Rowena Through the Wall: Expanded Edition (37 page)

Uh oh, this didn't sound good. Warning signs were going off big time.

Thane relaxed after a moment, then released me. He walked to the door to signal a page. "Stop them leaving. Bring them back. I'll speak to the old Earl privately."

To me, he said, "Leave us for a while, Rowena. I need to speak man to man. Wait in the library."

I left as he requested. I felt the world spinning around me, out of control, and I was a mere dust mote in it.

Later, Grandfather walked into the library and sat down across from me at the chess table. His expression was pained and his body weary.

"This is the game you both play with such devotion," he stated. "Will you teach me one day?"

"Of course," I said. "You will like the strategy in it." I glanced up at him and my eyes filled.

Grandfather sighed. "He tells me that he loves you and desires to marry you. He says he wishes nothing more than to grow old with you."

I sat up straight. This was such a clever thing for Thane to say.

"The obvious way in these circumstances is for him to challenge Cedric and be done with it. I've asked him not to do that. Does this upset you?"

I answered quickly. "No! I don't want another fight."

Grandfather exhaled loudly. "Thane won't let you go. This means you must suffer as his mistress. I understand it is not your choice to make, but it pains me just the same. Would that I were younger and could defend you as I should."

I could see self-loathing and defeat in his face.

"Also, I do not know what Cedric will do. I don't know the extent of his attachment to you."

I shivered. "I think it is more his pride that we should worry about."

"'Tis true," Grandfather said. He shifted his weight on the chair. "I have more dilemmas. Thane offers us a place here. He has asked that your cousin Kendra return here for your sake. I have agreed to this."

I let out a sigh of relief.

"As for us all, I must return to Huel and meet with your cousins. We will get word to Cedric. I can't predict the outcome of our meeting, so I ask you to be patient."

I nodded. I could be patient. It was the future that I dreaded.

"I don't want to go back to Cedric, Grandfather. I'm terrified of him."

"I know that, Rowena. I know." Grandfather sighed. "But I fear Thane underestimates Cedric. His command of magic grows daily and he loves a fight." He rose.

I jumped to my feet and ran to hug him.

"There, there, my dear girl. I think you will be safe here, at least. Thane seems to care for you. I do trust that. Can you abide him?"

I nodded. "We are friends."

He hugged me hard. "I do not think he would be entirely satisfied to hear that."

Perhaps not, but Grandfather would be equally distressed to learn how I really felt about Thane.

That night Thane was especially attentive. He gathered me in his arms and as I moved to reach for air, he held me tighter to him.

"There will be war," he said, his lips grazing my hair.

I shivered. "Must there be? Surely, we can come to some compromise." The last thing I wanted was to be the cause of more violence.

Thane shook his head. "Not just Huel and I. Norland has been making treaties all along the northern coast. My scouts are reporting large movements of troops."

I raised up on one elbow. "You have spies?"

He smiled and pulled me down. "We all have spies. I happen to have very good ones. They are extremely loyal to me and well-placed."

I wondered at that particular wording. The question must have appeared on my face.

"My brother was not very imaginative."

"You had spies separate from Sargon?"

He kissed my hair. "Always."

"Did he know?"

Thane laughed.

I thought about that. Thane was indeed more cunning than I had thought.

Chapter 37

I had the next afternoon to myself. Thane left to meet with his war advisors, with orders that I was not to leave the castle proper. That was okay. I was looking forward to a nap.

"Rowena! Row? Are you here?"

Kendra. I jumped to my feet and raced to the door.

A dark-haired sprite of a girl with large brown eyes skipped down the corridor toward me. Her slender body literally bounced down the hall. 'I'm here!" she proclaimed. "They wanted me to wait for Gramps, but I knew you wouldn't be coming back, so I packed up all our duds and—"

I had my arms out and around her before she could finish. She hugged me hard.

"Clothes! You brought my clothes. That's almost as good as bringing you."

"Figured you'd think that." She grinned. "Good thing I came. What did you do to this one?" She poked at my dress.

I looked down at the ivory-slash-ecru. "It got drop-kicked. And maybe stepped on."

"By the whole Prussian army, looks like. It's totally wrecked, Row. It'll never come clean. Good thing I brought reinforcements."

"You rode out this morning?"

"Knew you wouldn't be going anywhere. Richard tried to stop me, but—ha! He soon realized he better ride along to keep me safe. I left him at the gate." Her voice changed then. It softened. She moved back and patted down my shoulder.

"He wouldn't come in?"

She shook her short black hair. "Didn't want to run into Logan. Where is he, by the way?"

I shrugged. "Somewhere with Thane, making war plans. Kendra, this time I've really gone and done it."

She grabbed my hand. "Not your fault, although you do cause a lot of trouble. But nothing you could have done about this. Of course, I told Jon that Thane would never let you go. Silly men. Can't see past the nose on their face sometimes."

I pulled her into the bedroom and gestured her to sit down on the bed beside me. "Tell me the important things. Did anyone else come with you?"

She shook her head.

"Richard has gone back," I said. "Okay, tell me about Cedric."

She frowned. "Don't know. Jon says he's down in that area where they found you and Ivan. He's got friends. You know those strange guys who were here for your wedding? The Druid types."

Oh yeah, I knew them. Hard not to shiver at the memory of a Satanic wedding in all its midnight glory.

"He'll blow a gasket when he hears, of course," Kendra said. "I wouldn't want to be Thane."

