"I'M glad the palace is situated in the north so Gii and her group of women are in charge of the roses surrounding it," Mikki told Asterius as they watched the Earth Elemental pass the word to her women that they were done for the day.
"It's obvious that you and she are becoming friends," Asterius said.
"Yes, we are," she said, thinking that it was just as obvious that the Elemental was uncomfortable with her Empousa's familiarity with the Guardian.
"It's not surprising that the two of you are compatible. Earth and roses fit naturally together."
"You're right - they do."
Gii would just have to get used to having Asterius around. Mikki didn't think it would be too tough for the Elemental to do that. All she needed to do was to quit thinking of him as a beast, and she'd soon see what Mikki saw - the man within. It hadn't been that hard for her. How difficult could it be for the rest of them?
"I should go now, Mikado. The handmaidens will want time alone with you, and there are duties to which I must attend."
She looked up at him, surprised that she could be sad to part from him after spending the whole day in his company. She usually got sick of being around a man in less than half that time. "Will you come back?"
Mikki watched his eyes darken and he said, "If you call for me, I will come to you."
"Then I'll call," she said.
He bowed formally to her just as the four handmaidens approached them. Mikki noted how each of them looked obviously relieved when Asterius turned and disappeared into the shadows of the darkening garden. She pushed down the annoyance she felt. They had worked hard today; they were all tired. And it really would be unreasonable of her to expect the women to change the way they felt about Asterius in just a couple days. The other Empousas had treated their Guardian like an animal; it was logical, then, that was how the women of the realm would treat him. Mikki would just have to lead by example. They were smart girls - they'd catch on.
"Are you four as ready for a long soak as I am?"
THIS evening was even cooler than the one before, and steam from the baths veiled everything in a warm, damp mist. Mikki leaned back against the smooth side of her private bath and fed herself another grape. She was pleasantly full and a little tipsy from the wine. She hadn't planned on having dinner with the women. She'd planned on taking a quick bath and then retreating to her room and another private dinner with Asterius, but the women had been hungry, and, after all, who could bathe quickly when the "tub" was this spectacular and the company was so enjoyable?
And Mikki was sincerely enjoying the company. The handmaidens were tired after another long day, but they didn't whine or complain. Instead, they talked about the work they'd done in their separate areas and asked Mikki countless questions about rose care. Already plans for tomorrow were discussed. The fertilizing would continue, but some women would begin deadheading old blooms or blossoms that looked like they were too far gone to ever open. Mikki agreed to show the Elementals examples of both in the morning.
"I think we've conquered the hardest part of what we need to do to coax the roses into recovery. Most of the fertilizing will be finished tomorrow. Then we'll focus on the deadheading and cutting off of any useless canes. After that, we just keep an eye on them and wait."
"How long before they begin recovering?" Gii asked.
"It doesn't take long for a good fertilizer to start working, especially if all that's wrong with the roses is that they needed to be fed. We should see a change in them soon."
"And if we don't?" Floga asked.
"Then I try something else. I have more tricks up my sleeve." She raised her wet, naked arm and wiggled it around, causing the young women to giggle.
"Perhaps you should cast a health spell for the roses," Nera said.
"You know, as you would if one of the women of the realm asked you to cast a spell to rid her of a persistent ague."
"It is a good idea," Aeras said.
"It certainly couldn't do any harm," the Fire Elemental said as she nibbled at a fig.
"And it might very well do a great deal of good," Gii added.
Feeling totally out of her realm of experience, Mikki wished desperately that her new job/destiny had come with an owner's manual.
"It would be like the self-initiation ritual. The four of us will be there when you cast the sacred circle and then you simply follow your heart." Gii's smile was filled with kindness. "You'll know what to do, Empousa."
"You may as well begin with a spell for something you know as intimately as roses; it will be easier that way. And anyway, it's only a matter of time before the women in the realm begin coming to you for the typical love spells and such," Floga said.
"She's right, Empousa," Gii said.
"Love spells and such?" Mikki sputtered.
