Dark Rider (27 page)

“That’s very selfish of you,” Cassie said, smiling. “Think of her. How can her body breathe swathed in all that material? It’s almost as bad as the gowns Clara chose for me.”

“Impossible,” Jared said as he approached them.

Cassie’s smile faded and she instinctively braced herself. It was the first word he’d spoken to her since they’d left the dock. “Then you must approve of Lani’s plan.”

He frowned. “What plan?”

“Why, Lani thinks that sarongs would be much more appropriate garb for your servants.”

“Not bloody likely,” he said distinctly. “No sarongs. Not here. Do you understand?”

“Lani was joking.”

“But are you?”

She turned away and changed the subject. “Where’s the stable? I have to get Kapu settled.”

He would not be deterred. “Were you joking, Cassie?”

“Perhaps. Your England is so cold, it’s no wonder everyone bundles up.” Her glance fell on a long, low outbuilding across the courtyard. “Is that the stable?” When Jared nodded, she started toward it, brushing aside the young boy who rushed forward to take Kapu’s reins. “Don’t bother going with me. I don’t need your help.”

“How kind of you to dismiss me,” Jared said. “Will you go with her, Bradford? I’ll escort Lani to her quarters.”

“Delighted,” Bradford replied. “I’m very proud of
the horses in that stable, as I had a hand in choosing a good many of them. I think even Cassie will have to admit their excellence.”

“Not if they don’t wear sarongs,” Jared said sarcastically.

Bradford chuckled as he moved after Cassie. “Good God, what a picture that brings to mind.” He opened the door of the stable and stepped aside for Cassie and Kapu to pass. “I’m afraid we’ve irritated dear Jared. I’ve noticed a certain lack of humor in him since you appeared in our lives.” He closed the stable door behind them and gazed at Cassie expectantly. “Well?”

“It’s so … clean.” An understatement: the stable was bright and well scrubbed; even the brass latches on the stalls gleamed as if just polished. The main stable area was enormous; spacious stalls accommodated at least thirty horses. Through an arched opening in the west wall she glimpsed a carriage room that was even larger than the stable.

“Jared believes that cleanliness keeps animals healthy. He’s very particular.” Bradford stopped before an empty stall. “Will this do? No horse on either side of him. Your Kapu isn’t used to company.”

“It will be fine.” She led Kapu into the stall and began unsaddling him. The familiar duty was soothing, as comforting as the smell of horse and straw that surrounded her. Her sense of strangeness and tension began gradually to ebb away. “It’s like a palace compared to his stable at the cottage. Thank you, Bradford.”

“My pleasure.” He leaned against the stall gate, watching her. “Exceptional animal. How fast is he?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never timed him.” She smiled
over her shoulder. “We don’t have horse races in Hawaii.”

“Will you let me time him?”

She frowned. “Why?”

“Because I’ve an insatiable curiosity where horses are concerned. I have to know everything about them.” He smiled coaxingly. “Please?”

She softened as she looked at him. Bradford had never been anything but kind to her, and it was a small thing to ask. “If you like.”

“Tomorrow morning. Eleven?”

She nodded. “But it makes no difference how fast he is.”

“It does to me.” His smile was luminous. “Speed is part of the glory. Not all of it, however. There’s nothing more beautiful in the world than a fine horse running like the wind.”

She had a sudden memory of Kapu streaking down the beach, mane blowing, muscles bunching, gathering, gleaming with every powerful stride. “No, there isn’t,” she said softly.

They exchanged a glance of complete understanding.

Bradford nodded and straightened away from the gate of the stall. “I’ll leave you to get him settled. I’ll go see if Lani is comfortable and then meet you in the front hall of the castle in an hour. Will that be enough time?”

She shook her head. “I’ll find my own way. Kapu may need me to stay with him.” She began to wipe the stallion down.

“Well, promise you won’t stay the night. There’s nothing here that can harm him.”

“If he settles well.”

“Please make the effort. Jared’s stable boys aren’t
accustomed to ladies occupying the horses’ stalls. It will disconcert them.”

She grimaced and didn’t answer.

“I didn’t think that would be a convincing argument.” Bradford started to turn away.

“Wait!”

He glanced at her inquiringly.

“Which horse is Morgana?”

