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gore.  Come with me.
Dersai nodded, as obedient as a child, letting Jaden lead him to the doors.
Jaden swung them open with one hand and paused when he saw the several
members of the elite guard pacing anxiously outside. They stared at him and the
emperor with evident astonishment.
Jaden s lips thinned, and he stared Rafe, the captain, down.  I am taking the
emperor back to his rooms to clean up. He mentally dared the man to protest. He
felt a great protectiveness rise within him, and he realized he would let nothing
stand in his way of getting Dersai back to himself.
Rafe nodded uncertainly, amazed eyes darting back and forth between Jaden
and the emperor. Jaden nodded abruptly, nothing of slave in his demeanor at that
moment. His jaw firmed with determination.
Wrapping one arm around Dersai, Jaden helped guide his shambling steps as
they made their slow, uncertain way up flights of stairs to the emperor s vast rooms.
There, Jaden led him to the bathing chambers immediately. He sat Dersai on a
chair, after he protected it with a towel to prevent the blood from staining it. He
then began to unbutton his master s uniform. He slipped it off over Dersai s
shoulders, then carefully pulled off his boots, trying to ignore the blood that coated
his hands with everything he touched. He undid his master s pants and tried not to
shudder at the blood that grotesquely stained the pristine whiteness, then gently
pulled Dersai up to work them down his hips and off.
Dersai obeyed all his commands docilely, but when he stood in nothing but his
shirt, he began to tremble uncontrollably. Jaden turned to find Dersai staring at his
blood-coated hands with horror in his eyes.
Jaden took his hands in his own, forced them down, and pulled Dersai closer.
 We need to bathe. Come now.
72 J. C. Owens
Dersai looked at him with tears in his eyes, and Jaden tried to control himself.
Now was not the time to get emotional. Now was time to do something constructive.
After removing Dersai s shirt and tossing it aside with distaste, he pulled Dersai
with him and stepped down into the smaller of the baths. Seating Dersai on one of
the low jut-outs under the water, he turned to get soaps. First he scrubbed Dersai s
hands over and over so not a spot of blood remained in calluses or under nails. Then
he gently took a cloth and washed Dersai s face, wiping away every spatter, every
hint of what had happened.
Dersai sat motionless under his ministrations, but his eyes followed Jaden s
every move. There was such sadness in their depths that Jaden found tears coming
to his own eyes despite his struggles.  It will be all right, he whispered in a soft
litany, over and over, as much to convince himself as Dersai.
Dersai did not answer, and there was such a dearth of hope in his eyes that it
was quite clear that he could not believe those words. Eventually he seemed to come
back into himself somewhat and took the cloth from Jaden s fingers, lathered it with
soap, and began to scrub himself everywhere. His motions became increasingly
frantic until he was nearly flaying the skin from his body. Jaden had to seize his
hands to make him stop.
It was then that Dersai gave up utterly and leaned forward, laying his head on
Jaden s shoulder. He wrapped his arms around Jaden in desperate appeal and
began to sob deep, shuddering sobs that went to the heart of him.
Jaden wrapped protective arms around his master and laid his head on
Dersai s. A fierceness rose within him. He needed to protect this man. It felt right,
as though this was always what he had been meant to do.
As though this was his destiny.
The Emperor s Wolf 73
Chapter Five
Jaden lay in the half darkness, staring at the moonlight pooling on the floor
through the balcony doors. In its light, he could see Dersai s face, still tearstained
but now relaxed in sleep, finally.
It had taken hours to calm him to this point, hours to make him stop shaking.
Now Jaden lay in watch over him, unable to sleep as the events of the day rolled
through his mind in a never-ending procession of images.
He thought of the reputation of Tranaden and its emperor& and of the
emperors of old. Jaden was sure that he had heard of Tranaden being an
unbreachable force long before Dersai s time. Had it not been a great military
strength for thousands of years?
Jaden s knowledge of history of any country, including his own, was a little
sketchy. It had never really been of interest to him& until now. All these years, had
the emperors had more than normal power and strength to help them guide their
country? What was this thing Jaden could only think of it as that that lay within
Dersai and why? Was it deliberate or did some madness lie in the royal line?
Jaden glanced over at the books, wanting badly to go and read, to try to find
out now what he was facing. Then he looked back down, trailing a gentle finger over
Dersai s cheek.
His master murmured in his sleep, then rolled over, seeking Jaden s warmth.
Jaden put a comforting arm around him, then settled down, closing his eyes. There
would be time enough in the morning for that.
He had an emperor to protect.
* * *
74 J. C. Owens
Jaden was woken in the morning by the sound of the doors opening. He rose on
one elbow, shielding Dersai, a half growl rumbling from his chest. The people at the
door froze when they heard it and stared at him with wide eyes.
When Jaden s mind cleared enough from sleep to realize it was only servants
bringing food, he calmed a little and nodded to them. Amazingly, they did not scorn
him for acting above himself; they simply brought in the food and timidly laid it on
the table, shooting concerned glances at their emperor as they did so. It seemed to
reassure them that he slept, and their expressions cleared somewhat, as though
they had expected to see something quite different.
They left as quietly as they came, without once speaking. Jaden frowned as the
doors closed behind them. They seemed to have expected something terrible, that
Dersai would not have been in good shape or at least not sleeping.
He looked down at his master and felt a sick feeling rise within him. Who had
comforted Dersai before? This must have happened many times. Who had held him
when he wept, when he scrubbed his skin raw, when he could not sleep for the
images in his head?
Had there been no one? Jaden shivered in horror. He lay down again and
pulled Dersai closer, feeling a rage rise in him. How could they just leave him like
this?
His mind made him see sense. What if Dersai ordered them out? What if he
did not want anyone to see him like this, in a state he might consider weakness?
Jaden growled once more and laid a gentle kiss on Dersai s forehead. Well it would
not happen again. Dersai would never be alone in this again. Jaden would protect
him& even from what was within him.
It wasn t very long before the smells of the food drifting through the room
brought Dersai to consciousness. He stirred, moaning. His eyes opened slowly, and
then he seemed to pause in astonishment, his hand coming up to touch Jaden
wonderingly.
The Emperor s Wolf 75
He tilted his face up and warily met Jaden s eyes.  You stayed, he whispered
with slow joy, and something in his eyes opened fully to Jaden at last.
Jaden flushed a little, turning his face away. It had been different when Dersai
was helpless; then he had been unable to aid himself, but now&
A gentle hand brought his face back so he had to meet Dersai s dark eyes. They
stared at each other for a long moment. Then Dersai drew Jaden down and kissed
him tenderly. The kiss was& more somehow. Jaden closed his eyes, brought his
hand up to stroke his master s cheek, and drank in the taste that was Dersai. They [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]