Amber and Iron - Margaret Weis [92]
“Remember who did this for you, child,” Zeboim told her as she vanished, leaving behind the lingering odor of bracing sea air.
Chemosh entered the room to find Mina brushing her hair.
“What—” He stared. “Where did you get that necklace?”
“Zeboim gave it to me, my lord,” said Mina. She kept her gaze on her reflection as she continued to brush her hair. “I have never seen black pearls before. They shine with a lovely, strange radiance, don’t they? Like a dark rainbow. I think they are very beautiful.”
“I think they look like rabbit turds on a string,” Chemosh said coldly. “Take them off.”
“I believe you are jealous, lord,” said Mina.
“I said take them off!” Chemosh commanded.
Mina sighed, reluctantly raising her hands to the clasp. She fumbled at it, unable to release it. “My lord, if you could help me—”
Chemosh was prepared to rip the pearls from her throat … Then he paused.
Since when does the Sea Witch bestow gifts on mortals? he asked himself. Since when does that selfish bitch give gifts to anyone, for that matter? Why should Zeboim bring Mina pearls? There is more to this than meets the eye. They plot against me. I do wrong to object. I must appear to be as stupid as they obviously think I am.
Chemosh lifted Mina’s luxuriant hair and put it aside. The tips of his fingers brushed the pearls.
“There is magic here,” he said accusingly. “Godly magic.”
Mina’s reflection looked out at him. Her amber eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “The pearls are enchanted, my lord. Zeboim told me that they would bring me my heart’s desire.”
Mina took his hand, pressed her lips upon it. “I know that I have lost your regard. I would do anything to raise myself again in your esteem. Anything to recover the happiness we once shared. You are my heart’s desire, my lord. The pearls are meant to please you, to bring you back to me!”
She was so lovely, so contrite. He could almost believe she was telling the truth.
Almost.
“Keep the pearls,” Chemosh said magnanimously. He took the brush from her and set it aside. He gathered her into his embrace. “The necklace is beautiful, but not so beautiful as you, my dear one.”
He kissed her, and she yielded to his touch, and he gave himself to pleasure.
He could afford to enjoy her.
Ausric Krell was watching from the shadows.
ina slept fitfully, drifting in and out of dreams. She woke to find herself alone in the bed. Chemosh had left sometime during the night; she was not certain when.
Unable to go back to sleep, Mina watched the pale, gray shadow of morning steal through her window and thought of Zeboim and the goddess’s gift. Her heart’s desire.
She had not lied to the god. Chemosh was her heart’s desire, but there was another, something else she wanted just as much as she wanted his love. Something she needed, perhaps more than his love.
She threw off the blankets and rose from her bed. She cast off the silken gown and dressed in a plain linen shift she had found in the abandoned servants’ quarters and a pair of soft leather shoes. She hoped to be able to slip out of the castle without attracting Chemosh’s attention. If she did run into him, she had her excuse prepared. She did not like lying to her lord, however, and hoped she could avoid him and also avoid the Beloved who, if they saw her, would start their clamorous pleading and moaning.
She wrapped herself in a thick, warm shawl and drew it over her head. Leaving her bedchamber, Mina padded softly through hallways that were still dark.
She pondered her lies to her lord. She had told Chemosh the truth when she said that she loved him and would do anything to regain his favor. She did love him, more than her life. Why lie to him about this? Why not tell him the truth?
Because a god would not understand.
Mina was not sure she herself understood entirely. Goldmoon had told her time and again it did not matter who Mina’s parents had been. The past was past. It was the here and now of her life that mattered. If her father had been a fishmonger, and her mother