Chapter Five

FIVE

Parisi

"Y our prisoner?" I couldn't help but laugh at the situation, turning my hands so that my fingers slid around Desi's. "I can't imagine anyone who is less a captor than you. I have heard of Abaddon; it is said to be filled with evil, a haven for dark powers and those who would wield them. You are not like them."

A deep, slightly rusty chuckle emerged from him. "Do not mistake my succumbing to a fierce storm for weakness. I am Desislav, leader of the demon princes, and bearer of the blood moon."

Chill swept down my spine, a chill that had nothing to do with the missing wattle in the wooden planks behind me. As Sovereign, I kept my ears open to happenings in both the mortal and immortal worlds, and I had heard some centuries before of this Abaddon, but other than rumors that three princes ruled strange beings called demons, commanding them to perform heinous acts, I had never come across someone who had actually seen it.

Let alone created it.

"What is this blood moon you speak of?" I asked, smiling to myself when his fingers curled around mine. It was strangely intimate standing with him in that manner, blanketed in darkness, but rather than instill fear in me, Desi was a puzzle that I wanted to explore.

"It is my relic, given to me at birth, the use of which allows me to control Abaddon and the beings in it." His breath touched my face as he stepped forward, releasing my hands to put his hands on my hips.

"Then you are indeed very powerful," I said, giving in to the urging of his hands, and swaying against him, my lips brushing his as I spoke.

"You lead the opposite version of Abaddon," he murmured against my mouth, his lips caressing mine in a manner that stirred my hidden parts. "You must have power of your own. Do you have a relic, too?"

"Sovereigns are made, not born," I told him, sliding my hands up his chest, the rough wool of his outer garments making my fingers feel itchy. I nipped at his bottom lip, giving a little laugh when his fingers tightened on my hips as he jerked backward. "Regardless, yes, I have the strength of my sword arm to keep the Court safe from the mortals, and the powers bestowed upon me to do likewise with those in the Otherworld who would challenge me."

"Including me?" he asked, pressing light kisses along my lips.

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that I'd have no problem dealing with him, his relic notwithstanding, but in the back of my mind, a little voice warned that if he could lure me into his arms with just a few words, then I might well be in over my head. "That remains to be seen. Do you wish to bed me?"

He gave another short bark of laughter, and I shushed him, peering through the darkness to where the others lay on their pallets. "You say what you think. I like that. Of course I wish to bed you. From what I have seen, you are lovely. Your hair is as black as squid ink, and flows like the costliest silk. Your skin is warm and enticing, and your body is filled with delightful curves. I am a man. My rod rises for many women."

I stopped kissing the corner of his mouth. "Is that so?"

"It is. But I am very particular in my bedsport partners. I will happily take you."

I slipped backward, eluding his grasp. "Tempting as that offer is, I believe I will pass."

"But ..." He moved forward to take my hands again. I allowed him to do so, my sword lying just behind me tucked between my pallet and the wall. "You want me. I can see it in your eyes."

"You can't," I answered with a smile. "Not unless you have exceptional vision. It's too dark to see anything but an outline of your shape. Why were you in this area? Was it to place entrances to your domain near the Court?"

The change of subject took him by surprise, but he didn't answer it. Instead, he pulled me to him again, his mouth hot on mine as his tongue swept into my mouth. He tasted of spices, and heat, and a passion so strong it came close to melting me. I sagged against him again, my hands clutching his shoulders as he thoroughly plundered, probed, and teased me to the point where I started sweating. I took his groan of pleasure and wiggled against him, my body suddenly wide-awake and ready to indulge in as much bedsport as he could handle in his frostbitten state.

"Sovereign? What—gods and goddesses, what is going on?"

I sighed into Desi's mouth, pulled myself (with much reluctance) from him, and turned to face the round shape that stood behind me, having dipped an unlit rush torch into the fire before holding it high so she could see us. "Just as it appears—I am kissing Desi."

"I was under the impression I was kissing you," he said mildly, but there was amusement rich in his voice. It sent another sensual shiver down my back.

Mags—one of the two women who helped me manage the Court, frowned at the mention of his name. "Desi?"

"Desislav of Abaddon," he said, making a lopsided bow. I had to grab him to keep him from tumbling into the fire, but he managed to straighten up without incident. The light from Mags's torch gilded one side of his face, highlighting his cheekbones, long, narrow nose, and blunted chin. My fingers almost itched to touch the short whiskers beginning to show on his jaw.

