Lion's Bride (23 page)

As Ware had possessed her. She was suddenly glad for the lingering hollowness. It would make the parting less painful.

She brushed the hair out of her face. She would not think of Ware now. If she did, some of this blessed numbness might disappear. She must just prepare for the journey that would take her away from him.

“Good God, what have you done to yourself?” Ware asked roughly as she came down the steps at dawn the next morning. “You’re skin and bones.”

“I’ve lost only a little weight. I’ve been working.”

“That gown is hanging on you, and your wrists…” He trailed off before adding, “I don’t want to hear of this foolishness again.”

“You will not. After all, I’ll be in Damascus and you’ll be here. It won’t be your concern.” She smiled with an effort. “Any more than it is now.”

“It’s my concern if I say it is. I wouldn’t have wanted a banner if I’d known it would have brought you to this.”

“I wanted it for you. I
owed
it to you.” She found she could not take her gaze from him. He was fully armored, big and boldly masculine, his bright-blue eyes glittering in the glow of the candles. This was the warrior she had seen that first night when she had thought him a brute and a beast. It would have been better if she had not grown to see beyond that facade. It would have made this parting easier.

“Selene said you were sleeping a great deal.” He stood looking at her. “Are you…well? I did not—”

“I’ve had my flux,” she interrupted, wanting to get it over. “I am not with child.”

“That’s good.” His face was blank, but she knew him too well now not to sense the pain. “You’ll be much safer.”

And he was robbed of his chance that part of him would live through his child. The numbness was melting as she looked at him. She wanted to reach out and hold him, comfort him. Dear God, was she always going to feel this aching tenderness for him? She wished desperately that there had been only passion between them. Passion was of the moment, easily dismissed, but tenderness…

“What are you thinking?” he asked suddenly.

She swallowed to ease the tightness of her throat. “I was thinking I wish everything to go well for you. You have been very kind to me.”

“Have I?” He smiled grimly. “By God, you’re easy to please. I took your body, endangered your life, and now I’m going to—” He broke off and turned on his heel. “Come along. Your sister is waiting in the courtyard with Kadar. If it can be called waiting. She was running around, giving orders and arranging everything to suit herself. You’d think she was a woman grown.”

Thea followed, grateful that the painful moment was at an end. “She’s never been allowed to be anything else.” She walked past him down the steps leading to the courtyard. The courtyard was ablaze with the torches carried by the soldiers. Horses milled about uneasily, and Thea glimpsed a wagon half-hidden behind the columns.

Jasmine was standing on the steps and turned as she saw Thea. “I came to bid you farewell. Good journey.”

“Thank you.” She was tempted to embrace Jasmine, but she was afraid of offending the woman’s dignity. “You’ll remember to practice everything I taught you?”

“I told you I would.” She paused. “You will not forget us?”

Thea shook her head. “I’ll send for you as soon as I can.” She hesitated. “I’ve had little chance to speak to you of late. Lord Ware has—I thought you might resent—”

Jasmine’s gesture cut her short. “Don’t be foolish. Why should I care if you bed Lord Ware when you offer Tasza a better way to live? You are a woman in this man’s world. If you think coupling with him will give you more power, I cannot fault you.”

She should have known Jasmine would regard all coupling as a way to gain a goal, Thea thought sadly. Her experience in life would not permit any other conclusion. Well, perhaps she was right. Ware and she both had something to gain. He had come to her because he wished a child. She had gone to his bed because she wanted to make sure he remained in the castle. Surely that was as coolly calculated as any bargain Jasmine or Tasza had ever struck.

Cool? No, there had been nothing cool about their coming together. Their coupling had been hot and stormy, changing every moment, gaining power and strength. Whatever had been their beginning had soon become transformed. But Jasmine would not be able to comprehend that alteration. “I’m glad you understand.”

“Of course I understand. Now Lord Ware takes you to Damascus and gifts you with many bolts of silk. It’s good for all of us.” Jasmine dismissed the subject with a wave of her hand. “Now, you must work hard, but not as hard as you have these last weeks. That was not good. You must not fall ill. We can wait…a little while.” She turned away. “But not too long.”

Thea smiled ruefully as she watched Jasmine enter the castle. She supposed she should be grateful Jasmine had decreed she did not have to work day and night to succeed in their common goal.

