The Red Pearl (17 page)

Antonia dashed to him with fear in her eyes. “I—I’m not sure exactly what it is, but we have to get out of—”

They gave a start as a cacophony of high-pitched yapping sounded in the distance, encroaching nearer by the moment. It was accompanied by the bobbing of lantern lights.

“Oh, no,” Rob breathed, as dozens of tiny, pointy-eared shadows flooded downhill from the residence. “An Axacolan Alarm.”

Antonia shot him a quizzical look.

“Vicious little native dogs,” he explained, grabbing her hand.
“Run.”

ROBIN SWEPT UP HIS RUCKSACK and bounded back to the stretch of fence over which they’d entered. Antonia hurried alongside him. But a set of guardsmen patrolled the space, lanterns aloft. The guards immediately chased after them, shouting in Axacolan.

Antonia, Robin and Maverick raced in the opposite direction, throwing themselves down the hill as fast as their legs could carry them. All the while, the little dogs’ high yipping—the “Axacolan Alarm”—rang in their ears, gaining on them. Maverick turned to confront the creatures, but Robin ordered him onward.

A deafening boom split across the sky. Reflexively, Antonia covered her head. “Oh, my goddess,” she cried, terrified as they hurtled through a valley, running ever downhill. “They’re
shooting
at us?”

Breathless, Robin seized her hand and steered her sharply to the left. “Throw ‘em off a bit.”

“We’ve got to get off their land.” She nearly tripped over a protrusion of stones, and held tight to him. “Where’s the fence?”

“I dunno; this place is huge.”

In her moment of desperation, Antonia cried out to her patron deity: “Azea, protect us!”

“Halto!”
male voices shouted after them, as another gunshot sounded. Robin and Antonia ducked.

“Unless I’m going crazy,” she gasped, her lungs burning as she zigzagged down a second hill, “I think I can
smell
the ocean.”

“We’re on an island,” panted Robin. “I’m sure you can.”

“No, I mean…” She gasped as a dozen more Axacolan dogs poured after them. “I think we’re almost to shore.”

“And then what? We
swim
?”

Antonia didn’t respond, only kept running. Truth was, she didn’t know what to do. Even as she fled, images of being caught plagued her imagination. The miniature dogs would attack her, the guards would seize her, and she’d have no choice but to submit, being dragged away and made to answer all the guards’ questioning. From there, she’d be retained in a filthy Axacolan prison until her trial—if she even got one—and that would be the end to her adventures.

“Look!” Robin pointed ahead, where Antonia distinguished a familiar shadow at the base of the hill: the fence. An end was in sight.

She glanced over her shoulder. Her heartbeat quickened at the sight of the skittering dogs, the lantern lights impeding closer…

Their boots clapped over a sort of pavement, and Antonia looked down. It was a brick walkway, the type that could be found at… “A gate,” she breathed, viewing the spindly door in all its glory. It was locked by a series of latches. But in that case, it was no matter; they were on the inside.

Robin launched at it, sliding the bolts and chains undone, and thrust it open. It emitted a bone-crushing groan, as though seldom used. “Hurry!”

They darted through, their feet hitting the sandy shore as moonlight reflected off a stretch of ocean in their midst. Antonia had no choice but to follow as Robin leapt atop what appeared to be the property’s private dock. With haste, he unknotted the rope to a small rowboat and hopped into it. “Get in,” he ordered her. He beckoned the dog. “C’mon, Mav.”

Maverick whined in fright, backing away from the drifting boat.

“Mav,”
urged Robin, his face panicked.

Antonia outstretched her arms, and the creature seemed keen to receive her embrace. She scooped him in her hold, stroking his slick black fur. Together, she jumped with him into the boat.

Robin tossed her an oar. “Row,” he gasped, taking up the other one. The pair set to work, steering the boat away.

A flood of voices and light paraded ashore, filling the dock Antonia and Robin had only just occupied, seconds before. But with great speed, they pressed over the rolling waves, hiding their heads as more gunshots fired after them.

“Someone should really add a motor to one of these things,” said Robin, as they heaved their oars through the brackish waters at full speed.

“Perhaps that ought to be your father’s next invention,” Antonia called in response over the rushing sea.

They rowed ceaselessly, arms burning, backs aching. But not once did they dare to slow. After an hour, they finally spotted mainland Axacola, dark and sleepy as it awaited their return.

