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

groom?”
     
    “Come now,” Farimah
said. She knelt by her box and withdrew a girdle designed from beaten coins,
with a border of little gold bells. Janelle squinted while they fastened it
around her hips. Heavy and snug, the girdle fit over the skirt and sparkled
with sapphires and mother-of-pearl. It jangled when she moved. Then Silvia
brought out a bra made from silver coins, with loops of abalone and opal beads.
     
    Enough is enough, Janelle thought. “I can’t wear that.”
     
    Silvia considered the
halter and then Janelle. “You are right. It is too small.”
     
    “I didn’t mean my
breasts,” Janelle muttered. No one listened. Silvia went to the door and
knocked. As the guard outside opened it a sliver, Silvia blocked his view of
the room. A child squeezed past her, a girl of about three with black curls and
a sweet face.
     
    Silvia glanced back
at Janelle, her gaze malicious, then slipped outside and closed the door.
Janelle stiffened, wondering what she had done to evoke Silvia’s hostility.
     
    The child ran to
Farimah. “Fami!”
     
    The elderly woman
laughed and reached for her. Then she froze, her gaze darting to Janelle. Panic
surged over her face.
     
    Puzzled, Janelle gave
the child a friendly smile. “Hello.”
     
    The girl hid her face
in Farimah’s skirts.
     
    Farimah lifted the
child into her arms, her attention riveted on Janelle. “My apology.” She
sounded terrified. “I didn’t realize she had followed me here.”
     
    “It’s all right,”
Janelle said. Both Farimah and Danae had gone deathly pale. Why? “She is
welcome to stay.”
     
    “Thank you.” Farimah
spoke stiffly.
     
    “She’s charming,”
Janelle said. “What’s her name?”
     
    “Selena. Like her
mother.”
     
    “You seem to know her
well.”
     
    “She is my
granddaughter.” Farimah took a breath. “I also care for her siblings. Her
mother died in childbirth.”
     
    “I’m sorry,” Janelle
murmured.
     
    The girl was watching
her with big, dark eyes that somehow looked familiar. “You mama now?” she
asked.
     
    Mama? Mama? Ah, hell. Janelle stared at Farimah. “She is Dominick’s child?”
     
    Farimah answered
tightly. “Yes.”
     
    Life grew messier by
the moment. “How many does he have?”
     
    “Five.” Farimah was
as taut as a coil. “The oldest is twelve.”
     
    Janelle wondered when
he had planned to tell her. “Are they all your daughter’s children?”
     
    “Of course!” Anger
flashed in her gaze. “After Selena came into his life, His Highness had no
other women.”
     
    Janelle rubbed her
neck, trying to ease her aching muscles. Selena hardly sounded like a
concubine, if Dominick had lived monogamously with her for so many years,
raising a family. Had some stupid prophecy kept them from marrying? No wonder
Farimah resented her.
     
    Farimah’s fear also
made sense now. Janelle spoke quietly. “Your grandchildren are welcome in my
household.”
     
    Farimah just nodded,
her posture rigid. But her frozen look thawed a bit. She took the girl to the
door and gave her into the keeping of someone outside.
     
    Silvia returned then,
watching them with an avid gaze. Janelle wanted to sock her. Silvia could have
kept the girl outside and protected Farimah from that heart-stopping moment
when the grandmother realized she would have to tell Janelle about the
children. What had Silvia hoped to achieve? It didn’t take a genius to see
women had little power here. It created a dynamic foreign to Janelle, an
unstated enmity and maneuvering for sexual power. Silvia was a beauty, with
glossy black hair and a voluptuous figure. Had she hoped for Dominick’s favor?
Maybe she believed discord between his new wife and the mother of his former
favorite could work to her advantage.

 
    Janelle had no
interest in such machinations. Compared to this place, her world was so
enlightened it glowed in the dark. She didn’t think women here would be burning
their bras any time soon. Given