He smiled. “Ah, the Queen? I should have known Jared would have told you about her.” He motioned for her to follow him. “Come see her. She’s at the end of the stable.”

Cassie gave Kapu a pat and left the stall. “He didn’t really tell me anything about her.” She had stopped him, afraid she would be drawn further into the net by confidences. She felt no such threat with Bradford and was curious to see the mare Jared had said was finer than Kapu. “Why do you call her the Queen?”

“You’ll see.” Bradford stepped aside and gestured to the horse in the end stall. “Her Majesty.”

Cassie inhaled sharply and took a step closer. She was a truly beautiful bay, much smaller than Kapu, but every line of her body sang with beauty, strength, and power. She could indeed see why Bradford called her the Queen; she had never seen a horse with such a regal air. “Lovely,” she murmured. She reached out a hand to touch the mare’s muzzle, but Morgana shied away. “Good,” she told her softly. “You have spirit and you’re particular. I should have let you get to know me first.”

“At least she didn’t take your hand off at the wrist, as your stallion would have done,” Bradford said.

“But she’s not docile.” Dear heaven, she was beautiful. “Will she let anyone but Jared ride her?”

“I’ve ridden her on occasion. When Her Majesty
permits. She definitely has a mind of her own.” He drew closer and held out his hand and, when Morgana didn’t flinch, began to stroke her muzzle. “It’s like sailing on a smooth sea. I imagine the ride on your Kapu is a world of difference.”

“Yes.” Riding Kapu was like harnessing a storm—exciting, a little unstable, but exhilarating power in every stride. “Very different. How long has Jared had her?”

“Four years. He got her as a foal from Sheikh Galen Ben Hassan of Sedikhan.”

“Sedikhan?” She frowned, trying to place it. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“Not many people have. It’s a barbarous desert land very far from here.” He smiled. “The sheikh also has his barbaric moments, but Jared and he hit it off. He has a magnificent stable, and horsemen always have common ground.”

“And he bought her from this sheikh?”

“No, the sheikh wouldn’t sell. Jared won him in a wager.”

“What kind of wager?”

For the first time Bradford looked a trifle discomforted. “Just a wager,” he said vaguely.

“What kind of—”

“No,” he said with firmness. “Forget it. I should not have mentioned it. Such details are not for your ears.”

She was tempted to pursue the matter, but it was evident he would not be moved. “I’m surprised he wanted a filly so badly.”

“Look at her.”

“As a foal she wouldn’t have looked like this. There’s nothing more awkward and disproportionate.”

“Jared has infallible instincts where horses are concerned. Besides, he saw the dam. He knew Morgana would be a queen.” He glanced at her sideways. “And fast. She’s the fastest horse in England. There’s not a man in the ton who wouldn’t give his soul to own her.”

“Jared told me he races her.”

“Of course, Jared is a very competitive man. He enjoys winning.”

She already knew that about him. “But does Morgana?”

He nodded. “Oh, yes, racing is bred in the horses of Sedikhan. It offends her royal dignity to be put in the same class as lesser beings, but she loves leaving them in the dust.”

It was an amusing picture, and a smile tugged at Cassie’s lips as she visualized the proud disdain of the filly. “I like her.” She chuckled. “Not that she cares.”

“She will care. Let her get to know you. She has a great heart.”

But Cassie might not be here long enough for the magnificent filly to get to know her, she thought with a pang. A month or two and she might be in France or, if all went well, on her way back to Hawaii. Not that she regretted it, she assured herself quickly. She wanted nothing more than to be gone from here and return to her old life. It was just that the filly was extraordinary.…

But not as wonderful as Kapu. Kapu was her own, her heart. She had no need for another horse when she had the stallion. When this was over, she would take him back to Hawaii and she would find him a mare worthy of him and start her horse farm. She wouldn’t be—

A mare worthy of him.

She stared at Morgana, stunned. Where would she find a mare worthier of Kapu than Morgana? Perfection and perfection. Royal rogue and haughty majesty.

“What is it?” Bradford was staring at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” It was a lie. Something was very wrong. Now that she had seen Morgana, she would never be satisfied with another mare with which to breed Kapu. Well, she would have to be satisfied with a lesser consort. She knew she could not have Morgana. But, dear God, how she
wanted
her for Kapu.

