The Gem Lords

The Realms - Part 4

     Lapis Lazuli hadn't dared leave Thomas's quarters in case something happened to her. Some accident that would end her three thousand year life and deny her the centuries that still lay ahead according to even the most pessimistic estimates. It didn't have to be her fault. Someone might stumble against her, making her fall and hit her head on something hard and sharp, or she might inadvertently do something to offend someone, who would take terrible vengeance by stabbing her through the heart with a dagger.

     She knew fully well that these fears were foolish, that she was just as likely to die here, in Thomas's cabin, where there was no-one to see and help her, but the terror of her sudden mortality had struck so deeply into her that she was paralysed by it, unable to do anything. Unable to even leave the cabin and seek out Daleen so she could move back into the cleric's body. All she could do was sit there, shivering in fear, and she was still there when Thomas finally came off duty and found her there.

     "Lenny?" he cried in concern, seeing the lines of fear on her delicate face and the way her pale, slender hands were twisted together in her lap. "Lenny? What is it?"

     Lapis Lazuli looked up in surprise, and her heart leapt with joy. "Tak! My love!" She flew into his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her face into his neck to breathe in the comforting scent of him. "Oh Tak!"

     Thomas tensed up in surprise and alarm, however, and he held her at arm's length to look at her. "What did you call me? And you're speaking old Garonian. What's going on?"

     Lapis Lazuli's heart almost stopped in sheerest terror at the lapse that had betrayed her. But this is Tak! she reminded herself. My Tak could never hurt me. For one moment she came close to telling him the truth about herself, about how the spirit of his long lost love had returned to inhabit the body of the whore who'd replaced her, but sanity returned just in time. She still had to find a way to kill Lirenna, and this Thomas might object to that. She had to kill the shayen bitch secretly, therefore, and that meant she had to conceal her true identity even from him.

     "Did I get it right?" she asked, therefore. "I've been practising my Old Garonian. I thought it might help bring some more of Tak's memories back." She made herself smile, forcing down the fear that threatened to make her limbs tremble like autumn leaves.

     "It was perfect," said Thomas, still staring at her. "You even got the accent right. For a moment, it was as if Essca was right here, in the room with me."

     The gem rak's heart soared with joy and delight.

     "But what were you so frightened about?" Thomas continued. "You looked terrible when I came in."

     "Oh, nothing," she replied, tossing her head dismissively. "Just being silly. Hold me tight again. You've been away too long."

     "Five minutes is too long," Thomas agreed, and he pulled her close to him again until her small, soft body was melting against his.

     Lapis Lazuli's head swam with happiness. She was with her man again, with her Tak! They were together again after all these centuries, as they'd always been meant to be. "Make love to me," she murmured into his chest. "Make me yours."

     Thomas needed no further urging, and his passion was as great as hers as they pulled at each others' clothes.

☆☆☆

     "That was different," said Thomas an hour later as they lay, exhausted, side by side, pressed tightly together on the narrow cot. The demi shae's bare bottom was pressed up against the wall, and Thomas could feel his own rear end hanging out in empty air. He had to hold onto Lirenna's arms to hold himself in place.