Aeras sighed wistfully. "Love spells . . . it has been so long."
"Too long!" Floga said.
"Actually," Nera began hesitantly, "I have been wondering. If perhaps - well, if you might . . ." The little Water Elemental paused. She looked nervously at the other handmaidens, who nodded encouragement. She sank a little lower in the steaming water, as if drawing strength from her element, and then she finished in a rush, "I wondered if you might agree to cast an invitation spell for me and, well, a few others."
Mikki noted the pink flush that colored the Elemental's cheeks, and she didn't think it was from the warm water.
"I'd be happy to cast an invitation spell for you - and your friends. But what are we inviting and where?"
"The what is men," Nera said shyly, her cheeks turning from pink to red.
"And the where is here," Floga purred.
"Huh," Mikki said. "I was going to ask about the absence of men."
"There are no men in the Realm of the Rose," Gii said.
"You mean except for the Guardian," Mikki said.
Gii frowned. "The Guardian is not a man. He is a beast."
Mikki opened her mouth to protest, but Floga was already speaking. "There are no men in the realm because they can only come here if the Empousa sends an invitation spell to the ancient world. There has been no Empousa in the realm; hence no men have been invited."
Mikki stared at the Fire Elemental. "Are you telling me that for as long as the Guardian was banished and the Empousa gone you have been here without any men?"
"Yes," the Four Elementals said together.
"How long has it been?"
For a moment no one answered her. Then Gii whispered, "It has been a very long time, Empousa."
And she thought her love life sucked. She was queen of romance compared to these girls.
"Then I'll definitely do an invitation spell. A big one - right away."
Gii laughed. "Tomorrow will be soon enough, Empousa. Tonight we are too tired to have the invitation be of much use to us."
"Then tomorrow it will be. How about we only work till midday and then I'll cast a circle and try a little spell work?"
"Just don't make my invitation little," Floga gibed. "Little men do not interest me, even after all this time."
Nera giggled and flicked her wrist at the Fire Elemental, causing water to spew from her bath all over Floga. Gii called her too hot-blooded, and Aeras joked that if Floga needed a breath of cold northern wind she could certainly provide it for her. Mikki smiled and watched their good-humored play, but her mind was not on the handmaidens. She thought instead of bronze skin, a deep, powerful voice, and how candlelight looked glinting off ebony horns.
Would she always be nervous before she called him? Mikki looked around the balcony, for the zillionth time checking that she was alone. The table was ready. It was set with a pitcher of wine and two goblets. She hoped he had not waited to eat with her. She hadn't asked him to. Had she? No - no, she remembered asking only if he would come to her - not come to her and have dinner again. She ran a hand down the soft material of her chiton. This evening it was made of some kind of fabulous material that hugged her body like silk, and it was the exact green of her eyes. She knew it flattered her, just as she knew Daphne had brought it to her at the baths because she had been wishing for something beautiful to wear. She wanted to look beautiful for him. For Asterius . . .
"Come to me," she whispered into the night.
She could feel him approaching. Like an electrical storm, he was a great gathering of energy and force.
"Good evening, Mikado."
"Hello, Asterius." Still nervous, she gestured to the table. "Would you like some wine? I hope you've already eaten. The handmaidens wanted to have dinner with me at the baths, and they'd worked so hard today I didn't feel like I could tell them no."
"That is as it should be. Your Elementals need the presence of their Empousa. Do not be concerned, I ate as I awaited your call."
"But you'll join me in a glass of wine?"
"Of course."
Again, when Mikki lifted the goblet to her lips she found a rosebud swimming in the wine. She savored the delicate fragrance as they drank.
"You'll spoil me," she told him with a smile. "I won't be able to really enjoy a glass of wine unless it has a rose floating in it."
"That is as it should be, too."
She watched him sip his wine. Tonight he seemed more relaxed than the night before, and she was able to look at him openly. He was such a paradox - monstrous strength and a body that melded man and beast, yet he was humane enough to conjure a rose for her wine.
"What do you think when you look at me thus?"
Mikki jumped guiltily at the question.
