Mary and the Minotaur by Honey Phillips
Chapter Sixteen
Sendat looked more uncertain than she had ever seen him.
“I don’t know,” he admitted.
She looked past him at the waves washing gently against the shore, at the peaceful, isolated house.
“What if we came back here?” she asked slowly. “At least temporarily. We could take Chinit’s body to Jabbwa and just come back. It’s obvious that no one has lived here for a long time.”
He frowned at the house. “The house is not suitable for you.”
“It’s not that bad. A little elbow grease and it will look much better.”
He raised his arm and inspected it. “I do not have grease on my elbow.”
She giggled. “It just means hard work.”
“I don’t like the thought of you having to work.”
“Don’t be silly. I’ve always worked. Idle hands are the… Never mind. Just believe me when I say I don’t mind. In fact, I like the idea that we would be working on it together, building a home, even though it’s just a temporary one.”
His expression turned thoughtful. “Perhaps you are right. Although I will have to make sure it is structurally sound and see if any of the old systems are still working. Water would be the most helpful.”
“Can you do that now? So we’ll know if we can come back?”
“Of course. And if it turns out to be satisfactory, we don’t actually have to leave. I can program the auto-pilot and send the vehicle back to the towers of Kalima—or more specifically, back to Jabbwa—without any further intervention on our part.”
The words triggered something in her memory. “Chinit said something about the woman who broke his arm. That she was in his tower. Does that make any sense?”
“There is a Situni Tower. It is the headquarters of their House.”
Her heart started to pound. “I’m almost positive the woman he was referring to was my friend Lily. What if she’s still there? If we went back, could we go and ask?”
“Since I just killed one of the members of their House, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he said dryly, then sighed when her face fell. “But perhaps there is another way to find out.”
“What is it?”
“Kaiyo. The Houses are secretive about their affairs at the best of times, but he must have some inside information. He knew that Chinit had been disinherited. Perhaps he could investigate.”
“Do you think he would?”
“I don’t know. He is a difficult male to read—but he did assist in the search for you. It’s worth a try.”
“That would be wonderful.”
In the meantime, she was excited to start investigating this house. She reached for her clothes and discovered that very little remained.
“It would be nice if they turned out to have left some clothes here,” she sighed.
“I like you this way,” Sendat said, reaching out and stroking his thumb across her nipple.
She did her best to ignore the resulting streak of excitement. Her body really needed a chance to recover.
“I would be more comfortable with clothes,” she said firmly. “Maybe I can make something out of leaves.”
“An intriguing thought, I agree. However, I actually have your clothes with me.” He smiled at her excited squeal. “They were with me the entire time. I just prayed I would be able to return them to you.”
She fought back a sudden urge to cry and smiled at him instead.
“And now you can.”
He retrieved the small bag, and she dressed quickly, then followed him into the house. He found a small utility room, then grunted with satisfaction as he inspected the control panels.
“Excellent. There is a well system. If I can manage to prime the pump, we should be able to get water.”
Curious, she followed him back outside, then watched as he did something mysterious with what looked like nothing more than a small grey box. But when they returned to the kitchen and he turned on the tap, there was a brief spluttering noise, then water started to flow from the faucet.
She clapped her hands in delight, then gave him a speculative look.
“How did you know how to do that?”
“My family are farmers. They live in an isolated area, so we have similar types of systems.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” He looked amused. “Not all Bukharans are warriors. My mother and father were quite content. I… was not. I wanted off the farm and off of Bukhara.”
“Do you ever go back?”
“No. I exchange messages with them occasionally, but we lead very different lives. They didn’t understand why I wasn’t satisfied with getting up before daylight every day to milk the tehana.”
Milking? His family were dairy farmers? She started to laugh.
“Why does that amuse you?”
“Umm…” She looked at his horns, remembering her first impression of him. “There’s a legend on Earth about creatures somewhat like you. We are half human and half bull. We call them minotaurs.”
“I am not at all human,” he said, looking somewhat insulted. “What are these bulls?”
“A type of cattle,” she admitted. “That’s why I thought the idea of a minotaur milking was funny.”
