Free Heir of Iron (The Powers of Amur Book 1) by J.S. Bangs Page B

trader first.”
    “And the ring.” He pointed to the star-iron band on his finger.
    “All of the rings were forged from the iron of the star that Ulaur cast to the earth to destroy the great serpent. Our father’s is the original, worn by Manjur and kept by the Heirs since the fall of the Kingdom. Yours and mine are copies, kept within the family, and passed down to the children of the Heir.”
    The bowl sat untouched before Navran. He held his head in his hands and rocked slowly. “Star-iron. There wasn’t enough wealth in my whole village to buy a star-iron ring. I wore it around my neck.”
    “I figured you didn’t know what it was, or you would have sold it.”
    “The Heir of Manjur….”
    “It’s not such a bad deal,” Taleg said. “You get room and board, and you spend lots of time talking to the other saghada. There are worse inheritances.”
    “You don’t understand. I was… I was not…” He threw aside his bowl. “Let me go to the dining room.”
    Mandhi and Taleg jumped to their feet. “Why?” Mandhi asked.
    “To be left alone.”
    “No.” Mandhi was firm.
    “I won’t run off. But I want to be alone.”
    “How can I trust you? You’ve run away at every opportunity.”
    “I want to think.” He gave Mandhi an iron glare. “You want me to be Heir. Will you trust me to stay in a room by myself?”
    Mandhi looked at Taleg. Taleg slowly nodded, keeping one eye on Navran.
    “Fine,” Mandhi said. “Have Paidacha get him some rice beer, and tell him to keep an eye on him. Only a
little
beer. Then come back.”
    “Sure thing,” Taleg said. “Come here, Navran.” He put his arm over Navran’s shoulders. “Take your time. We understand.”
    They disappeared through the curtain. Mandhi paced the length of the room, listening to Taleg’s and Paidacha’s muffled voices. She was a fool. This was a terrible idea. And yet, her father had begged her to tell him. What had he expected? What else could they possibly expect? As if this burden of responsibility might transform him.
    Taleg appeared through the curtain a moment later. “That was not so bad,” he said.
    “Not so bad?”
    “He didn’t immediately try to run away, at least.”
    Mandhi stopped her pacing. Taleg still stood by the door, rubbing his head. “Kiss me,” she whispered.
    He looked up. “Come again?”
    “Give me something else to think about. Hurry, before Navran decides to come back.”
    Taleg walked towards her. Mandhi met him halfway, seized his face in her hands, pushed her lips against his and opened her mouth.
----
    Mandhi’s sari and choli were heaped on the floor with Taleg’s dhoti and kurta, while the two of them lay spent in the bed. She was nestled into his chest, drawing her hand gently across his collarbone, while Taleg sat up on one elbow, his free hand wandering from her spine to her thighs. She leaned forward and kissed the center of his chest.
    “Tonight you don’t have to run away,” she said. “Finally.”
    “And if Navran comes back and finds us here?”
    “I don’t care. He knows.”
    “He knows everything, now.”
    She flicked his chin. “I asked you to take my mind
off
that subject.”
    He bent down and kissed her ear. “Sorry.”
    “How long do you think we should stay in Jaitha?”
    “You don’t think we should leave right away?”
    “I want,” she said kissing his neck, “to stay here a few more nights. Davrakhanda and Sadja can wait for us. And maybe Navran needs a little more time.”
    “I can’t say I’d mind that.”
    She rested her head on the cushion and listened to Taleg breathe. The sounds of gossip from the dining room had died down, and through the curtained window the only sounds were the droning of frogs and flies.
    Taleg sat up. “What was that?”
    There was a scrape in the dining room and the mutter of voices. Someone cried out, and a violent hollow thud sounded.
    Taleg leapt to his feet and tied the dhoti around his waist. “I’ll see what it is. Wait