The force of her hand striking his face was loud and close but it barely penetrated his consciousness. It already felt as though his soul had been cleaved in half, his mind peeled like a ripe fruit, waiting to be eaten.
Where had he just gone? Had she been with him? If felt as though she had been. The look on her face offered no clues.
'Remove yourself at once!' She hissed, her eyes embers, aflame.
Her little body pushed at him but he was too entranced to move. Her taste lingered on his tongue, sweet and familiar. What in the gods had possessed him to kiss her? He hadn't wanted to kiss her. He had watched her anger spiral and come loose and he had wanted to throw her on the pallet and take her roughly, that's what he'd wanted. He'd wanted to pierce her throat with his teeth and drink from her, he'd wanted to roar at her to cease her incessant disobedience - he hadn't wanted to kiss her. But then he'd seen her tears - tears which seemed to have their own metallic scent - and overcome by a thick cloying burn in his chest, he'd kissed her. He'd kissed her because, right then, it had felt as necessary as breathing his next breath. There had been no other thought to it. No consideration of what it might mean or whether she would welcome it. He had simply needed to do it.
The first startling notion was that it felt as though it had not been the first time he had kissed her. A memory of it had flooded all of his senses at once. He'd experienced a deep longing for it, as though it had been lost to him for an eternity but he had somehow found it again. The second most startling notion was that she had returned it. He'd felt her mouth open to his, welcoming and hungry. Her blood had rushed to meet his tongue as he punctured her lip, and the taste was deeply and richly familiar to him. It had fused with his own, in a frenzied, desperate knitting together, and he knew that he would never forget the taste of her as long as he was alive to remember it.
She looked horrified as she stared up at him, but the scent of her fading desire hung between them in the air. The scent was much like her blood, only sweeter.
'Your body does not appear to be quite as outraged as your words suggest, female.'
Her cheeks flushed as her eyes narrowed. 'How dare you?!' When she spat again he turned his head this time so that it landed on his cheek. Then he turned back and took hold of her flailing wrists, pressing them down into the pallet by each side of her head. He lowered his mouth slowly until it almost touched hers once more.
The fight seemed to leave her instantly, her eyes widening with fear or something else, her breath trapped at the back of her throat. The blood slipped from her mouth like the richest most fragrant of wine. His thirst deepened.
'Please...' she whispered, closing her eyes tightly. He felt her body begin to tremble beneath him, though from fright or desire he could not say. He could still smell her need, but the tears sprang again from her eyes and they had the same effect on his senses as they'd had before. He was about to release her when her eyes shot open wide. 'The collar,' she gasped, a thought lighting up her eyes.
He blinked in confusion.
'Sorcery. Collared and meek and welcoming to your touch? Of course.'
He considered correcting her, telling her that the collar held no power here, that only back in Leoth could it bind her, and even then, it could only keep her physically close to him. The collar held no other qualities. It did not make her submissive to him, and it certainly did not make her desire him. He considered telling her this, but he could see she looked almost comforted by the assumption, so he said nothing.
'Shall I ever an ounce of free will as long as I live?' She hissed.
Releasing her, he stood up from the pallet and stalked to the table and the jug of wine which he hoped would cleanse the taste of her from his mouth. Finding it empty, he shouted for Jhaan who ducked inside the entrance a moment later.
His steward took in the sight of Cassine still spread out on the pallet and flicked his eyes to Theodan who stood almost naked - and quite evidently aroused - on the opposite side of the tent.
Pulling herself up to sitting, Cassine sheepishly arranged her tunic down about her legs. She dragged a hand through her hair and wiped the back of her small hand over her mouth to wipe the blood from it. Then she dropped her eyes to the floor, abashed.
'Wine,' Theodan snarled at Jhaan, annoyed at the accusation in his eyes as he looked from Cassine to him. 'And ensure it is cool.'
'Commander.' Jhaan dipped his head and backed out of the tent once more.
When Theodan looked back at Cassine, he saw her head turned in the direction of the exit, staring almost longingly after his young steward. Theodan's claws sharpened with a surge of rage, his vision clouding.