“You think I’m a combination of a human and a beast?”
He had passed from insulted to outraged, looking as angry as, well, as angry as a bull. The thought made her burst into laughter again. He glared at her, then gave a reluctant smile.
“I enjoy your laughter, my Miri, even when it is at my expense.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, still giggling. “If it helps, minotaurs are very… virile.”
“Only a little,” he said stiffly, then stalked back to the utility room.
As night fell,Sendat looked around with satisfaction. Chinit’s body had been dispatched back to Kalima in his flyer, along with a message for Jabbwa. Sendat had hidden his own stolen flyer in a clearing a short distance away, half-covered by brush. He had considered sinking it in the ocean, but he’d eventually decided that they would need a way to return once their temporary exile came to an end. He stripped out anything useful, including the communicator, and brought it all back to the house.
In addition to restoring the water supply, he’d managed to restore a limited amount of power, and the two birds he had captured using an old-fashioned snare were roasting slowly in the oven. While he’d been hunting, Miri had swept the kitchen and the main living room clean, and wrestled open the shutters to let in light and air.
Then he’d used a large blade he’d found to cut down a number of slender leafy branches while she beat the dust out of an old rug. Together they would make an adequate bed until he could devise something better.
“I think these are ready,” she said, looking up from the oven.
Her face was flushed from the heat, and she had a smudge of dirt on her nose, but she had never looked more beautiful. Contentment washed over him, growing even stronger as they carried their simple meal out onto the veranda and sat on the steps to eat. The conditions were admittedly somewhat primitive, but he had provided his mate with food and shelter, and she was safely at his side.
The sun was setting behind them, and the sky was full of reflected colors. After the constant noise of the city, the silence was almost deafening, but it was eased by the rush of the waves and the small night sounds from the jungle. The rich smell of growing things mingled with the fresh scent of the ocean.
“I will build you a table tomorrow,” he said thoughtfully.
“Okay.” She sounded half-asleep, and he pulled her against his side.
“Tired, love?”
“It’s been kind of a long day.”
“Then come with me. I have a surprise.”
“I’m not sure I have the energy for a surprise,” she muttered, but she came willingly into his arms as he picked her up and carried her into the house.
“No energy required,” he assured her as he opened the door to the bathing room.
The sunken central pool steamed gently, the flowers he’d scattered across the top of the water releasing their fragrance into the air. The energy required to heat the water hadn’t left much for lighting, but he’d found a couple of old oil lamps that still had a small reserve of oil, and they glowed softly in the corners of the room.
“Oh, this is perfect. What a wonderful surprise!”
“I thought you might like it.”
He put her down, then helped her out of her clothes and into the pool. She sighed with contentment as she settled down in the water. He did his best to ignore his body’s inevitable reaction to the tempting sight of her naked body and turned to leave.
“You aren’t going to join me?”
“Do you want company?”
She smiled up at him. “Always.”
“Then I will clean away our meal and return.”
He hurried through the process as quickly as possible, but by the time he returned, she was almost asleep. He stripped off his clothes and stepped down into the pool, lifting her onto his lap.
“Mmm,” she said sleepily, her eyes still closed. “It’s even better with you here.”
“I hope everything is better when I am with you.”
That made her eyes open. “It is.”
He kissed her softly, then began washing her. It started innocently enough, but by the time he’d run the cleansing cloth over her breasts and down between her legs, her skin was flushed from more than the warmth of the water.
“You don’t look as sleepy,” he observed.
“I don’t feel as sleepy.” She tugged gently on one of his nipple rings. “How about you?”
“I was considering your challenge.”
Her nose wrinkled in that adorable little frown. “What challenge?”
“You said those ridiculous minotaurs of yours were very virile.”
“They are,” she agreed solemnly, but her eyes laughed up at him.
“I intend to prove that Bukharans are far more so. If your body has recovered,” he added hastily.
“Enough to help you with your challenge.”
She gave a little squeak of surprise when he immediately picked her up and carried her out of the tub and to their makeshift bed. It was only the first of the many delightful little noises he wrung out of her before she admitted that her real life Bukharan mate was indeed far superior to any mythological creature.
