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Settle!” she scolded, ignoring the warrior’s ire. Her smile returned when she looked back at Elenya. “Introductions to the household in one hour, dear. A bath waits in the outer chamber.”
    Skirts rustling, the older woman moved to the door, stopping just shy of her exit. She didn’t turn around as she spoke. “Fear and conquest have no place in the bedchamber, my son. Leave it for your enemies on the battlefield. Take heed, for she will either loathe you or adore you by how you make her feel … in here.” She tapped the side of her head.
    The door closed quickly behind her, leaving a silent room. Again lifting her eyes to her warrior, Elenya noted the flared nostrils, this time for a different reason.
    Tahruk growled and rolled away from her side before slipping from the end of the bed with cat-like stealth. Clipped movements denoted irritation as he wrapped a covering about his waist. Single words and short phrases narrating his belief that women were cursed creatures and the bane of mankind’s existence accompanied his exit from the room.
    Dazed, Elenya remained beneath the covers, motionless save for her shallow breaths and her heart beating too fast within her chest. She had been unable to tear her gaze away from the sinewy lines of the warrior’s body, a sight forever imprinted in her young mind and heart.

 
    Chapter 8

     
    “You’d best get up, Miss, unless you expect to disobey your mistress.”
    Elenya craned her neck to see another woman slightly older than Tahruk’s mother standing in the doorway. What a busy place this warrior’s bedchamber was! The innocent thought immediately jumped her to an unseemly place. She was sure the room had seen its share of women . Like most men, Tahruk would not have remained idle waiting for the one marked for him.
    “No need to scowl. You don’t want to wrinkle that unblemished forehead of yours.” She pointed to her own age-wrinkled brow and winked. Elenya could not suppress a giggle. “That’s better.” The matronly figure laughed as she moved, uninvited, into the room to retrieve the robe from the pile of clothing Tahruk’s mother had left on the chair. “I’ve a tub filled with hot water waiting for you. Join me and let’s see if I can find the fair maiden beneath those layers of wounds and grime, the one who has already hooked her talons into the young master’s heart.”
    Elenya snorted yet smiled anyway at the woman’s words. How could she not when the tone was so light and playful? She took the offered robe and waited for the woman to leave before rising to slip into the soft fabric. She hoped the parade of people in and out of the bedchamber was not a customary occurrence. Already, being within a strange house was proving to be a more trying experience than she’d hoped for. At least the women seemed unphased at having a daughter of Aleone in their midst. Perhaps they didn’t know.
    Self-mocking laughter escaped her as she pulled her curls free of the robe’s collar. Her hair coloring alone spoke volumes, alerting all who saw her of her true identity. With an upward glance, she offered a silent thank you for her potential allies before going to find the older woman.

     
    Fresh scents lured Elenya to a lovely room toward the front of Tahruk’s quarters. A quick survey told her it was most likely a sunroom and she wondered if it always doubled as a bathing chamber. Unlike her warrior’s bedchamber, this room had felt the touch of a woman. She delighted in the lightness of the décor and was awed by the garden beyond that seemed to spill into the room, adding to the already ripe fragrance. Elenya smiled, imagining herself as a garden pixie. Her sisters would have loved such a game of make believe.
    The smile faded at the thought of her sisters and the vast distance that separated her from them. She desperately wished they could join her immediately. A single tear slipped down her cheek. Even when her family arrived, life would never be the