Demon Child Ch. 21

Jhardron laughed along with her. "I cannot surprise you, you clever demon. You can read my mind!"

Aylanna shook her head as she rushed forward, "No, I cannot read your mind. I can smell horses! Who else would be here, and your wives have just arrived from the Twisted Dagger." She stopped and turned looking up at him with suddenly serious eyes. "But you remembered to have them bring her back to me. I thank you for that." Then she pulled on his arm, "Now show me where she is. Don't make me run up and down this barn."

It was not hard to find her. Xin'sha seemed to have a magical sense for her human friend. As they approached the little mare's head was stretched out from her stable window, her nostrils flared wide and shrill, excited whinnies of greeting rang up the wide earthen corridor. Aylanna started to run forward but she saw a small group of men standing at attention and hesitated, moving to stand behind Jhardron. Several stable workers accompanied an older man of some higher rank, Aylanna guessed the stable master, who greeted Jhardron with stiff formality. "It is an honor to have the Aga Khan to take the time in his busy schedule visit his stable. I have examined the mare as you requested. She is in fine health, the foal within her thrives. I am of the opinion that she will drop it in the next moon."

Throughout the stable master's speech Xin'sha had continued to trumpet her impatience. There were a series of sharp thumps as the little mare kicked at the door of her stall. Jhardron laughed, "Fine health and apparently fine voice." He gave Aylanna a quick push forward. "She will not calm down until you are in there with her."

When Aylanna slipped into the large box stall, Xin'sha was so excited that she nearly knocked Aylanna down with her first greeting. Aylanna put her hand on the little mare's nose and scolded sharply, "Behave yourself!" Instantly the little mare froze, her whole frame trembling with pent up tension. Someone behind her murmured in amazement. Aylanna stroked the warm smooth neck, sliding her hands down along the swollen flanks. The little filly was wide awake and tried to kick but there was little room to move. Aylanna smiled and murmured, "You will have room to run soon enough little one."

She was so absorbed in her reunion with her horse friend that she did not at first notice Jhardron walk away with the group of men and when she peeked out of the stall to see where he had gone, she smiled to see him listening to the stable master as he was being given a tour of the stables. He was nodding and asked a question that she could not hear. Xin'sha gave her a firm shove in the small of her back with her nose, nearly knocking her down once again and Aylanna turned and shook an admonishing finger at the playful mare. "You be good!" The little mare looked so abashed that Aylanna laughed out loud and threw her arms around the warm red neck and buried her face in the red mane. "I missed you too. I know you want out of here, want to run with the wind in your face. And there is nothing I want more than that as well. But first things first, your belly is filled to bursting with your baby. I promise you, once your daughter is born; I will take you out for a ride." Aylanna was still talking with little red mare when she heard the voice of the stable master approaching. He was talking about a proposal for some new breeding plan and the acquisition of some stallion from House White Crane. And when she turned, she met Jhardron's eyes watching her. She could tell that he needed to go. Reluctantly she pulled away from Xin'sha and moved to stand next to him, but she could not help but feel her heart sink at the prospect of another long day of droning voices and scrolls.

The stable master cleared his throat and spoke in a confident voice. "I will take care of your mare..." Then he hesitated and stared at Aylanna in confusion, clearly at a loss as to her name or rank. He cleared his throat again and his eyes slipped from her and he directed his words at the Aga Khan, "...my Khan."

Again Aylanna was struck with the conundrum she created by just being there. It was unheard of for any female, courtesan, wife or even priestess to accompany an Aga Khan in the manner she did, always at his side, watchful, listening, but never voicing comment or opinion. In many ways, because there were no rules as to how to speak to her, few people even met her eye or acknowledged her presence. She knew that she was the subject of much speculation; that soon the news of this little foray to the stables would soon become common knowledge. She wondered how this new information would be interpreted, how it would add to the myth of the witch that existed in the shadow of the Aga Khan.

Jhardron did not seem to notice the stable master's brief bout of bewilderment. He nodded briskly, "Very good. I will take note of your proposals and send down the necessary documents to authorize the expansion of the breeding program."

