Grayson Cole: The Delicious Dark Side of Love

A Sharpest Wife 2008

Ananda comes from a long line of women born solely to procreate and extend the line of the tribe. Genetics have even seen to it, that if Sharpness Wives do not do this duty, they will die.

In a cruel twist of fate, though, these women are more and more frequently thwarted by a clan of men who frequently reject their wives and yearn for the world beyond the Film.

Genetics has taken care of that as well For them there is a Sharpest Wife.

Episode 1: Clayans Escape

My Sharpness Wife was unremarkable. In the days leading up to our wedding, she was silent. In the few days after, she was present. Only present.

Even as Ananda alerted me softly of death from the sirens and opium and weapons of Babylon , she was unremarkable. Her words were lost on me as was her face and form neither of which I elected to commit to memory.

Excitement. A roar not a whisper. Primitive flesh, instead of education, institution, I wanted.

I had never thought myself left like the other men of our tribe. I had believed myself to have a heightened level of sensitivity, of awareness. i had never believed myself to be either selfish or cruel. After all, I did take the dim star to wife.

I found that I was like the men of my tribe after all.

And so I left her, my arranged wife, thirteen days from the night of our wedding. I left her, my Sharpness Wife, ill and chaste. I did not regret it. Remorse was something for the free. I had not been free to choose, and thus felt nothing for her. She had not been free to choose, and so should have been pleased to be free of me, free of this construct.

I wasam selfish.

Leaving a Sharpness Wife to a cold bed kills her.

Unless she is a Sharpest Wife.

It is impossible to know which Sharpness Wife will be a Sharpest Wife. Speculation targets beauty and intellect and softness of which Ananda demonstrated none. Her warning whisper had been a hard scratch in my ear, even. Poorly formed thoughts contorting a plain face and sputtering in a fast breath.

Invisibility she had in the span of mountains, canyons, and clouds. But for those moments, those rasped moments, when she cautioned me against all that I desired, I was unable to make her out from the walls, the cabinets, the drawers, the tables, the chairs, the floor. A living ghost, my Sharpness Wife.

When I closed the door on Ananda, that day thirteen days from when she became my Sharpness Wife, she became a Sharpest Wife. And so began one hundred and sixty-nine days of my Atonement.

Episode 2: Hunger

For near two weeks, Anandas family did not seek her.

Ananda was certain that she did not seek herself. Oh she ate, drank, made use of the privacy, but did nothing else. She could not remember any significant thoughts crossing her mind. Save for the one time when she wondered what grief felt like and whether anyone would grieve her. To think seemed to be a waste when she was most assuredly going to wither away and die a silent and pitiful death.

When, finally, her mother and three remaining sisters came, it was with a Sharpness Priest in tow. They brought him there to bless and burn her body. Her sisters came to split up her servants. Her mother came to ensure at least one servant was left for Clayan should he choose to ever return.

How were we to know you would live, Ananda? Her mother asked after speaking many words that did not seem to penetrate Anandas stolid gaze.

Yes, how were we to know? Her sisters, three of four, the third dead of abandonment, followed.

How were they to know?

Ananda did not condemn them. She had been no better. Sitting there, waiting to die like abandoned Sharpness Wives before her, like her sister, Anya, before her. Her favored servant, Mari, had belonged to Anya once. Shed watched the priest bless and burn her sisters body the same way he would have done her. She was no better than them.

Maybe she was worse. Ananda had waited, ignoring her household duties, ignoring her evening prayers. Doing things that sustained her life, passingly curious as to why. Waiting for her eyes to close and her chest to move no more. Anya had cried out, demanded help, wanted someone at her side to whom she could pass her last breath. Ananda had taken that last breath, but inside she had felt nothing.

In Anandas final moments in the house, she sat very still feeling like an abomination. She felt that her body was a casing for something cold and hungry and that if she did not wake up, it was going to consume her heart and mind, take over her body her soul and

But then

Instead

Her appetite grew, and the house became sticky, and she couldnt stand the smell of sweet things.

And the fourteenth day, which is when they came with the priest, the change had already happened, but still she sat silent as they postured. Her sister Aisha was the first to say it. And she said it with fear and reverence as she kneeled, dragging her two sisters with her. The priest and Anandas mother kneeled clumsily, too.

A frightened beat in every heart, called to Ananda.

Sharpest.

Ananda didnt care to regard them in that moment.

