Under Fallen Stars - Mel Odom [57]
"Do not," she warned, "think to overstep your bounds with me."
"Or what?"
Laaqueel had no answer. Iakhovas had joined with the pirates of the Nelanther Isles without her knowledge, only revealing the fact to her shortly before he'd killed Huaanton and proclaimed himself king. She didn't know what those alliances entailed, or how she was supposed to handle them. She stared hotly back at Falkane, hating the fact that she couldn't speak on her own.
"Do you know what generally happens to people who threaten me?" the pirate captain asked.
Laaqueel didn't reply. She'd heard a number of stories about Bloody Falkane, the Salt Wolf. His whole past was spun of violence and fear.
He dropped his fingers from her hair, tracing her jawline.
The malenti controlled herself, not flinching from his touch. He held no power over her. If anything, he might be considered her equal. So she didn't drop her eyes and defer to him as was custom among the sahuagin so no insult might be implied. She returned his full gaze hotly. What surprised her most was how her body reacted to his touch. Warm vibrations thrilled through her, and a bitter ache dawned at the core of her. She didn't know how his touch had incited such a reaction unless it could be blamed on her cursed heritage.
He traced her jawline with his forefinger, then brought it back to rest at her chin just below her bottom lip. He was a few inches taller than she was and suddenly seemed to envelop her.
"People who threaten me," he said, still in that soft voice, "die-in the most horrible ways I can think of. I assure you, I'm quite practiced at it."
Laaqueel tried to keep her thoughts centered on Sekolah, remembering that the Great Shark wouldn't put anything before her that she couldn't handle. If she failed Sekolah's tests, she would only prove her unworthiness. That was totally unacceptable. She only wished that Falkane's touch didn't have the affect on her that it did.
She shifted her attention to the deck over his shoulder. His men moved through the halyards with grim efficiency, some of them sporting bandages from wounds they'd received in the attack. Still, it didn't keep her mind from his touch.
"I've watched you," Falkane said, "these few times that we've shared company since first meeting in Skaug, and I've puzzled over your relationship with Black Alaric."
Black Alaric was the name Iakhovas had chosen to wear among the Nelanther Isles. The first pirate to wear the name of Black Alaric had appeared fourteen hundred years ago, then reappeared time and time again during periods of unrest.
Since learning of Iakhovas's chosen identity, the malenti priestess had researched the legend in her books of surface history. She'd first studied those to become adept as a spy among the sea elves and surface dwellers. The last Black Alaric had been active a hundred years ago. Iakhovas had claimed to take over the present identity five years ago, and had been plotting his strategies since that time.
"There is nothing to puzzle over," she told Falkane.
The pirate looked at her and grinned. "Until that day I met you, I'd never seen you in Skaug before."
Until that time, Laaqueel had never been in the capital city of the pirates before.
"I know I didn't because I would have remembered you if I had," Falkane said. "Someone so beautiful as you."
"You mock me." Laaqueel let some of the anger she felt drip venom into her words before she could stop herself. It was bad enough she had to so resemble a surface dweller and the hated sea elves, but her disfigurement also included dealing with some of the emotions that plagued them.
"No," he assured her. "I don't. I think you're a most enchanting creature." His eyes blazed as he deliberately looked at her from head to toe. "You're a beautiful woman. Don't you know that?"
"No," she replied. Even though she was fully clothed, she felt naked for the first time in her life. It was an unsettling experience.
"You have no man sequestered away somewhere?" he asked. "No lover?"
"No." In the sahuagin culture, possessions were to be admired and