They had long since fled the little island, and successfully lost their pursuers. Sensing safety now, Antonia sighed and rested her oar. Robin set his down as well. For a moment, they simply bobbed in the black waters, drifting with the tide to the shoreline.

Antonia didn’t know what to say. After their whole journey, and all they’d gone through, they had been chased off, thwarted. Would Robin be so dogged, reckless enough to go back and try again another night? She was afraid to ask.

“Hey.” His voice sounded strange. Wary, she looked up at him. She was taken aback to see his eyes twinkling in the moonlight, even as his chest heaved from exertion. “I…I think we have it.”

She shook her head. Was there water in her ears? “What did you say?”

The man shivered a bit, which she imagined had little to do with temperature. “Just moments before you came to me back there, I…uncovered something.” He patted his trouser pocket. “It’s here with me.”

Antonia could have laughed—or cried. Maybe even screamed. She could barely discern her relief from her shock as it was. “Are you serious?”

He laughed giddily, an unfamiliar sound. “Yeah!”

They rowed ashore and hid the stolen rowboat beneath the nearest dock. “What now?” Antonia was still shaken from their near-capture, but far greater was her renewed excitement.

“We can’t stay, in case the guards from that island come looking for us. We have to find the carriage and get out of here.”

“So, we drive through the night?” She glanced up at the moon. It wasn’t exactly bright. Then again, there wasn’t likely to be anything on the road with which to collide at that hour.

Robin nodded. “As far away as we can get.”

They kept to the shadows as they crossed the coastal town into the rainforest. At once, the plenteous treetops blotted out the moon’s meager light. Antonia halted. “We can’t go in there now.”

His face was earnest. “Annie, I know it looks scary, but we’ve
got
to get out. We’re on the run; we could be arrested.”

She bit her lip, gazing fearfully into the dark jungle, and took a single step.

“Where is it, Mav?” Robin turned to the dog. “Lead the way.”

Maverick buried his nose in the soil, and Antonia latched onto his back, refusing to remove her hand as he guided her. “Dogs have good night-vision, don’t they?” she asked hopefully. “You think Mav can see where he’s going?”

“Sure.” Robin walked beside her. “Better than we can, at least.”

The carriage was barely recognizable in the black forest by the time Maverick sniffed it out. Several leaves and insects had found their way inside.

“Oh, yeah.” Robin frowned. “I forgot, we left her stuck in the mud.”

Antonia was exhausted, but there was no way she would give up and settle there. They’d made it too far. They were fleeing the coast that night, if she had anything to say about it. Determined, she went to the front of the carriage and positioned herself to lift it. “You get the back end,” she ordered Robin. “On the count of three…”

The man did as told, gripping the rear of the carriage with bent knees.

“One, two…”

They grunted, hoisting up the vehicle on both ends and giving it a mighty jiggle. It took two more heaves until they finally heard a suctioning sound, and the front wheels came free.

Robin thanked her, climbing into the driver’s seat, and extracted the copper key from his pocket. “Thank gods I’ve been keeping this on my person,” he said, shoving it into the ignition. “Ever since you lost it to that damned coyote.” He laughed.

Antonia gave a small smile. She still felt guilty about the incident, but was glad to realize some good having apparently come of it.

THEY DROVE. AND DROVE. AWAY from the coast, up the peninsula as fast as the carriage could take them. By dawn, the vehicle was low on oil, and Robin parked in a deserted field to refuel it.

Antonia was drained. She couldn’t believe it’d been less than a day since they’d first discovered the kissing boulders. The events of the last twenty-four hours seemed enough to fill a week. Aching with fatigue, she dozed while Robin tended the carriage, until his warm presence returned to the bench beside her.

She blinked up at him, taking in the circles of sleeplessness beneath his eyes. She did not need words to voice her question. She knew by the look on his face that he followed her line of thought. Slowly, he gripped the bulge in his trouser pocket, but did not extract it. Instead, he only stared at her.

After a moment, Antonia understood. “You aren’t ready.”

He glanced away, looking torn. “It’s just…been such a long search. And I don’t want to open it here, in this ugly, empty field, where I feel so…dirty and dusty and tired.”

“It’s all right, Rob,” Antonia told him, gently. “Why don’t we rest awhile? We can have a look at…whatever you’ve found…later.”

He nodded appreciatively, shutting his eyes.

