Cast Love Aside (21 page)

“Have you any cabins available?” Magnus
asked.

“Oh, aye,” Captain Piers said, lowering his
gaze to his red boots and not looking directly at Magnus. “Ye'll be
the only passengers on this trip.”

“Then, what is the problem, man?” Braedon
demanded. “A moment ago you had no passengers; now you have four
and you know you will be paid for carrying us. How can you object
to the arrangement?”

“My problem,” Captain Piers answered with a
belligerent glare at Braedon, “is that I planned to return directly
to Calais. I've a cargo to be unloaded there. The sooner I deliver
it, the more I'll be paid. I can't afford to wait off-shore the way
I did last time, while ye transact yer latest business.”

“You won't have to wait,” Magnus said. “You
can put us ashore, then sail to Calais, unload your cargo, and pick
us up a day or two later.”

“Oh?” Captain Piers stopped scowling. “In
that case, I'll convey ye across the Narrow Sea, for double the
usual fare.”

“That's robbery!” William exclaimed.

“I call it fair.” The captain answered
William's charge with a roguish grin. “Ye didn't give me much
notice of wantin' ta use the
Daisy.
And, as I just
explained, I’d made other plans. Say what ye will, yer not
travelin' under authorization from Lord Royce.”

“We will agree to pay half again as much as
your usual fare,” Magnus said, “and not a farthing more. The choice
is yours. Sail with empty cabins, or take us along and earn extra
gold for a trip you are going to make, anyway.”

“If you don’t take us,” William threatened
him, “we’ll report your refusal to Lord Royce. You’ve grown wealthy
on what he pays you to keep your ship readily available for his
purposes. Do you want to lose future business with him?”

Captain Piers surveyed the three men who
stood before him. Then he looked at Lilianne. She decided to forego
haughtiness in favor of looking as if she expected him to
agree.

“It’s vitally important that we return to
France as soon as possible,” she said with a bright smile.

“I never could resist a pretty girl,” Captain
Piers grumbled. “For half above the usual fare, I'll take ye. Use
the same two cabins ye had before.”

“Thank you,” Lilianne said with unconcealed
relief.

“We’ll speak again later,” Magnus told the
captain, “and make our final arrangements for going ashore, and for
our rendezvous when our business is completed.”

“Aye. Have ye baggage? Just yer saddlebags? I
expect ye ta supply yer own food, ye know. Well then, take yer
things below and stay out o' my way. We sail on the tide, in late
afternoon. If ye go ashore again, be back before I'm ready ta cast
off, or I'll leave without ye.” With that admonition, he left
them.

“Why is he so irritable?” Lilianne wondered
aloud. “He was much more pleasant the last time we met.”

“Perhaps he doesn't want the port inspectors
to see the cargo he has tucked away in the hold,” Braedon
suggested. “Nervousness has been known to make even the most
even-tempered man testy, and some ship’s captains do try to avoid
paying port taxes.”

“This ship is too small to carry much
contraband,” Magnus said, “though I can’t help wondering what the
cargo is. Whatever the old rascal is up to, it's probably better if
he doesn't reveal his secret to us. Come along, Lilianne, I'll
carry your saddlebag to your cabin and see you settled.”

She went down the ladder ahead of him and
started for the smaller of the two cabins they had used before.
Braedon and William followed Magnus. Lilianne heard a latch
rattling and turned to see William trying to open a door that
appeared to be stuck.

“It's fastened from within,” William said,
frowning. “How can that be, unless someone is inside?”

“Captain Piers said there are no other
passengers except us,” Braedon reminded him. “Besides, you have the
wrong cabin. Ours is behind the next door.”

“I don't recall ever seeing that door
opened,” Magnus said thoughtfully, “not on either of our two
previous voyages.”

“Perhaps Captain Piers keeps his personal
belongings stored in there,” Lilianne suggested. “I have the
impression that he doesn’t have a permanent home on land, that the
Daisy
is his home.”

“I can ask him about it when we talk later,”
Magnus said.

“Do you think it’s important?” Lilianne
asked.

