Princess at Sea (50 page)

The tiny breath of wind agreed, burying me in giggling promises and false platitudes. I knew it would do as I said, though the sly confidence it coated its flattery with filled me with a black foreboding.

Yet I released it.

My hair swirled upward when the zephyr made a wild spiral about me and vanished. Jy started at the sudden gust, and I soothed him. The wind that remained imprisoned in me called plaintively after it, but the leaves had stilled. It was gone.

Heart fast, I waited for its return, feeling the heat from Jy rise to warm my fingers buried in the mane about his withers. The spring frogs sang from hidden pools, and the moonlight grew as the clouds thinned. Trapped within me, the wind complained, its attentions not on me for once as it pined after the part of it I had freed.

A distant rushing came over the frogs. Jy pricked his ears, and I followed his gaze into the dark. Sweat broke on me. It was coming back.

Though the trees about me stood with a frozen stillness, the soughing of distant branches swelled. Like an animal through grass, it flowed, gaining strength, pushing everything before it into a protesting complaint. The wind in my head heard, renewing its demented delight. I held my breath and my zephyr—now grown into a breeze—crashed onto the path.

It swirled and danced, taunting me to catch it. It knew! it mocked. It knew, but it wouldn't tell me!

My hair swirled up like fall leaves. Angry and afraid, I made a blanket of my thoughts and snared it. Jy pranced and shifted under me, frightened but not enough to bolt. My zephyr howled in protest as I forced its obedience.

“Where?” I demanded aloud, forcing it smaller until it was a breath roiling about the prison my cupped hands made. “Show me.”

It whimpered. It cowered. It agreed to everything.

I cracked my fingers, and a soft breath slipped out. Obedient and cloying, the zephyr played about my face, cooling the sweat of fear on me. It tugged my hair, then danced to Jy's forelock and tied it into a knot. Jy snorted and shied, and I couldn't blame the beast.

“Where . . . ?” I prompted softly, and it zipped away, leaving a rustling path of leaves. Tension filled me, and I nudged Jy into a fast pace. The leaves stilled. I had lost it already. But it came back with a soft encouragement, pushing behind me for an instant before darting off again to make the leaves quake in its wake.

Easier now, I followed, anxious with the knowledge that I had managed to chain the voice in my head, even if it was only this small whisper. The wind remaining in me had fallen into a soft sulk that part of it was under my control.

As the moon rose and the clouds thinned further, I followed the sound of pattering leaves through the damp woods. There might have been a trail, but the wind didn't follow it, going straight through everything. Ducking low over Jy's withers, I dodged low limbs and snagging vines, finding my way by sound more than sight. Slowly, I grew wet, as the earlier mist brushed and plinked from the leaves onto me. Through small rivulets and crossing ragged outcrops of stone, I followed my zephyr until Jy balked at a thorny impasse.

The thin cloud cover was almost gone, and the full moon made the spindly saplings into dark slashes against the silver expanse of the briar field. Behind me lay the heavier forest, before me was a large open area. Beyond that, the woods began again, and even farther were the shadows of mountains and a neighbor's realm. A strip of boulders lay to one side of the field, slumped in a ragged line. The light from the moon glinted wetly on it.

Here,
the zephyr encouraged.
He's here, he's here, he's here.
The whisper prattled in my ear, setting the wind in my head to echo it until it threatened my balance. Shuddering, I cupped my hand about the zephyr, willing it to be still. It wouldn't, demanding freedom, racing about my hands with the coldness of winter. My hands began to ache from it, and I finally promised to let it go forever if it would be still and not say anything.

The breeze battering the insides of my fingers grew warm and soft. Taking that as acquiescence, I opened my hands. My hair shifted and swirled into snarls, then the zephyr was gone.

Relieved, though the rage from the wind still trapped in me made me feel ill, I slid from Jy. The horse dropped his head, and I held his massive face for a moment to gather my strength. I looked at the briar field with a feeling of weary hopelessness and betrayal.
Duncan.
He was in there somewhere, hiding among the boulders.

