Page 15

I opened my eyes again.

“What?”

“The bed. I asked if you’d like to try it. It looks comfortable.”

This time, my voice jumped to a higher pitch. Dovah’s smile widened. He was having fun at my expense, the bugger!

“Or perhaps you’d like to try ... me?”

“Dovah!” I exclaimed. “Are you trying to ... seduce me?”

“Yes,” he confirmed boldly, confronting me openly. “I like you, my lady. The more I look at you, the more I like you. And the more I like you, the more I want to please you, too. Do I please you? I’m your husband. I belong to you.”

No. You belong to Nadrisse , I thought at once.

I bit my lower lip hard. I wasn’t that kind of woman, jealous and bitter. Or at least, I refused to become one.

“You’re not an object. You don’t belong to me.”

He grasped my wrist firmly but gently, pressing my palm against his chest, where his heart was beating. Where his heart was beating very fast .

“Oh!” I exhaled, my eyes wide with astonishment.

The touch of his hard, warm skin unsettled me more than I’d like to admit.

“Do you feel that? How can you doubt it? Of course, I’m yours,” he whispered as he approached me.

“We’ve united before the Source. Separated.

United again. Paivrin swears this is how flames dance.

They attract, repel, attract again, until they complete each other and merge. Are you attracted to me?”

“Yes ...”

I whispered the response without even thinking about it, hypnotized by the sensuality of his voice and the extraordinary touch of his skin.

“I’m attracted to you, too.”

Dovah bowed slightly, until his mouth brushed my ear:

“You run away from me, I’m the one who chases you. I run away from you, you’ll be the one chasing me. Such is the dance of the flames, Ashana.”

Suddenly, the bedroom door slammed violently.

I was startled, while Dovah simply turned his head in the direction of the entrance.

Nadrisse stood near the threshold, a fake smile on her lips, while her eyes flashed.

They lowered for a moment to my hand, still resting on Dovah’s chest. I withdrew it quickly, like a child caught at fault.

“Am I disturbing you, perhaps? A thousand apologies.”

Nadrisse appeared to be many things, but certainly not sorry.

“No, not really,” replied Dovah.

Yet something in his tone of voice seemed to suggest otherwise. I watched him fetch one of his famous cigars, light it, and take a long puff. He remained half-naked in this woman’s presence, as if it were perfectly natural. This irritated me deeply.

Nadrisse approached him with a smile.

“Are you still using those things? I wonder what effect it has on you so that you can’t seem to quit.”

I wondered that too. Well, more than that, I wondered what she was doing in Dovah’s room. Or rather, our room.

“Can we help you with something?” I asked with impeccable politeness.

Nadrisse’s gaze sought mine.

“It was just a courtesy call to make sure you weren’t missing anything.”

I smile amiably.

“I see. We thank you for your concern. Everything is just perfect.”

She didn’t believe my smooth demeanour for a moment. Her blue eyes darkened, and I remained stoic under their critical scrutiny.

“If that’s all, Nadrisse, I’d like a word with my wife ... Please.”

There was a kind of intimacy between them similar to that of people who have known each other for a very long time. Perhaps they were childhood friends. Did I have the right to ask him about this woman, or should I refrain?

I didn’t know what to do in such a situation. It was all very new to me. The only thing I knew for certain was that I didn’t like their relationship. I hated the way Nadrisse looked at Dovah, as if she had some legitimate right to him. But his wife was me.

Nadrisse let out a strange, irritating laugh.

“Yes, by the Dark Gods! Force of habit, forgive me, Dovah, I hadn’t paid much attention to your new status as a married man. I must say, I don’t see any significant change in you.”

I raised an eyebrow. How was I supposed to take that? Dovah just watched her, taking a deep puff of his cigar and silently exhaling out through his nostrils. I had a sort of tingling sensation on my skin and the strange feeling that he wasn’t happy, but then, not happy at all.

The silence must have weighed heavily on the king’s sister, for she finally decided to withdraw, but not without giving me a strange look that I found a bit furious.

Once the door closed, I cleared my throat.

“She is ...” I began, unsure of how to describe her.

“Yes,” cut in Dovah.

“So, the Osacanians worship the Dark Gods.”

The Dark Gods were half-human, half-animal gods. They were depicted with entirely black skin, hence their name. Among others were Azdar, the lion-headed god of life; Fiesis, the hyena-headed god of death; Qhulios, the owl-headed god of shadows; and Wulous, the eagle-headed god of light.”

