"Rawn, Melanie - Dragon Star 2 - Dragon Token" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragon Stories)

Lord."

"I believe we do." Chuckling, he closed his eyes and concentrated on her caresses. "So it is I who must be flattered, you see. To be only the second."

For him, she was a firstЧof a sort. Jayachin was the

first woman he had touched since Brenlis had left him. How long ago? Years, considering the response of his flesh to the woman in his bed now. Moments, if he judged by his intense memories of gold-lit brown hair, shadowy blue eyes, and a sweet indefinable fragrance. "Don't you want to know who the first one was?" He roused himself from imagining that it was Brenlis' delicate hand that stroked his belly. "I never inquire into a lady's past."

"But you'll see him soon, you know." "Will I?" She so obviously wanted him to know. Abruptly weary of the game, wishing to enhance his image of Brenlis by making love again, Andry caught her hand and brought it to his lips. "Oh, yes. A Desert lord, as you used to be." He opened his eyes. "As I still am." "And always will be," Jayachin said hastily. Pulling her down again, he rolled atop her and buried his fingers in her hair, holding her head immobile. "His name?" he asked, for he was about to take what he wanted and it was only fair to give her the satisfaction of boasting.

"Riyan of Skybowl and Feruche." Andry's grip on her head tightened. "Skybowl I'll grant. But not Feruche. That castle was built by my brother Sorin and will always be his. Always."

She was no fool; having realized her mistake, she instantly searched for a way to turn his reaction to her advantage. He watched her do it, thinking that he did understand her very well. Her comprehension of him left something to be desiredЧbut that was just as he wanted it.

"Of course that's true, my Lord. But I've wonderedЧ if it was your brother's work and your brother's holding, why is it not now yours?"

Shocked, all he could think was that it was a good thing he would soon be gone from here. She was smart enough to learn more about him than was healthy.

"What prevents the Lord of Goddess Keep from owning a castle in the land where he was born? Freely, not

as a vassal to any prince. There is precedent of a sort, and within your own family. Lord Aneld of Catha Freehold, father of Lady Andrade and your grandmother Princess Milar, died without a male heir. The Prince of Syr paid its worth so he could take it himself."

Still reeling from the extent of her ambition, it took him a moment to realize that what he had thought was a mistake earlier on had been no mistake at all. She had deliberately used the word "Feruche," knowing how he would react to it.

Jayachin twined her arms around his neck. "Prince Zehava needed Syr's good will more than the trouble of administering the property, and Lady Andrade's share greatly enriched the coffers of Goddess Keep. It has been on my mind."

"And you say what's on your mind, don't you, JayachinЧwhen you perceive a profit to be had out of it." He disentangled himself and turned onto his back. "I have never met a woman quite like you." "Thank you, my Lord."

"It was not a compliment. What you think is that Lord Riyan can be induced to give up FerucheЧand that the High Prince will countenance it?"

She had flushed scarlet at his rebuke, but pressed on with her argument. "Why should Riyan have the benefit of what was your brother's? Feruche should remain in your family. Besides the right of it, you have sons to provide for. AndЧ" "And?"

She hesitated, visibly searching for a diplomatic way of phrasing it. "Your presence in the Desert, my Lord, can only bring victory."

"And I should be paid for it?" All at once he laughed. "I understand perfectly. You see yourself as my athri at Feruche, don't you? Taking excellent care of what you might have had as Riyan's wifeЧwhat you think you should have had! My dear merchant-who-would-be-a-princess, you chose as your second highborn lover the wrong powerful man." Jayachin snatched the sheet around her breasts and sat

up. "It pleases you to insult me, my Lord. And I've only said what you enjoyed hearing! I do understand you, never think that I don't. I know how much you hate Pol, and how you detest Riyan's father for taking Princess Alasen away from youЧ"

Andry grabbed her wrist. She wrenched away and got out of bed, arranging the sheet around her as if it were a lace-trimmed gown.

"You didn't ask when I knew Riyan. It was at Waes, of course, during the Rialla of 719, when the talk of the Fair was the High Princess' beautiful cousin and the High Prince's Sunrunner nephew! You highborns are all alike. None of you believes anyone under the rank of athri sees or hears, or could make any sense of it if they did!" With the sheet secure around her, she went to the windowside table and poured a cup of wine. "It's just us here, Andry. You can admit how it hurts to think of Riyan at your brother's castle. You'd like owning it. Forcing Pol to give it to you would be even sweeterЧvisible reminder that he needed you, that he's not as powerful as you. I know the way your mind worksЧand Feruche is as much a symbol for you as Castle Crag is said to be for Princess Chiana."

Livid with fury, still he was compelled to admire her. She was so utterly certain of her wordsЧand her safety. She was necessary to him, never more than now, when he was about to leave Goddess Keep. He could take no action against her for this, and she knew it.

No one had dared speak to him this way since Tilal had spat out his venom after the battle at Goddess Keep. Sorin's name had come up then, too. "I knew and loved your brother. For the first time, I'm glad he's dead."

His anger changed then. It was still directed at her, but no longer for her insight. Rather, it was for her inability to understand the most fundamental aspect of his character. Not that she was unique in this; it had been happening to him all his life. Why did no one ever see what he truly was?

Sorin had. Sorin was dead these nine winters. Andry had been alone ever since.