'Is he more to your tastes, female?' he snapped.
Her head whipped around, her eyes still embers of fury as they met his own. She said nothing but he could see the question insulted her.
Some cruel, despicable part of him considered having Jhaan brought to him and whipped before her, of having the steward take Iaria of Asalla before her, of having Cassine and him both tied to a post in the pen until the moonset.
He considered all manner of humiliations which would serve to punish them both but ultimately discarded them all. He supposed it was his own doing. He should not have put temptation in the young Leoth's way. He would not do it again.
'Would you welcome him into your soft human body this eve if I permitted it?' He asked the question though he had no desire to know the answer.
She shook her head in disgust. 'So help me I will curse you to the gods as long as I have breath left in my body.' She said the words so quietly that he wondered if she intended for him not to hear it.
He pretended she had not spoken and smiled somewhat malignantly at her. 'Tis true he has yet to slaughter a prince, or, in fact, any of your people - but in thirteen moon cycles, he will transform into much the same beast of Leoth you see before you now. He will be he trained in the art of Valka and sent from the heavens on winged beasts to ravage your land as I have done. Would you desire him then Cassine?'
'There will be nothing left of my land when you leave these shores. You and your dogs have seen to that.'
'War, female. The very curse of Ethis; those of you in your soft realms seem to have forgotten this fact,' he said. 'But it has always been here. Waiting. We trained for it while you danced and sang and sat in polished temples of gold speaking to long-forgotten gods.'
'You think I know nothing of war??' She spat. 'I have been fighting my own war since the day I was born!'
He scoffed, turning away from her. 'Then it does not show - for you have much to learn about it.'
'And are these to be more lessons you will teach me, Commander?' She sneered. 'Like having me whipped and collared? Like using sorcery to force me to submit to your desires???!'
He turned, smiled. 'The collar is necessary, war camps are savage places Cassine; a fact you should be more than aware of given your wealth of experience in the matter.' His tone was mocking and it caused her hands to turn to fists. 'The collar is merely intended to keep you safe from those who wish to harm you.'
She almost laughed. 'And who will keep me safe from you, Leoth?'
He took a step toward her. Then another. She did not shrink back. Had his body ever longed to be inside a woman as much as it longed to be inside this one? He felt starved, faint. Desperate for her. Curse her to her useless forgotten gods.
'Have I harmed you, Cassine?' he growled. 'Have I ravaged you or starved you? Have I ill-treated you? Beyond the punishment a slave deserves for their arrogant pride and wilful disobedience?'
She stared up at him, her breathing hard, anger simmering in her golden eyes.
'Have I?' He demanded.
'You have taken everything from me.'
He considered this. 'No, Cassine, not everything. Not yet.'
He heard Jhaan enter the tent but he could not look away from the fire in her eyes to address him. Cassine did not look away either and it pleased him.
'Leave the wine and go,' he ordered him without turning his head.
'Commander,' Jhaan spoke, hesitant and soft. 'The Zybar King has requested an audience with you - a guard awaits outside to accompany you to the Kings quarters.'
Theodan turned his head, closed his eyes, and sighed. The children. Of course, the matter would not be settled so simply. A petition to drop the resolution. A call for repeal. A second vote on the matter. Perhaps the heir of the slain Zugar had arrived. Perhaps the fate of Yar had been discovered in the temple crypt. Whatever it was made no difference to Theodan, he would not recall the resolution. The children of Azura belonged to Leoth.
'Tell the guard to advise the King I am retired for this eve. I will speak with him on the morrow.'
Jhaan shifted on his feet, staring helplessly at the ground. He held the wine jug in his hand which Theodan noticed shook almost violently.
'Commander, the Zybar King also requested that you bring your 'Azurian slave' with you,' his eyes flicked to Cassine, then back to Theodan, fear shimmering in his dark gaze. 'The guard advises that a matter of great concern to the King has arisen.'
A small gasp of fear escaped Cassine's throat at the same time a heavy sensation settled over his chest.