"Merciful gods!" Mags gasped, then tried to push her way between Desi and me, her arms spread. "Move back, my Sovereign. I shall protect you from this foul one!"

"Mags," I said in as gentle a tone as I could rally given that Desi's chin and jaw and arms and chest held my attention. "Don't be silly. This is the same man we worked so hard over yesterday. He's not evil—"

"I am, a bit," Desi admitted with a half-smile that seemed to do something to my insides.

"—and if he was," I continued with a gimlet glance at the man beside me, "it would be our duty to try to bring him out of the darkness. Is that not so?"

"We serve members of the mortal world," Mags said, glowering at Desi. He just smiled at her in return. I had to stiffen my knees at the sight of the smile, my insides feeling extremely disturbed. So potent was the effect of his smile that I wondered if I might not lose what I'd eaten hours before.

"We also have a responsibility to those in the Otherworld who need our help," I pointed out, the bread in my belly threatening to somersault when Desi took my hand in his. "And if anyone needs help, it is the man who heads up such a foul place."

"It's not foul," Desi said, rubbing his hand over his face. "All right, perhaps it's not as tidy as your compound, and there's an imp problem that, no matter what we throw at it, refuses to go away. And Hath, one of the other two princes, has an addiction to brimstone that tends to make Abaddon smell like a privy that's sat out in the noon sun for many days, but other than that, there's no foulness."

"And the tormented souls you lure to your place of abandonment?" Mags asked, looking like she was ready to strike him. "You do not consider those foul? Of course you do not! You are evil, and thus must be destroyed. Sovereign, I will do thy bidding. Shall I destroy this vermin for you so that the air in our house can return to its untainted sweetness?"

I sniffed. Desi sniffed. In unison, we looked over to where the sheep and pigs were still residing on one side of the roundhouse.

"‘Sweet' isn't quite the word I'd use for the air," Desi said with another quirk of his lips.

"Mags, you know full well I don't like to kill beings unless they've done something worthy of such an act, and given that Desi is the founder of Abaddon, I have serious doubts if I could even do so should I want to. Which I don't."

Desi fingered a chain worn around his neck. "You have clarity worthy of one in your position," he told me. "But lest I drive your woman to a fit, I will take my leave of your pristine Court."

"And go where?" I asked when he started looking around for his clothing. We'd stripped all but his undergarments when we tucked him into the pallet, since the stones from the fire and furs had a better chance of warming him. "Mags, do you still have his things?"

"Yes, in a basket, although now I realize we should have burnt then," she said with a curl of her lip. "Not unlike the man himself."

"Ignore her complaints," I told Desi in a low tone when Mags went off to find his garments. "She is very protective of the Court. She was much devoted to the previous Sovereign, and has not looked upon me with copious amounts of favor. Where do you plan on going?"

He gave me a long, long look that made me feel as if I were sunk neck deep in a tub of warm water. "Does it matter?"

"Yes, of course. Evidently, you are my archenemy, and thus I should monitor your comings and goings," I said, a bit breathless under the effect of his eyes and jaw, and—gods and goddesses—that chest. "It's only right and proper that I do so."

He pulled me against him again, his lips whispers on mine as he said, "Will you come with me?"

"To Abaddon?" I asked, both scandalized by the question and intrigued. "As your prisoner?"

"I was thinking more as my consort," he said, his lips burning on mine as I moaned into his mouth.

He took charge of the kiss, the fleeting touches of his tongue building a fire in my nether parts that made me worry a little. Should nether parts feel this hot? I'd been with men before, and although I enjoyed myself, never had anyone inflamed my women's area.

"I am the Sovereign of the Court of Divine Blood," I reminded him. "I doubt if being your consort at the same time is going to work."

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "You're right. I should probably make it a rule that no member of Abaddon can also be a Sovereign."

"Here are your furs and weapons," Mags said as she marched up with one of our storage baskets, dumping the things at his feet before giving him a righteous sniff. "Now you may leave and allow the Sovereign the peace you have so clearly disturbed."

I helped Desi gather his things together, and even assisted in strapping on the various pieces of fur that he wore over his braies and stockings.

"I will see you to the rise to the south," I told him before shooting Mags a look when she started to protest at me accompanying him. "It has an excellent view of the valley. You should be able to get your bearings from there."