“I’m going to ride.” Selene rushed up to Thea, grabbed her hand, and pulled her down the rest of the steps. “Kadar wanted me to ride in the wagon, but I told him that it wouldn’t do. You must ride too.”

Thea shook her head and smiled. “I don’t know how, and this is not the time to learn. I’ll ride in the wagon.”

“No.” Ware mounted his horse, then leaned down and held out his arms. “You ride with me.”

“Is it necessary?”

“Yes.” Then he shook his head. “No.” He added haltingly, “but it would please me.”

This might be the last time he would ever hold her, she realized suddenly. She took a step forward and held up her arms. He lifted her onto the horse before him.

As he lifted the reins, he spoke in a voice so low, it was almost inaudible even to her. “I thank you. It is most kind of—”

“Be silent.” She had to stop to steady her voice. “You’re such a fool. It was my wish also.”

Tears blurred her vision as they rode through the gates and over the drawbridge. Torches everywhere, fire and flame and light. She remembered her first impression of Dundragon and how she had complained to Ware that such extravagance was wasteful.

“You’re shaking.” Ware’s arms tightened about her. “Are you cold?”

“No. How long will the journey take?”

“Two days, perhaps a little longer. Stop shaking. You needn’t be afraid. Nothing will happen to you. I’ll keep you safe.”

“I’m not afraid.” She leaned back against him. It was true. At that moment she did not fear the danger that lay beyond the gates. She felt only sadness and regret and a terrible sense of wrongness. She should not be leaving Dundragon. She should not be leaving him.

She was being stupid. She had no place here. Was she to stay and become his mistress, bear his children, live for his pleasure? She would be as much a slave as she had been in the House of Nicholas.

He did not want or need her. Oh, perhaps in his bed, but any woman would do as well there. He had never said he felt anything but lust for her. When she was gone, he would probably take another woman and be just as content.

By the saints, she would not weep. She determinedly blinked back the tears. This was what she wanted, what they both wanted. It was not as if she were deserting him. He was the one who had arranged the journey and rushed her from Dundragon.

She would not weep.

It was two days later that Thea caught sight of the fortress. The walls seemed high and strong as those of Dundragon, but they surrounded a castle that was completely different. It was like the exotic Arab palaces she had passed on the way from Constantinople.

“What is that place?” Thea asked, her gaze on the fortress. “It’s very beautiful.”

“El Sunan. It belongs to Kemal ben Jakara,” Ware said. “He’s a very powerful sheikh and guards this province for Saladin.”

“From the Franks?”

He shook his head. “These lands are too isolated to attract the Franks, but there are more bandits in these hills than Kemal can battle and any number of rival sheikhs who eye his power with envy.”

“You seem to know a great deal about him.”

“We’ve encountered each other upon occasion.”

“But you fought for the Franks.”

Ware started down the hill. “All Islam knows that the Templars cast me out. An outcast has no true allegiance. Kemal and I understand each other.”

She felt a ripple of uneasiness. “Is it safe to pass so close to his fortress?”

“I told you, Kemal and I understand each other. No harm will come to us.”

He kicked his horse into a gallop.

“You’re heading straight for the fortress. Are we going to spend the night?”

His answer was barely audible. “Yes, we’re going to spend the night.”

To her astonishment the gates were thrown open without a challenge, and they rode into the courtyard. The palace was even more beautiful than she had imagined from the hill. Onion-shaped towers crowned the sprawling building, and white marble balconies shone in the strong sunlight.

“Welcome, Lord Ware.” An Arab, dressed in flowing robes and a turban inset with a giant blue stone, was striding across the courtyard toward them. His plump cheeks creased as he smiled broadly. “I see you have brought your treasure.”

“Yes.” Ware dismounted and helped Thea down from the horse. “This is the lady Thea, Kemal.”

Thea gazed with bewilderment at the man Ware had addressed. This must be Kemal ben Jakara, but there was no hint of antagonism in his demeanor. He was a small, plump man, close to his fiftieth year, with snapping black eyes and an eager smile.

Kemal’s gaze raked Thea from head to foot. “I can see why you do not wish anything to happen to her. Fair-haired women have great value, and she’s very comely. I shall take great pleasure in this task.”

