Page 52 of Thief of Roses
“I know.”He reached up with the opposite hand to put it over hers.“You have a wounded, broken creature for a companion.”
“Wounded, perhaps.Not broken.Remade.”She squeezed his shoulder.
He took a deep, ragged breath, emotion evident but not visible, demonstrated only in the way the air passed through his mouth and nostrils, catching somewhere in his throat.“Would you tell me about the Rivan Prince?”
“I can try.”She spent a moment attempting to recall the facts of the stories.“King Hemnesio always despised the Rivan people but began the systematic persecution of us after the birth of his younger son, Arturo.The queen had not been faithful after the firstborn, taking to her bed a beautiful Rivan man.Though the infidelity could not be proven, the young prince possessed the same black curling hair and bronzed skin of his natural father and grew tall and beardless like those of his race.The Rivani could see the magic of the Rivan blood that the prince carried in his veins and the Rivani paid tribute to the younger prince, making the prince dangerous to his family and his government.His family instilled hate of the Rivani in him, recognizing that, if he sympathized with his own blood kin and gained the support of the Rivan sorceresses, he would be positioned to take the throne for himself.The prince tried to do his family’s bidding but found alternate ways to keep the Rivani from falling into harm.The king and the crown prince, Luca, could not tolerate the leniency or perceived undermining of the throne and conspired to be rid of the young prince forever.An atrocity was staged, the young prince blamed, and the Rivani incensed into killing him so that Hemnesio and Luca would have justification to continue their genocide.The Rivan seers said that the Rivan Prince would have become one of the Rivani, not just in blood but in culture and practice, embracing his father’s heritage over that of his mother’s — had he lived.”
“Had he lived,” Baró repeated, his voice a whisper.
A long silence stretched between them.
“Were you a friend of his?”Rivani asked.
“I knew him,” Baró said.“I heard the rumors of his parentage many times, weaponized against him, until he learned to hate himself and the Rivani equally for it.”He paused for another long moment.“What was the staged atrocity?”
“Not tonight, Baró,” she whispered and kissed the backside of his ear before she stood and left for bed.She would be tempted to do more if she stayed.
XXII.
Sleep did not comethat night with her mind trying to fit things together in the dark.By the time the morning peeked through her windows, she found the slumber she had so desperately sought.She slept the day through and then woke when the sun peeked over the horizon again.Her guilt for not seeing Baró the day before nagged at her.She had opened things up and if she could not find sleep because of it, she could only imagine his level of restlessness.
Rivani did not have to imagine for long.He remained where she had left him, in the solar, not sitting in front of the fire, but curled up on his side, asleep.At least he could sleep.The great hall remained dark, but she found her way to the kitchens without using one of their precious candles.She hadn’t had the forethought to put more oil in her lamp.She fetched water for tea, not knowing if Baró might want any but anticipating it, and grabbed jars of food for them too.Still sleeping when she returned to the solar, she padded her way around him to set the water over the fire to heat and arranged everything on the low table like she had done so many months ago when he had first accepted her invitation to break his fast with her.
She drank her tea and nibbled dried meat and fruit in silence, curled up on the chaise with the fur cape.Baró had been wise to disappear during her ovulation.She stroked the fur, using it as a proxy for the preferred object of her affections.She respected his disinterest, but she could not keep the sensuous thoughts from her mind.Baró would be appalled to learn how long she had wanted him, ached with the need of him in a way she had never ached for anyone.At times, it grew so physically painful that she had to relieve the heated throbbing of her nethers before she could walk straight.She prayed that he did not notice.He would have to avoid her if he thought she meant to coerce him into an intimate situation.
When she had finished her repast, she fed the fire and she settled herself beside him, stroking the fur of his face.She whispered his name several times, gently trying to rouse him until his eyes fluttered open and his brows pulled down in question.
“Rivani, dost thou need aught?”
His sleepy expression caused stirrings in several unexpected places at once.
“I am cold,”she lied.“May I join you?”
His eyes had already closed again, but he murmured something and opened his arms for her.She finagled her way into his embrace and rested her cheek against his shoulder.With the gentle rhythm of his heart thumping in time to hers, sleep found her almost immediately.
When she couldn’t findhim, she jumped.
