Untouchable.

Verity rose up again. "Why didn't you just tell me it stunk and you wouldn't drink it?"

"I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"Why not?"

Laris sighed and sat up. "Because I already loved you, that's why. Because you were, and still are, the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, and I didn't want to say or do anything to dim the brightness of your smile." He reached out and touched her face gently. "Why me? Why didn't you give the potion to one of the others?"

She could lie and tell him that he'd been closest, the most convenient, but she didn't want to lie to him, no matterhow embarra.s.sing it might be. "You were by far the most handsome of all the sentinels, and you have such a lovely smile, and on the second day after you arrived, I saw you speaking to the cook's son, who is not so very bright, and you were kind to him."

"You chose me," he said.

"I did." They lay back down in the dark, and once again Laris held her. Her heart felt so much lighter, she could not stop the smile that spread across her face. Whatever he felt for her, it was real, like her own feelings. He had not saved her because he was under the influence of magic, but because he cared. Because he truly loved her.

"I'm glad I chose you," she whispered.

Laris sighed sleepily. "So am I."

VYRN laid a hand over his stomach, which had not been quite right of late. Soon, in a matter of days at the very least, he would be forced to part from the other sentinels and soldiers and make his way to the house of the woman who had hired him. There he'd be paid for his efforts, and with any luck he could disappear before anyone thought to question what had happened the night Princess Edlyn died.

He didn't have a lot of time. Paki and Kontar, the blue wh.o.r.e's two surly guardians, just yesterday had separated themselves from the group to travel to Arthes and demand justice from the emperor himself. They were all frustrated at the lack of success, but those two had finally had enough of following the others and not finding their charge. Impatient fellows! Yes, it would be best if he collected his pay before too many questions were raised.

Vyrn walked into the forest to relieve himself, took care of the task, and then turned about. Tari stood there, her thin, drably gowned body positioned between him and camp. He blinked hard, wondering if she was a hallucination. His head was swimming and his legs were unsteady, so it was possible.

"h.e.l.lo, Vyrn," she said in a lowered voice. "I got tired of waiting for you to collect me, so I decided to find you on my own. I hope you don't mind."

"We haven't yet caught the prince," he whispered. He stepped toward her, and when he was near, placed a hand on her shoulder, as much for support as to a.s.sure himself that she was real.

"I know."

Vyrn set aside his annoyance. Perhaps it wasn't a bad thing that she'd joined him. He'd eaten something bad or had picked up a disease from one of the villagers he'd questioned, and he could do with a woman to look after him. Besides, with her to help him through this bad patch, he could leave immediately and go collect his pay.

"I'm glad you've come," he whispered. "We can leave tonight."

She nodded, meek and agreeable as always.

"Wait here. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Vyrn returned to camp. No one else was sick, which made him think he'd caught a disease. They'd been eating the same food, after all. He'd caught something from one of the common folk he'd been interrogating of late. A farmer or a shopkeeper's wife had pa.s.sed along this weakening illness. Maybe one of those annoying coughing children he'd had to deal with a few days ago had given him this sickness. Little monsters, he should've beaten them the way he'd beaten their uncooperative father. Dammit, someone had to have seen the prince, someone had to know where he was.

That no longer mattered. He was not going to find the prince and collect a bonus, but he still had a nice bit of pay to collect. Until he regained his strength, Tari would care for him. She'd be good for one last function before he disposed of her.

Without letting on to the others in camp that anything had changed, he volunteered to take the first watch, using the excuse that he did not feel like sleeping. When everyone else was asleep, which did not take very long, he grabbed his bedroll, saddled his horse, and entered the forest.

He found Tari where he'd left her standing.

"Did you bring your waterskin?" she asked as he led her away from the camp.

"Yes. Are you thirsty?"

She shook her head. "No, I just wanted to make sure you didn't forget anything that we might need along the way."

His stomach made an odd gurgling noise and yet another pain shot through him. Yes, it was a very good thing Tari had come along when she had. He had her right where he wanted her, and she'd do anything for him. Hadn't she already proven that point?

TRYSTAN held Sanura long after she slept, knowing that to hold her was a weakness he did not need or want.

Was she right when she said that he would never be rid of the other and the other would never be rid of him? Was she right to contend that he was only one? Was that why, in spite of his anger and his ambition, he wanted her to love him?

When the thief had threatened her, Trystan had felt anger and worry and a dark possessiveness, even though he had been the one to put her in the road, even though he had used her to stop the hors.e.m.e.n. Sanura was his. No other man would hurt her, no other man would touch her. He might've taken her and the horse and left the two thieves alive, but when the bandit had held a knife to Sanura, he'd gone too far. He'd been dead the moment he put that dagger to her throat.

This was a complication he could do without. All these years, his plans had been so simple. Take control, take the throne, take whatever he wanted to take! And yet here he was, enjoying the comfort of the even sound of Sanura's breathing, of the feel of her skin against his. He was hard again, he could not sleep, and yet he would not wake her to take what he wanted.

