Heroes Return (19 page)

Now I was really starting to panic, because where else would he be? The only other place remaining was the kitchen, and he wasn’t there, either. If he was out in that wind doing something stupid and reckless, I was going to kill him.

The staff in the kitchen seemed disturbed by my presence. “Is there something I can fetch for you, ma’am?” one young girl asked. “If you tell me where you’ll be, I’ll bring it to you.”

No, damn it, I didn’t want anything. Did they think I ate all the time? “I’m looking for Source Karish,” I said. “Has he been here?”

The young woman exchanged a look with one of her colleagues.

What the hell did that mean? Was he sleeping with someone? That was damn fast, and he could have told me.

“He’s gambling with a few of the lads in their quarters, ma’am,” the servant said.

“Hush, Demis!” one of the older servants snapped.

“I don’t think a man should be playing loose with his money without his woman knowing,” the young girl retorted stoutly.

“Ah,” I said, nearly sighing with relief. “So he’s inside.” Really, that was all I cared about. Other than him sleeping with someone. I’d rather he’d been sleeping with someone than gallivanting about in the wind, but not by much. I did wonder how he’d gotten his first ante for the game. All of his coins had been stolen.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“What about Her Ladyship? I understand she was to be visiting some of the families today.”

“She’s not returned, but she would have gotten shelter in one of the cottages as soon as she heard the horn. I wouldn’t be concerned.”

I couldn’t help but be concerned, but there was nothing I could do about it. Having lost all interest in reading, I went back to my suite, lit a candle, sat on the floor and tried to stay calm.

The wreckage I could hear being done outside was unnerving. What if Fiona and Dane hadn’t been able to get to safety before the wind got really bad? What if they were both dead?

That would be horrible. I liked them both. And who would raise Stacin? It would be tragic if he ended up an orphan. Did Fiona have any relatives more reliable than Tarce and Daris? Did Dane?

What would happen to Flown Raven if both Fiona and Dane died? Fiona had said she had already chosen an heir, and I assumed she meant Stacin, but Stacin couldn’t take the title as a child. He was too young to learn the code. That would leave Flown Raven vulnerable to challenges to the title. It would be a nightmare.

As far as I knew, the only people who knew the code needed to inherit were Taro and his mother. He didn’t want the title. Maybe she would take it. I didn’t know if a title could go back up a generation once it had progressed to the next one. It seemed to me that if that were possible, the Dowager Duchess would have taken the title once her elder son had died.

It was so frustrating to worry about things about which I could do nothing.

I didn’t see Taro until I went to the sitting room for supper. Tarce and Reid were there. Fiona and Dane were not.

“I understand you and Academic Reid were hard at work all day in the library,” Taro commented, the faintest edge to his voice.

“I wasn’t in the library long at all.”

“You should not be disturbing Reid in his work.”

Condescending prat.

“Not at all,” Reid said. “I find Shield Mallorough’s presence very restful.”

Restful. Hm. Interesting description. I wasn’t sure I liked it.

I saw Taro’s eyes narrow briefly. Then he smiled brightly. “Not too restful, I hope. You wouldn’t want to fall asleep in the middle of translating a sentence.”

Tarce snorted. I had no idea why. The comment hadn’t been funny. Taro usually had a much more delicate touch.

“Lee, my dear,” said Taro. “You shouldn’t be disturbing the academic this way. He’ll never get his work finished and then he’ll never go home.”

And Taro really wanted Reid to go home. He was being ridiculous.

“While I would do nothing to extend my time here,” said Reid, “I’m in no particular rush. And perhaps Shield Mallorough can provide some useful input.”

Taro grinned. “She’s convinced you she is an expert in history, has she?”

Hey, I knew more about history than a lot of people did.

“She doesn’t need to. Good ideas can come from anywhere.” He wiped his mouth with a serviette. “Speaking of which, I should get back to it. If you all will excuse me.”

Tarce watched him leave, then he sat back in his chair, crossed his arms and watched Taro and me.