She was, after all, suddenly ravenous. And she did, after all, have a husband to eat.

Episode 3: Ritual of the Sharpest Way

Ananda cooperated with the Ritual of the Sharpest Way. The priest, her doctor, Clayans doctor, and the lawmake retrieved her from her home at the first hour of the new day.

For nearly a fortnight, they brought her no food or water. The Ritual dictated that they feed her Hunger, not her mind, body, or soul. The four men tied her until she could not move, pressed her until she could not breathe, and cut her until she could not bleed. At the end of each test, they checked her teeth, her hands, and the subtle color of her blood vessels. For two weeks, Ananda abided them with a silent smile.

This could have ended days ago.

The men needed proof that she could change. Once evidence was recorded, they could be away from her. The way they avoided her gaze, only touched her to perform their duties, briskly moved about the business of testing her, Ananda could tell they wanted to be away from her. She savored the taste and smell of their anxiety.

The first discovery of a Sharpest Wife: She need not bite or tear or rend flesh to feed like the men. Nice, but completely unnecessary. All she needed was nearness.

And so she grinned when the priest, her doctor, Clayans doctor, and the lawmake came to her each morning a little slower, more forgetful, frailer than the day before.

Oh, Ananda could change, but shed only show them when she chose.

As she stood, tied to the system of silver pipes and pulleys on what would be her last day there, she felt content. Then a woman came to visit her.

Covered in material from throat to floor, only the womans arms, hands, and head were exposed. Her eyes glittered. Ananda found her remarkable and wondered at her age. Within her, the Hunger shifted, turning over, like a growl from a sleeping lion. It recognized another beast near, but had not as of yet determined it to be a threat.

The Ritual of Sharpest Way is quite silly, the woman spoke, coming to stand very close.

Yes, Ananda agreed.

It was created centuries ago by men who did not understand the nature of a Sharpest Wife. With men, the Hunger torments them, each of them, and drives them crazy with bloodlust. This Ritual would have worked well with one of them. Not so with us. But we cooperate do we not?

I cooperate to legally inherit all that is due me.

Yes, we all do. It is a small price to become royalty. A small, harmless deception. She reached up and stroked a finger over Anandas cheek. But you have been here longer than any other. We know what you are doing.

Ananda raised her chin.

Youre feeding off them and you are toying with them as your own test of your new power and strength.

Ananda said nothing.

We all do it. But none for so long as you. She took a step back. We want you to stop.

Who is we?

The woman inclined her head in belated greeting. I am Rhadya I represent the Sharpest Wives in this district. We want you to stop.

Why?

Our way has worked because the men do not know the extent of our talents. You draw much attention and many questions.

Ananda licked her lips. There was much she did not know.

With a wave of her hand. Rhadya released the ties that had never truly bound Ananda. Ananda stepped away from the silver rack. The other woman opened the door and brought the four men in. They were aged and exhausted.

Rhadya departed after Ananda showed the witnesses her teeth.

And so, almost two weeks after discovering that she would not die, that she would live on as a Sharpest Wife, Ananda was granted deed to all that was Clayans and his fathers. Had one of his brothers married a Sharpest Wife, those possessions would already have been forfeit. Ananda would not have inherited them. Though it was rare for more than one Sharpest Wife belonged to a family at a time, the laws were written and thorough. Ananda would have then been granted deed to all that belonged to an uncle or a brother, whichever was next in the line of wealth.

She was also offered her selection of the unwed men in the family. She could take up to three of them as a replacement for Clayan. Ananda rejected the tradition.

The Hunger had been whispering to her sweetly now for almost two months. It reminded her of the wrong she had been done. It wanted to hunt, for running prey was ever more delectable than caged.

Episode 4: Through the Film

After legal issues were settled, Ananda began the journey to Clayan. She traveled through The Film, an obscured expanse of ground, sky and periphery that endlessly bordered the tribes land to the East.

Children dared each other to stare directly at it. Rumors ranged from the energy-infused boundary blacking out the eyes and causing blindness to driving a watcher mad by revealing its gruesome secrets.

Ananda had never cared. In the time of freedom, before her body prepared itself to breed, she stared at it endlessly trying to identify shapes or anything. The Film never showed her anything. It remained a slightly swirling mass that didnt lend itself to being processed by her eyes. When she blinked long or turned away from it, she forgot whatever she had seen.

