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the
political waltz she played with her nobles. She didn’t want to wound her
Blood’s sense of honor. In many ways, he was even pricklier than Rhaekhar, and
she couldn’t distract him the same way. Well, she could, but…
    Heat flared across her cheeks and she
couldn’t resist a quick glance at the boy standing to her left.
    Lady above, she couldn’t keep calling
him a boy, not when he stood as tall and broad as Rhaekhar. She'd have to wrap
her hands around her Blood's biceps to be sure, but she swore his arms were
even larger than her Khul's. Barely seventeen when he’d become her Blood,
Dharman had grown into a formidable young warrior despite her best intentions.
He watched her as carefully as Rhaekhar did, his hand on his rahke , his fierce gaze narrowed on her
face.
    Great, now she had two warriors to
convince of this plan. :I need time alone
with Khul.:
    Dharman’s eyes flared, his lips
tightening.
    Quickly, before he could refuse—for her
First Blood rarely took his eyes off her—she continued. :I want a private bath with him. You can guard the door. There’s no
other way inside. Privacy, Dharman, just for tonight.:
    Her Blood still glowered at her, but he
didn’t deny her request immediately, which she took as a good sign.
Deliberately, she thought about taking Rhaekhar into the sunken pool, the hot
spring water soaking into their muscles, while she licked him from head to toe.
And then she thought of her Blood standing there, watching it all.
    She averted her gaze and she didn’t have
to pretend embarrassment. :Please,
Dharman. I need to know the girls are safe, and I need to be alone with him.:
    :Agreed.:
    Was it her imagination, or had his Blood
bond heated? He glowed like a well-stoked furnace. Her cheeks definitely burned
and she didn’t try to look at him again. Bloody hell. How could she have
forgotten herself enough to let her stupid body respond to him?
    Forcing that dilemma away to deal with
another day, she gave Rhaekhar a sultry smile. “I promised you a bath, didn’t
I?”
    “You cannot distract me, Shannari, not
even with a bath. Think you I would ever leave you in these Green Lands with
assassins around each and every corner? If some hurt befell you, no matter how
minor, I would never forgive myself.”
    “If anything happens to my babies, I’ll
never forgive myself.” Tears filled her eyes, but she didn’t want to cry again.
She’d done that already, clutching them tightly and sobbing at the thought of
losing one of them. She’d rather toss the Rose Crown into the rubbish heap and
ride hell-bent for the Plains, never to return, than ever see one of them hurt.
    Yet duty held her as firmly as her love
for her children. The Rose Crown was so very, very heavy, even when it was not
on her head. “You know how today’s meetings went. I can’t leave now or they’ll
win. I’ll lose everything I’ve fought for these past years. Another day or two
should be enough to make sure they’ll do as I ordered.”
    “We’ve never been separated, not since
you nearly died in that foul cur’s prison.”
    “I know,” she whispered, fighting tears.
“I’ll follow you as quickly as possible.”
    He sighed heavily, and she knew she’d
won this kae’don . Yet she couldn’t be
pleased, not at the defeated slant to his shoulders and the worry creasing his
brow. “You must always keep the Blood near you. I want at least these two touching
you at all times.”
    Sal tossed his hair back over his
shoulder. “Even at night?”
    That little action never ceased to focus
her attention to him, the long fall of silk drawing her eyes like a moth to
flame. Yes, flame was appropriate, since his hair was the color of a fiery
sunset. He wore his hair longer than ever. Loose of any braids or ties, his
hair fell to mid-thigh, longer, even than the red cloth wrapped about his hips.
    “Even at night,” Khul agreed, arching an
eyebrow at her opened mouth. “How many times have assassins tried to sneak