"I would be most grateful for your help, and since I can see the words trembling on your serving woman's lips, I will keep myself from abducting you with an eye to seduction, and instead leave you as you are."

It was a near thing, but I managed to keep the words, "But what if I want to be seduced?" behind my teeth, and instead accompanied him out into the frosty morning air.

The sun was just rising, stretching soft peach colors across a lightening sky, the snow that had yet to melt crunching underfoot as I grabbed my sled and gestured toward the south, where my favorite thinking place had the view of the entire valley.

There was little conversation, since it was still cold enough to strip the breath from our lungs, and Desi was obviously not completely recovered. We had to stop twice on the way up to the ridge so he could rest, and when we reached the top, we both sat on the sled to examine the view.

"I was serious, you know," Desi said after a few minutes' silence.

"I know," I said, my eyes on the frosted green and brown of the landscape laid out before us like some sort of a garment stitched of a hundred different pieces of cloth. "I've never had a reaction to a man like I have with you, but that doesn't change the facts."

He nodded slowly before turning to me, taking my hands in his. I tsk ed, and peeled off the scraps of linen and wool that I used to protect my hands in the cold, and retook his, his fingers twining with mine in a way that filled my heart with mingled hope and regret.

"It won't work between us, will it?" he asked.

"I'm the Sovereign," I answered, my gaze dropping to our hands. I didn't even feel the cold with him holding them. "You are lord of Abaddon. By rights, one should be trying to kill the other."

"Demigods are not so easy to kill," he said with a wry smile, but there was emotion in his eyes that fit perfectly alongside my own despair. "You could try, but I fear you would be wasting your time. You wouldn't consider leaving the Court?"

"No more than you would leaving Abaddon," I said lightly, feeling as if a cage of ice were slowly being constructed around my heart.

He was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "No. It wouldn't work. Hath and Wat would never tolerate us being together, even if I was to leave the running of Abaddon to them. Not that they could so long as I have the blood moon." He tugged on the chain around his neck and pulled up a red stone pendant, shaped like a crescent moon and scribed with runes the likes of which I'd never seen.

"It's very pretty," I said, my mind troubled with the fact that I truly felt a deep regret that this man was passing out of my life. I'd had dalliances before—I was prone to warm emotions upon first meeting if the recipient took my fancy—but none had come close to seeming so right as had Desi.

"It is a pale imitation of beauty when seen next to you," he said with another of his half smiles.

"Flatterer," I said, pleased with his words nonetheless. "I have seen my face in the scrying bowl, and it has yet to cause men to fall to my feet panting with desire. You, on the other hand, are the handsomest man I have ever seen, and at least three of the maidservants tried to change the warming rocks we used to keep you from freezing, all so they could admire your form."

He gave a little eye roll, then stood, and held out a hand for me. "Come."

"Where?" I asked, slowly getting to my feet and rewrapping my hands before taking the leather thong attached to the sled. "To Abaddon?"

"No. I have my bearings now. I left a camp to the west, near a copse of trees with a frozen stream. It was that I was seeking when I fell afoul of the storm, and must have stumbled in the wrong direction."

It occurred to me that Mags would be very interested to know where Desi had set up camp, since he would do so only if he intended on placing an entrance to Abaddon there, but as with many other thoughts, I kept that back, and instead took his hand and walked with him.

"Why the sled?" he asked at one point, when I tsk ed as, for what seemed like the hundredth time, it ran painfully into the backs of my legs.

"To carry things I find. Also, our sheep broke out of their pen a few moons ago, and we're still trying to reclaim them. Some have lambed early, and we were caught by this storm. It is seldom we see snow after the equinox."

He agreed that it was unusual, and kept mostly silent during the walk to his camp. The snow had melted some the previous day, and the pale sunlight gave me hope that the rest would soon dissipate, as well.

I had envisioned a tent made of bent branches and furs, but when we crested a small hill that was crowned with tall oaks, I stopped at the sight of the stone building. It was square with a flat top, like a tomb built for the Old Ones who ruled the earth before the race of man.

"Come in. You can rest for a bit before returning to your compound," he invited, heaving aside a thick door that he'd evidently made by tying together several saplings.

"You'll just seduce me if I do," I told him, moving toward the doorway to peer inside the structure. Instead of a central fireplace, he had built his firepit into one end of the building, and encased it in a tall stone barrier. I couldn't figure out its purpose, and studied it with much attention.

