Claire Delacroix (30 page)

The question seemed to decide the matter for most of the knights. They nodded amiably to themselves, reassuring each other that their choice had been the right one.

One alone hung back from the others, his gaze rising to scan the trees. Kira’s heart stopped when he seemed to look directly at them.

The knight who took the lead turned back, but he needed to say naught to his doubting companion. Kira heard the whistle of the bow and saw alarm cross that knight’s features as he turned to find the man he had just argued with falling to his knees. Two more knights glanced back, their mouths opening in surprise. For a long moment, it seemed they could not move, then they turned and bolted as one from the woods.

When Kira gasped and doubled over, Thierry feared he had lost all he had gained. He glanced up to confirm that the knights were indeed gone, the jingle of their destriers’ trap carrying to his ears.

“Kira? Are you hurt?” he asked and heard the thread of panic in his own tone. She shook her head, but the tears in her eyes when she straightened reassured him naught.

“You must tell me, Kira,” he insisted. “Where are you hurt?” Kira inexplicably shook her head.

“‘Tis the babe that kicks, ‘tis all,” she whispered. Shock enfolded Thierry. The babe? Kira carried a babe? Impossible ‘twas, but when she drew back and met his gaze, he saw the truth reflected in her eyes.

“A babe?” he whispered. “But how?”

Kira smiled sadly. “In quite the usual way, I would imagine,” she said, and her color rose becomingly. Thierry stared at her for a long moment before the questions erupted in his mind.

“But why did you not tell me?” he demanded finally. Kira tried to pull away, but Thierry tightened his grip around her.

“I feared you would not be pleased,” she confessed quietly. Her lashes dropped demurely and Thierry cupped her chin gently, compelling her to look to him. Fear there was lingering in the depths of her dark gaze and intuitively he knew its source.

“Kira,” he chided. “Never would I raise a hand against you.” Tears filled Kira’s eyes, though her doubt was still clear. “No man strikes a woman whom he loves.”

The words had an unexpected result, for Kira abruptly pulled away and averted her face. “You know naught of what you speak,” she maintained tightly. “My sire loved me well.”

“Yet ‘twas he who scarred your back?” Thierry guessed. Kira’s only response was a nod and he felt his lips tighten. “No love is that, Kira,” he said, but she did not respond. The silence hung thickly between them, then Thierry dared to touch her stomach. ‘Twas rounding slightly, much to his amazement, and he marveled that he had noticed naught of the change.

“What of the babe?” he demanded urgently. “How far along is it?”

“But four moons along is it, as I figure, and I know not the import of its restlessness. No good can it bring, I am sure.”

Four moons. Pride flooded Thierry and he stifled a smile. The child was his. Kira bore the spawn of his seed.

“Mayhap you have but strained yourself this day,” he suggested. Kira’s gaze flew to his and he lifted his brows encouragingly. “Come home and we shall ask my mother’s advice.”

“Your mother?” Kira asked breathlessly. Thierry nodded.

“Aye, a long way has she come to meet my bride.” When he might have expected a smile, Kira turned abruptly away. “Kira?” he asked, but she resolutely ignored him.

And naught else did Kira say the entire way home to Montsalvat, though more than once Thierry caught her speculative gaze upon him.

Was it possible that Kira desired not to be his wife?

‘T
was too much to be pampered within the great curtained bed, knowing all the while that Thierry’s bride would soon arrive and cast Kira from this luxury. Could they not see how they made her ache inside with their consideration? Did Thierry’s mother not guess how much it hurt to have her compassion, knowing all the while that it would soon be stolen away?

Kira rolled over and ran one hand over her eyes. ‘Twas not that which troubled her most and well she knew it. More vexed was she by the thought that Thierry would soon be with another. Only too cruel was he to tease her at night and hold her close when they both knew their time together to be fleeting.

Had Thierry been right about love? Well it seemed that his affection bore its dark price, much as her father’s had done. Kira concluded that the bite of the lash was easier to bear. She opened her eyes and stared about the solar, gasping in surprise.

Thierry stood against the wall some ten paces away from her.

Curse the man for his silent passing. Kira exhaled shakily and eyed him warily.

“I thought you asleep,” he said quietly. Kira shook her head and felt her color rise.

She was unaccountably reminded of the first time she had laid eyes upon him. She felt the weight of his regard upon her and knew not what to do. When Thierry straightened slowly and deliberately stepped toward her, it seemed her heart would stop.