WHEN THE SUN TUMBLED WEST, they headed for the nearest town. They had made it far enough; at that point, there was no longer any threat of coastal authorities catching up with them.

The hotel they came upon was clean, and the food abundant, though neither Antonia nor Robin had much of an appetite. After dinner, they retreated to their separate rooms to freshen up for the evening and prepare for slumber. But after scrubbing herself thoroughly at the washbasin, Antonia found herself wide awake, despite how wearing the last few days had been.

She tied back her damp hair and departed her room, hoping Robin hadn’t gone to sleep already. She raised a fist to his door. After a moment, it opened. He was shaving, his jaw half-coated in soap, while Maverick snoozed on a rug on the floor.

“Sorry.” Antonia blushed. “May I come in?”

Robin stood back, allowing her entry, and closed the door behind her. “One moment.” He disappeared into the washroom to finish, and Antonia took a seat at the edge of his bed.

Waiting, she gazed out the chamber window. The sun descended over verdant hills dotted with adobe houses. She sighed, soaking in the charming view. If they finally had the pearl, then what next? She would miss the traveling. Yet, there would be nothing left to travel for. But that was supposed to be a good thing, wasn’t it? At least for Robin, Antonia guessed it was.

The man emerged from the washroom, and his invigorated expression lightened her spirits. “So, are you ready to show me what you’ve found?” She kicked off her boots and folded her legs beneath her.

Robin plunked down at her side, their shoulders bumping, and reached into his pocket. “Ready.”

Antonia took a breath.

Carefully, he extracted a little black pouch. It appeared to be made of woven cloth, almost like burlap, although perhaps not as rough. Fumblingly, he unfastened the tie, and tipped its contents into his palm.

Jaws ajar, they gazed down.

ROB’S BREATHS WERE HOLLOW AS he stared at the blood-red object. From side to side, he rolled it in his hand, weighing it. It was quite heavy. It was also a precise circle, and perfectly smooth.

He squinted, running his thumb across the even surface. No grit, no bumps. Weren’t pearls supposed to be somewhat gritty? After all, no pearl of nature was perfectly round, flawlessly smooth…

Perhaps its previous owners, the numerous queens of Ancient Elphysia, had ordered some work to be done on the jewel. But then, why would they? Surely, women of that standing would’ve been wise enough to know never to tamper with such a valuable stone.

Antonia gave a tiny gasp, pointing to his hand. “Your skin, Rob.”

He examined it. It was stained red, as though bleeding. Heart drumming, he ran his fingers through the coloring on his palm. It was some sort of dye, leeching from the pearl.

Rob collected his breath. Everything was all right, he assured himself. There was just something he didn’t understand. Some missing piece of information he was about to grasp. Perhaps this red ball was a sort of protective case, and the real pearl was inside?

He searched the sphere for an opening, but found none, only more red dye lifting from the object and smearing onto his hands. In disbelief, he looked at Antonia. She appeared stricken.

Wordlessly, he passed it to her. She took it, rubbing the red coating away with her thumb. “It’s just…a ball of copper dyed red,” she whispered. She looked devastated as she handed it back to him. “Is there anything else in the pouch?”

Rob shook his head. He wanted to speak, but couldn’t. All at once, he was experiencing several emotions. But he was altogether surprised by the singular, unexpected feeling presiding over the rest.

Of course, on the one hand, he was crushed. That went without saying. A boyhood dream, shattered. An expectation, failed. So many years, so much time, effort and money, wasted.

…But had it
all
been a waste?

He stared at Antonia. Her beautiful blue-gray eyes were sorrowful on his behalf, her lovely face filled with sympathy, blonde hair tucked neatly back, the way he’d once told her he liked it. And the answer, the explanation, simply occurred to him.

“Rob.” She shook her head, crestfallen. “I’m
so,
so sorry. Your map—it must’ve been a ruse. But…” She moistened her lips, intent on encouraging him. “The real map, and the real pearl…this means they’re still at large, right? The dream isn’t dead,” she insisted. “Your treasure is still out there—”

“Antonia,” he interjected.

She fell silent.

His heart swelled. In that moment, despite his disappointment, something had begun to make sense. Clear, perfect sense. But how could he not have realized sooner?

Carelessly, Rob dropped the copper ball to the floor. It rolled across the planks, but he paid it no mind. It meant nothing to him. Why, he’d been expending so much time and effort chasing after something so material, so meaningless—and not to mention, wallowing in a past entirely artificial and useless to him—that he’d failed to see what was right before him, all along.