Just what did he find so interesting?

“What are you going to do this evening, my love?” Taro asked me.

Oh, no, don’t you dare use that careless, flyaway tone with me, not after what you just said. “I’ll be in the library.” That had been my original intention, after all. I wasn’t going to change it just because he was being ridiculous.

“Then I’ll find someone to play some cards,” Taro said in a challenging tone, as though he expected me to object.

“You do that. Have fun.”

And then I was left with Tarce. He smirked at me. I glared at him.

“I thought Shields were supposed to know exactly what to say in all occasions to make everyone feel better.”

We were, actually. I’d never been good at it. My first, strongest impulse was to tell him to shut up, and that would only prove my point. “Have a good evening,” I said instead, and I left the room.

This behavior on Taro’s part was cause for concern. His dislike of Doran, a man with whom I had kept company in High Scape, had been out of proportion, but it had had a logical basis. Doran and I had had a relationship before Taro and I started sleeping together, and Doran, though I hadn’t been entirely aware of it at the time, had been trying to rekindle that connection.

With Reid, however, there was nothing. He wasn’t interested in me, and I wasn’t interested in him. There hadn’t been any kind of spark when we met. I hadn’t been engaging in behavior that was the slightest bit inappropriate. There was a complete absence of reason for Taro’s behavior. So what did that mean? Was I not supposed to talk to anyone ever again, just to spare Taro’s feelings?

It was so strange. I’d have never thought of Taro as a possessive lover. He’d never appeared so about anyone else, at least not in my hearing.

I did go back to the library. Neither Reid nor the Guards were there. I spent some time trying to find the novel I’d been reading before, a substantial task with the mess the Guards had made. I was unable to find it. The place was a mess. So I decided instead to put the books back on the shelves and start to organize them. It was engrossing work and I felt I was doing something productive. I spent a few hours at it, though, without getting a whole lot done. It was a big job.

Twice more I heard Radia blow the horn. Clearly, the wind was still vicious. I wished Fiona and Dane were back in the house. It was too easy to imagine the worst.

In time, I went up to the suite I shared with Taro. I was sort of dreading it. What if Taro was still in his odd mood? I hated arguing right before bed. It made it hard to sleep.

I entered the sitting room of our suite. I noticed immediately that one of the heavier chairs had been shifted around to face the fireplace, and there was a basin of some sort on the floor before it. There was a pot on the hearth, and as far as I could tell there was nothing more interesting than water in it. Towels were warming above it, and towels were laid out on the floor around the chair.

“Take off your boots.” It was Taro, coming into the room from the hall with a bottle of wine and two glasses in his hands.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Just take off your boots.” He put the wine and glasses on a small table next to the chair. “And your stockings, then sit down.”

I did as ordered, relaxing into the comfortable chair. Taro went into the bedchamber for a few moments and returned with some odd little earthenware bottles I didn’t remember seeing before. He put the bottles on the table next to the wine. Then he filled the basin with the contents of the pot, testing the temperature. He picked up one of the earthenware bottles and poured something amber into the water. Immediately, a fresh, woody scent drifted into the air.

With a light touch he prodded my feet into the water. It was just shy of too hot, and all the muscles in my legs were forced to relax. “What’s all this for?” What did I do to deserve it? I thought he was angry with me.

“Because I feel like doing it.” He poured a glass of white wine and placed it in my hands. Then, after rolling up his sleeves, he poured a clear liquid from another earthenware bottle into the palm of his hand. He rubbed his hands together, then put my wet right foot against his left thigh.

He rubbed the oil over my skin, calf and foot, gently working the muscles. It felt marvelous. “When did you learn to do this?” For while Taro had rubbed my foot before, he hadn’t done it with quite that level of skill.

“Remember when we went to Williams’s bordello?” Taro asked.

“Very much.” It had been, after all, the only time I’d ever gone to such a place. It hadn’t met expectations.

“I went back there to learn how to properly rub feet.”

