Heroes Return (11 page)

“Shh!” A few more moments of dark silence dragged by, then Fiona shouted, “We’re in here! We’re in the crystal cave!”

Her voice seemed to echo in the dark. Once it finally faded, I listened for any new sounds. I still heard nothing.

Could she be hearing things, hearing what she desperately wanted to hear? Maybe she was more frightened than she was letting on. Fear could do strange things to a person’s mind.

“There it is again,” she said.

I still heard nothing. Was I going deaf? Maybe it was my own mind upon which fear was working.

“Over here!” Fiona shouted.

“Who’s making that racket?” a voice thundered out.

“Dane!” Fiona sighed, and I felt her rise to her feet.

“You’re getting loud in your old age, woman.”

“You’ve never complained before.”

“What did you do with the rope?”

I could see a glow then, and it was only then that I felt a little spurt of joy and relief. We were finally found. The glow grew stronger and came around a corner. It was Dane, Taro following behind.

Thank Zaire. I gratefully climbed to my feet, which was harder than it should have been. My legs felt numb.

Fiona threw herself into Dane’s arms, which seemed to surprise him. “What took you so long?” she demanded.

“We didn’t think you were still in here.”

“Why the hell not?”

“The rope was gone. What did you do with it?”

“We didn’t do anything with it. Can we just get out of here?”

I was all for that.

Taro crooked an arm for me to take. I was grateful for it. I was stumbling a little on my numb legs. “Are you all right?” he asked.

I was then. Also extremely relieved. I had been really starting to worry. “Aye. Wouldn’t want to have waited any longer, though.” We followed Fiona and Dane, the latter of whom was coiling a rope as they followed it back to the mouth of the cave.

“What was that about the rope?” I asked him.

“The rope you tied to the peg was gone. That’s why we took so long. After an hour we came back, and found the rope gone, so we figured the two of you were out and about somewhere and we didn’t need to worry. But a few more hours passed, and we asked around a bit if anyone had seen you, and no one had. Dane decided to go as far as the crystal cave, because he knew Fiona had wanted us to see it.”

“Did you get a chance to see it?” I hadn’t noticed him react to the cavern at all. “It is truly beautiful.”

“I really don’t give a damn. I hate it in here.”

I would tell him about the cavern and the machine at a better time. “I don’t know what happened with the rope. We had it with us all the way to the machine, but when we looked for it again, it was gone.”

No one commented, but I supposed it was a mystery best left for another time. I was desperate to get out, too. In fact, once we were finally out in the afternoon air, I drew in a deep breath as though my breathing had been restricted before.

And despite my sincere worry about the matter, my trousers were unscathed.

Chapter Eight

We returned to the manor to find that a guest had arrived. Alex Reid, the Alex Reid, had appeared while the men were out looking for us. I was surprised by the little spurt of excitement I felt at the news. I didn’t get excited about people. It was embarrassing.

“Thank you, Bailey,” Fiona said. “If you could let Academic Reid know that I need to freshen up and that I’ll be with him as quickly as I can.”

“Of course, my lady.”

Although I hadn’t seen a mirror, I was sure I looked a complete mess. “If you all would excuse me,” I said, and I headed for the closest access to stairs.

“What’s going on?” Taro asked, striding along behind me.

“Academic Alex Reid,” I said, taking the stairs in the court room.

“What about him?”

“He’s Academic Alex Reid!”

“So what?” he growled.

“He’s a brilliant historian, and an excellent writer. I can’t believe he’s here.” I’d had so many questions to ask him while I was still a student. I couldn’t remember any of them right then, damn it.

“Sounds pretty boring to me,” Taro muttered.

“Only because you don’t enjoy history. Among those who do, he’s highly admired.”

We entered our suite.

Which had been ransacked. Cupboards were left open, knickknacks were out of place, clothes had been pulled out of the wardrobe and drawers, and the mattress had been flipped and left half off its frame. All I could do was stare, stunned.