“Yes, they are ancient gods, and definitely long dead. Your beliefs in a single god are closer to the truth. We all depend on our Father and his bride, the Source.”

He paused for a moment to take another blue puff, then locked his gaze on mine.

“My lady, would you ask the servants to prepare a bath for me? I’d then like you to stay with me and we’ll talk,” announced Dovah, as his face disappeared in huge billows of smoke from his cigar.

I rubbed my hands together mechanically. It was a nervous tic I sometimes had.

“Do you have a specific subject in mind?” I asked.

The idea of being next to him while he bathed made me want to flee the room, while my heartbeat accelerated. Dovah smiled at me. A smile that was both charming and unsettling. He narrowed his eyes to study me through his lashes, like a wild beast sizing up its prey.

“No, not really. I just want to learn more about you. Your childhood. Some anecdotes ... I’m curious.”

“Oh.”

“You can also ask me questions, of course.”

“Obviously,” I repeated automatically.

This response made his smile grow wider. I complied and went off in search of servants to change the bath water. Once this task was completed, I returned to our room and ...

“Good heavens!” I exclaimed covering my face with my hands.

Dovah was completely naked. Without having detailed him for too long, I missed nothing of his body stripped of clothes.

“Call me Dovah, it’ll be easier.”

And he dared to enjoy the situation!

“This cannot be done!” I protested, moving forward cautiously, unable to look where I was stepping.

“I am your husband, and I have no issue with nudity. How is this improper, as long as I don’t force you to walk around in your birth clothes?”

He laughed heartily while my heart, still in shock, seemed intent on leaping out of my chest.

“Perhaps I should demand this in an Osacanian prenuptial agreement, what do you think?” he then proposed. “Imagine the two of us, every day, living naked within the confines of this room. I like the idea.”

“I don’t like the idea,” I retorted immediately.

Slowly, I tried to check if he had at least covered the lower part of his body. Realizing he hadn’t, I cried out again. A cry that made him laugh again.

“For heaven’s sake, Dovah! Put something around your waist!”

I heard him sigh, then a rustle of fabric told me he’d complied.

“It was premeditated on your part, wasn’t it?” I questioned, without daring to remove my hands from my eyes.

“Not at all, my lady.”

“Liar!” I accused him.

“Okay, I hoped for it... A little.”

“Scoundrel!”

“I’m a bad boy. I confess. I just found the possibility of troubling you quite amusing. Alright, you can open your eyes now. I’ve hidden the important parts. Your modesty is safe.”

I obeyed and found that he had indeed put a sheet around his waist. He was nonetheless terribly handsome, like a statue of a lust deity. Dovah let me contemplate him at my leisure, while a satisfied smile floated across his lips.

“When you look at me like that, I’m on the verge of giving in to my impulses.”

I pulled myself together immediately. I often felt he knew me better than I knew myself.

As soon as the servants had finished changing the water, Dovah slid into the tub—almost too small for him—expressing his contentment with a grunt more animal than human.

Cautiously, I approached him, but not enough to be tempted to examine what lay beneath the surface.

I sat down on a small stool in a position that propriety would have approved of.

“What do you want to know?” I began.

“A question torments me. Are you against learning to defend yourself?” he asked as he rubbed his arms with a bar of soap.

“I know how to use a bow.”

He gave me a brief look, as serious as death.

“Yes, and you do it better than some archers I know, no doubt about it. However, if it’s the ideal weapon over long distances, in close combat, it’s worthless.

What do you say about the dagger? Osacanians have small curved daggers that are easy to use.

We could have one forged for you. Or better still, I could give you one of my own. I will help you learn how to use it.”

I hadn’t expected such a request from him. In general, men didn’t like the idea of a woman fighting on an equal footing with them.

“I have no objection, and to tell the truth, I think it is useful for a woman to know how to defend herself.”

He nodded, satisfied with my answer.

“I also sense magic in you, but in this area, I’m not the most gifted of my brothers. Paivrin is far more suitable.”

“Paivrin is your brother? I thought he was just your friend.”

“More than a friend, no less than a brother. Don’t look for a physical similarity, neither of us resembles the other. It’s only our aura that gives the impression of déjà-vu.”

“How many brothers do you have?”

