On Fire's Wings - Christie Golden [24]
At last it was time to ready the bed. She thought, as she gingerly touched it, that the mattress made the pillows she had sat upon feel hard as old rugs. Over it were intricately woven and embroidered blankets and silks. The sheets felt like water in her hands.
“Kevla!” The sharp voice of Tiah startled her and she jumped. “Don’t touch the khashima’s things like that!”
Kevla gulped. She had been certain that she would know how to handle Yeshi, but already, on the first day, she was going to incur the woman’s famous wrath….
To her ineffable relief, Yeshi only laughed. “Poor child, you’ve probably never seen anything as lovely, have you?”
Not daring to speak, Kevla shook her head, keeping her eyes averted. Yeshi’s long, cool fingers brushed her chin, tilting Kevla’s face up.
“My lord is going to be away for a while, visiting another clan. The bed is large enough for about fifty such as you. Stay with me tonight; keep me company while I miss my husband. It will be pleasant to have someone to whisper secrets to.”
Kevla dared not look at Tiah as the other young women bowed and left. Yeshi, now clad in a diaphanous garment that covered her from neck to toe, crawled into the bed and yawned. Kevla went about the room, extinguishing the oil lamps and candles, then, her heart racing, climbed into the bed. The only light came from the red glow of the brazier’s coals.
She almost uttered a cry as she slipped beneath the sheets. So soft, so smooth….surely Tahmu and Yeshi slept deeply and dreamed sweet dreams.
“I imagine you are Bai-sha,” said Yeshi, breaking into her reverie. Kevla went cold. “That is unimportant to me. You are a sweet girl and you handle yourself well. Did you know I have a son?”
“Of course,” Kevla replied. “He is the young master, the khashimu Jashemi-kha-Tahmu.”
“That’s right,” Yeshi said. “He’s been away for almost a year now, learning from his uncle. That’s one of our traditions, Kevla; to send the heir to live with his closest male relative. He’ll leave me again for another year when he’s married. I miss him. I adore my son, but I often think how sweet it would have been had I borne a daughter.”
Tentatively, Kevla said, “My lady is still young and beautiful. Perhaps the Dragon will grant her a daughter soon.”
Yeshi chuckled, but there was an undercurrent of sadness in her voice. “You are still a child, and there are things you don’t yet understand.”
In the darkness, Kevla grinned. There wasn’t much about male and female coupling she didn’t understand, but she wasn’t about to tell Yeshi that.
“My son is a little younger than you,” Yeshi went on. Kevla wondered why the khashima was speaking so freely. Perhaps it was the shield of darkness. Perhaps it was that Kevla was such a nobody. Yeshi turned over, and the silk sheets rustled. “I am glad Tahmu brought you to me. Tomorrow will be very hot. Would you like to spend all day in the caverns?”
“It if please my lady, I would enjoy that very much.”
“It will be so, then. Good night, Kevla.”
“Good night, my lady. Dragon send you sweet dreams.”
But Kevla did not dream at all that night. She was asleep within minutes. In the morning, she awoke before dawn and slid out as silently as possible.
She closed the door carefully, turned, and gasped. Tiah and Ranna stood in the hall. Even the slim, injured Ranna scowled, and Tiah loomed over Kevla like a kuli. Before Kevla could react, Tiah spat in her face.
“Bai-sha,” Tiah snarled in a hoarse whisper. “You’d better watch yourself.”
“I can’t believe you took advantage of my injury,” said Ranna, sounding more hurt than angry.
Kevla wiped the spittle from her face. “I—” she began, keeping her voice soft. But they didn’t let her finish.
“You are just one of many. You may be Yeshi’s favorite today, but that doesn’t mean you’ll stay that way,” said Tiah.
“Tiah, Ranna,” Kevla whispered imploringly, holding out a hand to each one of them, “Yeshi is a great lady and has many needs. Surely, she requires all of us to tend her.”
“Yeshi is a spoiled skuura,” said Ranna in a low voice, “and