The first thing Shanelle really noticed was the stuffiness, the closed-in heat. It was oppressive enough to make her remark to Falon, “Perhaps you saw some things in Sha-Ka-Ra that you’d like to incorporate here.”
“And perhaps I did not. This is a two-story house, Shanelle, not a palace. The meeting hall makes it larger than most houses, still is it just a house.”
“I wasn’t complaining.”
“Were you not?”
“If I was, I would have mentioned the lack of openness and breezes,” she said tightly. “But I’m sure I’ll get used to it.”
“I am equally sure, yet for a while will you be less than comfortable, for my country is much hotter than yours. Because of this, you may continue to wear your own clothes for a time, for the clothes of our women might be too warm for you just now.”
“Why do I get the feeling we’re not talking about a chauri, Falon?”
“Because we are not.”
“Then what-”
Shanelle didn’t bother to finish, because a woman came through a door at the end of the hall just then, and she figured she had got her answer. The female wore a narrow white skirt that began just below her hips and extended down to the floor. But that was all she wore. Nothing covered the entire top half of her body, except a little brown hair that hung a mere few inches over her shoulders.
The woman had seen them. Large breasts bobbed as she performed a half bow toward the shodan and offered him a formal greeting. He did no more than order her to fetch someone to collect their belongings and distribute them to the appropriate rooms.
Shanelle said nothing until the woman hurried along the front of the hall, her breasts bobbing again, and disappeared out of a different door. She then turned to her lifemate, the amber of her eyes heated to a brightness that could scorch. “Warmer clothes, huh? If you think I’m going to go around dressed like that, warrior, think again.”
Three of the four men burst out laughing. Falon was not one of them. But Jadell stepped to her side to enlighten her. “She is a slave, Shanelle.”
She stared at him in horror at this reminder of another thing she had to face, now that she had a Bar-Har-ani for a lifemate. “I should have known,” she said in disgust. “Stars, you don’t even dress them decently.”
He was not the least bit perturbed by her reaction. He even grinned at her as he explained. “Her clothing proclaims her a slave. Free women are completely covered by their clothing. I, for one, will miss seeing you in your wispy chauri when you start wearing-”
“You, brother, have been too long without the comforts of your own females,” Falon cut in, startling Shanelle with the anger in his tone. “Best you take yourself off to your rooms to correct that, so that your excessive admiring of my lifemate will end here and now.”
Jadell chuckled. “You jest, Falon. If you think that will keep me or any other man from sighing over your woman, then you overlook what a beauty she is.”
“Jadell, I am warning you-”
Jadell threw up his hands in surrender, though he was still amused, and still in a mood to goad. “I am going, but you cannot change what is, brother. She is too lovely to ignore, and your scowls will make no difference in that. Best you get used to-”
It was the step Falon took toward him that ended Jadell’s warning and sent him off in a hurry. Tarren and Deamon followed him, both grinning, which did nothing to get that mentioned scowl off Falon’s face.
Shanelle lowered her eyes to the floor before Falon saw her reaction to his jealousy. She couldn’t help it, being pleased and amused, so much so that her anger disappeared for the moment. But it was so telling, his jealousy, so indicative of very strong feelings, and anything that confirmed her hope that this man could love her, perhaps already did love her, was welcome as far as she was concerned.
But Falon noticed her amusement and said sternly, “It is no matter to laugh over, woman.”
“Of course it is. He was only teasing you, Falon. He wasn’t serious.”
He stared blankly at her for a moment before replying. “Indeed was he serious. Why do you think he was not?”
“Because I’m no different than any other Kan-is-Tran woman, golden from head to foot. I blend in-”
His hoot of laughter cut her off. “Did you blend in, I would not have immediately noticed you and wanted you with a passion unequaled to anything felt before. And here, woman, you will not blend in. Can you truly not know how desirable men find you?”
She was blushing profusely before he had finished. “AH right, if I accept that, then I have to know-your own brother wouldn’t try anything, would he?”
“No.”
“Then why do you get so mad at him?”
“Because I do not like any man looking at you in that way, even him.” And then he sighed. “Yet as he says, it is something I must become used to. And best I do so quickly, before I am compelled to issue challenge.”
“Now, you don’t want to do that.” She grinned and took the step that brought her close enough to wrap her arms around him. “I hope you don’t think I’m encouraging any of that stuff that annoys you.”
“You are the keeper of my heart, kerima, thus do I have complete faith in you.”
She squeezed him a bit harder for that sweet remark. “Then I ought to tell you I don’t mind your jealousy one little bit. Kan-is-Tran warriors don’t experience it, you know, so it’s kind of unique for me and something I plan to enjoy until you get it under control. Am I shameful to admit that?”
“To wish me to suffer the frustration of those emotions? Indeed should you be ashamed.”
She hugged him still harder. “So why don’t you sound angry?”
“I cannot be displeased by something you find enjoyment in. Have I not promised to make you happy?”
The teasing mood left Shanelle abruptly. “You did and you do-to a degree, and when I’m not furious with you for your warriorlike inflexibility. But there’s something I have to hear before even the happiness you do give me can be complete.”
He leaned back so he could see her expression. His face was utterly serious now. “Tell me.”
She slowly shook her head. “It wouldn’t be the same if I told you, Falon. This is something you’ll have to figure out for yourself.”
Chapter 35
There were four rooms in Falon’s house that were for his exclusive use. The one for sleeping contained a warrior-sized bed that made Shanelle smile. Even her adjustibed wouldn’t expand that big. There was a large bathroom with a dressing area and closets, and a room that was completely empty that Falon had yet to find a use for.
The largest room was for informal meetings. It was bigger than Shanelle’s entire chambers at home, and filled with nearly a dozen long couches and chairs, well padded and covered in buttery-soft zaalskin in both black and brown. Solid-gold tables of different sizes were scattered all around, as well as gold chests set with precious stones. Even the gaali-stone stands were made of gold, as well as the boxes that contained the stones. Thick white fur, pieced together so perfectly that no seams could be detected, covered the entire floor. It made Shanelle hot just looking at it.
His house might not be the size of a palace, but it was definitely bigger than Falon had let on. The ceilings were all high. And there were two or three large windows in each room, even in the bathroom, that let in a good deal of light and at least a little breeze.
Shanelle ran her fingers along one of the tables and remarked, “No wonder the Catrateri are so eager to make a deal with you. The gold in this room alone could probably put their economy back on a sound footing.”
She turned, but Falon hadn’t heard her. He had gone back into the dressing room and came out of it now, carrying a short piece of white cloth. He shook it open when he reached her, then almost reverently set it across her shoulders. The short white cape fell no lower than her waist, and fastened with three gold chains that draped at different lengths across her chest and hooked over a large round brooch at her right shoulder that was set with sparkling gems of diamond clarity.