Taro swore at length, his diatribe finally ending with “. . . damned Guards.”

“That’s who you think did this?”

“Who else could it be? Servants would only be looking for trinkets, and they wouldn’t have to search the whole room to find them. They would have left everything as they found it to avoid immediate detection. Only the Guards wouldn’t care if we knew it was them who had done this.”

Bastards.

I went to the overmantel and unlocked the front portion. All the casting tools appeared undisturbed. “It might be a good thing they searched our rooms. Now they won’t suspect us.”

“They had no right to do this,” Taro snapped.

“Of course not. But the fact that they did might make everyone safe.”

“I still think you should write a letter of complaint to the Triple S council.”

“Certainly.” Not that I thought it would accomplish anything. The Triple S seemed to be powerless in the face of the Emperor’s encroachment.

We spent some time straightening up the suite. I felt odd knowing people had been rifling through our things. Had they gone through my correspondence? I still had a half-written report to the Triple S in the secretary. They had no right to be reading that. I would have to start locking the secretary.

I washed up, and when I changed into fresh clothing I felt uneasy knowing unfamiliar hands had touched them. If I hadn’t thought it was ridiculously extravagant, I would have requisitioned an entire new wardrobe. The clothing felt dirty against my skin.

Taro freshened up, too, changing into trim black trousers and a gorgeous red shirt, leaving his luscious black hair loose. He looked delicious. I wondered why he was making so much of an effort for a man he claimed to have never heard of. Then again, Taro always did his best to look good. We went down to the sitting room.

Academic Alex Reid was a man in his late forties. I knew that from reading his autobiographical works. What I saw was a tall, lean man with shoulder-length brown hair, graying in places, with brown eyes and rather pale skin. He was almost plain, except when he first saw us. Because then he smiled, and it was a warm, spontaneous smile that completely transformed him into something lovely.

“You must be Source Karish and Shield Mallorough,” he said, holding out a forearm.

“I fear I must,” Taro said in an almost flirtatious tone that I hadn’t heard from him in a while. “For such is what I was born. It’s such an honor to meet you.” And he gave the man a bone-melting smile.

What the hell was he playing at?

I stepped forward. “Please call me Dunleavy,” I said, offering my forearm. “I am a great admirer of your work.”

“I have to admit I always love hearing that,” he said.

“You made an investigation into the evolution of the tax laws seem interesting. That must have been quite a challenge.”

He laughed, and it was a delightful sound.

“It looks like you have been grossly neglected,” Taro commented, cutting into Reid’s laughter. He was looking at a tray with an empty plate and an empty cup. “Shall I ring for more?”

“Truly, I’ve been very comfortable. I’m happy to be here under any circumstances. Just to be given a chance to look at Flown Raven is an unanticipated opportunity.”

We were all still standing, which looked silly, so I sat down, and the men followed suit. “Why is Flown Raven so interesting?”

“It is believed to be one of the areas most settled by the First Landed. Who knows what kinds of discoveries might be waiting here? Historians have been trying to explore this area for decades, but the previous titleholders wouldn’t allow it. To be the one given this chance is an enormous honor.”

“Are you going to write a book about Flown Raven?” I asked. That would be exciting.

“It depends on what I find.” He looked at Taro. “Source Karish, it would be invaluable to get your input.”

Taro gave him a languid smile. “How so?”

“You lived here as a child, did you not?”

“Ah, my dear man, that was so very long ago, but it will be my pleasure to do all that I can for you.”

I really didn’t like the way Taro was talking to Reid.

Fiona and Dane came in then, and it was a good thing, too, because I was getting confused. Introductions were made, and Dane served liquor from one of the side bars.

“I would like to thank you again,” said Reid once we were settled again. “To have found that book, that is exceptionally good luck. I am honored to be invited.”

“You should be honored,” Daris said as she stepped off the last step at the back of the room. “I live here and I’m never invited to anything. I might as well be Shintaro when he was a child, locked in a room and forgotten.”