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That night Aylanna woke to find Jhardron was once again gone from his usual place beside her. She lay alone contemplating his absence. She twisted and turned restlessly, just a little lonely and vaguely dissatisfied. She did not question his absence. But the knowledge that he was with another made her more aware of her own needs, the aching in her loins. Jhardron may have kept her at his side, even insisting she share his bed as he slept but he did not often make use of her body. She could feel his need; that the very presence of her body so close to his was a torment and she had reached out to him. But he had rebuffed her tentative advances, stating that until the needs of the nation were attended to he would not deplete his energy. Aylanna had not quite understood his meaning, but she could also sense his resolve to not be ruled by his passions and she had done her best to turn her mind away from the call of the goddess.

The bed clothes seemed to cling to her skin, she was too hot but when she threw off the coverlet the air felt icy on her damp skin. Finally she climbed from the bed, stripped off her clammy shift and stood at the window and stared out through the bars at the stars. The air felt cool and refreshing and she reached back and lifted her thick hair from the nape of her neck. She looked down at her body. Her pale skin gleamed in the starlight. She did not turn when she heard his steps behind her and when his fingertips touched her back she shivered with a cascade of tingling sensations. She sighed and leaned back against him savoring the warmth of his body in the cool air as his arms slipped around her.

Aylanna could sense he was tense, even just slightly angry and she wondered that he so unguarded. She turned inside his embrace, tipping her head back to peer into his shadowed face.

"My Khan, your spirit is troubled. Is there is anything I can do to soothe you?"

His arms tightened and crushed her to his chest and Aylanna could smell the aroma of another woman.

His voice was tightly controlled, "How is it that you welcome my touch, even crave it and..." He hesitated and Aylanna felt another wave of anger, "...and another can find it so repulsive?"

Aylanna knew that he spoke of Similandra. His first wife still nursed his son and tradition dictated that a woman did not return to the marriage bed for the first year of a male child's life; and Annalla was ripe with child.

She pressed her face close to his chest, the scent of his recent union rich in her nostrils. She spoke the name aloud. "Similandra? She resists?"

He shook his head, "Resists? No, she is well aware of her duty. She is nothing if not compliant. She lies still beneath me, she opens her legs at my command, yet she does nothing to hide how much she hates me, hates my touch. Her eyes are filled with loathing and disgust. She flinches and shudders at my touch. She cries out in pain as I enter her. Each time is like raping a woman taken in battle."

Aylanna could tell that under his anger was frustration and beneath that guilt. It was clear he did not relish the pain and unhappiness he knew he was forcing upon his wife. It was much the same as when he had beaten her for running away all those months ago. He had performed the required duty but each blow had become more difficult than the one before until he could hardly lift the whip.

"Has she always been thus?"

His voice took on a puzzled tone, "She has always seemed frightened and shy when we lay together. I was gentle, following the teaching of the goddess but she never softened, never seemed to calm. Eventually I began to pass her by, preferring to lay with Annalla. But now, now since they have come here to live, Annalla already carries a child, duty leaves only Similandra who's womb seems as dry and barren as her heart. And Simi's fear and shyness seems to have turned to hatred and disgust. And this task has gotten almost beyond bearing. My jhambar begins to shy away from its duty. I must think of pale flesh and ruby lips to persuade him to lift his head in interest."

For the first time Aylanna sensed a spark of humor, an easing of his dark mood. She deliberately writhed sinuously against him. "Perhaps, my Khan, we should reward him for his cooperation, reluctant as it may have been. If he wishes for a more welcome portal, these ruby lips lie within his reach and the blessing of the goddess will wash away the memory of unwelcome and onerous labors." And she smiled as she felt a rush of heat course through his blood and felt her lust rise to meet his.

Jhardron's voice was a low growl of passion in her ear as his hands hardened on her hips, pulling her tighter against him, bending her back as his lips and teeth found her neck. "You are truly a witch, pretty demon."