Well, not anymore.

“I think I already found my treasure,” he confessed, “the day my map was stolen from me.”

The girl knit her brow.

“It’s been with me the whole time.” Reaching out, he stroked her cheek, his eyes interlocking with hers.
“You,
Antonia Korelli,” he whispered, “are worth more than a boatful of red pearls.”

She blinked in surprise as he leaned in. When she did not shrink away, he closed the gap between them, and brought his lips over hers.

He kissed her softly, meaningfully. It was as though a floodgate had lifted, or a dam burst, releasing the avalanche of affection he’d been suppressing for so long. For what absurd reason had he ever been holding back?

But that was in the past. He ran his hands down her back, staining her white blouse red. He still had a chance, here and now. And he was so intoxicated, so overcome by her, that he was willing to drown in her, to abandon himself entirely…if she would have him.

At last, she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him in return. Rob held her close. “Pearl be damned,” he professed, planting his mouth across her chin, her throat. “I care for nothing but you.”

She pulled away, just far enough for him to see the uncertainty in her eyes. “But you’ve turned me away already,” she breathed. His breast ached at the recollection. “If I give you my heart now, how do I know you’ll not change your mind tomorrow?”

He took her face between his hands. “I was afraid then,” he admitted. “But I’m not afraid anymore.
I love you.
And I will follow you across Otlantica and take on every knight in Elat, if that’s what it takes to win you.”

Her eyes pooled. “Oh, but you’ve long since won me.”

He brushed his knuckle beneath her eye, catching the single tear that dropped. Enclosing her in his arms again, Rob kissed her passionately, his every heartbeat thudding for her.
Annie. Annie.

He was startled by her strength as she pinned him down beneath her, pressing him into the mattress as she moved her mouth over his, climbing atop him. Rob groaned, slipping his hands down her waist, over her hips, and finally,
finally
onto that gorgeous backside.

A growl of pleasure escaped him as he kneaded the rounded, supple shape of her through her trousers. He felt himself instantly hardening. As though sensing it, Antonia lowered into his lap, grinding against him as she kissed him with mounting ardor.

“Gods, Annie,” he gasped, as she dug her fingers through his hair, soaking his neck with repeated kisses. “You look so damn ravishing in these trousers.”

“Perhaps,” she moaned, writhing against him, “you can determine whether I look better out of them.”

His pulse lolloped. “Are you serious?”

She tugged on his collar, bringing his nose to hers. “I seriously want you.”

He slid his hands up her blouse, feeling the soft skin of her stomach, her sides, until his fingers found the twin heaps of her breasts. He cupped them, massaging them over her brassiere.

Her breathing labored, she lifted her top overhead and tossed it onto the floor, proceeding to unfasten the buttons of his shirt. Her bare arms were long, her complexion like honey, breasts dipping over him and forming tantalizing peaks beneath her undergarment. Rob watched her moving above him, hardly able to believe what was transpiring. He prayed it wasn’t a dream.

Unexpectedly, she halted. Frowning, she reached a hand to her left shoulder, looking self-conscious. “My scar,” she mumbled. “Is it ugly?”

Rob gazed up at her in earnest. “I didn’t even notice it. Honestly.” He stroked down her neck and around the curve of her shoulder. The mark in question was like a faint spider web, its rays streaking midway to her arm. Antonia watched him as he traced it with his fingertips.

Gently, Rob brought his lips to the once-wounded skin, kissing every centimeter along its path. “You are thoroughly beautiful,” he whispered. He slipped his hands around her back to unfasten her brassiere. “Every bit of you.”

Her lush lips glistened, moist from his mouth, and her cheeks were rosy as he lifted the garment from her, revealing two sufficiently plump breasts, her virgin flesh so creamy and tender. “Perfection,” he murmured, kneading them.

Antonia sighed with pleasure, resting her head in the pillows as Rob positioned himself over her. He began to unfasten her trousers, but stopped at her navel, just below her waistband. He found her eyes again. He had to ensure she was truly ready. After all, once they went through with it, there would be no going back.

“Listen, I don’t want to rush you.” He brushed a wisp of hair from her brow. “I’m willing to wait, if you’re unsure…”

But she silenced him with a kiss, her eyes glowing like the twilit sea. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”