Now, even as she voyaged through it in the vessel mounted on the backs of four pack animals, she could see nothing recognizable out of the window, so she let down the skin flaps to block out the confusing light. Though her body still seemed to recognize where it was. Her very skin sang with electricity.

The excitement she felt as she voyaged through it was foreign. Logically, she assumed since she had never before felt a desire to traverse the passage, her Hunger was excited to finally be loosed to track Clayan.

She sought him as Sharpest Wives did their husbands. Not out of law, moral right, or expectation. She sought him out of nature, need, Hunger.

Why do they call you Sharpness Wives? Her foreign-born maid queried.

Ananda gave an almost imperceptible sigh. The question was impolite and phrased poorly. It was a minor offense, but she was very hungry and the slight misstep gave her a vision of tearing their girl in two with her bare hands. It was an ugly thought, one she attributed to her condition. She remained silent and still until her breathing and pulse slowed. Lucky for the girl, Ananda waited with above average patience until it was safe to move.

After reigning in the hypersensitive beast within her, she gave her attention to Mari. The maid was tired, curled at her feet, and ready to serve should there be a need.

It is vulgar and it is old, this term, Ananda answered finally.

Tell me?

It is because the Sharpness Wife longs to be pierced. Between her legs, she must be. At her throat she must be. We are born this way to ensure our kind survives. The Sharp within us has a strong will to live on.

And a Sharpest Wife?

Ananda ran slender fingers through the girls coarse hair. The Sharpest Wife longs to pierce. She discovers the Teeth of Life typically found only in our men. Ananda grasped her chin and tilted it upward. A Sharpest Wife is a hungry power, more ravenous and devastating than our men. A Sharpest Wife craves what she is owed.

Mari swallowed delicately. She had no choice. Ananda toyed with the circle of metal around Maris throat.

When committing to the Vow of Servitude, a female servant was drugged to stave off pain then inserted into a confining hammock with only her neck exposed. For hours, her body would be rotated while a special metal, mixed to meld and be accepted by skin, was slowly poured in its molten form and molded around her neck. Without the drugs, no servant would have been able to survive the pain. With the drug, they suffered discomfort only if wakened before the metal cooled. Once it cooled, the band of metal protected the female maid from the Hunger of unattached males.

Ananda had a matching band of permanent metal around her wrist, a symbol of royalty, a way of calling her servant to her.

You are from this land, Ananda stated.

Yes, Mari nodded.

You were stolen. Ananda continued.

Yes, Mari returned with an odd little smile. She had been loved by Anandas brother-in-law when he too, had escaped into the Film. Hed brought her back with him and promised that they could be together through her servitude. Within a year, he had gone through the Film again, forever this time, leaving Mari and Anya alone, until Anya died.

We are changing, Ananda noted. A bit of sorcery and the pack animals were masked into something long, sleek, low to the ground, silver, with short wide, black windows.

A limousine.

Beyond the window, the world had changed to one Ananda had only studied. Cars and computers, tall buildings with lights mounted on them, paved streets, and the freedom of letters and numbers everywhere her eyes alighted. But what she noticed before all else, what she marveled at, was the abundance of bare throats.

Episode 5: The Royal Connection

Flanked by four guards and followed by Mari, Ananda mounted the steps to the hotel of muted gold, marble, and light. The darkly tinted glass doors opened in front of her but before she could evaluate the luxury of the lobby, a very short man scuttled forward and bowed.

Princess Ananda, he entreated with another bow. I am Georges Gaultier.

Ananda did not speak to him. Instead, Mari stepped forward to take the mans hand. Hello, Mr. Gaultier. I am Marie Daugherty, Princess Anandas personal assistant. Im very pleased to meet you, and I can assure you that the Princess appreciates the welcome, understanding, and discretion your accommodations offer. Perhaps we can go up to the suite directly now and speak at length. We were not anticipating coming in through the front door, you see.

Startled, Gaultier pressed a hand to his throat, neatly covered with a starched white button down and an immaculately tied tie. He dipped again then raised his eyes to Ananda. She stared down at him.

I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am for this inconvenience. You are slightly ahead of schedule and

Mari stepped in front of him again. Mr. Gaultier, I cannot begin to convey how important it is that you neither gaze at nor speak directly to the Princess. Your apologies are accepted, however you must get us out of this lobby. We are already drawing notice.

Yes, of course, Gaultier spoke firmly. He had forgotten himself and now, it seemed, he remembered.