"Perhaps I'll let you seduce me, instead. What intrigues you about my chimney?" he asked, kneeling before the firepit to assemble twigs and some dried bark before striking a flint several times until the twigs and bark began smoking.

"Your what?"

He explained the purpose of the stones that led to an opening in the ceiling. "It keeps most of the smoke out of the house. The wind tends to drive the smoke inside if it is blowing outside, but for the most part, this works well."

"Hmm," I said, peering around it to take mental notes.

"Parisi?"

"Yes?" I answered, narrowing my eyes as I peered up and inside the odd structure. I could see a bit of pale sky through the opening.

"Do you want to engage in bedsport?"

"Yes," I said, before wiping the soot from the stones onto a scrap of linen poking out from a basket of wood. "But I'm not going to, because I'm the Sovereign, and you're ... do you have an official title like Sovereign?"

"I'm just Desislav, bearer of the blood moon, and first prince of Abaddon. I wish to strip you naked and touch you the way you touched me while you thought I was insensible."

Heat rose on my cheeks. "I had to tend you! You were near death, despite the fact that you claim it's hard to kill you."

"Unfortunately, you are correct," he said, sitting down on a raised pallet covered in furs. His lips twisted as he added, "That will teach me for believing that I am immune to being lost in a blizzard. Will you join me in bed?"

"Yes, but just to sit and talk," I said, and sat beside him.

"You fear you won't be able to leave me should we indulge in lovemaking?" he asked with a smile that was full of cockiness.

"Don't be ridiculous." I dismissed the very idea. "More that Mags is likely to have followed us, and if we dally in here, she'll simply burst in at what is sure to be an inconvenient moment. What will you do now?"

His expression, which had been playful, turned serious. "Return to my work at establishing more entrances to Abaddon. It is time for growth, and I must have the pieces in place before that can happen. If I return here at a later time, will you lay with me?"

"Perhaps," I said, putting my hand on his thigh. "It depends on how you answer the next question."

His eyebrows rose as he waited for me to ask it.

"You could be anything you wanted, and you choose to lead an organization bent on causing chaos and strife in the world. Why don't you see the power of aiding instead of obstructing?"

"And how much of your aid would be truly appreciated if people like me didn't exist?" he asked, leaning in to kiss me. "We bring balance to the world, little warrior. Without Abaddon bringing chaos to the world, there would be no need for order."

"But the mortals," I said, my hands on his chest to keep his kiss from landing. "You don't care at all about them."

"I care, but I also know that being bound without hope is intolerable. Between the two of us, we provide both mortal and immortal worlds with choices."

"In an odd, convoluted way, I understand that, but at the same time, the people you harm make my soul weep," I said slowly, wondering why I was so desperate to make him understand my point of view. "What about the jealous mortal who engages you to harm his neighbor's cattle? How do you justify harming an innocent person? You haven't given him a choice at all, merely given preference to the jealous neighbor."

He was silent for a short time, absently taking my hand and stroking the tips of my fingers that poked out of the linen covering them. "You would put the blame for the actions of this person on me, when it was his choice to do so. I am not the agency for evil, Parisi, much though your woman Mags would argue the point. I merely offer choices."

"Why?" I asked again, looking in his pale gray eyes and wondering if I was mistaken in the sincerity and thoughtfulness I saw within.

"Because I know what it's like to have control over your life taken away," he said abruptly, and stood to stack more wood on the fire. "And I will not suffer that for anyone. Bedsport or not? If it's the latter, then I must set out and try to find my demons. They went to the north and west, and were also likely caught in the storm."

"No bedsport now," I said, leaning in with both hands on his leg so I could kiss him the way I'd wanted to ever since I'd uncovered him in the bank of snow. "Nor can there ever be any. It would be wrong on far too many levels."

He smiled under my kiss, his passion warming me despite the knowledge that what my heart wanted was completely impossible.

"Travel safely," I told him as I tore myself away from him, pausing at the doorway. "Stay warm and fare well, for we shall never meet again except on the battlefield."

"I will be back to the area at the next solstice," he called after me.

"I can never be with you again," I said with a righteous sniff that Mags would have loved, then turned back to see him standing in the doorway, one eyebrow cocked.

"See you then," he said with a small smile and admiring look that warmed me from my crown down to my frozen toes.