The Fisherman's Daughter by K. Scott Lewis Read Free Book Online Page B

hips, her thoughts of testing him, of studying him, fall away, and she surrenders to the bliss of their lovemaking.
     
12
    “It’s true then! Kaladan, what have you done?”
    Meiri awakens, not wanting to rise from the comfort of her slumber beside her prince. It’s warm and safe here, and she’s content sharing in the captivity of his desire.
    His desire… he suffers some glamour, but it is his greatness that allows him to capture me so. She curls her toes and smiles, sliding against her lover’s naked body. Whose voice was that?
    The covers are torn from the bed, and an elven woman stands over the two of them, face flushed hot in anger. She has similar blonde hair and blue eyes to Kaladan’s. “I made Tomoril tell me,” she accuses. “He’s loyal, I’ll give him that. It took a while to get him to confess your treason.”
    Meiri frowns. “Who is this?”
    “Silence!” the woman commands.
    Kaladan rises from the bed and stands before the woman, apparently unconcerned with his nakedness. “My sister, Princess Uendil.” He glances down at Meiri. “Yes, it’s true. I have fastened upon a human.”
    “You know what this means.”
    “It means you must choose to keep my secret,” the prince replies, “or declare me saldaka .”
    “You should recuse yourself of this city. Father would be merciful with you and let you choose exile. You’re his son!”
    Kaladan shakes his head. “No. It is because I am his son that father will have me killed. I have been betrayed by my heart, and he will see it as mercy. I’m sorry you saw this. I didn’t want to put you in this situation.”
    Uendil’s face twists in anguish. “Then run away! Leave this place, and take her with you! I cannot bear to see you dead.”
    Kaladan’s face grows grim as he reaches for a robe, slipping it over his shoulders. He retrieves the covers from the floor and brings them to Meiri so she might cover herself. Meiri eyes the torn gown from the night before and wonders if she will see Tomoril again to ask him to bring her some more clothes.
    “I will not,” he says. “This is my home, and I would have her here, not in their barbaric lands.”
    “Then you force me to keep your secret!” Uendil cries in anguish. Meiri’s heart shudders in cold fear when Uendil makes eye contact with her again. The elf woman’s face reflects such venom that the human woman shrinks away. “My love for my brother is the only thing protecting you,” she says. “If our father ends his life, you will not live the day.”
    Uendil turns and leaves the room, but not before she says to her brother, “And set wards on your door. Already she makes you reckless.”
    After the princess departs, Kaladan walks to the door and lays his hands on it, uttering words of magic. Light flashes around the door’s edges and then fades.
    “She’s right,” he says. “I have grown careless, because the more I’m with you, the more I can only think of being with you.” He pushes her back on the bed and kneels, rising to her body under the covers. She wants to speak, but his tongue fills her with a gentle sweetness that rises and will not be ignored. She surrenders once more to his passion, and the sun has risen higher by the time they rest again in each other’s arms. She lays her head on his chest, listening to the rise and fall of his breath.
    “The Archmage will find me out, eventually,” he says as he strokes her hair. “He will kill us both.”
    She grows still. She knows she must push again. “I refuse to accept such a fate,” she tells him. “You are powerful. I know it in your touch, and in your eyes when you look at me.” She rests her hand over his heart. “I know you can find a safe place for us.”
    He kisses the crown of her head and sighs. “It will be done.” He rises from the bed, pulling his clothing back on. “I will send Tomoril back to see to your needs until I return.”
    “Where are you going?” she asks.
    “It is no trivial task you