Chapter Three
“WHAT DID YOU EXTRACT FROM THE APOLLYONS?” Kadeesha asked Leisha when she was finally reunited with her sisters.
The feast that followed her betrothed’s arrival had dragged on and on, lasting late into the night.
She now sat on a chaise in the boudoir that adjoined her main bedroom, Leisha and Samira both having joined her for a nightcap.
She guzzled the much-needed wine in a fashion she hadn’t been able to do to soothe the rawest of her nerves during the feast, because she’d had to content herself with sitting by her betrothed’s side and daintily sipping it, as a proper Hyperion lady would do.
“I … did not coax anything of consequence out of the trio.”
Leisha’s unexpected response hacked through the misery Kadeesha had plunged into. She placed her goblet atop the end table beside her, blinking rapidly. “What do you mean? What occurred?”
“I didn’t kill our prisoners before I could extract their secrets, if that’s what you’re getting at,” Leisha responded defensively.
“In fact, as you requested, one remains alive if you’d like to take a crack at our guest yourself.
But the male has proven to be especially well-trained at guarding Malachizrien’s secrets, and, like his deceased brethren, he’s explicitly stressed that he fears his liege more than anyone among the Six Kingdoms.” Leisha finished, heated, “Believe me, Your Highness, I tried—exhaustively—to make him see the error of that thinking. He won’t budge.
” For all of Leisha’s ire, there was also a certain admiration to her decree.
Of course there was. Leisha was the type of woman who’d always respect allegiance and courage, even when it presented on the enemy.
Kadeesha sighed. “Very well. If he is not useful, kill him too and be done with it.” There was no good reason to keep the enemy alive and so close to the people she loved.
A rumor about the Apollyon forces was that even the lowliest of soldiers could prove deadly under the right circumstances.
Kadeesha wouldn’t chance learning if that bit of gossip was an exaggeration sown by a guileful Apollyon king to rattle foes or if it was truth.
She grabbed her goblet again and then reached for the decanter on the foot table in front of her, filled her cup to the brim, and took a long swig.
Her head began to pleasantly buzz from the effects of the lightly sweetened rose wine imported from the Stone Kingdom.
Yet even as she did so, she thought perhaps drinking so heavily under such abysmal conditions was a terrible idea, because suddenly the boudoir felt stifling.
It felt suffocatingly warm and the walls felt too close, the ceiling sloping down too low. She put the goblet down and stood.
“Let’s go out tonight,” she told her sisters.
“I want to have a bit of fun—give myself one final night of freedom.” She deserved that much.
Kadeesha knew as well as she knew her name that if she truly and fully let her mind descend into the dark place her marriage was taking her, she’d never emerge. At least not whole.
Leisha and Samira exchanged reticent looks at her suggestion that made Kadeesha bristle.
Very carefully, Samira said, “Your father wouldn’t like it with your wedding ceremony taking place so early tomorrow morning.
He’ll want you looking like a well-rested and radiant bride.
We should also consider … how it might appear if you leave the palace at this late hour on the literal night before your marriage to Rishaud and stir up whispers about your activities. ”
Kadeesha scowled. Perhaps it was the wine making her excessively bold because she snorted.
“Maybe we should consider that I don’t give a shit.
If I am to be chained to some male I do not wish to marry in the morning, forced to consummate some marriage I do not want tomorrow night, and then forced away from my own home shortly after, I will enjoy one last night in my city being me, unattached, and bedding whom I choose. ”
To Leisha’s credit, she stood at once and clapped Kadeesha on the back. “Then you’ll have that night, sister.”
Kadeesha grinned; she’d won the battle. If they were united two against one, Samira had no choice but to cave and step away from her preoccupation with decorum and the rules for one night. As Kadeesha had guessed, Samira sucked her teeth but stood from the armchair she’d occupied.
“Let’s go.”
THE THREE OF them soon found themselves lounging on a settee in Kadeesha’s favorite pleasure club, Oleander House.
It was an establishment she loved because she discreetly owned it, having bought it from its previous owner four years prior.