“Probably not,” Magnus said, “but I don’t
like unexplained details. Here you are. Your cabin is unlocked.” He
threw open the door and Lilianne stepped inside. The cabin was just
as she remembered it.

Magnus stayed in the doorway, regarding her
with a somber expression. The cabin was so small that his very
presence crowded her. Or, perhaps, it was the way he was looking at
her, as if he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her face. All of the
emotions he had evoked in her when last they were alone together
suddenly broke free of the restraints Lilianne had placed on her
heart. She didn't forget Gilbert; his death was always in the back
of her mind, but for just a few moments she indulged herself in the
pleasure of contemplating Magnus's great size, his broad shoulders
and large, capable hands. She recalled how gentle those hands were
when they caressed her naked calves and thighs, how tender his
deliberate stroking motions that had revealed to her the sweetness
of a woman’s response. She wished he would enfold her in his strong
arms again and hold her close – as close as a man could possibly
hold a woman.

She knew her face was flushed from her
unseemly desire, though she wasn't sure Magnus had noticed her
reaction to his nearness and she didn't want to make her longing
obvious to him. While trying to think of something ordinary to say
she ran her tongue over her dry lips and saw his hard mouth soften
slightly.

“Lilianne,” he began, his voice a bit
hoarse.

“Magnus, Lilianne, why are you two just
standing there?” William called from the door of the cabin the men
were to share. “If we expect to eat tonight, we'll have to go
ashore again. Do you think we're likely to find decent food at the
inn where we left the horses?”

“Yes, probably.”

Magnus answered without turning his head. His
gaze remained fixed on Lilianne's mouth until she felt warmth
slowly overcoming her, rather like the tide coming in on the beach
below Manoir Sainte Inge, with a gentle persistence that would not
be denied. No matter what puny mortals did, the tide advanced and
ebbed in its own, moon-driven rhythm. Lilianne swayed a little,
like seaweed in the oncoming tide, swept toward Magnus by waves of
sweet desire.

“Shall we go now?” William asked. “It's well
past midday and I’m hungry after our long ride. Mayhap the
innkeeper has a kettle of hot stew ready for his customers, and a
pitcher of ale to wash it down.”

“Yes.” Magnus still hadn't turned his head in
William's direction. He smiled faintly and spoke to Lilianne. “You
will come with us.”

“Unlike William, I am not very hungry,” she
said, striving to sound calmer than she felt. “We did bring bread
and cheese in our saddlebags. I'll stay here and eat some of
that.”

“No,” Magnus told her firmly. “You will not
remain on the
Daisy
alone. The four of us will stay together
until we sail. That is an order,” he added when she lifted her
chin, preparing to object.

Possibly, it was the swift change from
melting desire in his eyes to brisk command in his voice that
annoyed her. Or perhaps it was the realization that he was right.
She didn't like the way Captain Piers had behaved, and she had a
strange feeling about the locked cabin. She could think of no
sensible reason why the door should bother her, but it did. She
grabbed her saddlebag from Magnus's hand and tossed it on the
bunk.

“Very well,” she said coldly. “I have agreed
to obey your every command, and I will hold to my promise.”

His mouth twitched for a moment, the slight
movement giving her the impression that he was trying not to laugh
at her. He said nothing, but only started toward the ladder,
leaving her to trail after him.

Braedon was already on deck, but Captain
Piers was nowhere in sight when they left the ship. Magnus took
Lilianne's arm to guide her along the muddy street to the inn,
which proved to be frequented chiefly by sailors, dock workers, and
women of questionable character. Lilianne looked about with great
interest, especially at the women. Contrary to what Erland had so
often told her, she did not resemble any of the females she
saw.

Once inside the inn, Magnus moved through the
common room with his usual swift grace, finding an empty table in a
quiet corner and calling to one of the maidservants for food and
ale. Lilianne took particular notice of how he made her sit on the
bench with himself on one side of her and Braedon on the other.
William sat at the end of the table, the only one of them who was
not sitting facing the room with his back to the wall. William was
perched on a stool close to a narrow door that Lilianne guessed
from its location led directly to the stableyard.

“Do you expect us to be attacked?” she asked
Magnus. “Is that why we are sitting as we are, with William
guarding the nearest exit?”

