmurs and I do, momentarily
stunned by the beauty of the vista before me.

What once was a barren field now is a
verdant valley between gently rounded hills; tall stalks of grass
in kaleidoscopic colors of orange, yellow, blue, green, and purple
wave gracefully with a faint breeze. The music of swiftly moving
water dances on the air, and in the distance, I can see a vast,
shining sea glimmering on the horizon.

"
Soon, ti arrami
,"
the voice whispers, "
soon
."

Two days passed in relative calm.

That sounds a lot more peaceful than things
actually were, but judged against my disastrous first day in Solis,
things were downright placid.

Since the attempt on my life, I was
virtually never left alone. Hamsum dogged my every step, and while
I'd actually grown rather fond of the hulking, monosyllabic fellow,
I hadn't learned much more about him or his pledge. He refused to
explain his reasons for abandoning his previous post, which I had
since learned was with the highly respected
Litum
, the same division as the man who had tried to
kill me.

While I couldn't know for sure, I figured
that Hamsum most likely felt some sense of responsibility for my
attack; a fellow guard, one he had known and worked with, had
slipped past him and tarnished the name of
Litum
everywhere by trying to assassinate a
"treasured" guest. Becoming my personal shadow was probably a means
of recovering some perceived loss of honor. Either way, annoying as
it could be to have a less than talkative moving hulk of muscle at
my back all the time, I was secretly grateful for Hamsum's
presence, knowing a second attack on my life was unlikely with him
always hovering nearby.

I spent hours each day with Tam, learning
about his world and telling him about my own. Probably I should
have spent the time trying to get a better grasp of the politics
and culture during out little discussion, but Tam and Hili were an
insatiable audience as I described cars, the Internet, and
The Avengers
. Although I knew they
couldn't really envision what I was talking about, they seemed to
view Earth as a magical realm with limitless wonders. Oddly enough,
while there was a lot I missed about home, I was adjusting to my
new surroundings with more alacrity than I'd expected.

The Golden City was a perplexing blend of
the familiar and the fantastic. I wasn't exactly accustomed to it,
but everything seemed to run on a fusion of burgeoning technology
and what I could only think of as magic. Of course, cell phones
seemed like magic to me, and I used to carry one with me every day,
so it's all a matter of perspective. Certain things, like showers,
furniture, and even the outdated clothing were similar to what had
once been on Earth, but there were times I'd get smacked in the
face with something completely alien; like the energy rocks they
used for light, or the way Zagmi Hilmun, with a few words in the
Old Tongue and some fancy arm waving, could make it rain for three
hours straight when people were complaining that the riverbed was
growing dry.

The food was an adjustment; everything was
familiar and yet just a little bit off. The primary meat source was
a beast that looked pretty much like a cow, apart from it being
furry and yellow, and yet it tasted more like venison than beef.
Nothing was unpalatable, but everything was foreign. The worst of
it was that I discovered early on that while there were several
fruits and veggies that didn't approach anything I'd seen on Earth,
there was absolutely nothing that bore any resemblance to coffee or
chocolate.

A hard pill to swallow.

Despite all this, and the fact that I'd
obviously never lived in a culture that compared, human nature can
always be counted on, and I wasn't as rudderless as I'd feared.

The government was a pretty standard
monarchy; a king with a high council of advisors that made most of
the decisions and waited for the royal stamp of approval. A lot
like
Game of Thrones
without all the
slapdash murders. Tam had to be the most easygoing king of all
time; anything his aunt agreed with, he did as well. I knew it was
his youth and inexperience that kept him from making any decisions
on his own, and I rather respected the kid for not trying to take
on matters that were simply too mature for him to grasp, but I was
bothered a bit by his blind deference to Ninna. Thus far she hadn't
made any recommendations that seemed harmful to me, but I couldn't
help but wonder what Tam would do if she ever proposed something
morally objectionable.

Ninna and Efrim butted heads at every
opportunity, and while it was fun to watch them go at it, I had a
difficult time determining whether it was a good thing. Because of
my status as
Halqu
, and my own idiotic
declaration that I had advised the rulers back in my own world, I
was afforded a place on the council the very day after my attack,
and quickly learned the intricacies of ruling what was essentially
a nation-state like Solis. And so I was present for a few
knock-down, drag 'em out brawls between the king's aunt and top
advisor. There was a rivalry that went far beyond political
differences; unexpectedly, Ninna tended to be a bit harsher in her
views, while Efrim always advocated for the most practical route.
They should have balanced each other out, but it simply caused a
troublesome division on the council.