Ginn Hale - Lord of the White Hell book Two

As he passed the reflecting pool, Kiram thought he made out a shadow moving near the gate. He wasn't sure but he called out anyway.

"I'm sorry that I didn't give you an invitation. I just assumed that the gate boy-" Kiram suddenly forgot everything he had been about to say as he drew closer to the iron gate. Behind the bars the imposing form of a cloaked Cadeleonian mounted on a huge, white stallion rose like a monument.

Javier?" Kiram asked, though he recognized that sharp profile even through the rain and shadows.

"Indeed, though apparently I don't have an invitation to show for it."

Kiram rushed to the gate and hauled it open. At once Javier swung down from Lunaluz's back and led his mount into the courtyard. Light from Kiram's lamp flashed over Javier's hooded cloak, dark and slick with rain. Stubble darkened the hard line of his jaw and stray strands of wet hair hung across his face. He shoved his hair back. He smiled warmly at Kiram and moved forward as if he would embrace him, but then his eyes narrowed at the dozen curious faces staring out from the Kir-Zaki doorway.

"We're having a celebration," Kiram told Javier, but the information didn't seem to ease him. "It's all right. They're friends and family and they'll be delighted to meet you. Come in"

"I can't leave Lunaluz out here"

"I'll take care of it." Kiram called to one of the house servants and directed the man take Lunaluz to Mother Kir-Mahoud's stables, giving the man a fistful of silver coins to ensure that Lunaluz would be well fed and closely attended. Javier hesitantly handed Lunaluz's reins to the servant.

"Mother Kir-Mahoud's stables are the best in the Haldiim district. Cadeleonians always keep their mounts there," Kiram assured Javier. "Lunaluz will be treated like a prince, I promise."

Javier simply nodded.

"Now come out of this rain or we'll both end up getting soaked." Kiram reached to take Javier's arm but Javier quickly shoved his hands beneath his cloak, watching the crowd at the door warily. Kiram realized that it didn't matter to Javier that they were in a Haldiim district. He still wouldn't be seen publicly taking Kiram's hand.

Inside the house, Kiram's mother greeted Javier warmly. Javier bowed, but still towered over her. Siamak immediately ordered a warm bath for Javier and Majdi went to find him a suitable change of clothes. Dauhd just stared at Javier as if he'd descended from the heavens in a fiery chariot. And she wasn't alone. Several other guests peered out from the ballroom to watch Javier and whisper about him in hushed tones.

Listening to them, Kiram was intensely aware of their assumptions of Javier's inability to understand Haldiim. Two younger women murmured about his thick thighs and wet, clinging pants. One of Kiram's aunts thought he looked as pale as a drowned corpse and he smelled like an animal. Several others agreed with her. Vashir came forward to comment that Javier might be an animal worth taking out for a ride.

"I doubt very much that you'd find a bridle that suited me, sir," Javier replied in Cadeleonian and his hand fell lightly over the hilt of his sheathed sword. Vashir flushed but then laughed.

"Very true." Vashir's Cadeleonian was heavily accented. "Kiram had not said that you were a master of so many tongues."

More than a few people glared at Kiram and his aunt pinched him on his back. Hard.

To Kiram's relief, his mother's unflappable secretary Fiez arrived. She tossed a towel to Kiram and then escorted Javier to his awaiting bath. Kiram almost followed them but decided that it would be too intimate an action. Instead he toweled his hair and followed the rest of the guests back into the ballroom.

The night blooming flowers woven through the garlands had opened fully and their perfume suffused the air. Sweet oil flames blazed gold and red from prism lamps and cast a warm glow over the embroidered seats, the flower-strewn banquet tables and the polished dance floor. Kiram took in the room and the faces of his guests and relations. He hoped that Javier would find it as welcoming and lovely a sight as he did. [or! of the white jell

"Javier Tornesal, the Duke of Rauma, has arrived," Kiram's mother announced to the few people who did not already know. She looked very pleased as the entire room filled with speculation and awed discussions of how well connected the Kir-Zakis had become.

"You could have mentioned that he spoke Haldiim!" Vashir muttered to Kiram.

"I didn't know anyone would be meeting him tonight," Kiram replied. "And he doesn't speak it all that well. But he understands a lot more than you'd expect."

"Obviously. Now he probably thinks I was slandering his birth." Vashir shook his head. "You'll explain that I meant what I said as a sexual overture, not a racial comment, won't you?"

"No." Kiram replied, laughing. "How could a man making sexual overtures to another man be better to a Cadeleonian?"

"Well, at least it would mean that I found him handsome."

"He's not easily offended. Don't worry." Kiram handed his used towel to a house servant and then retreated to a banquet table to warm himself with a cup of mulled honey wine.

Vashir followed him as did Hashiem and Dauhd. Kiram glanced to his sister and she offered him an encouraging smile. Kiram had no doubt that many of the wealthy mothers longed to ask him about Javier's presence but their need to maintain the appearance of worldliness restrained them from pursuing him. Though many watched Kiram over the rims of their wine glasses and some sent their sons to the table to refill their plates and make a few inquiries.

"I had no idea that the duke had been invited," Hashiem commented. Kiram took a drink of wine to buy himself a moment to think of a response. He didn't want to undermine his mother's impromtu claim.

"We didn't know if he would be able to find the time to come or not, so we didn't announce it." Dauhd helped herself to a fresh strawberry from one of the silver bowls.

Across the room the musicians struck up a merry melody and dozens of youths and children rushed out to have their turn on the dance floor. Kiram watched them absently, smiling from time to time at some comment his sister or Hashiem made.

Vashir excused himself when it became apparent that Kiram was not going to offer up any amusing gossip about Javier. The Lif-Zibhan twins looked far more appreciative of his attention. Kiram hardly noticed his departure. All he could think of was that Javier was here with him in Anacleto. A breathless happiness filled Kiram's chest.

"He came alone?" Hashiem asked. "That's odd, isn't it? A duke traveling without guards or any escort."

Kiram started to tell him that Javier commanded the white hell and went where he pleased as he pleased, but then Javier himself stepped into the room.

His glossy, black hair stood out in sharp contrast to his pale, freshly shaven face. Majdi had given him the finest Haldiim clothes to wear and, though they did not drape loosely as they would have on a Haldiim youth, they suited Javier's long body quite well. The short gold vest displayed his broad shoulders, muscular arms, and lean abdomen appealingly. The red silk trousers hung on his slim hips and clung to the thick curves of his thighs. He stood in the doorway with an expression of uncertainty that Kiram had never seen on his face before. Kiram went to him at once before anyone else swooped in.

"What's the occasion for the party?" Javier asked quietly.

"My homecoming, actually," Kiram replied. He saw his mother start towards them with several influential council women beside her. "Let's join the dancing. Otherwise you're going to end up cornered by a flock of mothers intent upon discussing import taxes"

"You mean the Haldiim trade tax?" Javier asked as he followed Kiram to the dance floor.