“Anyone who visits a place such as this must
expect to be accosted when in the company of a beautiful woman,” he
responded quietly.

He thought she was beautiful? She looked at
him in surprise, watching as one of his rare, sweet smiles spread
across his face. Then Braedon said something and Magnus turned his
gaze from her and became serious again.

Their food arrived, four pottery bowls filled
with a savory meat stew, a basket of brown bread, and a pitcher of
ale. Despite her denial to Magnus, after their morning ride
Lilianne was as hungry as William claimed to be. She ate with
pleasure, though all through the meal she was aware of Magnus
crowded next to her on the bench and of the way his thigh
occasionally brushed against hers.

It did not take long to finish their meal.
William was the first to empty his bowl. He left the table, saying
he would arrange for a basket of food that they could take aboard
ship.

Magnus laid one hand on Lilianne’s elbow as
they rose and started for the door. He certainly was keeping her
close, almost as if he feared she'd be snatched away from him.
Perplexed by that impression, she glanced around the busy room just
as a cloaked and hooded man came down the open stairway from the
upper floor. He paid no attention to the midday crowd in the common
room, nor did he respond to the farewell called out by one of the
maids, instead making his way directly to the door that led to the
stableyard. Caught by an odd sense of familiarity, Lilianne stared
at the cloaked figure.

Braedon was paying the bill and Magnus was
talking to the innkeeper. His hand was still on Lilianne’s elbow,
but she was sure he hadn’t noticed the cloaked stranger.

“Magnus, do you see that man?” she asked,
keeping her voice low.

“Which man? There are quite a few here.”
Magnus made a fast survey of the common room.

“He's gone now. He just left by the back
door.”

“Who was he?” Magnus asked.

“I don't know. I couldn't see his face, but
he was familiar somehow.” She wrinkled her brow, trying to
remember.

“It’s possible he's an ordinary guest whose
horse is in the stable,” Magnus said, “but if you notice him in the
street, point him out to me.”

When she scanned the street outside the inn,
she saw no one who looked the least bit familiar. Nor did she see
the man along the docks.

“Could he have been one of Royce's spies?”
she asked. “If so, he called undue attention to himself by keeping
his hood pulled up indoors. And he pushed right past a woman who
spoke to him as if she knew him.”

“Hmm.” Magnus was looking with intense
interest at each person they passed. “Since only Captain Piers
knows we’re in Hythe, it’s unlikely the man is shadowing us. Ah,
here comes William with a large basket. I expect to eat well
tonight and tomorrow morning, and to have plenty of leftover food
to store in our saddlebags.”

By the time they returned to the
Daisy,
Captain Piers was shouting to his sailors to prepare
to cast off the lines.

“I thought ye'd changed yer minds about
sailin' wi' us,” he said to Magnus.

“Not a chance.” Magnus caught Lilianne at her
waist and swung her off the gangplank onto the deck.

Braedon and William leapt aboard as two of
the captain's men started to haul up the gangplank. A moment later
the
Daisy
began to ease away from the wharf on the ebbing
tide.

“Unless the wind changes,” Captain Piers
remarked, “I'll put ye all ashore in early mornin'.”

“Then, let us complete our arrangements now,”
Magnus told the captain with a sternness of purpose that allowed no
protest. The two men moved off, Magnus staying close by the
captain's side while he oversaw the unfurling of the sails and the
setting of their course.

Lilianne lingered on deck to watch as the
sailors worked. The wind was brisk and the Narrow Sea was much
rougher than it had been during their first crossing. She lifted a
hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Magnus was
there before her, his fingers deftly securing the wayward curl.
Startled by his presence when she had thought him elsewhere, she
turned to face him.

“Did the captain give you any trouble?” she
asked, keeping her tone as light as she could manage with Magus
standing so close to her.

“He wouldn't dare,” Magnus said. “Not with
Royce to back us up.”

“Royce isn't backing us,” she reminded him.
“We are on our own now.”

“Yes.” He took a deep breath and let it out.
“I prefer it this way.”

“What? You, a renegade spy?” she teased
him.