“Don’t compare the two,” Bradford said. “They’re both splendid in their own way.”

He thought she was having doubts about Kapu’s superiority and trying to be kind. “There’s nothing to compare.” She smiled with an effort and turned away from the mare. “I have to get back to Kapu.”

“I suppose we aren’t going to see you at dinner?”

“No, even if I return to the castle, I’ll eat in my quarters from now on.”

“I thought that particular social pretense was at an end.” He paused. “Jared won’t like it, you know.”

“Then he doesn’t have to feed me.”

“I realize you eat and sleep horses, but I believe you’d find hay and grain a poor repast.”

She reached Kapu’s stall and resumed wiping him.

Bradford sighed as he moved toward the stable door. “I suppose this means Lani won’t join us either.”

“Lani makes her own decisions. You’ll have to ask her.”

“Oh, be assured, I will.”

Cassie finished wiping Kapu down and threw aside the toweling. He wasn’t as nervous as she had feared. Perhaps because he was so glad to get back on land.
She stepped closer and laid her head against Kapu’s mane. “It’s a fine, lovely stall, but don’t get too used to it,” she whispered. “We don’t belong here. We’ve still got to find our own place.”

She heard a soft neigh from down the corridor. Morgana? It could be any of a dozen horses, but she instinctively knew it was the mare.

Kapu went still and his ears pricked forward.

“She’s beautiful, boy. But she doesn’t belong to us either. It’s just as well she’s too far away for you to see her.”

But she felt an aching sense of loss as she remembered those beautiful lines, the proud lift of the mare’s head. What a pair they would have made together.

The distant crunch of footsteps …

Cassie drowsily lifted her head from the straw. She had been just about to fall asleep when the sound had disturbed her. It was probably nothing. A young stable boy had come to check on the horses shortly before dark, but after she had sent him to his bed, there had been no one.

A soft jingle of bells.

It was coming from the carriage room.

A door slammed!

She sat bolt upright, her heart pounding wildly. It didn’t have to be anything ominous. She knew nothing about castles, yet it didn’t seem likely that anyone would be wandering about the stables in the middle of the night.

There’s not a man in the ton who wouldn’t give his soul to have Morgana
.

Horse thieves.

It was certainly a possibility. If Morgana was considered
such a jewel, then there would always be men who would pay to obtain the treasure.

She found herself rising to her feet even before she made a conscious decision. She would never let them have that beautiful filly. The mare belonged to Jared, and here she was treated like the queen she was.

Kapu neighed softly as she left the stall.

“Shh,” she whispered. Her hand was shaking as she lit the lantern and took it down from the post. She had no weapon, but the heavy lantern might be used as a bludgeon. “I’ll be right back.”

Why was she whispering? If the intruders heard her, they might think they were discovered and flee. She moved toward the cavernous opening leading to the carriage house.

Maybe they were already gone. After all, a door had slammed. Perhaps they had taken whatever booty they had wanted and left.

Let them be gone, she prayed as she crossed the threshold of the carriage house.

The light from her lantern caused the dozens of coaches and phaetons to cast eerie shadows on the wall—giant monsters ready to pounce on her own shadow as she slowly walked down the long aisle.

A sharp metallic squeak.

She skidded to a halt. Where had it come from? Her throat was dry with fear as she called, “I know you’re here. Where are—”

The door of the carriage on her left flew open!

She caught only a fleeting glimpse of a slim, boyish figure as it launched itself at her.

The breath left her body as she hit the floor.

Her assailant was immediately astraddle her.

She fought darkness and struck out.

He grunted in pain as she connected with his eye.

She rolled over, taking him with her. Now he was beneath her, and she reached for the lantern that had dropped from her hand. She lifted the lantern. If she could knock him out and then run to the castle for help …

“Blast it, wait! I give up.”

Cassie froze in place. The voice had been furious, disgusted, and undoubtedly feminine. Slowly, she lowered the lantern and looked down at her attacker.

Green eyes glared up at her from a face as angelic as the ones in the pictures in Lani’s Bible. Short pale-gold curls rioted around the girl’s thin face. She looked a mere child—certainly no more than fifteen or sixteen. “Let me up!”