Unveiling the Sorceress

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Elishiba decided to pass the requisite time by claiming a few moments for herself in the courtyard gardens. A stone seat placed beneath the trailing jasmine was a spot she often frequented when she needed some solitude. She surely needed that now.

Yoshi's words were still echoing in her mind. Of course, Yoshi had been known to be wrong in her predictions, but that was usually when eager subjects pressed her for information. These thoughts had appeared to come readily, and Yoshi seemed to be so sure about her predictions on the matter. The things she had said about Amshazar tumbled through Elishiba's thoughts like vivid acrobats vying for her attention, tugging it this way and that.

Amshazar. Since their first meeting he was never far from her mind.

Yoshi had implied ... well, she had stated there would be something between them, but surely that could not be? Elishiba had felt an attraction the night before, and it must be that Yoshi had sensed, she rationalized, in an attempt to keep a level head. But what of the other things Yoshi had said, about his influence in her life? What did it all mean, and how could she begin to use the information if she didn't have the first clue what it meant?

Before she had time to consider the issue further, something captured her attention—something that threw her into a deeper quandary.

Amshazar himself was approaching.

His tall, imposing figure moved silently through the courtyard, his hands folded behind him, his gaze fixed on her, his expression gently enquiring. When he saw she had noticed him, he nodded in her direction.

She forced herself to breathe and inclined her head in response.

His dark good looks drew her attention as if she were tethered by rope. His bearing was equally impressive, his fine figure moving toward her with a self-assured charm that made her blood heat. Anticipation trickled through her and she altered her position so that she might invite him to rest a while by her side. They could chat. She would ask him if he was comfortable in the apartments that he and Sibias had been allocated.

Glancing back, she noticed he had paused on his approach and turned to greet another—Yoshi had emerged from a doorway and was now busy conversing with him.

"Gods above,” she murmured, “that woman is sure to make trouble for me, meddling as she does in my affairs."

Elishiba tried not to look directly at them, lest they sense her annoyance. However, out of the corner of her eye she could see Yoshi was chattering at speed, seemingly relaxed in the stranger's company. Whatever it was she said to him, he smiled and glanced in Elishiba's direction. The pair set off again, together, walking toward her like two old friends.

At that moment, Elishiba caught sight of another figure emerging from the palace, further along the path. It was Sibias, and he was advancing quickly, seemingly at great haste to join the others in their approach.

It was all she could do not to stare at the sight of the three of them closing on her supposed moment of solitude with varying degrees of speed.

Gods above. She was entitled to a few moments for herself, surely? She shifted on the seat, intent on looking disinterested, trying to ignore the annoying voice in her head that pointed out it was not Amshazar who had provoked this response, only the additional presence of the other two.

Amshazar paused and bowed. “Empress Elishiba."

Sibias caught him up and did the same, panting and holding his robes in place, casting a dismissive glance at Amshazar as he did so. That these two supposed allies were at odds was patently obvious. She noticed, too, that Sibias looked quite comical, with his robes askew and his long and complicated beard parted by the breeze of his hasty approach.

Yoshi made a great show of taking up the seat by her mistress's side and folded her arms over her ample bosom, looking Sibias up and down as if eager to see him off.

Amshazar smiled at Elishiba. It was both an intimate bond with her and a silent, amused remark on the situation.

She returned the smile. She couldn't help herself. “Good day. I trust you fare well in our care?"

Sibias opened his mouth to respond but Amshazar had her attention. “You offer an oasis of calm and beauty in troubled times,” he said. “How can we not fare well, resting as we do amidstt such exquisite grace?"

His expression was as knowing as it had been the night before, and she sensed an undercurrent of meaning in his words that touched the very core of her womanhood. Heat pooled between her thighs. Her breath came uneasily, as if it were trapped in her throat. Her heart beat ever faster, tight as a goatskin drum pounding within her chest.

She felt Yoshi moving at her side and the quick nudge of her elbow prompting her to reply.

"That pleases me,” she responded, her voice a whisper, her chin dropping and her gaze shifting away from his.

Sibias butted in. “Might I enquire if the Empress is ready for her tutoring?"

Elishiba's head snapped up, her mood altering immediately. “Tutoring?"

Sibias had a superior look on his face. He tugged his beard into place, his mouth pursed. “It is necessary for you to undergo some instruction in the ways of our land. It is part of the reason for our presence."

Not only was his tone condescending, his comment was a rude reminder of what was ahead. She disliked him more with each passing moment. Where Amshazar was seductive and charming, this man was simply overbearing. Both of them sought the same ends, however: to manipulate her. Despite Amshazar's obvious charms, she would not forget that, she vowed it, for did not his more

subtle charms surely made him the more dangerous of the two?