"You need not answer that," he said quickly, looking away from her.
"I don't mind. I just . . . well . . . I know it's rude of me to stare at you."
"I am accustomed to women's stares."
She felt a rush of anger for the kind of stares he'd had to endure. "Then I will tell you what I was thinking. I was thinking that it's amazing that you're so powerful and at the same time so kind."
"Kind?"
"Oh, don't sound shocked. Of course you're kind. Who ordered my dinner the first night I was here? And you told them to put a blanket and slippers out here for me, not to mention the rose blossoms you never forget to add to my wine."
"That doesn't make me kind. That just shows that I'm fulfilling my duty in caring for the Empousa."
She snorted. "Please. You're not just kind to me. You're like that with all the women. I watched you today. Even though they act weird and skittish around you, you're completely patient with them."
"Mikado, that is my duty. Nothing more."
"Are you telling me that you never get frustrated or annoyed at them?"
"I do," he said.
"Then why don't you show it?"
"That would be dishonorable, and it would . . ." He stopped suddenly, realizing he was saying too much.
"It would what?" she prompted.
"It would be wrong," he said.
"Would it be wrong, or would it be proving that what they say about you is true?"
His dark eyes found hers, and she read her answer there.
"What they say about you is not true," Mikki said softly.
"You don't know that."
"Yes I do. I know it here." She pressed a hand to her heart. "And I know it here." She reached across the small table and placed her hand gently on the leather breastplate that molded to his chest. Through the pliable leather she felt the strong beating of his heart and the way his breathing deepened at her touch. They stared at each other. Mikki wished he would return her touch, cover her hand with his own, do something that told her it was okay for her to touch him. But his only movement was the pounding of his heart and the drawing of his breath. Reluctantly, she took her hand from his chest.
"It went well today, Mikado." His voice sounded unnaturally loud in the stillness that had settled between them.
"I think so, too. Tomorrow we're just going to work until midday. Then I'm going to try some spell work.
His lips tilted up. "That should prove interesting."
"Especially because I have no idea what I'm doing."
"You will. Just listen within. And remember, the Elementals are there to assist you. When you cast a spell, you can call anything within their power to aid you with the spell."
Mikki perked up. "For instance?"
He sipped his wine and considered. "For instance, let us say a maiden comes to you because she has been cursed with terrible pains in her head. She asks for a spell to cure this pain. Lavender has long been associated with health, peace and relaxation. So you command Gii to provide you fresh lavender and Aeras to fill the breeze surrounding the maiden with the scent of the herb."
"That does make sense," Mikki said enthusiastically. "So all I need to do is to think about what each Elemental can provide to support whatever spell it is I want to cast."
"Then you complete it with your words and Hecate's power."
"Wow," she breathed. "Incredible."
"And, you'll find, very effective. Hecate's High Priestess wields great power. Your spells will be strong and binding."
"In other words, I better think before I speak."
"I have no doubt that you will be wise, Mikado."
"I wish I was as sure," she muttered. Then she sighed. "There's just so much I don't know."
"You will learn," he said.
"Will you help me?"
"If I am able," he said carefully.
"Good! There's something you can help me with tonight." She ignored the way he instantly retreated behind his all-too-familiar expressionless mask. "It's a little like drawing the map for me last night." That seemed to reassure him, and when he nodded slightly, she said, "You know the gardens so well, I assume you know the palace equally as well."
He looked surprised but said, "I do."
"Well, I don't." She jerked her thumb at the glass doors leading to her bedroom. "The only way I've left my room is through there. I've not stepped so much as a foot into the hall outside my bedroom. I know there's some kind of fantastic dream making and magick brewing going on out there in the rest of the palace, though." Unspoken between them was what she had said earlier - that she wanted to weave a dream for the two of them.
"There is, indeed."
"I'd love to see it, but I also want to be able to understand it and weld it. Would you show me around, Asterius?"
His eyes were dark and they glittered with the fullness of the joy her request gave him. He smiled, showing a flash of sharp, white canines. "I would be honored."