Thea stiffened with shock.

“Not too much pleasure. Remember she’s not your property,” Ware said. “She belongs to me.”

“I’m a man of honor. I’ll keep my word.” Kemal beamed at him. “As long as you keep yours.”

“What
is
this?” Thea asked Ware. “What are you talking about?”

A faint frown furrowed Kemal’s brow. “She addresses you boldly. You have not taught her well.”

Thea’s hands slowly clenched. “What
is
this?”

“You’ll stay here under Kemal’s protection.” He turned to Kadar. “Take her and Selene to the House of Women.”

Kemal snapped his fingers and a young man ran forward. “This is Domo,” he told Thea. “He is chief eunuch, and you’ll obey him as you would your master. Go with him.”

“House of Women,” Selene whispered from atop her horse.

Thea knew the horror her sister felt. She was experiencing the same cold terror as memories of Nicholas’s House of Women flooded back to her.

“It will be fine,” Kadar said as he lifted Selene to the ground. “It’s not like the House of Nicholas. You’ll work only when you wish. Your every need will be met. You’re likely to go fat with sloth in Kemal’s harem.”

“Harem,” Thea repeated numbly. She could not believe it.

“Go with Kadar,” Ware repeated. “I’ll come to you and explain after Kemal and I settle the details.”

“You’re selling me to him,” she whispered in disbelief. “It was all a lie. You never intended to take me to Damascus.”

“I didn’t lie. I never said you were going to Damascus.”

“It was a
lie
.” Her hands clenched into fists. “You let me believe—”

“Be silent, slave.” Kemal was shaking his head in disapproval. “Have you no respect for your master?”

“Slave,” Thea whispered.

“No, I’m not selling you to Kemal. It’s to keep you safe.” He gazed at her pale face for another instant before he whirled on his heel. “For God’s sake,
take
her, Kadar.”

“You always leave me with the easy tasks,” Kadar said wryly. He gestured to the eunuch. “Lead on, Domo.”

Thea gazed after Ware as he crossed the courtyard with Kemal. “Slavery.”

Selene drew closer to her. “I don’t understand, Thea.”

Thea understood all too well. Her worst nightmare realized. Betrayal.

She put her arm around Selene’s shoulders. “It will be all right. We’ll find a way.”

Selene whirled on Kadar. “
You
did this.”

He flinched. “I admit that I helped. Ware told me to find a different solution to keep you safe. I couldn’t do it.”

“I was
free
.” Selene’s eyes blazed at him. “You set me free and then put me back in a cage.”

“Please, my master says you must come with me,” the young eunuch said gently as he started across the courtyard.

Master. Slave. Thea shuddered, then straightened and braced herself. “We have to go with him, Selene. For now.”

Kadar fell into step beside them. “It’s not forever, you know.”

Thea regarded him coldly. “I know that very well. But only because I will not permit it.”

“Ware didn’t sell you. He only made a bargain with Kemal. The sheikh is to keep you safe, and in return Ware is to guard his southern border.”

“He called me slave.”

“Ware had to make sure Kemal knew you weren’t free to go, so he told him you were his slave.” Kadar went on quickly, “It will be very pleasant here. You’ll still have your bolts of silk and do your embroidery, and when it’s time for you to leave this place, you’ll have a commodity with which to bargain.”

“It’s time to leave now.”

Kadar went on as if she had not spoken. “Ware is even having Abdul fetch some young mulberry trees to be planted in the palace garden.”

“How kind.” Betrayed. Her fury was building higher by the second. “And why this Arab for a jailer?”

Kadar shrugged. “You wouldn’t have been safe with a Frankish lord. Ware couldn’t be certain that the Templars wouldn’t be able to influence them. Kemal would rather slit your throat than hand you over to the Templars.”

“Is that supposed to comfort me?”

“I don’t think anything would comfort you at the moment.”

“Then you’re wiser than you are kind.”

“I’m trying to be kind.” He paused. “And so is Ware. If we can find any way of releasing you, we will do so. It’s just not possible now.”

“So we’re to remain prisoners until Ware deigns to release us.”

“Not prisoners. Guests.” When he met her outraged stare, he sighed. “Prisoners.”