“Feeling more hale?” he asked as he sat on the edge of the bed. One finger rose to stroke her cheek and Kira shivered beneath the warmth of his touch.

Would that he would wed her. The scandalous idea shocked even Kira for daring to think it and she averted her gaze that Thierry might not guess the direction of her thoughts.

“Aye,” Kira agreed. His fingertips wandered over her cheek, her throat and traced a path to the curve of her belly. Even through the bed linens, Kira swore she could feel the touch of his skin against hers and she closed her eyes against unexpected tears.

“A value for a gem do I need this day,” Thierry said slowly. Kira looked to him in surprise. He lifted a fine chain and the
aljofar
dangled from his finger before her.

‘Twas the gem from his saddlebag. Kira licked her lips carefully as she schooled her temper. How could he bring this gem to her for a valuation? More crass was his move than she believed him capable and she inhaled indignantly. Thierry’s lips curved in a tentative smile when he noted her surprise and Kira could not believe his audacity.

“How dare you?” Kira demanded in a low voice that shook with outrage. “How dare you bring me this pearl to assess?”

How could he insult her thus by asking her to value his gift for another? Well it seemed he twisted the knife in the wound and Kira would hear no more of his prattle. She rolled over so that her back was to him and drew up her knees, not nearly satisfied by the way his smile had abruptly disappeared. Kira’s hands clenched into fists and she wished there was some way she could hurt Thierry de Pereille in truth.

At least as savagely as he had hurt her.

“Kira!” he whispered.

Kira fancied she heard surprise in his tone and mayhap a tinge of injured pride but she refused to indulge her whimsy. No tender feelings had this man for her. That much had been clear for a long time had she simply had the sense to see what was before her.

She was a fool a hundred times over.

“Kira, what is wrong?” he asked, his breath warm against her ear.

Should he truly wish to know, Kira was angry enough to illuminate matters for him. She rolled over, enjoying the way he recoiled from the fury in her eyes. Kira propped herself up on her elbows and stared down the mighty warrior of whom she had once been afraid.

“What is wrong?” she echoed indignantly. “Here I lie with your child in my belly and yet you torment me with your bride’s bauble. Have you not a scrap of compassion in your soul?” Thierry looked momentarily blank. Kira snatched the pearl from his grip and waggled it beneath his nose.

“This
aljofar,
” Kira replied hotly, having no patience with his games. “Know you not what you hold? ‘Tis a gift for a bride alone and none other. I would not watch you grant this to another woman and cast me aside for the crime of conceiving your child. Not alone did I manage that task, yet you would cast me out like a common whore.”

“How do you know I would give this to my bride?” Thierry asked in confusion.

Kira acknowledged a niggle of doubt. Was it possible that he knew not the import of the gem?

“‘Tis an
aljofar,
” she explained patiently.

“Aye. Well do I know what the gem is called.”

“Know you its import, then?”

“What import?” Thierry asked, and his scowl deepened. “‘Tis a token for a woman, evidently.”

“Nay.” Kira shook her head firmly. “‘Tis more than that alone. An
aljofar
is a traditional gift from man to wife on their wedding day a gift to celebrate their vows and bless the match with good fortune.”

To Kira’s consternation Thierry smiled crookedly. “Then ‘tis an apt gift indeed,” he said smoothly. He lifted the chain toward her once more and the pearl rocked invitingly. “Would you not value the gem for me?”

“I would
not
value the pearl you would grant your bride,” Kira snapped. She would have rolled over again, but Thierry grasped her arm.

“You would wear it, then, without knowing its worth?” he asked. Kira glanced up to find a puzzled frown marring Thierry’s brow. When he spoke again, his voice was so low that he fairly undid her resolve to turn him away. “In truth, Kira, I do not understand your objection.”

It could not be. He could not have said that he intended for her to wear the
aljofar.
Mayhap she had misunderstood him.

But she had to know for certain. Kira swallowed nervously.

“To whom would you give this gem?” she asked, feeling her voice was far too unsteady under the circumstances. Thierry shook his head indulgently and pulled her closer.

“Kira,” he chided in a warm undertone. “Know you not that this
aljofar
is for you?”

“Tease me not,” Kira protested, but the warmth of Thierry’s fingers spread to span her arm more determinedly and his gaze bored into hers.

“No jest is this,” he said solemnly. “Always has it been for you but I found not the right moment to give it to you.”

“What of your bride?” Kira demanded.

