Page 45 of Over the Emerald Valley
“I don’t know. I’m afraid. I’ll help you find your proof, but after that, I will make my own decisions. But it isn’t a no, and that’s as far as I’ll go for now.”
Solon gave a slow nod and resisted the urge to plead his case further. He didn’t know what he could offer Temaj beyond freedom or if it could ever compare to the luxury he lived in now. But he knew what Temaj could do for him.
“Can you lead me to Abasi’s quarters? I’m told the location is secret, but surely the harem knows…”
“It’s forbidden to all but his guards.” Temaj’s face paled. “Even to servants.”
“Byyourmaster. Butmymaster will expect me to have inspected the entire premises, Abasi’s chambers included.”
“Why do you care where he sleeps?”
“Jewels are missing. What better place to hide them than secret quarters no one is allowed to enter?”
“And if they’re not missing but already traded away?”
“Is that what you suspect?”
Temaj shrugged. “Kushites come and go with more frequency as of late. None of us know why, only that they have enormous—”
“Please don’t say what I think you’re about to say.”
“—cocks.” Temaj’s eyes sparkled with mischief. He grinned. “Oh, don’t look so scandalized, prude. You have nothing to worry about. Yours is very—”
“The emeralds.” Solon coughed. “Do the Kushites trade for the emeralds?”
“How should I know? We don’t share a common tongue. They grunt and point. I strip and roll over and get—”
“Please don’t tease.” Solon held Temaj’s knees and squeezed from where he knelt before him. “It may be what you’re used to, and you might be comfortable with it, but I don’t enjoy thinking of you lacking for choices.”
The grin left Temaj’s face, and his lips pressed to a thin line. “I like sex. And having a lot of it isn’t a burden to me like you seem to think it is.”
Temaj always had a way of catching Solon off guard. He considered the rebuttal. Just because he would be unhappy in Temaj’s place didn’t mean Temaj was. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re forgiven.”
“I still want you to leave with me.”
“And I’m still thinking about that. I’ll need more than a half hour. I don’t think you fully understand the risk you’re asking of me.”
Solon could only nod. His words weren’t exactly helping to make his case. He looked at his hands—rough, tanned, and scarred—lying on Temaj’s smooth, supple skin.
Why would this clever young man throw away his youth for an aging old soldier? Of course, it was too much to ask.
“If you decide you want your freedom, Temaj, I will see to it. I promise. With no strings attached.”
Temaj let out a long breath and dropped his hands to Solon’s. “We’ll see. In the meantime, I will lead you to Abasi’s rooms. Mind you. I’ve never been there. I know the location by rumor alone, so I could be wrong. There could be guards, and if they catch us, I doubt they’ll care what some pharaoh in a faraway city thinks when it’s the viceroy who keeps their bread buttered and their appetites—all of them—slaked.”
Solon wanted nothing to do with the appetites of men or demons. He only wanted to see Temaj free of them.
CHAPTER14
Temaj
This was a bad idea.Creeping through the palace with no good reason for his presence in a forbidden section, army general at his side, skippers fluttering anxiously in the pit of his stomach.
The entrance to Abasi’s underground chambers was hidden, but Seli knew its location. She’d entertained one of the builders while the quarters were under construction. The man had been all too fond of opium-laced wine and had been loose-lipped as a result.
“If there are guards, they’ll be stationed close by,” Temaj warned as they turned the corner and slipped through the first of several covert passages on their way.
