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heavy and half-hard from the nest of black curls at the peak of his long legs. His eyes
laughed at me when, cheeks flaming, I looked my fill.
I loved him.
I'd served my masters before because it was my lot, my place.
But I wanted to please Eli.
My Eli.
My heart was so full of him I wondered that I didn't burst.
He stepped from the river and patted his body dry on cloths Miriam handed to
him, talking to her in that strange, musical language. The tongue of my homeland, so
Eli had said. He'd promised I would remember when I was ready. I didn't think so, but
I liked the husky rumble of his voice when he spoke it. Since he reverted to Herran only
for me, this was a regular treat for my ears.
Naked, he scooped me from the ground and against his chest. Miriam scrambled
behind us as my master carried me back to the simple homestead. I laid my head to his
shoulder, closing my eyes as they talked, not wishing for a moment that I understood
what they said. Didn't matter. If I needed to know, Eli would've insisted Miriam switch
to Herran.
When we reached the house, Miriam followed us inside. Eli plunked me onto our
bed, and accepting the bundle of clothing she thrust at him, he dressed me. While their
conversation rolled over me, Eli pulled a silky under-tunic of palest ivory over my
head. He threaded my arms into the sleeves of purple robes finer than my old masters'
and buckled a heavy gold belt around my waist. Laughing at his sister, he strapped
each of my feet into fine leather sandals.
When he finished, he climbed behind me on the bed. Miriam handed him a
brush, and oh, I breathed a blissful sigh at the gentle tug on my scalp as he worked the
knots in my hair free. Wonderful. I'd always ever worn it in a fat braid unless one of my
masters loosed my plait to play in it, so the slack drape of it on the tips of my shoulders
felt decadent. Good.
Miriam gave my master delicate chains with ingot beads that he tied into my
hair, the slight weight odd, the metal cool when it brushed the shell of my ear. I smiled,
though, because Eli hummed in satisfaction.
My fingers lifted to my nape while he talked to Miriam, but unfamiliar with the
fastenings, I fumbled. Fortunately, the weightiest of them slipped over my head. I
crawled forward on my knees on the mattress.
Miriam barked a warning.
Eli stiffened.
I pushed the necklace to his chest.
"It is yours." He clasped my hand tightly. "All of it is yours, a gift from your
family." His lips bowed. "Let them spoil you, little one. We grieved for you too long."
Grieved?
For me?
I couldn't fathom it, any of it, but I bowed my head so my master could return
the necklace to my throat.
"Come. Your brother is eager to see you."
Holding my hand, he helped me from the bed, and I followed his lead on
wooden legs as he guided me from our room. Around the corner of the house, outside,
low tables and pillows in the back yard had been arranged under a tented pavilion with
platters of food piled high. Men gathered underneath. All save one jumped to their feet
at our approach.
I shrank back in sudden terror, pulling at Eli's hand.
Men.
Too many men.
Too many people.
Where had they come from?
A distressed cry worked from my throat.
My master squeezed my fingers. "No one will hurt you."
Maybe. Maybe not. I didn't want to be anywhere near them, but Eli hauled me
close, tucked me to his side. I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my cheek to
his chest, though I did not resist when he led me onward. I refused to look at any of the
gathered people, ignoring them made easy by the foreign tongue they spoke. My
master said my name to each of them and gave me a gentle nudge, introducing me, I
suppose. I closed my eyes and pretended I was back in our tent.
A few of them snickered. One touched my hair, a slight glancing brush.
I jumped, nearly leaping out of my skin. I whimpered and bunched Eli's robes in
my fists.
He could not expect this of me.
They mustn't be permitted to handle me.
I could not bear
The man who had not risen at my approach growled sharp words to the
assembled group.
None of them touched me again.
I didn't stop trembling, though. I couldn't.
Eventually, Eli untangled my arms from his stomach to bid me sit on a cushion
next to the harsh man who had reprimanded the others. Eli settled next to me on the
ground, which I didn't like. I scooted over to him, leaning so near I may as well have
crawled into his lap.
The man laughed. "He's very attached to you, Eli."
My heart pounded at the switch to Herran.
"He is nervous of your soldiers, my lord." My master kissed the crown of my
head. "And very shy."
"Like his mother then," he said, his low voice rich with approval. "Isanna was
never comfortable at court, though she was surely the greatest treasure in it. Will he
speak to me?"
Eli's long fingers stroked my spine. "He still refuses. Only my name, so far. But
he manages to communicate very well if my lord would care to try."
"Do you know me, Micah?"
I thought about ignoring him, too, but my master's soothing fingers urged me. So
I shook my head against Eli's chest.
"I am Barak, the second of three sons from our father's primary wife, Maleia. I
around a choice mouthful. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]