Over that time, she’d sunk enough money and resources into the venture to have transformed it into one of the most infamous and lavish pleasure clubs in all of Nimani, and she was appreciating all that hard work now, pushing aside the thought that she wasn’t sure when she might ever come back here.
Kadeesha sipped on the special blend of spiced cognac that was aged in koppa barrels and a major export of the Aether Court.
It felt terrific to swap out the palace’s sweet wine for something with more of a kick.
The music around them was merry, played by a quartet of bards who were masters with a baritone dulcian, high-pitched stringed mandora, bass cittern, and koppa drum.
The symphony of sounds wove a spell among Oleander House’s intimate parlor and the many patrons enjoying themselves for the night.
A voluptuous woman with dark red hair, walnut-colored eyes, and deep brown skin the color of dawn lilies was the musician who plucked the strings of the mandora.
She crooned out words about eternal revelry, the vibrancy of life, and everlasting joy, making it impossible for Kadeesha to slip into a sour mood.
She’d always appreciated the talents of bards, the subtle sway of suggestive magic threaded into their songs, and this beautiful songstress was providing Kadeesha with the exact reprieve she needed.
Flame dancers who were additional entertainment were scattered about the parlor too, weaving their own enchantments with their seductive, fluid body movements and roiling aether fire, and tonight she was infinitely grateful to be in the presence of such mesmerizing artists.
The bards ended their current song and started up a more raucous tune.
Leisha let out a whoop at the change of pace, slammed her goblet down, and hopped on top of the table next to it to dance.
Like Kadeesha and Samira, Leisha wore nondescript garb that marked her as neither a Nkita nor a noble.
That said, it wasn’t exactly camouflage, as Leisha’s evening gown was a vibrant scarlet that perfectly accentuated her attention-grabbing auburn tresses, fit her as tight as her flying leathers, and just barely covered her ample backside.
In comparison, Samira was dressed more modestly in a knee-length white sheath dress, which was as subtle as her ash-blonde hair.
Kadeesha, leaning entirely into unchecked inhibition for this last taste of freedom, was clothed in a black sleeveless sheath dress that stopped at mid-thigh and was made of an iridescent material that molded to her curves and turned sheer when the light hit it at just the right angle.
She had come to play inside a sex club after all, and she planned on enjoying the exact services it provided at some point before she departed.
Her gown selection seemed the perfect complement.
Despite Samira’s concerns, she wasn’t worried about detection.
Oleander House was hers, and she’d turned the club into a clandestine airtight establishment where nothing about its members’ identities or activities inside ever traveled beyond its walls—all accomplished by a ward that left patrons remembering their business and their business alone when they passed out of the club’s doors.
“Dance with me!” Leisha shouted at Kadeesha and Samira over the music. She held out both hands. Kadeesha held on to her goblet but got to her feet. She placed her free hand into Leisha’s and let her sister pull her onto the table. The pair of them looked at Samira, who gazed back with exasperation.
Kadeesha cackled. “You know you want to,” she teased.
“Stop fighting it.” Samira wasn’t nearly as uptight as she liked to present herself.
It simply took a bit of persuasion to get her to drop the primness she wore at court like armor.
The corners of Samira’s lips lifted into a smile.
She shook her head even as she grabbed Leisha’s hand and jumped onto the table.
They danced and danced and danced, Kadeesha feeling the most joy she’d felt in weeks, never wanting the dawn to rise.
Another woman and man ended up on the oversized table with them.
Soon after, Leisha became enviously sandwiched between a gorgeous redbone woman with light brown skin and gold hoops decorating the points of her ears and a pretty man with skin such a dark brown it nearly glittered black.
The man, who was in front of Leisha, swept the sleek curtain of her hair to the side, angled his head downward, and kissed her neck, long and sensually.
He grazed her throat with his teeth, lightly and teasingly.
However, as any sensible person would, he refrained from breaking skin; it’d be crossing a dangerous line that was taboo even in a sex den.
A different person might’ve snarled at his bold move, but Leisha got off on dancing on the edge of recklessness.
She arched her neck, encouraging his teasing.