The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume II

more.
    That one long look spoke of many secrets that had to remain hidden. What did the man try to tell her?
    “Tell me, Golin,” Yaassima cooed with unnatural sweetness. “In return for refuge in my city, you have the duty to protect my women certain nights of the moon. On any other night you are free to take one of those women back to your quarters. Yet you forsook your duty to me to lie with one of those women tonight. Do you do this often?” Yaassima placed both hands between his legs.
    “You provide for us quite generously, Kaalipha. I had to make sure the women slept soundly. Kestra couldn’t sleep, she claimed she was too cold. She asked me to warm her.” Golin stammered.
    “Kestra. One of Televarn’s women. She dissatisfied him, so he gave her to me as part of his tithe. I should have known a Rover woman couldn’t resist a man. Any man, at any time.” Yaassima looked up at Myri as she continued to stroke and fondle Golin. He grew with her now gentle ministrations. His magnificent proportions would entice most women.
    Myri tried to look away. Something in Yaassima’s eyes compelled her to continue observing Golin’s humiliation.
    “Kestra, isn’t she the one who bore a half-caste child two moons ago? I believe the father was a magician from Coronnan, the one who betrayed Televarn. The one who also fathered Maia’s baby. He did spread his seed far and wide. What was his name?” Yaassima continued to look at Myri. A malicious grin spread over her face.
    Myri swallowed heavily. She knew her husband. Nimbulan, had lived with Televarn’s clan for a season before their marriage. He’d been invited to mate with Maia. Televarn had arranged the union and manipulated their emotions with magic. No other woman of the clan was offered to Nimbulan.
    “ ’Twas Televarn who betrayed my husband, Kaalipha,” Myri said through clenched teeth. “Televarn’s tales change with the wind. He cannot tell the truth.”
    Yaassima smiled again. “Nimbulan’s infidelity is not the issue here. I could have you castrated, Golin, for neglecting your duty.”
    Every man in the room blanched. Myri grew hot, then very cold in her mid-region. She knew Yaassima was manipulating her through her empathic talent.
    “There is no call for that, Yaassima.” She firmed her chin and stared at the woman. She had to stop this. Her own safety paled in significance to the violence that permeated Hanassa. Kalen had already been tainted by it. She had to stop this here and now.
    “You wish to deprive me of justice?” Yaassima raised one eyebrow in speculation. Her hands tightened on Golin as a reminder that her attention wasn’t totally on Myri’s distraction. He shrank again.
    Every eye in the room rested on the Kaalipha. Would she dare perform the torturous procedure with her bare hands, using her fingernails in place of a knife?
    “Golin will be useless to you if he lives. You will destroy his courage and clear thinking. What good is a guard afraid to confront men who challenge him?”
    “Perhaps, perhaps not. I need loyal men. Men who know I hold their lives and their deaths in my hands. Men who know that to fail me will bring worse punishment than my enemies could inflict upon them.”
    She squeezed Golin harder, then abruptly released her grip. He groaned and collapsed, clutching his still intact groin. Yaassima laughed and wiped her hands on the rags of Golin’s trews. “It would be a pity to lose a man who is hung like a sledge steed in rut. I have a better idea. Stand up, both of you.” She kicked at the two kneeling men.
    Nastfa scrambled to his knees. Golin managed to get his legs under him but remained slumped over and groaning.
    “For your punishment,” Yaassima continued, “both of you shall stand guard over the women every night for the next moon. All night. And you shall watch as they service the guards I send to them, every night. You shall help undress the women. You shall help them bathe. But you may not lie with them. If you succumb to the temptation, and they will tempt you mightily, I will castrate and then execute you both. Do you understand?”
    “Yes, Kaalipha,” Nastfa and Golin whispered with relief.
    “Louder. I want all of your crew to hear you and understand that they are to make sure you know what you are missing.” The torches flared again, a sure sign of her rising temper and a possibly worse fate for the men.
    “Yes, Kaalipha,” they nearly shouted.
    “Good. Then we will begin