The Spacetime Pool by Catherine Asaro Read Free Book Online Page A

slow voice she had used last night. “I am
Farimah.” She introduced the younger women as Silvia and Danae.
     
    Janelle was becoming
accustomed to the dialect and understood better this morning. It reminded her
of times she had spent with the families of dignitaries who visited her father,
how she had striven to learn their language. To her, such new words were gems
strung together to create sparkling necklaces of meaning.
     
    “What can I do for
you?” she asked, awkward in her towel.
     
    Danae offered her
box. “It’s for your wedding.”
     
    Janelle felt the
tickling in her throat that came when she was nervous. “Oh. Yes.”
     
    “The ceremony will
take place immediately,” Farimah said. “His Highness has had word that the
Emperor’s army gathers in the south. Prince Dominick-Michael and his men must
leave today to discover what Maximillian plans.”
     
    Well, that was
romantic; her groom intended to spend his honeymoon spying on his brother. It
would give her time to adjust, though, and to learn about the gate.
     
    “We can wait for the
ceremony until he returns,” Janelle offered.
     
    “He wishes otherwise.”
Farimah’s voice had a definite edge.
     
    “Here, Lady Janelle.”
Danae opened her box and revealed a treasure, gold hoops and rings, all inset
with mother-of-pearl.
     
    “They’re stunning,”
Janelle said. “But I don’t wear jewelry.”
     
    Farimah stiffened. “Generations
of Constantine brides have worn these with pride. You consider yourself above
them?”
     
    “No. No, I didn’t
mean that.” Mortified, she tried to repair her faux pas. “I just don’t want to
presume.”
     
    Farimah gave her a
look that said plainly, You do. But she only said, “His Highness wishes
you to have them.”
     
    “It’s kind of
Dominick,” Janelle said.
     
    Farimah jerked up her
hand as if to strike her. Then she took a deep breath and lowered her arm. Her
voice was ice. “You will refer to His Highness as Prince Dominick-Michael.”
     
    Janelle wondered if
she could say anything right. “I’m sorry. He told me to call him Dominick.”
     
    “Ai,” Silvia
murmured. She glanced at Farimah with sympathy. To Janelle, she said, “Farimah
did not know.”
     
    Before Janelle could
further cram her foot down her throat and tickle her tonsils with her toes,
Danae intervened by fastening a luminous torque around her neck.
     
    “These jewels will
help ensure your safety,” Danae said.
     
    Janelle tensed. “My
safety from what?”
     
    Silvia clipped a
bracelet around Janelle’s wrist. “The heirlooms indicate you are wife to the
emperor’s brother. With so much unrest in the provinces, a woman needs more
protection than in normal times.”
     
    Janelle liked what
she was hearing less and less. Running her fingers over the necklace, she
realized it was a delicate version of the heavy chain Dominick wore. The
bracelet had the same pattern as the abalone in his shirt cuffs.
     
    While Farimah put a
belled chain around each of Janelle’s ankles, Silvia took out a blue velvet
cloth with gold highlights. Then she waited. Janelle blinked at her.
     
    Farimah sighed as she
rose to her feet. “It would be easier to dress you without the towel.”
     
    “Oh.” Embarrassed,
Janelle let the cloth drop to the floor.
     
    “Goodness,” Silvia
said, as if Janelle had achieved an impressive feat instead of just standing
there naked and feeling like an idiot.
     
    “No wonder he wants
to marry you so fast,” Farimah muttered. “Men see only one thing.”
     
    Silvia put the velvet
cloth around Janelle’s hips. The skirt fit low on her pelvis, showing too much
of her abdomen. The hem almost reached her knees, but a slit went up the left
side to her hip.
     
    Janelle flushed. “I
can’t wear this.”
     
    “Why?” Farimah asked.
“It appears to fit.”
     
    “It shows too much
skin.”
     
    Danae laughed
good-naturedly. “What is a wedding for, but to entice the