To Seduce An Assassin (The Omaja Series Book 2)(29)
“There are no books in the bed.”
“Yes, you are correct. Well, if you’ll excuse me—” Graciella tried to move past her to get through the door, but the other girl stood firmly in her way.
After an awkward standoff, Kitran finally moved aside, and Graciella hurried down the hallway toward her own quarters, eager to take refuge from the washing-girl’s evil eye.
§
Graciella sat with her sister in the library having afternoon tea. “Jiandra, I have a question for you about Kitran.”
“Yes? What about Kitran?”
“Do you know if she and Yavi have some sort of romantic connection with one another?”
Jiandra looked down and studied her teacup.
Graciella sat up straighter. “What? What do you know?
Jiandra set her tea on the table. “Why do you ask?”
“Oh, it was just an impression I got from…” Graciella faltered. “All right, confound it. I don’t want to lie to you about what I was up to while you were napping today, so judge me as you will.”
Jiandra couldn’t hide a smile. “Just tell me what happened.”
“I went snooping in Yavi’s room.”
“Gracie! How dare you do such a thing!” Jiandra lobbed a pillow at her. “I thought I taught you better than that.”
Graciella caught the pillow and laid it in her lap. “You did. You did teach me better than that, but I couldn’t help myself. I just want to be close to him, know about him. I couldn’t resist.”
Her sister chuckled. “Well? What did you find?”
“Nothing. His room was very boring, and he has minimal belongings in there, barely owns anything but knives and swords.”
Jiandra chuckled. “Yes. Sounds about right.”
“He does have this one very beautiful greatsword. It’s made of a strange dark metal.”
“Yes. That was his father’s sword. It’s black zirconium.”
“Oh?”
“Yajna has his mother’s emerald brooch, and Yavi their father’s sword. Those are the only two mementos they have from their parents.”
Graciella swallowed. “I see.”
“But you were saying. About Kitran.”
“Yes. She opened the door and caught me touching his pillow.”
Jiandra raised an eyebrow. “Touching his pillow? And just how were you ‘touching his pillow,’ pray tell?”
“Touching it with my hand. That’s all.”
“All right. Go on.”
“Kitran and I have worked together in the kitchen for the past three days, and she has never been anything but polite. But today, when she walked in on me snooping in his room, she glared at me.”
“Glared?”
“Glared, yes, and informed me that ‘the emperor doesn’t let anyone into his room.’”
“That much is true. Still, it was not her place to chastise you.”
“Then she blocked the doorway so I couldn’t escape. I thought I was going to have to shove her aside.”
“Oh, dear!”
“So, it got me thinking. For her to react so territorially over Yavi’s quarters, she must have some sort of reason to feel possessive over him.”
Jiandra pressed her lips together.
“What do you know, sister? Please tell me. I’m dying of jealousy. Is there something going on between the two of them?”
Jiandra released a breath. “I’m not sure.”
“Not sure? What do you mean? So it’s true that they might possibly be having an affair?”
“Well…yes.”
“Oh, Gods.” Graciella’s heart sank. “No wonder he’s so formal and stiff around me!”
“Shh! Lower your voice, sister.” Jiandra glanced at the library doors. “Don’t jump to conclusions. Yavi is reserved and formal around everyone nowadays, so that doesn’t mean he’s involved with Kitran, although yes, there is a possibility that he is.”
Graciella couldn’t help it—tears stung her eyes at her sister’s revelation.
Jiandra relented. “Look, I’ll tell you what I know, but only if you swear you’ll keep it to yourself, in strict confidence. You can never tell anyone what I saw, because I saw it with the Omaja stone, and I try never to invade a person’s privacy unnecessarily. Much less share their private thoughts with others when it’s none of their business.”
Graciella nodded mutely.
“It’s wrong for me to tell you, and may Zehu forgive me. But, I know that if I were in your shoes, I would be desperate for my sister to alleviate my misery too.” Jiandra took a deep breath, then lowered her voice. “I was reading Kitran’s thoughts several days ago, looking for the palace traitor. She was making Yavi’s bed at the time and didn’t know I was at the door.”
Graciella braced herself for the worst.
“Well, she was thinking about Yavi. They were—”
“They were what?”
“Making love.”
“Making love, how? Just embracing and kissing, or really making love?”
“Really making love. Naked, groaning, rubbing against one another. Well, come to think of it, it was mostly Kitran who was groaning and rubbing. Yavi was just lying there looking up at her.”