Dead to the World: Excerpt

"I think this will please you greatly, if you will humor me."

Erred did not understand why the High Prince felt it necessary to ask his permission, but he did not resist when the blindfold was secured over his eyes and he was led by the hand from his room.

They moved through the upper corridors of the palace, along the tiled colonnade where Erred could smell the late-flowering trees and hear the splash of the fountain in the garden below, then indoors again where the soft carpets told him that he was approaching the royal apartments. "My lord--" he began.

"We are very close, only a few steps more." Thanaj gently steered him to the left, across a threshold into a space that smelled of fresh paint and plaster. More carpets passed under his feet, while behind him a door closed and he heard Thanaj dismiss the servants. Then the man's arms were around him, urging him to sit.

He felt silk and brocade cushions give under his hands. It was clear that his new master wished to make love to him, but he could not comprehend why Thanaj had not simply summoned him to the royal bedchamber as protocol dictated.

"Now," said Thanaj, "I think this will greatly please you." When the blindfold came off and his eyes adjusted to the cool light of the room, Erred found himself looking at the painted image of a dolphin. Blinking, he let his gaze roam the walls. Sea creatures, leaping dolphins, and silver-gilt schools of fish danced across shallow depths of muted turquoise and azure. Water birds and flowers framed ivory screens, reaching toward the summer sky of the ceiling.

"There," Thanaj whispered in his ear, "do you see the hrill?"

Above a bed inlaid with mother-of-pearl, hrill basked in the twilit foam of high tide. "I-I do not understand, my lord."

"You have told me that you do not desire silks and jewels." Thanaj now leaned nto his neck, grazing his earlobe with warm lips. "I desire you to be happy, so I have had this chamber created for you. This is where you will dwell when you do not share my bed. Now look there in the corner and tell me that you are not pleased."

In a corner niche framed by a mosaic of jewel-like tiles, an image of the Lady presided over a basin of translucent alabaster. Blossoms bobbed on the surface of the water someone poured into the basin.

"My lord, I—" Whenever admirers sent him jewels or rich clothes, Erred knew that no great thought had gone into the gesture, as quite often it was the lord's steward who chose the gift and penned the accompanying note. No one had ever done such a thing for him, nor could he conceive what would drive Thanaj to make such an effort. Why do you do this? I am yours to command, no matter where you house me.

When Thanaj turned him around and claimed his lips, Erred became fluid in the prince's arms, responding when skilled hands undid his clothing and roamed his body.