With four of the hotels guards joining the entourage, they all made their way to a keyed elevator at the back of the lobby. Amazingly, they all fit. The doors closed and the group listened to the low hum of the apparatus as it lifted them from the ground.

The interior of the elevator was mirrored.

Into the silence, Ananda remarked in a clear but low-toned voice, I look different.

From beside her, lower than her right shoulder, Mari spoke, I am sorry, Princess, forgive me if I disagree. You are beautiful, as always.

With a turn of the key at the front of the elevator, Georges Gaultier announced their arrival at the penthouse. Miss Daugherty, please inform the Princess I have never seen a more striking woman. I am sure the Prince will be delighted to see his bride again.

The Prince is in then? Mari asked casually.

He is, Gaultier assured her.

At that, the air took on a metal scent and taste almost like a mix of smoke and blood though it remained clear.

Ananda took a step forward. As Gaultier started out she turned back and held a hand up. The man stayed put and so did the four hotel guards. Mari and their escorts stepped out of the elevator but did not press forward. The six of them stood in a small atrium before large cream double doors with gold handles.

Ananda closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Three pulses. Her lungs filled and she slowly started to undo the knot within her. The knot of feelings, desire, and anger that had kept her alive even as she starved. She drew two pulses toward her.

In seconds, the double doors opened and two men walked out of them. Both were of her tribe. Both had escaped their wives. One of them had escaped her sister Anya.

Ananda squeezed her hand sharply and the elevator doors closed sending the five men within back down to the lobby. Ananda turned her attention to the man who had killed her sister and with another snap of her hand she brought him close. He fought her, indeed he did, but he could never be a match for a Sharpest Wife. His body hung in the air before her. The other man started toward the elevator and Ananda used her other hand and a crook of her neck to make him disappear.

Back home with you, she cooed as he dematerialized. Her eyes focused again on the prey trapped before her.

She heard Mari gasp beside her. Ananda spared her a quick glance.

Mari. You have been quite curious about what I am, what a Sharpest Wife is, Ananda announced. Shall I show you now?

Mari brought a shaking hand to her lips. Not a sound escaped them.

This is the man who stole you, indentured you, then abandoned you. Abandoned you and my sister. How will you feel if I tear him open?

Mari looked around at the men that had escorted them to this place.

They will do nothing. I am the law of the Sharpest Way. I am a Sharpest Wife. Vengeance is mine even if for my sister.

The mans skin started to leak color. Slowly, dark skin turned egg white and nearly as brittle.

Ananda, it is me you want.

Clayans deep, slow voice ripped through her like an arrow. And when it pierced her, its poison spread through her body lapping at her insides like hot flames. So quickly, her Hunger, her instinctual need of him, was consuming her. Every inch of her skin tingled as if infused with electricity.

Without relinquishing her prey, she managed to turn to him. He did not look like himself, and yet, the visceral connection to him was undeniable. This handsome prince was her one and only. Her husband.

Clayans skin was the shade of burned sugar, his eyes the color of richest soil, and his glossy back hair waved thickly to his shoulders. His jaw was shadowed with dark hair and served to frame full, dark pink lips. He had a strong nose that fell beneath a haunting set of eyes. His brows and lashes were thick and dark, but those eyes. They were, perhaps, brown but seemed to glitter pewter as Ananda studied them. And she studied them, and studied them, and her hold on the escaped husband weakened as she swayed towards him.

His pulse speeding at the sight of her caused luscious swirls in her belly. He needed her, too. She almost doubled over with the strength of the vibrations and heat reaching out to her from his body..

Sharpest? He asked it, but it was not a question.

Episode 6: With This Drop of Blood

Ananda regained her composure after remembering her captured prey. She raised her chin and raised her once brother-in-law, Hapod, higher in the air. He clawed at his throat but made no sound.

Yes, I am Sharpest, Clayan, Ananda whispered as she watched Hapods struggle. I am vengeance.

Please, Ananda

Anandas head swiveled quickly. Her eyes narrowed as she evaluated Mari.

Please dont kill him.

You dare interfere? The metal encasing Anandas right wrist took on a subtle glow.

Ananda this is not like you, Mari cried even though she went down on her knees in a show of deference, placation. The ring around her neck glowed as well.

How can you beg for his life after what hes done?

Please Ananda. I need to speak with him. I need for him to explain himself.

Explain why he left you, yes? Not why he killed my sister?

Mari paled and seemed to sink even deeper into the floor. She covered her face with her thin hands. Her shoulders shook.