“Three. Paivrin, Kynnen, and Tylbis. Paivrin is blind, but ‘sees’ in another way. His magic is linked to the earth, to nature; he commands the little people. Tylbis is perhaps the calmest of the three, unlike Paivrin, who more so gives off the appearance of a cool-headed person. And he’s phenomenally powerful.

Not as much as me in terms of destruction, of course, but he’s the one who could stand up to me, even defeat me if he wanted to.

Only, he prefers to read and live alone in a cave, far from the world and its troubles.

Kynnen, on the other hand, masters air magic, among others; he’s the youngest. A real brat.

The one who gets on my nerves with disconcerting ease.

He has a scar that crosses his face from forehead to jaw, on the right side. I gave it to him.”

I immediately raised a hand to my mouth.

“It must be terrible to be responsible for this injury, especially to a family member. You must blame yourself a lot.”

Dovah stopped rubbing himself with the soap to look hard at it.

“Yes. If I could go back, I’d do things differently. For a lot of things. I’m a violent being, Ashana. This is my reason for existing.”

How could he be so hard on himself? Nobody was born just to destroy the world, people, or cause pain ...

“That’s why you consume these cigars.”

I was stating a simple fact and we both knew it. His dark gaze locked on mine.

“Without them, my hands would be continuously covered in blood. This is Paivrin’s creation. I owe it to him to have a relatively normal life.”

With that, he handed me his bar of soap.

“Rub my back, woman!” he ordered, grinning with all his teeth.

I raised an eyebrow.

“I beg your pardon?”

Dovah burst out laughing.

“Please. Take care of me. I’m all yours.”

He knew how to be charming. This man was truly dangerous on so many levels. I agreed to his request with a sigh, defeated in advance, then positioned myself behind him. Even on his shoulder blades, there were a multitude of tattoos! Fascinating.

I dipped the soap in the water a little before gently rubbing his skin. I saw him shiver, and it troubled me. My heart beat a little too fast for my liking.

“If I ask you to tell me about your family, will you be angry with me?” he asked in a sober tone.

I stopped my work for a brief moment, staring pensively at the back of his neck.

“Because of my father?”

Yes. He had killed him. It was true.

“War is war. I didn’t do it for pleasure, Ashana. I never feel pleasure when I kill, I just do it. It’s like breathing, eating, walking. No more, no less ... I’m sorry.”

I looked down at the tub that separated me from Dovah.

“I know. I forgive you, Dovah, but I cannot forget. He was my father. He wasn’t a perfect man, he had his faults, certainly, but I loved him.”

“I understand.”

A heavy silence fell over us, and both he and I remained motionless for some time.

“I believe you have sisters.”

I smiled sadly. It was thoughtful of him to try and steer the conversation onto less steep terrain.

“Yes, twin sisters. Mérédicia and Bhilène. They look so much alike that very few people can boast of telling them apart at first glance.”

“Are they nice? Do you get on well with them?”

“They’re adorable, though as children, they were real little devils. I was often punished for their mischief. They turned fifteen this year.”

“I know what a burden it can be to be the eldest. Paivrin has to be the wisest of us all.”

Suddenly, he lowered himself into the tub, and I found myself with his head at my fingertips.

“Can you wash my hair?” he asked in a slow voice.

“Okay,” I hesitated, before getting on with the task.

When I began to rub his scalp with my fingers to lather the soap, Dovah made soft grunts of contentment. I smiled foolishly as I listened.

“It’s so good that I’m going to end up falling asleep. I didn’t realize it was so nice to have a wife.”

“Because, for you, a wife is just a way to rub your back and wash your hair?” I retorted, resisting the urge to pull a handful of brown locks in retaliation.

“No, of course not. There’s sex too.”

As if he had guessed my intention, Dovah deftly slipped out of my grasp, and his head disappeared under the water. When he emerged, it was to splash me. I shrieked in surprise. To get such a dress wet was a crime!

He burst out laughing while taking care not to reveal too much of his naked body. I was grateful.

“I was sure you were going to pull my hair!” he exclaimed cheerfully.

He looked, once again, like a mischievous boy, no longer a monster of war. How many sides did this man have? How much did I have left to discover?

I didn’t have time to reply when a servant knocked on the door.

“Sorry to disturb you, Lord Dovah, Lady Ashana, but King Elendur is waiting for you and Isamane Nadrisse in the dining hall.”

I would have preferred to stay in this room. Truly.