I was stunned that she would say that in front of a stranger and an outsider. What a bitch.

Reid was obviously confused. He frowned and glanced at Taro, quickly glancing away.

“I’m starting to understand why you drink so much, cousin,” Taro drawled. “Even you find you unpleasant.”

She sent him a hand gesture that none of us needed translating. “So why are you really here?” she asked Reid.

“I don’t understand,” the professor said.

“You’re living off my sister just to read a book? I don’t think so.”

“Some find the study of history very valuable.”

Daris snorted into her glass of whiskey. I wondered if that hurt. Whiskey was a nasty drink that burned like hell. “Fiona doesn’t.”

“Please feel free to ignore my sister, Academic Reid. Everyone else does.”

“You’re such a fraud,” said Daris. “You love history so much? You admire this historian so much? Name something he’s written.”

I didn’t blame Fiona for not being able to come up with a title right then. I had read many of Reid’s treatises and couldn’t remember the exact title of any of them, and I wasn’t the one being put on the spot.

“I never claimed to be a historian myself,” said Fiona. “We have found ancient things on this land and it would be idiotic not to have those things examined by experts. Now, are you here for any reason other than to cause a scene?”

“No,” said Daris, and she crossed the room to sit too closely beside Reid. “You’re not good-looking,” she announced. “But you are a fresh face, and you are unescorted. Has Shintaro offered you his bed yet?”

Reid blushed. I found that odd in a man his age.

“That’s enough, Daris,” Taro snapped.

“Don’t even think you have any influence over me, Shintaro,” Daris retorted. “You gave up any chance of that when you handed the title to my younger sister.”

“What do you do anyway?” Taro demanded. “Do you just lie about all day getting drunk?”

Daris ignored him. “Really, sister, tell the delicate historian why he’s really here.”

“He is here because we found machinery and a book we believe to be extremely old, and his name was recommended to us,” Fiona answered with forced patience. “I really have no idea what you’re insinuating.”

“Of course not,” Daris sneered.

Really, what was she hinting at? What was so unusual about a wealthy titleholder hiring an expert to evaluate unexpected finds on her land? Or was Daris just making accusations for the sake of causing trouble? She seemed the sort to do that.

“How thoughtless of me, Academic.” Fiona suddenly stood and reach for the bellpull. “You haven’t been shown to your room.”

“No, not at all,” said Reid, which didn’t quite make sense, but I had a feeling he was still flustered by Daris’s behavior. A maid, Vora, came to show him to his room, and I had the feeling he was happy to escape.

I was trying to think of a way that I could escape, too.

“What are you up to this time?” Fiona demanded of Daris.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, sister.”

“Are you going to drive him away just because you can?”

“What an excellent idea. I never would have thought of it myself.”

“Did you take our rope today?” Fiona demanded. Taro and Dane looked as shocked by the question as I felt.

“Rope?” said Daris.

“You knew we were going to the caves. You would have seen Shintaro come back without us. It would be your idea of fun to take the rope while we were inside.”

“True,” said Daris. “But, to my shame, I didn’t. I didn’t actually know where you were. I don’t spend all my time watching you. You’re not that interesting.”

Really? Then why was she wasting her time with us right then?

But I couldn’t believe anyone would deliberately remove the rope. That was a horrible and dangerous joke to play on someone. It was possible that we could have been permanently lost in there and died. How could anyone think that was funny?

Unless someone had done it with the intention of harming either Fiona or me. But that was ridiculous. No one would dare injure a duchess, and I hadn’t been in Flown Raven long enough to seriously annoy anyone.

“If I find out you did it, I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” Daris challenged with a complete lack of concern.

“I’ll ban you from Westsea and from Centerfield. Who’ll pay for your alcohol then?”

Why were they having this dispute in front of the rest of us? Had they forgotten we were there?

“You would never banish me,” Daris said with ridiculous confidence. I’d certainly banish her. “You’re too obsessed with things like family and honor.”