Leaving Jy to do as he would, I gathered my skirts and started to pick my way through the last of the trees. The clouds were gone to leave a bright ring of blue about the moon. Dampness from the rain rose, sitting heavy in my lungs. My anger at Duncan had fallen to a depressed sadness. I didn't even know what I was going to do when I found him. But I had to see him, to tell him what he had done was not going to hurt me forever because he wasn't worth it.

My wet dress caught, and my hair tangled. I stopped and tediously unhooked every snag and snarl, patently moving forward at a halting but steady pace, my fingers going cold and unresponsive. I was headed for the line of rocks, sure Duncan was among them and using the briars as a way to detect any one approaching. But I was one person using stealth, not several score using knives to hack and break my way to him.

The numbness was settling deep into me again by the time I found the line of rocks. I scrambled up onto the first, using them as stepping-stones to work my way to the larger boulders. Their shadows were deep enough to hide bears. The zephyr returned, urging me on and earning the disgust of the wind still trapped in my head. It set the tiny leaves of the raspberry canes to tremble beside me, laughing merrily at its freedom.

A sudden gust pulled my head up, jerking my attention to a soft glow emanating from behind a curved boulder. I suddenly realized the rocks I was walking atop had once been a tower, now fallen to stretch its length across the earth. And in the pit where the tower's base had been, was a fire.

My throat tightened. Willing the wind in my head to be still, I crept forward slowly, so I wouldn't cause a rock to slide and give me away. Breath held, I eased to the edge of the light and peered down.

Duncan. He hadn't seen me. Tuck, his horse, had his ears pricked and was watching me. A second horse stood beside Duncan's gray. By the tidy state of his spring coat, I would guess that it belonged to the palace.

Tuck put his ears back at me, and I admonished the horse to be still. He sneezed and stamped a forefoot, rebelling against thoughts not his. Duncan didn't notice. The man was crouched beside his worn pack, his back to me as he dug to the bottom for something. Beside him were a broken bundle of hay and four satchels partially covered by a tarp. He looked calm and relaxed, only the quickness of his motions giving any indication that he had a kingdom's ransom beside him in the dirt. The sheltering walls of the tower curved almost entirely around him to hide the glow of firelight. It was an excellent spot to hide.

And an even better place for a murder,
the wind in my head whispered, jolting me. Its voice was clear, more clear than my blurring vision.

He sent me to Rylan to die,
I thought, my heart pounding when the wind urged me to act, telling me it was my right to exact revenge.
He lied and used me.

My muscles in my calves tensed. A flush of anger warmed my face. The wind in my head whispered insidiously,
He never loved you. He never loved you.

With no thought of what might happen, I asked my freed zephyr to whisper in Duncan's ear. The tendril of breeze obediently darted away. The fire leapt, and Duncan started.

Spinning in a scuffing of boots, he rose. His face was long in shock. His eyes met mine, and his lips parted. Emotions followed each other so quickly I couldn't read them in the dim light of moon and fire.

“Tess!” he blurted. “You found me!” Motions quick, he strode forward as if the last three days hadn't happened. Eagerness radiated from him. “I can't believe you found me,” he said, his hand extended to help me down from my rock. “Where's your pack? Oh, this is fantastic! Did you bring a horse?”

My legs trembled, and my jaw clenched. He thought I was here to run away with him. “Did you hear me call for you?” I said, making no move to take his hand extended to help me from the collapsed wall.

Duncan rocked to a halt, his hand dropping. A closed look came over him, accented by the shadows on his face from the fire behind him. His silence told me everything. He had heard me call. He had run with the money, leaving Rylan to torture and kill me.

I watched his eyes as they roved over me, cataloging my lack of weapons. I hadn't brought my whip. I hadn't brought my knives. I had no darts, and my curls were tumbled down about my shoulders, lank from the wet of the forest. I didn't need weapons anymore; I was a weapon. His expression grew soft, placating. He believed I had come defenseless.

Duncan's second finger went out to rub his thumb. A surge of anger flooded me when I realized it was his tell for lying, not nervousness as I had thought. “No,” he cajoled, confirming it. “Did you call me? Just now? If I had heard, I would have called back. Did you bring a horse? There's a narrow path to bring one in from the south if you're careful.”