Or any of the men who got in the way. My turn to frown. How the hell was I going to keep them both alive? Or rather, how would I keep Thane alive and my dreaded husband away from me?

Kendra's eyes spotted something on the night table. She lifted a silver bracelet encrusted with flashing stones of amethyst, topaz and garnet.

"Row, look at the size of these stones. Where did you get it?"

"Isn't it gorgeous? Thane left it for me this morning. Said it was my mother's, and his mother's before that."

"Try it on. Here, let me help you." She struggled to spread it apart. It took a bit of work because the hinge seemed heavy from disuse.

I couldn't see the clasp from this angle. But jewelry is jewelry and it was a gorgeous thing. I held out my left arm and she closed it around me. There was a burst of yellow light, then
zzzap
. A shock ran up my arm. "Ow!"

Kendra's eyes were huge. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know, but it hurt. Get this thing off me!"

She fiddled with my wrist, turning it over. "That's strange. Do you know where the clasp went? It doesn't appear to be here. Or at least, I can't find it."

"Not a clue."

"I don't think this is coming off easily. We'll have to ask Thane about it." She shook her head, puzzled. "Does it hurt? It's rather large."

"Not at all. It looks heavy, but honestly I can hardly feel it on me."

"That's weird. Oh well, you can hide it under most sleeves if it worries you."

My jewel-encrusted bracelet was the last thing that worried me. I had a war to prevent.

I awoke that night sometime before dawn. Moonlight streamed in from the open window, calling me, pulling me. I lay still for a moment and willed myself to stay put. But it was no use. His call was silent but insidious, seeping into my mind from all sides and enveloping all other thoughts.

I moved out of bed so as not to disturb Thane and reached for the royal blue silk dressing gown—the one I had brought from Scottsdale on that first fateful trip through the wall. I found suede slippers on the floor and put them on.

I took one last look at the bed. Thane was in a deep slumber on his back with one arm flung out. His black hair curled like a child's. He looked peaceful and content. I left him, knowing he would be safe.

The night sky was brilliant with stars as I left the castle by the secret door in the library. The air was cool and I pulled the dressing gown around me. I followed the moons to the postern gate. I lifted the secret latch and let myself out. The moonlight pulled me, drew me down a path on the side of the cliff to a clearing out of sight of the castle.

Cedric was there, alone, waiting. The moonlight lit his features so that all was clearly visible. The red-gold hair, the eerie green eyes, and the huge warrior build that always gave me shivers. His arms rippled with muscle and his wrists were banded with leather. I would have known him anywhere merely from the way he stood.

"Why are you here? Why have you come?" I slowed my feet, fighting the draw.

Cedric waited for me to come to him. He knew I would. He had designed it so. The draw to him was inescapable and that reinforced the terrible truth I had surmised.

I inched forward, fighting it as hard as I could. "You've put a spell on me, haven't you?" I was breathless. "I felt it that first night when I was drawn to the tapestry."

"Do you feel it getting stronger?" He smiled with cool excitement. "Each time you see me, it grows. Eventually it will work over longer distances. When I call, you will come."

I had managed to stop about ten feet from him and now the need was compelling, the need of an addiction.

"Then I'd better not see you again, so it can't grow stronger," I said warily.

He covered the ground between us in two seconds. "Don't be a fool."

I was in his arms and then his mouth was on mine, drawing life from me. His arms around me formed a cage I couldn't escape. My fingers traveled up through his hair, trapped in there, and when he pulled my hips against him, I closed my fist hard. His whole body went rigid against me, abruptly, solidly.

"It works both ways," he said hoarsely, releasing my mouth to look down at me. "That is the supreme irony of spells like this. Your need feeds mine."

I pulled back with some effort. "You mean this isn't real? What you feel for me is just a spell and nothing more?" I was almost insulted. But at the same time, maybe this would work in my favor. It could give me an out. If I could figure out a way to break the spell, maybe Cedric would let me go.

He laughed lightly. "Hardly. The spell feeds from emotion. It merely allows emotion to win over reason. If I was indifferent to you, it would repel you rather than draw you in."

The pain of being so close and not closer was almost unbearable. I lay my head on his chest and the pain instantly turned to relief. "How do we break this spell?"

"We don't," he said, almost growling. "I don't want to. You won't either when you get used to it." He lifted his head. "You smell of him."

He frowned, momentarily distracted, and I found the strength to fall back out of reach. He moved forward to grab me with one hand.

I backed up again. "No. Stay back just for a moment. Please. We need to talk." I was breathless, fighting the draw with every ounce of energy I could muster.

He stood stiffly in front of me and folded his great arms across his chest. "So talk."

I licked my lips. "I made a bargain with Thane to save you. My freedom for yours."

His eyes softened. "I know that."

It would war in him, the fact that I had sacrificed for him, the fact that I had lain with another man to free him. He would love that I seemed to care enough, yet he would hate that I had done it.

I turned to the cliff wall, hoping the draw would lessen somewhat and it did. "I can't welch on the deal or you will be killed. You've got to let me see this out, for your own safety."

Cedric smiled in disdain. "He won't kill me. I'll get him first." He moved closer.

"Don't!" I begged.

He ignored me. His hand grabbed my wrist and then just as suddenly let it go. He gasped and his face flashed with anger. Or was it fear? He touched the garnet stone in my bracelet and sprang back as if the thing had been on fire.

The oddest thing…the red stone was glowing.

"Where did you get this?" he demanded.

"W-what?"

"This witch's bracelet. It channels magic. Where did you get it?"