Aylanna shuddered as he bit down, intent in leaving the stallion's mark upon her neck. As his jhambar found its mark and began to slide deep, she cried out and her legs swept up and around his waist, her arms clinging to his neck. He lifted her and crushed her against the wall, pressing deeper and deeper into her as if there was no limit to her depths. It seemed like he was intent upon somehow forcing his whole being inside of her. She felt pierced to the heart by the spear within her, the stones felt rough against her back and his teeth clenched down upon the pulse of her throat. They hung there suspended by the passion of their union for what seemed an endless moment and then he growled low in his throat and lifted his head and looked into her face. His voice quivered with pent up passion, "I tire of gentleness, of restraint and rituals. I just want to rut upon you, take you like a wild stallion takes his mare, like the god and the goddess."

Aylanna's voice was as low and as hoarse as his, "And I wish to be taken, to feel the passion of the gods."

Jhardron laughed low and still gripping her hips with hands that felt like iron straps, pulled slowly out and then with almost brutal strength, slammed back almost deeper than he had been before. Aylanna could feel the pleasure course through him, pleasure not only from the heat and pressure of her flesh on his but the wild sense of freedom that surged through him and she cried out in wordless encouragement, speaking not only her willingness to be used thus, but her wish for more, for more strength, more primitive, wild, unrestrained merging of their bodies and their spirits.

Over and over he crashed into her, his mouth and teeth almost savaging her neck. And she found herself responding in kind, her nails and teeth scoring his flesh as she pulled at him, spurring him on. She had no memory of sinking to the floor, no awareness of place or the passage of time beyond the wild insatiable hunger the consumed her.

As Jhardron stiffened and groaned with the intensity of his offering, Aylanna was so closely merged with him she felt each pulse of his heart, the rush of air through his lungs and the throbbing of his loins, and she met and matched each sensation with her own, giving all of herself and more as the magic of the goddess lifted her up and away.

They lay still entwined, Jhardron lazily tracing the contours of her face with a finger tip, his voice soft now and wondering. "Yes, truly a witch, just your touch eases my spirit."

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Magdellyn stood uncertainly at the edge of the water staring out at Aylanna and the high priestess. She seemed hesitant to enter but eventually she marched out into the water with determination. She had an irritated scowl on her face as she approached. "It is ridiculous to have to humiliate myself this manner in order to speak with you." She was looking directly at the high priestess.

The ancient priestess looked puzzled. "If you wished to speak with me all you needed to do was send word. I would have come to your apartments."

Magdellyn looked a little uncomfortable. "It is a private matter, a family matter. I wish to have as few people aware of this as possible."

The priestess gestured toward the noisy fountain not far from them, "Then perhaps this is the best place to speak."

Magdellyn stared at Aylanna, her discomfort plain on her face and she repeated, "It is a family matter."

Aylanna nodded her understanding and began to withdraw. But the high priestess held up a delaying hand. She spoke directly to Magdellyn, "This girl carries no loyalty to any but the Aga Khan. She is his creature. If I have learned anything in my conversations with her is that she will never to anything to betray the Aga Khan or his family."

Magdellyn paused and her eyes narrowed, her lips pursed up. "Yes, but perhaps this is not a thing to disturb the Aga Khan about. I do not particularly want this brought to his attention at this time. It is just an issue with one of his wives. I am worried about the girl. I mostly came to seek advice and perhaps to request a sacrifice to the goddess on her behalf."

Aylanna frowned and asked, "You wish for me to keep this secret from the Aga Khan?"

Magdellyn nodded, "Yes, for now. I have hopes that I can find a solution and it would become unnecessary for him to know."

Aylanna shook her head. "I cannot promise to keep a secret from the Aga Khan. I have sworn my loyalty to him and house Twisted Dagger." She turned to go once again.

The high priestess put her hand on her arm, stopping her a second time. "Precisely what I was speaking of; and if you deem that this is a matter requiring his awareness, than I would trust your judgment. But I want you to stay. I want you to become an ally to Magdellyn in her role as mother to this household."

Both Magdellyn and Aylanna stared at the ancient high priestess in bewilderment and she laughed and looked down at her withered body. "I sense my mortality. I cannot help but believe that I am not long for this world. It would ease my passing to know that my children in the court of the Aga Khan play well together. Neither of you have many allies in the court, and yet both of you hold the ear of the new Aga Khan."

Aylanna raised a brow and turned to Magdellyn, "If it is true that this is an issue that will only disturb the Aga Khan, a matter that can be resolved without his knowledge, than I will agree to keep this a matter between us. But I must warn you, I am not adept at deception. I cannot lie."

