A Sinless Betrayal by Cherie Benjamin (books to read for 12 year olds .TXT) 📖

on it delicately.

I look away before I can become too flustered and smile meekly. "I spilt a little milk on my lap," I tell the whole entire table of about sixty men.

Abigor sits up in his seat a little, grabbing a piece of meat off of his plate and popping it in his mouth. "Ta ya zubar da madara," he translates for me. They all nod and resume eating. I'm horrified with myself, and my reaction to his evil doings. Trying to do that at the breakfast table is completely sinful.

After I've finished eating, I walk off into the other direction and out of the hall. Abigor calls out for me to wait for him, but I don't. I'm halfway into the west wing corridor when a heavy hand lands on my shoulder.

"T'ought I said to wait, huh?" he grumbles.

I fold my arms. "Why'd you have to touch me there in the morning? You made a complete fool of me in front of your most-trusted warriors."

"No," he corrects me. "You made a fool of yourself. A woman that don't know how to conceal her pleasure is a woman deemed inexperienced. But luckily for you, soyayya, I plan to fix 'dat for you."

I gape at him. "You are such a barbarian!"

He laughs. I don't realize that the term meaning to insult him is actually what he is. "Yes. The king of them, if you not already noticed that." His hair sweeps over his shoulders when he leans forward to nuzzle my cheek with his nose. "But I know how to pleasure you like a god."

I close my eyes tightly and take a deep breath in through my nose. "I am absolutely mortified—"

"I need my hair braided," he blurts out, cutting me off in mid-rant. "I won't ask you 'cause you already a little singed. I'll get one of the other girls to do it for me."

He pecks me on the cheek.

Then leaves with a hard-on.

0o0o0o0o

I'm sitting here in the corner of the harem, pouting with my arms folded over my chest. When he said that he'd get one of the other girls to do it for him, he wasn't kidding; and he didn't mean maids. He meant the whores.

One sat on his lap, placing tender kisses on his neck while another fed him green grapes right off the vine and another fanned him, keeping him cool in the hot weather with a giant leaf. Cassandra was the one braiding his hair. Needless to say, I was jealous.

Michelle lay on her old cot near the back of the room, absently braiding her own hair while looking at a drawing of a barbarian man. To get my mind off of Abigor having fun with his ladies, I get up off of Evalyn's cot and make my way over to her.

She looks up as I sit down, smiling brightly. "Elizabella," she greets. "I feel like I've not spoken with you in a millennium. How have you been managing?"

I cast a glance back at Abigor. Camellia moves sensually in front of Abigor, baring her behind to him. He reaches out and gropes her. She bends over almost instantly, peering back at him through a curtain of black hair.

I huff a heated, "Fine" back at her. She weakly smiles and nods, letting the braid she'd been weaving fall out of her hair. "How are things with Drinks of Waterfall?"

"Who?"

I give her a look. "Your master," I say.

"Oh!" she exclaims. "I almost didn't recognize the name. I don't call him Drinks Of Waterfall. He's given me the privilege of calling him by his commoner's name, Tristan. It's easier for me to say. Especially in our love-making sessions." Michelle giggles at the last line. I want to roll my eyes, but I refrain.

I can't help but look back at Abigor. I notice that he has not smiled once while with those girls. Sulpicia offers a green grape. He takes it between his teeth, sensually rolling it in his tongue. Her eyes flutter and she smiles seductively.

I turn back to Michelle, even angrier than I was before. I pick up the sheet of papyrus lying on her bed and examine the charcoal strokes on it. It was a perfect picture of Drinks of Waterfall. I look up at her. The girl's got her lip pinned between her teeth as she looks up at me. "Did you draw this?" I question.

She nods her head quickly. "Do you like it? I drew the picture while I was in his room. He was drinking his wine in silence, so I took advantage of the time. He's just so beautiful, Elizabella. I couldn't resist."

The charcoal strokes show the definition of his high cheekbones and the gentleness in his almond-shaped chocolate eyes. How his hair hangs in his eyes and falls out of his braid, how his full russet lips look when he smiles, and how he has a slight dimple in his chin.

She shifts in her seat. "I'm debating on whether or not I should show it to him. I'm afraid he won't like it…afraid he'll think me odd for drawing it. I do not know the customs here."

I set the drawing back down on her cot and nod my head. "Well, he ought to be called a fool if he doesn't like it." I smile at her and she smiles brightly back at me.

"Thank you," she whispers. "You've really put my mind at ease." Michelle picks up her drawing and folds it in half. When I look back at him, I find him staring right back at him.

He nods at me and beckons me to come over. I slide off of the cot and walk slowly over to him, my green silks kissing my thighs. "Get me some wine," he tells me. I frown. I had stupidly thought that he summoned me over to have me tend to him.

