Chapter Twelve
I floated in and out of consciousness, pulled into awareness first by the unnatural warmth of my body, followed viciously by icy chills that wracked my body. The chilling coldness had somehow heated my body until it seemed that blue flames licked my skin, burning worst between my legs, and swelling my breasts so uncomfortably full and tight so that I tossed and turned and moaned and whimpered.
Fingers would guide my hands to those places that needed stimulation most desperately. My body would spasm and I'd sink back into sweet oblivion until the next time. When I became too exhausted, gentle fingers would sink into me and I'd cry out and fall back into blessed unconsciouness.
At times cool water bathed me. Other times a spoon would push between my lips and he'd gently rub my throat until I swallowed some broth. He…
"Gryphon?" I whispered and felt a deep rumbling response.
Not Gryphon. That's right, he had left me, I remembered, and the pain would tear at me sharply once again until I escaped back into peaceful unawareness.
Gradually, the demands of my body lessened so that I came less and less into awareness. I was content to remain in the soothing darkness. So tired. I was so tired of hurting.
"You must not tarry long in this place, my child. It is dangerous." A soft hand smoothed my brow. I opened my eyes and looked up into Sonia's sweet face.
"You should have been my mother," I told her.
"Ah, sweet child. You are the daughter of my heart. You must return to me."
"I'm tired, Sonia. So tired."
She smiled and cast her lure. "Your brother shall need you soon."
I tossed my head fretfully in her lap. "I don't know how to find him."
"But you do. I have given you the information." Then she was fading.
"No, don't go…"
But she heeded me not and left me so that I could no longer feel her touch.
"Go to him," she called softly. "Find him."
I reached for her but she was gone.
No! I wouldn't let her go. She was my only comfort.
I staggered to my feet, determined to follow her, but I was so weak. Too weak, a voice whispered.
I heard a child's voice. My brother?
I whimpered in pain and weakness. Such effort it required simply to stand. But Sonia had said that my brother needed me. So sweating, trembling, I fought my way upward, one step at a time, out of the deep abyss.
I awoke to the feel of buzzing irritation and found myself inside a dark, windowless room. A Queen I'd never seen before huddled at the far end of the room. She was restrained, like me, I realized, feeling the cool metal shackles against my wrists. I was cradled in someone's large lap, resting against their hard chest.
"Amber," I croaked, surprised at the terrible rusty sound I had produced and how weakly it had come out, a bare whisper.
"Thank the Goddess." He heaved a shuddering sigh of relief, leaned forward and brought a glass to my lips, his movements made awkward by his own wrist restraints. "Drink. It is but water."
Cool liquid moistened my mouth and eased down my parched throat. I swallowed painfully twice, then pushed it away.
Amber set down the glass. "Can you eat some meat?"
"Not hungry."
"A tiny piece." Who knew such a big, harsh-looking man could be such a coaxing shrew. "Well-cooked, the way you like it." He lifted a spoon to my mouth and I opened up, chewed, and swallowed, knowing he would not relent until I had taken some substance. It felt like a brick going down.
"You look awful," I rasped.
And he did, haggard, thinner, with dark bruises of exhaustion and worry puffing his eyes. Amber smiled tiredly at me, his hair uncombed, his chest bare.
"Where's your shirt?" I asked.
"It is covering you."
I looked down. His shirt shielded me down to my knees. The sleeves had been rolled back so many times that it was a thick bundle of cloth against my wrists, just above the metal restraints. My socks and shoes looked peculiarly naked against the bareness of my legs. "Oh. Thanks," I mumbled and closed my eyes, so damnably tired. "What happened?" I slurred.
"You were ill but you are recovering now. Sleep. We shall talk more once you have rested."
The next time I surfaced, the sun was up. Amber blinked his eyes open, brought to awareness when I stirred in his lap. I drank more of the water this time.
"Here, eat."
"What is it?" I asked, chewing what he stuck in my mouth. "Doesn't taste like beef."
"Venison."
Deer. I'd never tasted it before, and didn't particularly care for the taste—too gamey—but I swallowed a few chunks, knowing I had to regain my strength. Exhausted from the effort, I tumbled once more back to sleep.
A child's voice roused me from my slumber the next time. Inquisitive eyes that were oddly familiar peered at me from beneath a tangle of matted brown hair that looked as if it had never known the touch of a comb. Dirt smudged her cheeks and browned the little hands that clutched a tray bearing three bowls of aromatic soup.
"She's awake," the girl whispered.
"Yes," Amber said, taking two bowls from her. "My thanks, Casio."
Simple statements, simple actions, and yet not.
My big man or little giant—both aptly described him—was acting most peculiar. Amber was such as I had never seen him before, and it finally came to me. The oddity was in the way he looked upon the wild child, the manner in which he spoke to her, in the tenderness of his tone. It was different even from the manner in which he treated me, without the wary deference or cautious constraint that usually marked his gestures and words unless he was vexed with me.
The timid little creature brought the remaining bowl to the Queen who eyed us warily from across the room. Then she darted out, dashing quickly past Greeves, who stood leering by the door.
"Sandoor wishes to see you and the new Queen after dinner," Greeves said to Amber. "Perchance she will serve as dessert." Laughing nastily, he shut the heavy metal door.
I ate half of my stew and insisted that Amber partake of the other half. No wonder he had lost weight. The little meat that was in the bowl would barely sustain a woman, much less a man of Amber's size.
"Who's Sandoor?" I asked when he had finished eating.
"My father."
My eyes widened in shocked surprise. "He's still alive? But I thought he raped and killed his Queen."
"Raped, but he refrained from killing me," came a bitter voice from the far corner, the other Queen. "He wouldn't kill the golden goose that lengthens his life."
Only there two golden gooses now. Did that make one of us expendable?
"He made it appear as if he and I had perished and everyone apparently believed it so. Fools!" the Queen said.
"How could he have done that?" I asked.
"There were two piles of ashes and empty clothing," Amber explained. "That is all that usually remains when we die."
I stared at the Queen. "How long ago?"
"Over ten years ago," she said, her eyes burning with bitter emotion.
God! I couldn't imagine being kept captive that long and still remaining sane.
The door creaked open, bringing a wave of fresh air into the staleness of the room. "Outside, you two," Greeves said.
Amber lifted me up into his arms and carried me out into the cool night. Back in the room, cloth rustled.
"Not you, Mona Carlisse," Greeves said. "It is Balzaar's turn to see you tonight."
I craned my neck and saw a tall, heavily built man slide in past Greeves's thin, wiry frame. The door closed behind him ominously. Greeves looked at me and smiled. The cruel lust burning in his small eyes made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Really good incentive to regain my strength.