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64
Jasmine stared out her window, watching the sunset gloss the sky over the sea with bright fuchsia and gold. Her room had been thoroughly cleaned and Keilor’s stuff transferred back to his old quarters. The door was locked, and she was in the mood to reinforce her solitude with charmer commands, if necessary.
She would not be the one rejected this time.
What a shame she hadn’t figured out Keilor’s game before she submitted to a “marriage” with him. Nice and tight, legal and binding, at least here, or so he’d led her to believe. Thanks to a little investigation, she’d discovered that wasn’t true. The bond they’d created could be severed with about a year’s worth of abstinence.
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The Charmer 65
All her life she’d wanted something of her own, something good she’d created that no one else could ever take away. Her logical mind began to nag at her that Keilor and her marriage was that something good, a creation worth saving, but her emotional self refused that logic, bringing the image to her again and again of Keilor’s face when he’d asked if the symbiont could be removed. He doesn’t want you, that other self whispered.Rejection. Humiliation. Old foes with heavy chains bound her. Days went by as she let them torture her, wallowing in emotional filth until she couldn’t remember what it was like to feel clean and bright and full of hope. Nausea began to plague her, and she didn’t want to eat. The exercise she forced on herself in her attempts to forget Keilor wore on her, and she took to sleepi
The Charmer 66
He sighed. “We’ll put it down to pregnancy. Breeding woman are known to do all manor of odd things.” She scowled at him, and he smiled, glad to see a return of her spirit.He stood up and carried her to the bed, laying her on top of the quilt and arranging the light blanket folded at the bottom over her. “Rest for a little while. I’ll be back to join you very soon, but first I have to speak to Jayems.” He kissed her. “I won’t be long.”***“I won’t allow harm to come to them.”
The Charmer 67
Jasmine scowled and pushed him back. “Are you saying women aren’t taught trades?” she asked, indignant.Sighing, he propped his head on his arm and answered, “Women may learn whatever they choose and are encouraged to do so. It is only that many marry and begin families of their own, and it’s difficult to care for children and work at a trade, too.”“Hmm.” She pursed her lips in thought, and Keilor leaned over to take advantage of her momentary quiet, but she beat him to the punch. “If the baby’s a boy, I suppose you’ll want to stick a sword in his hand and throw him up on a stag as soon as he can walk, huh?”Slightly exaspe
The Charmer 68
By the time they’d watched a weaver working on a tapestry, seen a glassblower create a rose and green swirled goblet, and witnessed a potter at her wheel, Keilor was looking rather peaked, though he never said a word. Taking pity on him, Jasmine suggested, “Why don’t we take a break? I’m starving.”Visibly relieved, Keilor took her hand and led her through the crowd. He chose a restaurant with wide windows and a pleasant odor of sweetness and steaming seafood. Mouth watering, she surveyed the buffet. Mounds of snowy shellfish, swimming with vegetables, orange crustaceans arranged on leaves of kale, and seafood salads in bright red and white radicchio bowls tempted her as breakfast hadn’t. Avoiding the tentacled dish and what looked suspiciously like jellyfish, Jasmine loaded a plate with moist baked fish sm
The Charmer 69
Keilor sat in the chair next to his wife’s bed with his hands steepled against his chin, his eyes closed. They burned from staring at the slow rise and fall of Jasmine’s chest.There wasn’t anything the Haunt medics could do. The symbiont flowed like water through the fingers and instruments that tried to remove it from Jasmine’s arms, and Jasmine thrashed in delirious panic whenever it had been attempted. Finally Keilor had ordered them to stop trying.Rihlia was not much better. Although Jasmine had managed to save her baby, possibly at the risk of her own, she had been badly beaten, and even the natural resilience and speedy healing of her Haunt body could only do so much against loosened teeth, cracked bones and bleeding organs. Jayems stood
The Charmer 70
Jackson did not hesitate, but his answering nod was noticeably curt. In light of that, Jasmine kept her hands to herself, but her circling inspection was no less thorough.“Nice,” she pronounced with approval and then, “How fast does it go?” with a gleam in her eye.“Don’t even think it,” Keilor growled, taking her by the shoulders and steering her away from temptation. “This is Jackson,” he said, planting her firmly in front of the man she had pushed and ignored in favor of his symbiont. “His symbiont saved your life.”Rattled at her lack of memory, Jasmine frowned and unthinkingly asked, “Why?” Keilor’s fingers
The Charmer 71
“My clan will not ally themselves with a parasite-laden pack of humans!” Tor Maphin, one of the assembled Haunt lords, shouted, rising from his seat.Tilus, who was seated next to him, pulled him firmly back down, but his words were no more encouraging. “There has been peace between us for the past fifty years because of our segregation. The Haunt are strong enough to hold our own lands. If you are not, return to Earth.”The Ronin beside Jackson, Armatris, growled. Jackson quelled him with a look.Keilor, who, like Jayems, had said very little until now, said mildly, “Even Haunt band together against a common enemy, or to trade, Tilus.”
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What fun!Jasmine shouted with delight as the cycle took the curve of the practice field with dizzying speed. “This thing rocks!” she yelled, relishing the wind tugging at her ponytail. “Rihlia would kill to ride this baby,” she gloated.“Can’t,” Leo shouted back over her shoulder. “It won’t take Haunt.” She slowed to a more sedate pace, conserving the symbiont cycle’s living strength, allowing it to ‘breathe’. Unfortunately, the slower pace brought the glowering male faces of their small audience into focus. Leo dared only two more passes before she slowed the creature down to park directly in front of Keilor.Knowing
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