“My bride has yet to accept my offer.” Pain flickered through Thierry’s eyes and he leaned so close to Kira that she could smell the heat from his skin. “Well it seems that she will keep me begging in her bed.”

Kira’s heart skipped a beat.

Thierry intended to wed her? It could not be. But a glimpse of the sincerity in his eyes told her ‘twas so, though Kira still fought against the conclusion. She would not believe what she most wanted to hear for fear she saw something where ‘twas not.

“I thought you were to wed another,” she protested weakly, but Thierry shook his head with maddening slowness.

“I would wed you,” he said firmly. Kira’s pulse rose in her ears

“But—” she protested. Thierry dropped one hard finger to rest gently against her lips and silence her words. Her gaze flew to his and he shook his head slowly.

“But
naught,
Kira. Will you accept my
aljofar
and be my wife?”

Kira’s gaze slanted to the gleaming pearl and she forced herself to breathe evenly. “Stole the gem, you did,” she accused in a last effort to prove her earlier conclusion right. Too much ‘twas to believe that Thierry would be hers alone. So long had she wished for exactly this that Kira could not believe ‘twas her heart’s own desire Thierry offered her. “‘Tis the bounty of an attack or some pilfered tribute you offer me, in truth,” she charged wildly.

“Nay, Kira,” Thierry replied with a resolve that told her he spoke the truth, though his next words challenged her conclusion. “Bought with hard coin ‘twas.”

She spared him a disparaging look. “Never would a Mongol buy a gem with hard coin,” she charged flatly. Thierry arched a single brow high.

“And never had I until I saw this pearl in Constantinople,” he confessed with utmost seriousness. “This I knew I had to see grace the lady who holds my heart.”

Kira’s heart pounded at this revelation. But a glance to Thierry’s expression told her he spoke the truth. Thierry loved her. She eyed the pearl and let her heart flood with hope that happiness might truly be hers.

“But a token ‘tis, Kira, and naught compared to what you give to me, should you consent to take my hand.” An appeal there was in his deep voice, an uncertainty that Kira had never expected to hear from him and of which she could not bear the sound.

Thierry still knew naught of her feelings. Kira looked at the gem and lifted the chain from his hand with trembling fingers. She rolled the gem between her fingers consideringly and felt Thierry’s breath against her ear.

“Marry me, Kira, and I will cherish you with all my heart and soul.”

But one doubt remained in Kira’s mind and she could not avoid giving it voice. “My father cherished me,” she said quietly. Thierry’s features immediately grew stern and he braced himself over her. His hands framed her face and he stared down into her eyes.

“Your sire knew naught of love,” he said urgently. “Never will you know abuse at my hand and never will I stand by to let another harm you. I love you, Kira, and that you may take as my pledge to see you safe and well.”

‘Twas an opportunity she could not refuse. Kira looked up into Thierry’s eyes and smiled as she reached up to smooth the frown of concern from his brow.

“Well it seems to me that this pearl is beyond price should it carry such a pledge from you,” she whispered unsteadily. Hope flickered in Thierry’s eyes.

“Nay, Kira,” he murmured. “Should you accept the token, ‘twill be but the setting for the richest treasure of all.”

Should she accept the token. Still he knew not what she desired. Kira reached up and framed his strong jaw in her hands, wanting no more than to erase his doubts.

“No greater honor can I imagine than to be your bride,” Kira said softly. “In truth, I have loved you long and wanted naught other than this.”

Relief flared in Thierry’s eyes and he scooped the gem jubilantly from her fingers. He slipped the chain over Kira’s neck and smiled down at her as he traced the line of the gold chain against her skin.

“My Kira,” he murmured wonderingly.

Kira smiled outright at his pleasure. “My Thierry,” she corrected impudently and threw her arms happily around his neck. He was here and he was hers. Truly she could ask no more of the fates.

“Kiss,” she demanded mischievously, readily recalling one of the first words she had learned in Frankish.

“Aye, a kiss would be in order.” Thierry’s eyes sparkled as he agreed.

“Mayhap more than one,” Kira teased. Thierry tipped his head back and laughed outright for the first time that she had ever heard him do so. No time had she to wonder at his happiness, though, for he was quick to comply with her request. Indeed, the force of his arms closing around her was fit to take her breath away, but Kira cared naught when she tasted his lips upon hers.

For her was the
aljofar,
Kira thought triumphantly. She arched against Thierry with pleasure as she tasted the kiss she had feared she would live without for the rest of her days.

For her was Thierry alone.

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