The old priestess chuckled and shook her head. "Aylanna, I think you underestimate your skills. While you do not lie, never speak an untruth, you excel at the art of evasion. I would like to think of you as a friend. I like you very much, but I also sense that there is much you choose to conceal from me. Perhaps someday you will find it in your heart to trust me with your secrets." She turned to Magdellyn. "But that is for another time. You wished to speak to me about something."

Magdellyn back and forth between the two women facing her, clearly not completely convinced but seeing no alternative, she blurted out. "It is Similandra, the second wife of the Aga Khan. She... she is... um... becoming a difficulty. She has always been a nervous child, given to flights of imagination and melancholy. This move to the court seems to have caused her some upset. She was becoming increasingly disruptive to her sister wives. I confronted her and now she won't leave her rooms and refuses to eat or bathe. When I try to speak to her she just cries and talks about how much she hates it here, how she wants to go home. Foolish girl, when I tell her that this is the house of her husband and her home, she just cries some more. I am at my wits end."

Aylanna listened, careful not to reveal any awareness of the Aga Khan's similar difficulties with his second wife. "Perhaps she is ill. Has she been examined by a physician?"

Magdellyn shook her head. "We did not bring a doctor with us. I did not expect to find this mausoleum devoid of the most basic of staff. And my wish for privacy prevented me from sending for a physician from the city or the temple."

Aylanna sent a sidelong glance at the old priestess, choosing her words carefully as she spoke to Magdellyn. "I have some small skill with healing. Would you permit me to visit her?"

Magdellyn looked vaguely uncomfortable. "Aylanna, forgive me if my words offend, but your position here at court had raised some questions among the Aga Khan's wives. There is some degree of jealousy that you share his bed. If you wish to see the girl, I have no objection but I must warn you in advance that your reception would be chilly at best."

Aylanna shrugged. "My reception is of little matter. I share your concern about this girl."

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As the trio made their way into the women's quarters, the mood of the rooms seemed subdued. The usual bustle and noise of children and servants was gone. Aylanna had a very strong sense of being watched and the very air vibrated with hidden anger. A little girl peeked out from behind a curtained doorway but vanished as they drew closer.

Magdellyn paused before a curtained doorway and called out, "Simi, I wish to speak to you."

The girl's voice behind the curtain was hoarse and muffled, "Go away."

Magdellyn sent a pained glance at Aylanna and the high priestess. "Please forgive the girl. She has lost all sense of respect or propriety." She gripped the curtain and pulled it aside. "Remember your manners, child. You have august visitors. I have invited the high priestess of the temple and the demon witch that serves your husband here to see if there is some illness to explain your strange behavior."

The room was deeply shadowed, hot and airless, the window shutters tightly closed. Aylanna's nose twitched as she caught the distinctive scent of urine and fear. The girl was huddled on her bed, hidden under layers of blankets despite the heat. When Magdellyn attempted to pull the coverings off the girl, she clung stubbornly them and once again cried out, "Go away!"

Aylanna glanced at the priestess, but she was just standing, her head tipped slightly to one side, watching the scene playing out before her. Aylanna stepped forward and gently placed her hand over Magdellyn's, putting a stop the tug-of-war that was rapidly developing. "Leave her some small sense of shelter. Go open the windows, let us air this room out a bit." Magdellyn froze and shot her an angry look but then turned and marched to the shuttered windows and threw then open with a stiff angry yank.

The new light of morning revealed the untidy room; clothing strewn across the floor, trunks and boxes of personal belongs yet to be unpacked. Aylanna carefully sat on the edge of the bed and laid her hand down on top of the jumble of blankets on the bed. The acrid smell of urine was stronger here, the coverlet humid and damp. The girl tensed and tightened her hold on her coverings, clearly expecting a second assault on her last bastion of defense. Simi was a ball of misery, her spirit a confused jumble of pain, fear and stubborn anger. Aylanna sent a small glance toward the priestess, aware that the old woman was watching her with almost triumphant curiosity. She smiled and gestured for the old woman to come closer and then turned back to the girl, letting her awareness sink deeper.