Trystan was not gone, he had not been pushed down into the shadows again, and yet he realized that he was no longer alone. Alix was with him-and perhaps had been for quite some time. Alix was

He no longer knew what tomorrow would bring. He was not Prince Alixandyr, loyal and obedient servant to his brother the emperor, but neither was he a cold-blooded killer who cared for nothing but what he desired, what he deserved.

Perhaps that was why he held Sanura even now. In spite of his strength and his plans and the victories he had won of late, he was lost.

Sanura woke slowly. Her body squirmed against his, her breathing changed, her hands wandered. They had not bothered to dress last night, as the air was mild and they had one another to keep themselves warm, so her squirming was quite pleasurable. Her head tilted back, and in the first gray light of the day he saw her smile.

She smiled.

"Are you awake, love?" she asked, her voice husky with sleep.

"Yes."

"Good." She stroked him intimately, she kissed him, she raked her talented fingers across his body as she wished, and then she guided him into her. She sighed in contentment as he filled her. She moved against him in a slow and easy rhythm. They came alive as the morning did.

In this position he could only partially enter her, but for a while it was enough. There was no rush, there was no fury. There was sensation and possibility and love. There was desire and pleasure and the promise of more. She belonged to him, and he would never again be lost in darkness. He would never again be alone.

"I love you," Sanura said as her hips s.h.i.+fted so that she could take more of him into her. Just a bit more.

I love you. His words, his return of affection was silent but no less heartfelt than her own, even though he realized that love was his undoing. All his plans were dust thanks to the love he had not wanted or expected. And yet, he did not care. Not at this moment when his world did not extend beyond this forest, his desire, and her body.

He rolled Sanura onto her back and thrust deep. She found release almost immediately, and so did he. She shuddered and screamed and gasped beneath him, and then she grabbed on to his hair and pulled him down for a long, pa.s.sionate kiss.

"You should not love me," he said gruffly. "It's wrong."

"No, it is not wrong," she insisted. "Just because you did not plan to love me in return..."

"I did not say that I loved you," he insisted.

Sanura smiled. "No. You were so caught up in the physical, you forgot that I can see all of you, most particularly when we are joined. You do love me."

"You've bewitched me with your body, that is all. I cannot love. I am not capable."

"You can." She looked at his eyes, calculating and inquisitive. "You do."

Perhaps it was foolish to argue with a woman who had the power to see into a man's soul. He could profess to the heavens that he felt nothing for her but l.u.s.t, but she would know it was not true.

"When we recover your box, I want you blue again," he said, anxious to turn the conversation from the subject of love.

"Why?"

"Don't you know?" he asked sharply. "You seem to be able to see everything else."

"Not everything," she said without rancor, "just most where you're concerned. Besides, now and then I like you to tell me things. I like to hear the gruff timbre of your voice."

"Fine. I want you blue so no other man will ever touch you. I want you blue because that was how I first saw you, how you first attacked my heart and soul. I want you to sing again, just for me."

Her brows drew together. "Sing? I have never sung. I have no gift for it."

Trystan sighed. "You sang for him with every step, with every sigh. I don't hear it the way your Alix did, and I want to. I want that very much. If you are painted blue once more and you wear the bangles, perhaps you will sing for me."

"I will sing for no one else," she said.

He remembered the feeling inside Alix when he'd heard Sanura's song. It had been pleasant and at the same time disturbing, perhaps because he already knew what that music meant.

"You will make a fine empress," he said as he forced himself to stand.

"Perhaps," she whispered.

He offered her a hand to a.s.sist her to her feet. "If we hurry, we can make it to Arthes by tonight, and you can be empress by morning."

She came to her feet with his help, and then her bare body fell against his. "I am in no rush to see Arthes or to be empress."

He knew what she was doing; he realized that she did not want him to kill Jahn and take the throne. He knew that she would do everything in her power to slow their journey and keep him from the end of his plans-and he did not care.

Chapter Fifteen.

VERITY saw the farmhouse in the distance, and even though she was not anxious for their journey to end, she breathed a sigh of relief. The house was directly in their path, and Laris showed no sign of veering around it. She doubted he would stop there for very long, but shelter, food they did not pick or catch, a chair, all waited in that quaint cottage. Those simple things sounded so wonderful, she found her pace increasing. She almost skipped, but that would've been entirely inappropriate for a woman of her age.

The house itself was small compared with her home in the Northern Province, but it was far from tiny. It sprawled a bit, as if rooms had been added to the original structure. Smoke rose gently from the chimney, and the land surrounding the cottage was green and well kept. Farmland spread as far as she could see. Some of the crops had been recently planted, others were mature and green. She didn't know exactly what kinds of crops grew on the farm, but she could see that they were well tended and healthy.