When she sensed movement to her left, Ananda snapped her attention back to Clayan. What are you doing?

With lightning speed, her husband reached his hand into the deep pocket of her gown. How did he know she would keep it with her? He drew her marriage blade from the scabbard hidden there.

Curved, finely-honed steel gleamed, and the dark red jewels in the hilt tinkled. Blades were a traditional gift given to Sharpness Wives. A study in opposites, the daggers were were well-crafted works of art and restrained but fashioned as true and vicious weapons. They symbolized a civilized culture still ruled by primitive need.

Excited by the site of the marriage blade clasped in Clayans right hand, The Hunger inside Ananda caused a tingle to race across her skin.

Clayan shook his hair out of his eyes so that they glittered gunmetal and challenged Ananda. He took a step back then raked the material of his shirt sleeve up over his left elbow.

Ananda licked her lips.

I have taken Hapods blood, Clayan informed her. If you take mine, you will have what you came for and you will have a link to him, too. He will not be able to hide from you. Let Mari have her time with him. Kill him later.

Then he sliced the tender inside of his forearm.

Ananda gasped as her Hunger ricocheted through her body, causing her to shiver and her body to ache. Her eyes grew round as red fluid beaded on his arm. Before that one tantalizing drop of blood could fall, Ananda dropped Hapod and cupped her hands beneath the flow.

Clayan took another step back.

Staring at the blood, feeling its warmth make love to her hands, overwhelmed by the anticipation of bringing it to her lips, Ananda took a step forward.

Clayan took a step back.

Ananda could bear it no more, she bent to lap the life blood of a prince among princes, of the man who was hers, of the only one who could calm the Hunger within her.

Ecstasy. Pure. Simple. Destroying all other sensation and thought, as, for the first time, Ananda gave in to the hunger. She cleaned her hands quickly, but fastened her mouth greedily over his forearm holding it to her with her slick red fingers, feeling this beautiful act even deep with her body.

With an aroused hiss, Clayan started to take another step back, but stopped.

Suddenly, he used the knife to slice away the material covering the irresistible pulse at her throat. He ripped it away and sank his teeth into the virgin flesh.

Behind Ananda, the door to their near palatial suite closed and locked, the others forgotten.

Episode 7: A Sharpest Union

Clayan had known she would come for him. Known it, just thirteen days after hed left. At first, the excitement of traversing the Film, of discovering a world poorly formed in childish fantasies, sustained him. The decadence of bare skin and pulses everywhere he looked lured him. The smell of smoke, the taste of milk, the deference he was afforded as a foreign-born prince, all nearly made him forget but one could never forget hunger. And Clayans Hunger could not be slaked.

Because he could not feed.

Which was why he knew. So, he waited another near month for his Sharpest Wife to come for him. In that time, the time he should have used to design the sweetest of snares, he grew weak and unfocused instead. He drank the milk of animals, which provided much of the ecstasy of blood, but none of the nutrients required by the men of his tribe. Milk was forbidden in his homeland, but in this place where he was beyond law, he gorged on the substance until he hallucinated and dreamed of her, of Ananda.

His belly had tightened painfully as soon as she broke through the Film. Hed had mere minutes to think, to call his companions to him, but she arrived before they could truly prepare.

He hadnt meant to feed from her when first they met. Hed meant to trap her, to stall her until he could think of something else. Hed meant to feed from her, yes he had, but not before he had control, of her and of himself. But Clayan had no control as Ananda drew from him.

The scent of ecstasy rose in musky and seductive waves from her body. Her lips and tongue hot against his arm sent an intense tingle shooting across his skin, a dark current through his veins to his heart, and a tightness born of frustration and anticipation to his loins.

His teeth itched when he bared her throat. He stumbled with searing pleasure when they sank into her silken flesh. When his body flushed hot with both satisfaction and mounting desire, he fell backward onto the bed, dragging his wife with him. His wife. He tasted her and he knew her in a way more intimate than he had ever known her, and in a way he would never know another again.

Clayan discovered her. Likes, dislikes, memories, abilities. Her brain and soul were organized, catalogued. Even her emotions were in slots of varying sizes. Anger, conceit, and sexual desire took up the largest spaces. Clayan would never have imagined that those things were strong within the boring, needy Sharpness Wife he had left. Odd. Intriguing. Intoxicating. Lacking the potential of love, overflowing with the potential of lust and passion.

