To Seduce An Assassin (The Omaja Series Book 2)(101)
“No.” She smiled and stepped back to kick off her boots. She tugged her borrowed work dress over her head while he removed his trousers.
“Come.” He held a hand out to her, then pulled her down with him onto the small bed. He pulled the blankets over their naked bodies and folded her into his arms.
Graciella snuggled in as closely to him as she could manage, closed her eyes, and let sleep claim her.
§
In the morning, Graciella awoke to the sounds of the servants shouting. At first, it came from far away, and then there was more screaming and shouting in the hallway outside their room.
Yavi sat upright, startled.
“What could it be?” she asked, sitting up as well. The blankets fell away from her torso.
Yavi glanced down at her breasts before tossing the blankets aside. “I’ll go see. Don’t move.”
Graciella watched as he quickly dressed, tugged on his boots, and left.
Moments later, he was back, his face spread into a wide grin. “Get up,” he urged, grabbing her dress up from the floor. “You have to see this.”
Graciella dressed quickly and rushed into the hallway with him. Yajna and Jiandra were just emerging from their room as well to see what all the ruckus was about. The three of them followed Yavi outside to find that the snow and ice was gone, the morning sun felt warm, and the ground had thawed for the first time in a hundred years. The twins kicked at the loose soil, then leapt and shouted for joy, hugging each other and then their wives.
Yavi spun Graciella around in his arms, laughing.
“The curse is lifted!” she bubbled happily.
“You see?” he said as he set her down on her feet. “You did bring Nandala good fortune!”
“Me?” she squealed in protest. “You’re the one who defeated the Vyrkune!”
“Brother!” Yajna interrupted them. “Tejeshwar has blessed our land!”
“We’ll plant, and grow…!” Jiandra said to Graciella. “We’ll make Nandala as prosperous as Villeleia!”
Graciella hugged her. “Thank you again for healing Yavi last night, sister.”
Jiandra chuckled. “Thank Zehu for the Omaja stone.”
After breakfast, men arrived from nearby villages to help Yavi and Yajna bury the Vyrkune corpses from the battle in a deep grave outside the fortress. That afternoon when the Black Army reinforcements arrived from Hajan and Ularia, the emperors held a mass funeral for the fallen soldiers and officers. Manck, Binnaj, and Shardul had all lost their lives, but Terthan still had breath in him when Jiandra found him with the stone for healing. He stood alongside the twins during the solemn ceremony in the courtyard.
Later that evening, Graciella sat with Yavi, her sister, and Yajna on benches in the mess hall having a simple dinner of bread, mashed lentils, and boiled potatoes.
Jiandra gave Graciella gentle smile from across the table. “This has been a grim honeymoon for you, sister.”
Graciella hugged Yavi’s arm, resting her head on his shoulder a moment. “I don’t mind. I’m so happy the curse has lifted. It helps soothe the sadness of our losses.”
Yavi hugged her waist, kissed her forehead. “Still, I wish I had a more comfortable place for you to stay. Unfortunately, the palace will need to be cleared out and scoured clean before we can return there. It might take a couple of weeks, and we won’t have help restoring it until our staff returns from Hajan.”
“Brother,” Yajna spoke up. “Jiandra and I can oversee the return of the evacuees to Darpan as well as the cleaning and repairs to the palace. Why don’t you and Gracie go off somewhere and have a proper honeymoon?”
“Yes!” Jiandra agreed, squeezing Yajna’s arm. “That could be our wedding gift to the two of you.”
Graciella met her husband’s silvery gaze.
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Where should we go, Sheir-zin?”
She thought a moment. “We could go visit my brother Elio and Queen Solange, give them the happy news of our wedding and Nandala’s victory over the curse. Solange would be thrilled to put us up in Castle Villeleia for a couple of weeks.”
“This time of year the rivers are teeming with Villeleian trout,” Yajna added. “You could fish to your heart’s content, brother.”
“Yes, and we could visit Stovy farm, see if we can pick some early strawberries,” Graciella suggested. “Collect a few bottles of Stovy Farm wine to bring home with us.”
“Say no more.” Yavi smiled, kissing her lips. He touched her cheek. “We’ll leave tomorrow. I want you to put all this behind you and enjoy yourself for a while.”
She turned her face to kiss his palm.
“I’ll make certain you enjoy yourself, in fact,” he leaned in to whisper near her ear. “In every single way.”
“Ahem.” Yajna cleared his throat from across the table. “We can hear you, brother. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
Yavi grinned, holding Graciella’s gaze. “Oh, I won’t.”
Twenty
Villeleia was green and blooming, and Graciella loved seeing the flowers of springtime there. From their coach windows she and Yavi enjoyed the view of the rolling hills, fields of lavender, flowering trees, and quaint villages during their two-day journey south.