The Sorceress of Belmair. Bertrice Small
Чтение книги онлайн.
Читать онлайн книгу The Sorceress of Belmair - Bertrice Small страница 16
Название: The Sorceress of Belmair
Автор: Bertrice Small
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Эротическая литература
Серия: Mills & Boon M&B
isbn: 9781408996089
isbn:
“Cinnia, like all Belmairans, has lived an insular life,” Kaliq explained. “She knows little of other worlds. She has no idea that Nidhug’s own powers are limited. Cinnia is known as the sorceress of Belmair, Lara. She is considered powerful among her own people. There is little magic in Belmair but for Nidhug and Cinnia’s.”
“What of its faerie population?” Lara asked.
“The Belmairans do not speak of faeries,” Kaliq replied slowly.
“I do not think that there are any in Belmair.”
“Every world has faeries,” Lara said. “They are a part of its creation.”
“If they exist there, then they are secret creatures,” Kaliq responded, “for I have never heard of any. Perhaps faeries existed in Belmair at one time, but they no longer do. It is not a large world, Lara, and it only consists of four islands in a great sea. There is more water than land mass to Belmair.”
“When can I see my…our son? You said you would take me there, Kaliq.”
“Let him have a little time to acclimate himself,” the prince suggested. Then, changing the subject, he asked her, “Will you tell Magnus the truth of Dillon’s blood?”
“Certainly not!” Lara exclaimed, and she laughed. “My poor husband is jealous enough of you as it is. I have finally after all these years managed to allay his fears. I did not even tell him I was coming here when you called to me. I left him sleeping in our bed, and I had best get back soon else he awakens and finds me gone.”
“Changes are coming,” Kaliq said to her as she arose and prepared to return to her own home.
“I know,” Lara told him. “I sense it, but not yet, Kaliq. I have time.” Then with a twist of her wrist and hand she left him in a puff of pale mauve smoke.
The Shadow Prince remained seated within his garden. He wondered how Dillon was doing. He had left him almost two days ago now. He almost withstood the urge to use his magic to check on his son. Dillon was a man grown, and he had to find his own way. Still Kaliq could not resist taking a small peek. Reaching into his white robe he drew forth a small crystal globe. “Show me my son,” he commanded it. The globe darkened, and then as it lightened Kaliq saw Dillon in a library with Cinnia. They were obviously engaged in a heated exchange. He wished he might hear them, but it was enough to see Dillon. “Cease,” he told the crystal, and it instantly cleared.
CINNIA SHIVERED suddenly, and shook off the sensation.
“What is it?” Dillon asked her, seeing her body shake momentarily.
“Nothing. Just briefly I felt as if someone was watching us,” Cinnia said. “And then it was gone. My father’s death, our marriage. It has all made me very nervous.”
“If you sensed someone watching, then someone was,” Dillon told her.
At once she was fascinated. “Teach me that kind of magic,” she said to him. “Nidhug never has. I just know potions, shape-shifting, simple spells, but nothing like being able to watch others. That is a valuable tool to have.”
“We would need a crystal sphere or a reflecting bowl,” Dillon said, “and I have neither. My father saw my wardrobe and the like was transferred from my rooms at Shunnar, but I shall have to ask for the rest when I see him again,” he told her.
“Oh.” Cinnia was disappointed.
He had lied, but he was in no mood to get into another argument with her. She was the most argumentative female he had ever encountered. She questioned his every move, and while Cinnia was a passable sorceress, and there were no other in Belmair according to Nidhug, she was not mature enough in his opinion to be given access to greater knowledge at this time.
“What are you contemplating, my lord?” she asked him. “Your brow has quite furrowed. That is something I have now learned about you so that I know when you think seriously,” Cinnia told him.
“I am considering how best to approach the problem of the missing females,” he told her. “Magic is obviously involved here, Cinnia. Now the question is just what kind of magic? And why are these females being stolen away and some returned when they are ancient? And why can they not remember where they have been, and are most distressed to find themselves old?”
Cinnia shrugged. “If the answers to those questions were known I should not need a powerful sorcerer for a husband,” she said.
“Who possesses magic in Belmair besides Nidhug and you?” he questioned her.
“Magic has never been an attraction for Belmairans,” Cinnia answered him. “Those who count themselves among the scholars are more interested in the history of our land. In the Academy, which is near the castle, they argue the points of our history day and night. The rest of our citizens are farmers, fishermen, artisans and merchants,” she told him. “I am useless to you, I fear.”
“Nay, you have been a great help to me. At some time, somewhere, here in Belmair, there was magic, Cinnia. I will go and speak to the members of the Academy to learn more about the history of this world in which we live. I shall be back in time for dinner, and tonight I shall expect you to share your bed with me.”
“I was quite worn after the joining,” she replied. “I am still tired, my lord.”
“What is it, Cinnia?” he asked in a gentle voice. “You may speak freely. You are my wife. Did you not enjoy the joining?”
“I did not feel in control of myself,” she told him candidly.
“Lovers are never in control of themselves, Cinnia,” Dillon said, reaching out across the rectangular table where they were sitting to take her hand in his. Turning the hand up, he kissed the palm, and then the sensitive inside of her wrist.
Cinnia colored. “There!” she exclaimed. “It is happening again. You touch me, kiss me and I am not myself. I am confused by it.”
“It is the same for me, as well,” he told her. “I feel the softness of your skin beneath my lips, breathe the scent of moonflowers that surrounds you, and I am lost, Cinnia. Each of us, the individual, the I becomes we, a single unit.”
“But I have never felt like this before!” she wailed at him. “I am…” She hesitated, but then she burst out, “Afraid! I don’t want to lose myself to you, to any man.”
“We do not lose our singleness just because we make love,” he told her. “We blend and combine our passions, Cinnia.” Then raising her hand up again, he kissed the back of it and pressed it briefly to his cheek. “I must go now,” he said, and standing up, he hurried from the library. Finding a servant he asked the way to the Academy.
“I will take you there myself, Your Majesty,” the servant said, and he led Dillon outside, over the drawbridge and down a short gravel path to a porticoed building. “There is the Academy,” the servant told him, pointing. Then he returned the way he had come, leaving Dillon standing before the building.
After a moment Dillon walked forward, and opening the door to the building he stepped inside. He was in a large foyer, and before him was a desk with an elderly man seated behind it. He stepped forward, and the man seeing him СКАЧАТЬ