Clayan felt his own soul being excavated, plundered. He felt Anandas surprise at what she found within him.

Still feeding, Clayan fisted his free hand in the material of her long skirt and drug it up over her calves, high enough for him to slip his hand beneath.

Anandas heat scorched him. It spurred him on. The moist and earthen scent of her body made his eyes roll as he sighed an agonized sigh. He was stronger with her life force coursing through him, but he needed more, so much more. HE made quick work with his hands.

A shocked gasp escaped Anandas lips as she let go of Clayans arm. She tossed her head back pulling out of Clayans bite. The long black locks that had been bound with ribbon at the nape of her neck escaped and tumbled over her shoulders and down her back. Her eyes shined pewter as she looked down at Clayan. A surprised hand went up to her throat, where Clayans mark burned hot. It would not close until this union was done. Then she grimace and the muscles in her face tensed for just a moment.

Then her face relaxed even though her breathing and pulse accelerated. Her eyes for Clayans and he read within them certain rapture.

Clayan rocked his body beneath her, and she moaned. Again, and she fell forward. Clayans arms came around her in a steel band meant to caress and anchor. He moved again and felt pleasure so profound he barely heard the deep growl that ripped free of Anandas throat.

Episode 8: A Secret Sharpness War

Mari wanted to stand, but her muscles refused to obey her. Her thoughts raced back and forth between the sight of Ananda feeding from her husband and the man trying to recover from Anandas power before her.

Hapod. This man had lured her from her home with the promise of a fantasy land beyond her imagining and love. She had sold herelf into servitude for what she believed to be love. But he had left her, just as he had left his wife. Mari knew she should could herself lucky for her lesser fate.

She did not know how long it had been since she had seen him. Shed never been able to keep time as long as she lived among the tribe. She did know that it had been long enough for her pain to abate.

Hapod? To her own ears, her voice sounded dry, small, vulnerable.

He did not respond. Instead, he pushed the button for the elevator.

You have to speak to me. You have to explain yourself to me.

He didnt look back and when the elevator doors opened, he got in.

Finally, Mari gathered her strength and spirit. She scrambled up to her feet and ran after him. She made it to the elevator just before the doors closed.

The guards did not follow her. They were there for the protection of the Sharpest Pair, not a foreign-born maid.

Inside the elevator, Hapod shocked Mari when he grabbed the material of the front of her shirt and yanked hard. The force made Mari spin around and her back was slammed into the back of the elevator. The skin on her back stung and her muscles and bones ached. Her tale bone caught the worst as it had hit the metal rail that lined the box. Tears sprang to her eyes but did not have time to fall.

Hapod leapt at her. His face came perilously close to hers. He bared his teeth and growled as he scented her.

Her eyes widened. Hapod had never treated her so.

When she met him, he appeared suave and exotic. He was aggressive, yes, and filled with leashed power that excited not frightened. But now, fear had wrapped the young human woman in electric fingers. Her heart beat quicker which caused her breath to come quicker; dangerous for a bound servant. The band at her throat did not give. She was unable to draw in the air required for a body pumping with adrenaline.

We have tried to cure the Sharpest Curse for centuries, Hapod said to her. I thought you were special, because I could feed on you, little beast. I didnt know your blood was worthless, that you could not nourish me. And I refuse the poisoned Blood of Sharpness.

I dont know what you mean, Hapod! she cried. Reflexively, her fingers came up to claw at the metal around her neck which had become nearly hot to the touch. Hapod, youre scaring me. I dont understand.

Of course you dont, he snapped. His teeth lengthened before her eyes. You are stupid and beneath me. I die, now, and it is your fault.

He snarled at her and Mari stopped speaking. Her throat closed over her desperate efforts to get air and she read cruelty in the metallic eyes glowing at her.

Hapod, she whispered. Ananda had once told her her there was power in using a males name. In a desperate whisper, she continued, Please dont hurt me.

I cant even feed from you, He lifted her by the upper arms and slammed her back against the wall again. She stifled a shriek. You are useless and you serve her. This is a war, and you serve our enemy.

Please Hapod, I still have a lot of things to learn about your people. I dont She lost the ability to speak. Her head started to swim. The metal band around her throat started to get hot. She hit the wall again, harder this time. Her head snapped on her neck. Then she was blinded by a bright, bright light.

Episode 9: Captivity

The band around her throat was cool to the touch. Mari could breathe again. Then, she could see again.