A line of freshly washed clothes whipped in the breeze, and Verity thought of what a joy it would be to wash the putrid green dress Laris had bought her. There had been a time when burning would've been her first thought, but since he had bought it for her, she would not destroy it, no matter what happened in the weeks to come. Besides, he had told her that her eyes were a more brilliant blue than ever before, in contrast to the drab green. When she was able to replace the clothing she had lost, perhaps there would be one or two green gowns in her new wardrobe.

She was practically joyous as they approached the farmhouse, and again she suppressed the urge to skip. The sun shone, the weather was mild, and Laris held her hand. Perhaps her good mood was colored by the fact that he loved her without the use of magic. She was not a terrible person after all.

Since running away from the potential a.s.sa.s.sins, she had not seen another living soul except Laris. He had seen only a shopkeeper, in that small town where he'd stopped for supplies. Verity was anxious about seeing the people who lived in this farmhouse. She was not afraid and she was not joyous, but she was anxious.

Would word of her death have reached such an isolated home? Probably not, but it was possible. They should come up with a good story and a couple of false names, just in case whoever lived here asked too many questions.

Before she could broach the subject, the door to the house opened and a young woman stepped out into the suns.h.i.+ne. Even from this distance Verity could tell that the woman was shapely and probably no older than she. The girl's dress was as plain as the one Laris had bought for her, but it was not green and it was of a better fit.

"We should have our story settled, if we're to see others, " she said. "I suppose we will have to pretend to be married." Her heart did a flip and her stomach tightened. "That would explain why we're traveling together." And holding hands, too.

"We don't need a story," Laris said calmly.

"We do."

Verity said no more before the young woman who'd come out of the cottage saw them. And screamed.

The girl lifted the skirt of her plain dress high, and ran. She did not run like a lady, but flashed her bare legs and moved at an amazing speed. Verity stopped in her tracks. Was the woman mad? Had she been isolated on this farm for so long that the sight of strangers compelled her to run at the speed of a racehorse?

Laris dropped her hand and smiled at the madwoman, moving forward to greet her. The racing girl smiled widely, and she screamed again for no apparent reason. Then she screamed his name at the top of her apparently healthy lungs.

"Laris!"

His smile; her shout...this was a sweet reunion.

Verity's heart sank. Love-struck or not, Laris had a wife. A special friend, at the very least. No wonder he had never tried to make love to her as they slept entwined. He was already married, or promised. She placed her hands on her hips in outrage. He had asked her to marry him! How could he have suggested that she be his wife if he already had one? Of course, he had quickly admitted that his proposal was a stupid idea, so perhaps some baser impulse had momentarily carried him away, and then he'd had time to remember that he already had a woman and could not take her as a wife.

Verity no longer felt like skipping. Her heart was heavy, her stomach was one big knot.

If only the girl were ugly, she thought as the two met and threw their arms around one another. Instead, the girl was quite pretty, and had luxurious light brown hair and a p.r.o.nounced womanly figure. Verity's knees wobbled. She wanted to fall into the dirt and sob, even though Laris was nothing to her but a sentinel who had saved her life and promised to protect her. He was just a man who loved her, even though he knew it was wrong.

He wasn't hers. He never had been.

Laris lifted the unladylike, screaming woman off her feet and spun her around. They both laughed. It was heart-warmingand totally unacceptable. Verity stood her ground, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at the happy couple.

"I didn't expect to see you for weeks!" the girl cried as Laris put her on her feet.

"This visit was unplanned," Laris explained.

The girl looked around him and smiled at Verity. "And you are not alone."

The smile was confusing. Verity knew that if she was married to Laris and he showed up with another woman, she'd be furious!

Laris took the girl's arm and led her toward Verity. She tried to keep her lower lip from trembling, but was unsuccessful. Laris looked confused, and then contrite. "Verity..."

So much for her false name.

"This is my sister Carina."

Sister. The word echoed through her heart clear as a bell. Sister! The knotted stomach eased. Her heart lightened. Verity put on her most brilliant smile and stepped forward. "It's so lovely to meet you. Really, so very lovely. Such a pleasure." Just because she was dressed like a beggar, that didn't mean she had to act like one. "Laris, you didn't tell me your sister Carina was so beautiful!" She reached around and pinched him soundly, to make him pay for causing her grief, no matter how short-lived that grief might've been. He didn't yelp, but he did jump a bit.

From what he'd said, there were three sisters and two brothers still living at home. He had mentioned all their names at least once, but she could not remember them all. He had never bothered with physical descriptions, and she had not asked since she'd thought she'd never meet them. She looked at the farmhouse and tried to imagine all those people living there. With their parents, that made seven in a house smaller than the kitchen of the home she'd left behind.

Of course, it was a big kitchen.

Laris placed an arm around her shoulder. "You don't have to be in Arthes until the first night of the Summer Festival, so I thought we might stay here for a while, if that's all right with you."