“That tears it and buries it,” Shanelle growled. “Meet me in the back courtyard in ten minutes, Aurelet. Your challenge just got accepted.”
Shanelle stalked out of the pantry and went straight to her rooms to collect her sword. She didn’t even bother to strap on the belt. She wouldn’t need it, just the weapon itself, which she gripped tightly in her hand. She was so furious, and that wasn’t the way to enter a fight. She needed to calm down. The trouble with that was having time to consider consequences, in particular her lifemate-no, it was too late for that. She’d accepted, consequences be damned.
But she wondered if she ought to call Martha and ask her to monitor the fight, just in case she ended up wounded and Aurelet left her there to bleed to death. For a full minute she stared at the computer-link unit, which lay next to the now empty scabbard, debating what to do, but finally she turned away. Martha would have Tedra informed before the fight even got started, and then Shanelle would probably find herself Transferred out of there to avoid it altogether.
But she didn’t want to avoid it, not now. She’d always hated confrontations, so that made no sense. All she knew was she was fed up with that vicious-tongued woman. She wanted the peace a challenge win could give her-if she won. No, she wouldn’t start lacking confidence now. That was the worst thing a sword-wielder could do.
Aurelet was there waiting for her. The courtyard wasn’t empty, but it was large, and no one was paying attention to them-not yet. Shanelle didn’t intend for this to take long, however.
Aurelet drew her sword when she saw that Shanelle was already holding hers. Shanelle noted it was three feet in length and not very wide, to lessen its weight. Her own blade was the standard four feet to allow her to reach her target as easily as it could her, but not made entirely of toreno steel, so it too was much lighter in weight than a warrior’s sword. She noted Aurelet’s confidence, but then she’d never lost to a female before, so why not? But she also saw the expression of absolute triumph on Aurelet’s face that indicated she was finally getting what she’d wanted. Shanelle just wanted to get it over with.
“Okay, let’s have at it,” Shanelle said without preamble.
“Perhaps you would like a moment to speak with Droda, for I mean to kill you, woman.”
Shanelle grinned. “I don’t think Falon will like that very much, but you’re welcome to try.”
The grin made Aurelet angry enough to attack. This she did with a swift swing meant to startle. It did. Shanelle had practiced only with her father and brother, neither of whom used swiftness as a strategy. She was reminded of that pompous High King from Century III who had depended on speed to defeat a warrior, and it nearly had. But she also was quick, just not used to it coming back at her.
She was forced to stop the next swing with her sword, something she hadn’t intended to do. The jolt shot right up her arm, but Aurelet’s arm was hurting as well, and Shanelle took advantage of that by assuming the offensive. With Shanelle’s longer reach, Aurelet had to leap back. Before she steadied again, Shanelle swung upward, rather than down, and caught Aurelet’s sword near the base, this second hard connection knocking it out of numb fingers.
Aurelet stood there in horrified shock while Shanelle brought the tip of her sword to the woman’s throat. She didn’t smile. She ought to feel elated, but she couldn’t, not after experiencing that moment of fear that made her realize she had no business fighting for something as silly as a challenge from another female. This wasn’t what she’d been taught the use of the sword for. Life-threatening instances only, to permit her to protect herself. That wasn’t what this had been.
That she had risked herself foolishly, just because she’d lost her farden temper, made that temper simmer now, and she said, “Let me tell you something while I’ve got your attention. I’m sorry for what happened to you all those years ago, but you’ve committed a worse crime in the treatment of your son. And he’s not a visitor, Aurelet, any more than I am. If you’d ever bothered to look at him, you’d see he’s a Van’yer, with nothing of his father in him to even remind you of that lowlife. But you’ve probably never looked. I’m amazed that he doesn’t hate you for that, but he doesn’t. On the other hand, you could die right here and Drevan wouldn’t care. That’s what you’ve done to your own son.”
She lowered her blade then, and that was when Falon spoke in a tightly restrained tone behind her. “If you have finished, Shanelle, do you now come with me.”
Farden hell. She wished he were asking, but wouldn’t you know, he wasn’t.
Chapter 40
Stars, had she really thought this wouldn’t matter? As she followed Falon into the house and up the stairs to their rooms, Shanelle knew damn well it did matter.
He’d said not another word to her. He didn’t even look back to make sure she was following. She was. The thought of trying to run the other way did cross her mind, but she scratched it, not about to make things even worse. Who was she kidding? It couldn’t get any worse.
When he opened the door to their rooms, then stood there waiting for her to enter, she said hesitantly, “Can we talk about this first?”
“No.” And he grabbed her hand and yanked her toward the bedroom.
“Shouldn’t you at least wait until you aren’t so angry?” she asked, desperate now.
“No.”
“Falon!”
No answer at all this time-except the kind she didn’t want. He simply pulled her to the bed, sat on it, and down she went across his thighs.
The first smack was merely a hot sting. Shanelle had time to wonder whether, if she screamed loud enough, he might at least cut her punishment short. Five more whacks and she had no control over her screams. They came without any added help on her part, in full volume, and they made not the least bit of difference to the strength behind each whack or the duration of them he’d already determined. And the damn bracs, so tight across her bottom, seemed to make it hurt even more. They certainly made each strike sound louder.
Shanelle lost count of how many times Falon’s hand descended. But there was no doubt about it. She’d definitely think twice before she ever disobeyed him again. But that was the point of the whole thing, to make sure she didn’t want to disobey him again, for any reason. But what was the most galling, perhaps even the most humiliating, was that when he was done, that beast lay back on the bed and held her in his arms until she stopped crying-and she let him.
It took a good long while, however, because Shanelle made no effort to try and stop the tears. Now that it was over and her backside merely on fire, she hoped like hell Falon was suffering as he’d claimed he would be if he ever had to punish her. And she didn’t give a damn that she’d already figured out that maybe she deserved it. He still hadn’t had to be so damn vigorous in his lesson-giving. She didn’t think she was going to forgive him for that.
When she finally squirmed out of his arms and sat up, it was to wince and lean quickly on one hip. Just great. It was bad enough that the punishment hurt like hell while it was happening, but obviously it was going to hurt like hell for some time to come.
“Shanelle?”
She stiffened, refusing to turn his way. “Don’t talk to me, warrior. Don’t look at me, don’t touch me, don’t talk to me.”
“Perhaps I will not, for I am still too angry with you.”
“Good,” she retorted. But no more than a second passed before she turned and began to shout, “I knew what I was doing out there! My father taught me to use a sword. I disarmed your sister in less than ten seconds!”
His brows drew together to give testimony to the anger that was there. “I care not what level of expertise you have reached, woman. You were forbidden to accept her challenge.”