But no, he only wishes me to fetch him some wine. I nod my head solemnly, turning my back and heading out the harem door to the kitchens. My head slumps forward and the corners of my lips droop into a frown. I drag my feet all the way to the kitchen. Anyone can see that I am upset, but no one asks.

In the kitchen, I see a familiar face. It is Black Bear, the young man that had defeated Grey Hawk at the shagali. He is alone, sipping from a glass of red wine at the counter. I stare at him for a moment, frozen in my place. Either he does not notice my presence or he just does not wish to acknowledge it.

I walk to the cupboards and fetch a cup from the shelf. When I look back at him, I find him to be staring straight at me. I jump and gasp, my hand flying to my fluttering heart.

Black Bear does not laugh like Abigor would have. Instead, he reels back, mirroring the shock. He squints his eyes at me. He opens his mouth to speak, but he closes it right back up a moment later. I point to the glass of wine in his hand, and then to my cup. I almost do not notice how much my hand is shaking.

"Giya?" he asks me. I think giya is the word they use for wine. I nod my head. He goes to the door next to the crates of potatoes, carrots and green beans. It is the door to the ice-room, where the cold wine is stored along with other foods and drink.

He walks into the room, looking for the glass container of wine. He holds it up when he spots it. "Na same shi," he announces. "Da giya."

I set Abigor's goblet down on the countertop as Black Bear places the large class container of wine into my hands. The wine is cold, and it momentarily numbs my fingers. I set it on the counter next to Abigor's goblet and tug out the cork in the top. He is still standing there, watching me with his tender black eyes while he sips his own wine.

I tip the glass over and the red liquid pours into the cup until it is full. I sigh as I push the cork back into the top of the glass container. I meekly look at him and smile shyly. "Na gode," I whisper.

His eyes widen. He stands up straight after having been leaning against a crate of carrots and nods his head. "Na'am." He swallows a large lump in his throat. "Ana jin harshena?"

I have no idea what he's just said. And apparently, he knows that since the completely perturbed look on my face gives me away completely. I struggle to get my words out. "I…I do not…" I make frustrated gestures with my hands. "No speak. Ba tare da."

This time he chuckles, but only a little. "Ah. You only know the basic words, is that right?"

My mouth drops and I swear that my surprise and fluster can't get any worse than it already has. "You speak the Common Tongue as well?" I question.

He nods his head, his short braid sliding over his bared shoulders. He is well-defined, but lacks muscle mass, unlike Abigor. "I s'pose all of us are taught the common tongue from a young age. We need to know the words of the people that we invade."

I shake my head. "Language. Not words."

He nods his head. "As you can see, I'm still learning your…your…langawidge. That how you say it?"

I laugh. "Yes. It is close enough."

"Me haka ke faruwa?" (What the fuck is going on?)

The loud booming voice is enough to prick up hairs on the back of my neck. I instantly whirl around. Abigor's standing in the doorway, fuming mad and glaring daggers at innocent young Black Bear.

The younger boy cowers slightly and backs slowly away from me. Then Abigor turns his terrifyingly powerful gaze onto me. "I t'ought I tol' you to get me the wine!" he booms. His hair is braided and it spills around his waist.

I hold up the wine. My grip is so shaky that the red liquid inside of the glass graciously licks the sides of the goblet. "I-I did."

"Took you goddamn forever," he spits at me. I flinch back at the force of his words.

I go from being scared to being annoyed. "I was only gone for a minute."

"Babu," he hisses. "Longer than a minute." Then he turns to Black Bear, cursing at him and puffing up his chest and making crude gestures with his hands. It looks to me like a territorial statement.

And then the next thing I know, I hear a sickening crack and I see Black Bear writhing on the ground with his hands cupped over his nose. Blood drips through his fingers and he squirms to try to get away from Abigor.

Abigor grabs Black Bear by the neck and prepares to deliver another blow, but I cry out, stopping him right in his tracks. "Stop! Stop hurting him. He did not touch me!"

He doesn't even spare a glance towards me when I say it. He only stalls his fist, holding it mere inches from Black Bear's face. The younger boy frantically looks at me and then looks back to Abigor in fear.

I go to him and lay a comforting hand on his heated shoulder. He looks back at me, his eyes animalistic and primal. "Please don't hit him," I whisper. "I promise, I absolutely promise you, that nothing happened. He only showed me where the wine was so I could pour some for you."

He releases his hold on Black Bear and lets the boy drop to the ground in fear. His big hand comes up and runs his warm fingers down my skin. "You are not hurt then?"

I shake my head. "I never was."

Black Bear races out of the room with his wine like a scared little boy. Abigor completely ignores him, looking at his hands, which are stained with the younger man's blood. "I t'ink it's time."

I furrow my eyebrows together. "Time