A Kiss of Fire (A Kiss of Magic #2)(58)

“It would make more sense for your Padoni majji—your nature shamans—to settle and farm such country,” Sin said.

“True. But majji tend to be rich and contented. They do not seek out adventure much. But there are those of lower levels of skill who might take advantage. Those who are young and just starting out on their own.”

The conversation continued and between her and Sin, Vich didn’t get to speak a single opinion of his own. That night when Sin pulled her aside in a dark corner, he kissed her until she was blind drunk with passion. Then he whispered in her ear, “You are sent by God to both tempt me and ease me.”

“I am just a woman. A woman who misses her country.”

“And I am a man who wants you to find home in mine. Please, can you not open yourself to the possibility? Would it be so bad to be beloved by me?”

Until he tired of her. And part of her feared that the moment she gave in would be the beginning of the end of his infatuation with her. Why that should matter to her, she didn’t know. She should do that. She should give in, enjoy him as a lover, get her fill of him and wait for his infatuation to fade. The quicker that happened, the quicker she could return home. She could just imagine what was happening at home without her.

The thought sobered her mood and she pushed herself out of his arms.

“This is not my home,” she said simply.

Her words disturbed him. He almost seemed…hurt by them. But Ariana put that down to her imagination. There were no actual feelings involved here. This was just a game he was determined to win. Well, he would not win it that night nor any of the following nights.

Time began to move more quickly now that her days were filled. During the morning every morning they would go out for a ride, weather permitting. The weather held though, only light snow falling around them some mornings. Then she would spend the day with his mother and afternoons with him in his study. Until one day it changed.

“Today,” he said, “we hear grievances. Tomorrow we meet with ambassadors and diplomats to discuss trade agreements. Did you…would you like to join me?”

She could see what he was doing. Trying to get her involved in his government more and more every day. Probably in some hope that if she saw what it was like to rule his country, then she would agree to become his concubine.

She loathed the word and all its connotations. In Kithian society, a royal concubine only became a wife when she produced a male child. There was no way around that particular law of succession. For all he claimed he wanted to make her his wife, he couldn’t until she was a proven breeder. That kept the monarch from tying himself down to a woman barren of heirs, in their way of thinking. And only males were heirs in this society, unlike hers where male and female children inherited equally according to succession of birth. If you were firstborn, like Ariana was, then you were heir. Thus she had inherited all of her father’s lands and properties and the armies attached to them. Only a few had been set aside for Gretha, second-born. Enough to earn her a seat as a Heddah on the Heddah council, the council of district leaders. Gretha was not without power in her own right, it was simply that she had always envied what her sister had been born to over her.

“I would rather spend the day with your mother,” she said to him quietly.

She watched him digest that for a moment, watched the play of emotion across his face. He was disappointed. Frustrated. She could see it in his eyes. He wanted her to play along. To be honest, she wanted to play with him. She was fascinated by the way his government worked. She wondered exactly what these grievances were that he would be hearing. She wondered how it worked. She also would love to see how he handled his trade agreements and his ambassadors now that the face of Kith had changed so dramatically. Foreigners in trade with Kith had to know their lucrative agreements would dry up once the Kithians were producing enough grain on their own to support their country. How was he mollifying them, keeping trade costs from going through the roof as they anticipated the end to come.

However, she would not play into his hands.

This was not her country. These were not her problems. Never mind that she had begun to crave watching him work in his element, that he grew more compelling every day with every action he took. Be it a squabble between diplomats or a squabble between servants, nothing seemed to be below his notice. He had his finger on the pulse of his entire world around him. For which he depended heavily on his aides, usually the one called Lindo. The one who had brought her there.

“Come with me,” he coaxed her softly, his face bending close to hers, his lips brushing over her ear. “I know you want to see more.”

He was right of course. But she couldn’t let him be right. She couldn’t allow him to win her over about this. If she did it would spell the beginning of the end of her resistance.

She didn’t realize that he was already winning. If indeed it was just a game. But it wasn't a game to Sin. It meant everything to him. He wished that it didn’t. He wished that her refusing shake of her head didn’t sink so deep like a knife wound. But it did. Just as every bit of resistance she threw up in his face stung him like a nail ripped off to the quick. But he was determined to persevere. He would wear her down. It was only a matter of time.

Time he understood he might not have.

By having her out in public, he had exposed himself to being discovered by any Saren who might happen into his court. Or, even so, a diplomat who might go to Saren and claim to have seen her there. That too was a possibility. But he needn’t rush. It took quite a bit of time to get to Capitol City from there. Two weeks by carriage, one and a half on horseback if you were moving fast enough. He had time to spare…just not an endless quantity of it. He suspected his keen-minded captive was just as aware of that fact as he was. He wondered however that she didn’t go out of her way to ask for help from any of the passing diplomats. Not that he had seen or had been reported to him by the guards keeping a constant watch on her when he was not in the room with her.