A Kiss of Fire (A Kiss of Magic #2)(38)
“There will be no war,” Sin said softly, his hand absently brushing over the sheet of figures he had been studying before his brother’s interjection into his day.
“You are damn right there won’t be because you are going to take her back! Right now!”
Raja Sin suddenly and sharply got to his feet, the action knocking his chair back.
“What did you just say to me?” he asked, his tone low and dangerous. “For…I believe I have heard you wrongly. You cannot possibly have given your Raja a command.”
This made his brother hesitate. He straightened and cleared his throat.
“I only meant that…the only way to avoid war is to bring her back to her people. If I can find out she is here, then they will find out and then we will be plunged into war!”
“There will be no war,” Sin repeated softly. “The Sarens cannot afford a war. And, as I understand it, without Colla they will be missing a third of their armed forces.”
“Someone will take her place.”
“Perhaps. But that will take time. It will take time for them to learn where she is. It will take time for them to demand I give her back. It will take time before this deteriorates into war…if indeed war is where it ends up. I am gambling on the fact that they do not want war.”
“That’s a hell of a gamble Brother! And what does it matter that it takes time? It will still come out the same whether it is now or four weeks from now.”
“Because. I am hoping that before that time comes, Ariana Colla will agree to become my wife.”
His brother’s jaw literally dropped open.
“You’re mad. How on earth do you expect her to want to do that when you have kidnapped her and caused her so much pain? You’ve no doubt frightened her half to death.”
Sin chuckled with little mirth. “You haven’t met her. She is not the type to be afraid of anything.”
“Then I will meet her. If for no other reason than for her to feel as though she has a friend highly placed in this court.”
Sin leaned forward across his desk, placing both fists down on the surface as he resisted the urge he had to throttle his brother.
“You will meet Ariana when and if I decide you should meet her. You will not be her friend. You and I both know what it would mean for you if I take a wife and begin to breed sons. Don’t think for a moment I don’t know you would do anything to make that not happen.”
“Brother, I don’t know what you mean,” he dissembled. “I would of course be glad if you were to take a wife and have heirs!”
“Then you will do everything in your power to help me in my wooing of her…not be a hindrance to it.” Sin straightened and came around the desk, stalking as if he were a great cat on the hunt for its next meal. “Then, and only then, if I am satisfied will I allow you, Mother and the rest of the family to meet her.”
“Mother will feel the same as I do. She will see this madness for what it is.”
“Call me mad again and see where it takes you,” Sin said ominously.
Vich cleared his throat. “I can see you are not in the frame of mind to discuss this reasonably,” his brother said—a couched way of saying he was mad without actually saying it—and he backed up out of the room. He made a short bow to his brother and swept out of the room.
“Close the door,” he said to the guard who stood just outside of it, no doubt worrying if he would be taken to task for letting the raj into his chambers. It only took an inclination of his head to tell the guard he should be on the outside of the door once it shut.
Once the door was closed Sin released a long, cool sigh. His brother was going to be trouble. Hells, his brother was always trouble. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he should happen to agree with Sin on something.
But Ariana could not be rushed. He had known it was only a matter of time before this happened…he had only hoped it would be longer than just four days.
He had eaten dinner with Ariana again last night and he could see a glimmer of indication that she was beginning to relax. That, in spite of herself, she was beginning to enjoy his company.
That would not last long if she was kept cooped up in that room much longer. Ariana was a woman of action and activity…be it of her body or her mind. She was not meant to be tucked away and protected like a pretty bauble. She was meant for power and command. He was not afraid to admit that she was on par with him in that way.
If their roles had been reversed, he would have been going mad…and he would have hated whoever had put him there. He had to reach her before she reached the tipping point from beginning to relax around him to learning to hate him in all new ways due to inactivity of her mind and body.
However he had great plans on how to keep her body and her mind agile.
Thinking about her made him long to see her, so he left his study, his head steeped in thoughts. He reached her rooms to find Mordol was taking his shift as guard. He wondered if Mordol had been the one to betray his confidence. Of all of the men, Mordol was the one whose character he least trusted. But Mordol had fought loyally and valiantly by his side in the wars. He had no reason not to trust him.
Since Sin had been absent every time the women had alighted from the carriage, he had never had the opportunity to hear Mordol’s treatment of them. So, in ignorance, he scooped up the cloak hanging on a peg outside of the room and nodded to Mordol to unlock the door.