Tuesday Teaser 8/27/24

It’s been a week! On Wednesday 8/14/24 I had my next chemo treatment. Well, I had PART of my chemo treatment. My blood count was too low to give the oxaliplatin, but I did get the Bevacizumab and the Leucovorin, and they hooked me up to the chemo pump with Fluorouracil (called 5FU. I kinda like the FU name. Seems appropriate somehow). I wore the blasted pump until Friday when I went back to have it removed. Anyway, I did not have to get the Neulasta shot again which was wonderful. I have been extremely tired, but no pain this time. I’ll take it! I have only two treatments left for this round. The last time I had chemo in 2020 I remember thinking that I’d much rather have chemo again than radiation. I have changed my mind!!!

On a lighter note, I’ve been making lap quilts for the cancer center to give away. I will prost some pics of them over the weekend. One, in a very striking purple and yellow combo, will be a giveaway in my newsletter at the beginning of September. Maybe by then it will be cool enough to enjoy a quilt!

Here is the second part of Chapter 5 of the Storm King. Enjoy!

Chapter Five-Part 2

Ashley realized she must have fallen asleep, because when she opened her eyes, the tent was nearly totally black.  She could swear someone was staring at her in the dark. “Who’s there?” she called sharply.

Then, in almost a whisper, she said, “Jerriel?”

A low voice replied. “Of course, it is I.” The voice slid over her like a caress. “Who else would dare sit in your tent and watch you sleep?”

That at wasn’t creepy. Ashley suppressed a shudder.  No, not at all.

A light flared and she could see Jerriel sitting in one of the chairs that had been at the table, but now was turned toward the bed. Not the one with her makeshift laundry drying over it. The tent was so small his knee was only inches from her shoulder. He turned to fiddle with a lamp on the table behind him. His thick hair was loose around his face, making him look younger. In fact, with the yellow glow of the lamp gilding him, he was mouth wateringly handsome. Light gleamed along his high cheekbones and the generous curve of his lower lip. His eyelashes were so long and thick they threw shadows. He must have taken a bath and washed his hair and face. Even without the kohl outlining his eyes, they were large and lustrous and quite beautiful. He was more handsome than any movie star she’d ever seen on the screen. With his black shirt hanging open over a sculpted chest and rock-hard abs, he looked like a guy that modeling agencies would fight over to see who got to represent him to the underwear companies. It was cold in the tent now, but Ashley still felt the need to fan herself.

She took a steadying breath, pushing herself up in bed with her good arm. “Jerriel,” she began, but corrected herself. “King Rodir.”

“No, Valdis.” The long black hair swayed as he shook his head. “When we are alone like this, you should call me Jerriel.”

“Right. Well, I need you to help me find my friend.”

He tilted his head slightly, one straight brow lifting. “Your friend?”

Ashley didn’t let his forbidding tone stop her. “Yeah, Maya. She’s my best friend, but your army—I mean, we were separated.” Ashley was sure she didn’t want to accuse his army of anything. “I need to find her.”

“She was in the city?”

“Yeah. We were captured together, but she was made to leave me in the corral with the others.”

Something in his face hardened. “Indeed.”

“Yeah, and I need to find her, okay? I think she will probably still be around the city, so if you could help me go back there …” She trailed off because he was shaking his head again. “What? Why not? Come on, I have to find her!”

He rose from the chair and held out his hand. “Come with me.”

She eyed the hand suspiciously. “Where?”

“Come.” Command rasped in his voice. “Do you deny me?”

She ignored his hand but climbed out of bed. The shirt and pants she’d slept in were wrinkled and quickly losing warmth as the cold air in the tent seeped through them. She stumbled trying to keep her balance while trying to stuff her feet into the leather shoes but when Jerriel tried to give her support Ashley recoiled away. He dropped his hand with a stony face. Dang it all. Did I hurt his feelings? If she wanted his help finding Maya, she shouldn’t turn him away. Too late now, though. She picked up the sling from the chest at the foot of the bed, put it over her neck, and gingerly slipped her arm into its cradle. Jerriel plucked the blanket off the bed and held it out to her.

“It’s cold, wife,” he said in a voice even colder than the air. “Wrap up in this. Follow me.”

Yup, Ashley thought uneasily, I pissed him off. She draped the blanket over her shoulders and held it closed under her chin as he held the tent flap open. He flicked his fingers at the two men guarding the tent. It was probably to tell them to stay put, because they settled back into guard positions. There was a chilly breeze that lifted Jerriel’s hair, but he wore only his open shirt. Didn’t he feel the cold?

Ashley followed Jerriel through the silent camp and past the horses. They passed a couple of teenaged boys who had bedded down with the horses and a sentry who challenged them until he recognized Jerriel. They went about a mile past the camp before Jerriel stopped and waited for Ashley to come beside him. He lifted an arm to point to a dim glow on the horizon. Ashley squinted at it. Was that the sun rising? Had she slept straight through to dawn?

“What time is it?” she asked.

“A few hours after midnight.”

She took a breath to ask more, but the breeze shifted, and noxious smoke made her cough. “What is that smell?”

“Grimstaborg.” Chilling satisfaction rang in Jerriel’s voice as he looked out at the glow. “Burning, just as I swore it would.”

Ashley shuddered. It could have been the cold, but Ashley knew it was from the horror skittering down her spine. Jerriel turned to face her. She noticed the pearl pendant gleam against his chest.

“Listen to me carefully, wife. Ten years ago, I took a vow to be avenged for my humiliation at the hands of the Thessians. I swore I would return with an army and destroy Grimstaborg. Now it is burning. I promised to kill the men responsible for making me a slave. Now they are dead. I swore to make Emris Baker my slave. Now he is. I promised I would find my wife and take her home with me. And I will.”

Jerriel took a step toward her, the intensity on his face deepening to something almost feral. “My advisors urged me to repudiate you and take a wife from Erabir. But I do not break my promises. You were the only Thessian in that cursed city to treat me with any respect, any kindness. I gave you my word that I would protect you when I returned with my army to avenge myself. You offered me your bridal pledge and I accepted it, although then I had no return gift for you. I want children from you. Sons and daughters to carry on my line.”

Holy crap. Cold night air touched Ashley’s teeth when her mouth fell open. He thinks we’re married! He would want to have sex. That’s what people did to have kids. Ashley didn’t know what he saw on her face, but his softened slightly in a half smile.

“We do not know each other any longer. We will wait until we are back in Erabir to fully consummate our marriage.” The smile grew. “But we can play with each other until then. We will touch one another, taste one another. That way, when we are home, you will be ready to accept me in your bed.”