Selected for Sport Ch. 10

Xanir halted, meeting the gaze of his guard. He turned back, regal posture silhouetted against the blaze of sun, face unreadable.

"In the tree. I break some off and saw it, under." Damn having to speak pidgin.

A momentary pause, then Xanir sent a second long look at his guard while he stepped past into the courtyard. A chorus of gay greetings and sly comments, a clatter of hooves, and Alanna folded onto the scrap of cloth on the floor, wrapping her arms tight around her shins as she buried her cheeks against her knees and shivered through gritted teeth.

Never had she longed so much to be home.

***

At dusk, Alanna was curled in the window embrasure in her sitting room, fiercely concentrating on the letter she was penning to her grandmother to escape this damn place. Helene was curled cross-legged at her feet, cutting a gauntlet from a soft piece of leather. It looked very cosy but in reality the sole lady she trusted was guarding her from the others. Possibly unnecessarily; this letter contained no further information about the Empire or the palace or her husband in the pages, instead she was focussed sharply on replying to the events and titbits of information that Gram had sent in her last letter, retreating in her thoughts to her home.

Limaq cleared his throat beside her, and her eyes darted in his direction before returning to the page, the peep hidden under her hanging hair. She didn't move a muscle; she had heard him approach, after all.

"Please come with me, my princess."

Rebelliously she dipped her pen in the well and traced another word on the sheet under her hand.

"It is the will of the Tahl."

She restrained her lower lip and, after a slight pause, sighed and slid to her feet. It had been too much to hope that the dawn meeting would be her only encounter today. Yesterday he come twice to her rooms even after that so-called 'tea ceremony'. Her handmaidens were already rustling forward with scanty clothing and she glanced down ruefully at the comfortable silken wrap which covered much more of her than Xanir liked.

"What you are wearing is fine." Limaq stopped them all, and Alanna tilted her head questioningly as she fell into step between the full eight of her guards.

They took a different turning in the star chamber, and she almost stumbled, rocked off balance. "Where are we going?" Maybe she was being taken to his chamber, for once.

"To the Queen's garden," responded Limaq, low. "The Tahl-Mat has retired, you will not be disturbed."

Colour flared in Alanna's cheeks, and she bit back words at the idea that he would summon her with his mother there.

A moment later she halted obediently with Limaq and Jamal beside a thick-studded, ornate wooden door, watching grimly as the other six broke into an easy lope further down the corridor. What was Xanir up to? She suppressed a shudder: was he still angry with her? Her chief bodyguard's eyes were gentle when he looked down into her half-fearful, half-angry face.

"It would be better if you do not speak of this."

She eyed him balefully. What was 'this'?

Jamal opened the door, and the thick, rich fragrance of a garden wrapped around them, a garden replete with a day of sunlight and warmth, being sung softly to sleep by the evening grasshoppers.

"The Queen's garden is the most secure place in the palace. We will guard the four doors, but you may enter alone."

Gemma froze, staring wide-eyed at Limaq. The next sentence was almost lost under the sudden furious pounding of her heart. "It is treason for any but the Royal Family to enter, but the Tahl has granted dispensation to you. You must keep silent on this."

Alanna had stopped even pretending not to understand. She wasn't sure that this was not another of Xanir's elaborate pre-coitus games, but couldn't resist the lure of the hum of gentle life beyond the doorway. With a wavering smile she slipped past her guards into the twilight haven.

Fifteen minutes later, having quartered the beautiful space within the jasmine-singing walls, guided by the rich scents of the sleepy roses she tiptoed back to the central fountain and sank onto the warm stone bench, eyes lifted to the silent moon.

Tears shone on her cheeks. She was alone. Blissfully, peacefully alone. She didn't understand him. A wavering smile lifted her lips. But right now, she didn't care.

How her grandmother would love this place.