Read Online The Empire (The Lover's Opalus) by Grayson Reyes-Cole - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Grayson Reyes-Cole
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ago.
“Would you like me to wash your hair?” Taritana’s offer surprised her.
Something in her chest hurt. Raeche wanted to weep though she did not know why. All of a sudden, she desperately wanted Taritana to help her with her hair. It took hours to wash and dry on her own. In answer, she went to the much taller and stronger woman, threw her arms around her and sniffled.
After a moment, Taritana returned her embrace.
* * * *
Relaxation inevitably crept in when one floated in hot water filled with the deep-blue, fragrant tehacha leaves. Both its smell and the waxy chemical coating its surface served to loosen muscles and enhance the Spirit of Serenity. The cushioned, enchanted floor and walls of the large tub, which adjusted to her weight and the sensitivity of her skin, bones and muscle, heightened the sensation.
“Empress?” Taritana whispered as she used a bowl to rinse Raeche’s hair.
“Yes, Tana?” She did not open her eyes, so dangerously close to sleep was she.
“There is something I must tell you.”
Even through her comfortable haze, Raeche sensed her distress. Taritana’s voice, always well-modulated, resembled a path through the Tedious Middle Plain. It seemed as exposed as the Middle Plain as well. It seemed, in fact, like the beginning of a well-controlled confession. Raeche, who felt she had found a sister at last, did not want a confession. The Personal wanted to be absolved of every day before this one, and so the Empress would absolve her.
“No, there is nothing. All will be well between me and Lanus. All will be well.” Before she drifted off, she added, “You will truly be my sister now.”
She could sense an unsettled movement from her Personal. Raeche stirred but her eyes remained closed as she said, “Yes, I know you have a sister, but you are the Empire, too. You belong to Us. Be still, Tana. Dahouina’s marriage to Praytor will be blessedly short-lived.”
Chapter 12
The Emperor avoided Raeche for more days than he ever had while in residence at the palace, and Taritana, who had once hated the Empress, seemed to pity her. Pity was the worst gift someone could bestow upon an Empress, so she became angry and her joy died. She wondered why Lanus would cross the frigid waters of their long estrangement to make love to her only to cross it again while she watched, abandoned, from the shore.
She replayed the events of that night over and over in her mind, trying to sort out how she had driven him away. She relived his lips and hands on her skin, as well as the soothing waves of Spirit he had subtly pumped through her body to ease his way. Desperately, she tried to relive the shattering ecstasy he had brought her. But in the end, his harsh parting words echoed in her mind. Betray . He had used that word before leaving.
When she could no longer tolerate the silence between them or the neglected hum in her body, when she learned he planned to escape her to the South where his rotten brother waited to enumerate her shortcomings, she went to his chamber. Despite his warning, she had continued to return to his room by holding the curtain aloft then stepping over the threshold that in truth was no threshold at all.
“So my husband has not become my lover?” she spat.
“I apologize for losing my head, Empress, but no, I am not interested in replacing Galan again.”
“What did you do with him, Emperor ? Where did you send him?” She had not at all intended to say this when she came to his chamber but his words had unsettled her. She had intended to demand an explanation for his avoidance, yet now she chased a ghost.
An unpleasant snort greeted her question. “Nowhere,” he answered. “I would not send a man away to speak to others of how he flirted with the Empress and lived to tell the tale, even a fool like your dreamer, Galan.”
“Y-you had him killed?”
“I did not have him killed, little dark one. You have come with me into War’s Womb. You know
“Would you like me to wash your hair?” Taritana’s offer surprised her.
Something in her chest hurt. Raeche wanted to weep though she did not know why. All of a sudden, she desperately wanted Taritana to help her with her hair. It took hours to wash and dry on her own. In answer, she went to the much taller and stronger woman, threw her arms around her and sniffled.
After a moment, Taritana returned her embrace.
* * * *
Relaxation inevitably crept in when one floated in hot water filled with the deep-blue, fragrant tehacha leaves. Both its smell and the waxy chemical coating its surface served to loosen muscles and enhance the Spirit of Serenity. The cushioned, enchanted floor and walls of the large tub, which adjusted to her weight and the sensitivity of her skin, bones and muscle, heightened the sensation.
“Empress?” Taritana whispered as she used a bowl to rinse Raeche’s hair.
“Yes, Tana?” She did not open her eyes, so dangerously close to sleep was she.
“There is something I must tell you.”
Even through her comfortable haze, Raeche sensed her distress. Taritana’s voice, always well-modulated, resembled a path through the Tedious Middle Plain. It seemed as exposed as the Middle Plain as well. It seemed, in fact, like the beginning of a well-controlled confession. Raeche, who felt she had found a sister at last, did not want a confession. The Personal wanted to be absolved of every day before this one, and so the Empress would absolve her.
“No, there is nothing. All will be well between me and Lanus. All will be well.” Before she drifted off, she added, “You will truly be my sister now.”
She could sense an unsettled movement from her Personal. Raeche stirred but her eyes remained closed as she said, “Yes, I know you have a sister, but you are the Empire, too. You belong to Us. Be still, Tana. Dahouina’s marriage to Praytor will be blessedly short-lived.”
Chapter 12
The Emperor avoided Raeche for more days than he ever had while in residence at the palace, and Taritana, who had once hated the Empress, seemed to pity her. Pity was the worst gift someone could bestow upon an Empress, so she became angry and her joy died. She wondered why Lanus would cross the frigid waters of their long estrangement to make love to her only to cross it again while she watched, abandoned, from the shore.
She replayed the events of that night over and over in her mind, trying to sort out how she had driven him away. She relived his lips and hands on her skin, as well as the soothing waves of Spirit he had subtly pumped through her body to ease his way. Desperately, she tried to relive the shattering ecstasy he had brought her. But in the end, his harsh parting words echoed in her mind. Betray . He had used that word before leaving.
When she could no longer tolerate the silence between them or the neglected hum in her body, when she learned he planned to escape her to the South where his rotten brother waited to enumerate her shortcomings, she went to his chamber. Despite his warning, she had continued to return to his room by holding the curtain aloft then stepping over the threshold that in truth was no threshold at all.
“So my husband has not become my lover?” she spat.
“I apologize for losing my head, Empress, but no, I am not interested in replacing Galan again.”
“What did you do with him, Emperor ? Where did you send him?” She had not at all intended to say this when she came to his chamber but his words had unsettled her. She had intended to demand an explanation for his avoidance, yet now she chased a ghost.
An unpleasant snort greeted her question. “Nowhere,” he answered. “I would not send a man away to speak to others of how he flirted with the Empress and lived to tell the tale, even a fool like your dreamer, Galan.”
“Y-you had him killed?”
“I did not have him killed, little dark one. You have come with me into War’s Womb. You know
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