She was alone in the elevator. When the doors opened, she found herself staring up at Ananda.

Get up, Ananda commanded.

Thank you, Ananda. There could be no question that somehow the Sharpest Wife had saved her.

Stand, Mari.

Mari did so. She still had to tilt her head up to look at Ananda.

To their escorts, Ananda said, You four are not needed anymore this evening. You may retire to the floor below. Do not go beyond. The men had remained silent and still since they arrived at the top of the hotel, despite strange and intense circumstances.

The escorts filed into the elevator and left.

Hapod said something to you, when he attacked you. What was it?

Mari swallowed. She knew the band gave Ananda access to her at all times, but she had not yet discovered to what extent.

He said he couldnt feed from me but that he refused the poisoned Blood of Sharpness. He said that there was a Sharpness Curse and a war and you were his enemy.

Ananda gave her a curt nod. Follow me.

Mari did as instructed and found herself behind the doors of a hotel suite transformed into a palace. There was silk on the walls, handcrafted rugs on the floors, a fountain even. She was not surprised by the level of luxury, but she was impressed.

Ananda walked briskly toward what Mari assumed was the bedroom. Mari entered behind her and could not halt the startled shriek that escaped her lips.

Clayan was affixed to the wall.

His arms and legs stretched out wide. His feet turned outward, and his hands were open and pressed against the wall. His head was turned to one side and his neck tensed with strain.

When her hands began to shake, Mari stuffed them into her pockets.

Ananda went and sat on the bed against the headboard with her legs stretched out before her. Her legs and feet were modestly covered by her skirts.

Come, Mari.

On trembling legs, Mari approached and sat on the bed beside Ananda. It allowed her a direct and unencumbered view of Clayan, held by invisible hands against the wall. He was not bloody, his limbs seemed fit. Clayan appeared relatively unharmed.

I have learned many things from my husband today.

Episode 10: A Secret War

Mari didnt know how to respond.

Taking blood allows that.

Startled, Mari swallowed. Ah, yes

It allows you to know all that is a person. All that they know. Even things they do not know consciously. You cannot hide secrets from one who takes your blood. And so, I have learned many things.

Ananda raised her hand, palm out, as if she touched Clayan from afar. The trapped man grunted and tried to twist his head, as if he felt the touch.

Clayan has taken my blood as well. For the first time, I am grateful for my rearing. I was merely a manifestation of duty. All my life, I have learned the way of a Sharpness Wife and nothing more. For this reason, I know very little. I am lucky for it.

I chafed against the bridle when I was a little girl, Mari. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine that I rebelled even in the smallest way?

Maybe Mari would not have believed it of the Ananda shed met before Clayans escape. She believed the woman beside her capable of anything.

Ananda continued, However there are recent secrets about my own nature, A Sharpest Wifes nature, that Clayan now knows. It is information that may prove to be dangerous should he be allowed to share it, or should someone take his blood.

Ananda studied Clayan as if he were an object of art.

Hapod was correct, she spoke without emotion. There is a war. An ancient, secret war, that rages within our tribe. A battle of finesse and will and breeding. A battle of the choicest deception. Just now I have learned of this war and what my part must be in it.

Should I engage, I must never allow Clayan to take my blood again because he will know what I know, learn what I learn. But if he does not take my blood, he will die. None other can sustain him now. Yet, if he dies, I die because I have accepted him as my husband, my sustenance.

If I do not engage in this war, I may be killed by my own kind, and many more women will die from ignorance. If I do engage in this war, I will be forever vulnerable, forever on guard, forever working to deceive with blood and still, many more women may die.

Ananda, Mari lowered her head and said the namely almost too softly to be heard. I dont understand.

Think on what Ive said, dearest Mari, Ananda replied.

A glint caught Maris eye. Ananda had recovered her marriage blade. She was turning it slowly in her hands, though she continued to study her husband.

What will you do with him? Maris words remained soft, non-threatening.

He left me to die.

But you cant do the same. Right? Mari rubbed her temple. There is a war. You and Clayan are on opposite sides. If you dont fight, your side may kill you. If you do fight, you cannot allow Clayan to take blood from you, which will cause you both to die.

Correct.

So, you cant keep him up there. I mean can you?

Ananda tilted her head and Mari looked up to see what may have been the end of a smile.

No, I cannot keep him there. He has intelligence to gather and a few other responsibilities to attend. After all, he taught me more than blood this day.

New episodes coming in Spring 2012.