To Seduce An Assassin (The Omaja Series Book 2)(30)
“Looking up at her? She was on top?” Graciella was scandalized and envious. She didn’t want anyone to be naked on top of Yavi but her. Ever. A dagger pierced through her heart at the thought of Kitran on top of Yavi, groaning and rubbing herself on him.
“Yes,” Jiandra replied. “Anyhow, I couldn’t ask him about it, because I would be invading both his and Kitran’s privacy. I never intended to tell anyone, in fact, and you must promise not to use this information against him or Kitran.”
“Why didn’t you at least tell me you thought he might be involved with a woman when I arrived? You could have kept her identity secret. Here I’ve been pining for him, fawning over him for the past three days! I must look a fool.” She hugged the pillow against her chest and pressed her face to the top of it, wanting to curl up in a ball and hide.
“To be honest with you, things were so hectic around here that I hadn’t given it a second thought until you brought it up just now. At the time I decided it was probably just a fantasy on Kitran’s part, because Yavi made a vow that he wouldn’t get involved with another woman since Gerynwid killed the servant girl he loved six years ago. I’ve never seen him giving Kitran any special attention.”
Graciella didn’t take much comfort in her sister’s words. Plus, now there was a new worry. “He made a vow because of a servant girl he loved?”
“I shouldn’t have told you that either.”
Graciella fell silent, hopelessness crushing in on her, constricting her chest.
“Look, more than likely it was all in Kitran’s head. It wouldn’t be that surprising for the girl to have fantasies about him. He’s dashingly handsome; he’s the emperor; he’s brave and valiant. He’s every girl’s dream. I should know; I feel the same way about his twin.”
Graciella lay on her side on the couch and stuffed the pillow over her head. Her voice came out muffled from under it. “This is a nightmare.”
“Now, now,” Jiandra soothed. “Don’t assume the worst until we know for sure.”
“How can we know for sure?” Graciella complained from under the pillow. Then she sat upright, an idea occurring to her. “Jiandra. You can read his thoughts with the Omaja.”
Jiandra shook her head. “No. Absolutely not. That would be a total breach of trust, between him and me as well as between me and Lord Zehu.”
“You’re right.” Graciella dropped her gaze to her hands. “I’m sorry I suggested such a thing.”
“Look, if it’s any consolation, Yavi has shown far more interest in you since you arrived than what I’ve ever seen him display toward Kitran. Or any other woman, for that matter.”
Graciella frowned. “He has?”
“Last night in his study, he couldn’t keep his eyes off you.”
“We were having a conversation, though. Of course he was looking at me.”
“Yes, but it was more than just looking at a person while they talk. He was very deeply involved in whatever the two of you were talking about, completely engrossed in you. That’s how it appeared from my vantage point, anyhow.”
Graciella thought about that. It was true that during last night’s lengthy conversation he had not only listened to her attentively, but had also offered his opinions on what she’d said, as well as confided in her about his own experiences and feelings.
“Gracie, for now, I advise you to just stay the course. Be the wonderful, sweet girl you are, and soon you’ll know whether you are breaking through the fortress he’s built up around his heart or not.”
Graciella thought about that, realizing she had to face a terrible possibility. “But if Yavi is having an affair with Kitran, then I must wrench him out of my heart, the sooner the better. Because either he’s having the affair purely to satisfy his lust, in which case, I wouldn’t be able to think of him in the same way, or he’s in love with her, in which case I would be encroaching upon their commitment to one another.”
“I beg you to withhold that decision until the facts become clearer. We will have to try to find out what may or may not be happening between them on our own, not with the power of the Omaja. But I believe that eventually the truth will be uncovered.”
Yes, kind of like Kitran’s body while she’s “rubbing” on him, Graciella added mentally, sighing.
§
Later that afternoon, Graciella taught Wilten how to make dumplings. The young Nandal girl was a quick learner, both in cooking techniques as well as understanding and speaking Villeleian, and Graciella was enjoying her company in the kitchen immensely.
“You…roll? Like this?” Wilten asked in her thick, sweet-sounding Nandalan accent.
“Yes, and then you just cut the dumplings into pieces with a knife.”
Wilten picked up her knife. “Knife?”
“Yes, we call that a knife. What do you call it?”
“Shel.”
“Shell?”
Wilten chuckled and pronounced it again, emphasizing the “l” sound at the end of the word. Graciella tried to mimic her pronunciation.
Kitran came in the back door with a dishpan full of water, setting it down on the washtable off to the side. She bowed slightly to Graciella, but with a sour expression. “Anything else, milady?”