He turned to look behind him as if to show me. The wind came from nowhere, pulled into existence from my fragmented thoughts. It laid the fire low for a moment, following the inside curve of the broken tower to break upon me. It pulled my hair back and whipped my skirts. The chatter in my head surged, falling to an insidious murmur for freedom as the gust flowed past me and into the night. The voice was becoming clearer, telling me that Duncan had lied to me then and was lying to me now.

Feeling unreal, I jumped to the ground to keep the fire between us. “Did you ever love me?” I said, knowing I looked like a fool but needing to hear him say it.

Duncan's eyes were fixed to mine, carefully away from the bags as he lied, “Tess . . . How can you ask that? You know I do.”

He never loved you!
the wind screamed in my head, and a gust from the skies followed it down. It filled me, reminding me of the power of the wind and waves.
Let me go,
it urged.
Let me go, and I'll free you from the hurt and anger, from choice and decision. Let me go, and I'll end your pain.

“You have the ransom money,” I said flatly, wondering what his answer would be.

He glanced at it, his lips pressing tight as he thought.

“You lied to me,” I continued, before he could say anything. “You endangered my sister and me for it.”

His brow furrowed. “Okay,” he said abruptly. “It's the ransom. I took it. But I knew Lan wouldn't hurt you or your sister. He's a thief, not a murderer. I did it for you, Tess. I took it for you. The palace owes it to you for ruining your life. They bought you and lied to you. But your sister is safe just like I said, and now you can come with me with a clear conscience. There's nothing to stop you!” His eyes were bright with promise, hurting me. “We can be away and into the next kingdom in a few days of hard travel, then we don't have to do anything ever again!”

He came closer, his suntanned hands reaching. I backed a step away, and he rocked to a halt. “I did it all for you,” he coaxed, his brown eyes full of expression. “So we could be together, living the way you deserve to live. I couldn't do it any other way. I'm a cheat, Tess, not a prince. How else was I going to get enough money to be worthy of you? Didn't I ask you to come with me?
Didn't I beg you to come with me?
”

Legs trembling, I stood before his fire, wanting to believe. I wanted to believe it so badly. What if I had been wrong? What if it had all been my silly female mistrust? Thadd had left Contessa because he felt unworthy beside Alex. He had forsaken love, leaving her to learn to love another because he felt unworthy of her. What if Duncan was willing to fight for love? Willing to lie and cheat instead of letting his circumstances dictate what he could and couldn't have? What if he was willing to die in his search for love should he be caught? What if I was wrong?

“Tess ...”

My eyes jerked open as he touched my shoulder. He froze, his brown eyes pleading.

“Kiss me, Duncan,” I whispered, tension singing through me.
Prove you love me in your touch.

A beautiful smile fell over him, turning him happy and content. “Oh, Tess,” he murmured, reaching for me. Shoulders falling as he relaxed, he gently pulled me closer.

My breath caught as I put my forehead against his upper chest, breathing in his scent. His arms went about me, pressing me tight. I looked up, eyes wet.
Please let there be love in his kiss.

“Don't cry,” he whispered, bending his head to mine.

The wind screamed in my head as our lips met. It rose through me in a silent wave, setting my fingers to tingle. It whipped about us, making my ugly dress flap and my damp hair flutter. A harsh snapping came from the fire as the wood was consumed and Tuck whinnied.

I savagely pushed the wind in my head into submission, ignoring it, filling my thoughts with Duncan: his lips moving against mine, his hands firm against my back as his need kept me tight to him, my own willingness urging him to continue.

I sent my hands across his back, pulling him closer until our bodies touched. I willed my self-imposed barriers to dissolve, allowing my desire to wash from me in a heady wave. I had to know if he loved me. If I gave him my love and got nothing in return, then I would know.

He felt the shift in me and slid his hands lower, more insistent. A soft sound of acceptance came from him, and I closed my eyes and sent my desire out to find his own. Tears warmed my eyes when the familiar smell of leather and horse cascaded through me. The wind howled and screamed in defeat, shrilling in my ears that he never loved me, over and over. But I didn't listen.