The Ardoon King Page 58

  Chapter 56: Revelation

  Thal heard the door of the bedroom open and whimpered. Hearing the footsteps approach her bed, she began to mutter, “No more, please!”

  The door closed and she saw Fiela approaching, and to her great surprise, Sam. Acting on instinct, she moved back against the wall and pulled the sheet up around her tightly. “Please, Annasa!”

  Fiela shook her head. “Don’t bother,” she sighed.

  Sam rushed toward the bed, seeing the woman’s horror. “Whoa, whoa, ain’t nobody here to hurt you, Thal.” He sat on the edge of the mattress. Seeing the woman was wearing only the sheet, he wasn’t sure what else to do. Hugging her seemed inappropriate.

  Fiela pulled a chair to the bed and plopped into it. She looked at Thal and shook her head. “Gig’s up,” she mumbled.

  “What?” Thal asked, looking confused.

  “He called me out. I almost took his head off.”

  Thal’s eyes went wide. “Gods!” She looked at Sam. “Are you alright?”

  Confused, Sam said, “Honey, why are asking me that? You’re the one…” He looked back at Fiela. “Gig?”

  Fiela said, “He said I was a monster. He called me a ‘little princess.’”

  Thal covered her mouth, and, to Sam’s amazement, laughed. “Little princess?”

  “That was the nicest things he said.”

  Sam looked at Fiela, then Thal, then Fiela again. “What the hell is going on here?”

  Thal suddenly grabbed him from behind. He tried to pull away, but the woman behind him had the advantage of leverage. He watched Fiela as he fell backwards, expecting the girl to pull one of her long knives and lunge toward him.

  Instead he fell against Thal’s breasts, which his male mind quickly assessed as ‘ample,’ and ‘wonderful,’ even as it warned him he was probably going to die.

  He felt a wet, sloppy kiss on his neck.

  “My hero,” Thal said, squeezing him. “Did you really do that, Sam? You defended me?”

  “And how,” remarked Fiela, looking none too pleased. “Even when I had my Glock pointed at him.”

  Thal lifted her head from Sam’s shoulder. “You pointed a gun at him?”

  “He was really pissing me off.”

  “Fiela!”

  “I couldn’t help it!” the girl said indignantly. “It’s kind of depressing, too. I had a Peth run from battle the other day. A Peth charged with protecting a queen of the Nisirtu! But today an Ardoon dared me to kill him just to protect a lady’s honor. I do not understand it. Not at all.”

  Thal hugged Sam more tightly. “Gods, it’s almost romantic! I’ve never been defended, Sam. You faced off against a queen for me? A queen with a gun?” She kissed him again and whispered, “Upon my oath, Sam - anytime, anywhere, and any way you want it. Fiela is my witness.”

  “Duly noted,” grumbled the girl.

  Sam blushed. “I’m, um, kind of married. God knows if it weren’t for that…”

  Fiela finally smiled. “Oh, that won’t stop Thal.”

  “Fiela!” exclaimed the woman pressing against Sam.

  “Sorry. It’s hard to get out of character.”

  Sam was mystified. “This is all an act?”

  “Most of it,” said Fiela. “Everything since the first day, when I accused Thal of having an affair. That was real. She had no clue what was happening. I needed her reaction to be real, so I really laid into her. It was awful.” The girl seemed distraught at the memory.

  “You had to do it,” said Thal. She turned to Sam. “She cried the rest of the day. It was terrible. We both cried.”

  “But why the hell would you do that?” Sam turned his head toward Thal. “No, no. You’re beat up. Those bruises are real. Your busted lip. That ain’t no makeup!”

  Fiela shook her head. “No, they’re real. I had to clock her a couple of times. I didn’t want to. There was no other way. She had to be injured.” She looked at Thal, narrowing her eyes. “It wasn’t easy, though. Thal kept ducking and running away. It took like two hours! It was like trying to catch a greased pig.”

  Thal said, “I tried to close my eyes and remain in place but I’m not a very brave person. It’s hard to stand still when you know the person in front of you is going to hit you. Especially if that person is Fiela.”

  “I held back,” the girl protested.

  “I know,” agreed the woman. “Else my head would not be attached to my body.”

  Sam persisted. “But why?”

  “To save my life,” Thal replied.

  Fiela leaned forward, putting her elbows on her knees, and spoke very quietly. “Sam, before I left was told of rumors that Thal was having an affair with Ben. That part is true. I do not believe the rumors, of course, and, honestly, I would not care if she did bed my husband.”

  “Fiela-” interjected Thal.

  “I have told you the same,” said Fiela, shooting her a look. Returning her gaze to Sam, the girl said, “She is the best person I know. Ben and her really do have a lot in common and I want them both happy. What do I care what they do in the confines of his study? But my sister will not be of the same mind.”

  “She will have me killed the moment I return to Steepleguard,” Thal said.

  Fiela nodded. “The only way to avoid that is for me to take revenge, first. I must take the initiative so that I can control the situation when we return to Steepleguard. She must think that I am in control of the situation, or else she will take control, and Thal will die.”

  Thal said, “The most important thing is that she should believe Fiela angry at me. Furious. She must trust that Fiela will keep me from the king, but stop short of killing me. It is necessary, then, that my debasement be witnessed here, by the Peth. They will spread the tale quickly enough. It will precede me to Steepleguard, even.”

  Sam shook his head. “Ben could protect you, right? Isn’t he your king? Her husband?”

  Fiela said, “No, Sam. Ben is scripted to rebuild this world. He spends his every waking hour trying to do that. He studies his tablets. He studies the scripts. He plans settlements. He writes laws. He liaisons with the Ardoon and nobles. I do not understand even a fraction of what he speaks of, but I know he is deprived of sleep and he worries endlessly. His arguments with my sister are bitter.”

  She paused, looking grim. “He pretends always to be happy. He jokes and smiles with everyone. Later he drinks. Sometimes too much, I think. At night, the terrors visit him.”

  Thal said, “I cannot task him, on top of all this, to intervene perpetually on my behalf to protect me from invisible plots by Lilian. Even if he were to do nothing other than monitor her, even if he abandoned his mission in this world to protect only me, she would still find ways to strike.”

  “What’s a script?” asked Sam.

  “Something you must follow,” said Thal, kissing the man’s neck again. “You have tried to save me once this day, Sam. Will you save me again? Please?”

  Fiela crossed her arms. “Maybe tone it down a little bit this time around? You have proven yourself to be an honorable and brave man today and I would never willingly harm you. But I am not a princess, nor am I little, and I do have a temper.”

  Sam nodded. “Duly noted.”