I frowned at him. “You went to a bordello?”

“Just to learn about foot rubbing.”

What in the world for? “And nothing else went on there?”

“Of course not.”

It was a reasonable question, I thought. And if he could get strange over my merely talking to a man, surely I had good reason to be suspicious of his going to a place where sex was sold.

Not that I actually did suspect him of anything. If he said nothing went on, then nothing went on. However, I felt like pretending to disbelieve him, after his behavior earlier that evening.

He sighed. “I’m trying to do something nice for you here. Can’t you just enjoy it?”

I didn’t know if I could, but I could see Taro had gone to a lot of effort. I didn’t want to spoil it any more than it had already been spoiled. I relaxed in my chair and sipped at my wine. Taro always remembered I preferred white.

He firmly pressed his thumb to the bottom of my foot, and arousal thrummed through me. I emitted a gasp and Taro gave me a cocky grin. “Told you I went there to learn,” he almost taunted as he did it again, with identical results.

“I approve of acquiring knowledge.” I sighed, and he began to work on the other foot.

He really was so good with his hands. It seemed that every time I turned around, he could do something new. Did he understand how talented he was? Maybe he didn’t, and maybe that was part of the problem. Maybe I should be telling him that sort of thing, even though he never seemed to believe me when I complimented him. Maybe I just didn’t do it often enough.

Who would have thought the Stallion of the Triple S would need to be reassured about his abilities?

Taro moved the basin away, and he started massaging the muscles in my thighs, expert strokes by long, golden hands. I suspected I knew where this was going and I heartily approved. The chair would make for an interesting location.

And then we heard a noise. Taro looked around the chair and scowled. “Yes?” he demanded.

That meant someone was there. I could have died of embarrassment. I rearranged my skirt.

“Academic Reid would like Shield Mallorough to visit with him as early as possible tomorrow,” I heard Lila say.

I could see Taro stiffening. “I’ll see she gets the message,” Taro answered, barely hanging on to his pleasant expression. “You can go now.” He straightened away from the chair, cleaned his hands on the towel and went to the bedchamber. I waited a little while, but he did not come back out.

Lila had the worst timing in the world.

Chapter Fifteen

I was pleased to see Fiona and Dane in the family sitting room early the next morning, enjoying their breakfast with Stacin. It would have been horrible to have something happen to them. “I’m relieved you suffered no injuries yesterday,” I said to them as I sipped on some excellent coffee. It seemed they always had excellent coffee.

“It was a near thing,” Fiona answered. “There was all sorts of debris whipping around. In fact, a wagon went flying by. We were lucky we just happened to be out of its path. I doubt we would have been able to get out of the way fast enough.”

That was insane. Surely the horn should have been blown before wagons started flipping around.

It would have been interesting to see.

“Where did you end up staying?” I asked.

“With the Isha family. They were very good to us. They fed us well. We sang songs and told stories. They told us that there were fewer fish running this year—everyone seems compelled to tell us that—but they were perfectly nice about it.”

“Dane has said that the books say the fishing is the same.”

“Well, they’re bringing in the same numbers in their hauls, but we had a particularly harsh winter last year. That usually means less fish are born. The problem is that while they’re catching as much fish as usual, there are fewer fish than usual in the water. That worries them. It shouldn’t, because it’s happened in prior years, but they’re uncertain about me as a titleholder and they’re looking for bad signs.”

“I see,” I said, though I really didn’t. There were fewer fish than usual, but the fishers were catching the same amount. How did that work?

It was starting to disturb me, all the examples of the lack of confidence the tenants felt in Fiona. I wanted her to do well. The people deserved that. I wanted her to justify Taro’s choice of her.

And I didn’t want the Dowager Duchess to be right.

Bailey came into the room. “The Wind Watcher was wondering if Her Grace is receiving.”

“Oh,” said Fiona. “Certainly, if she doesn’t mind an audience.”

“I shall inquire.” Bailey sailed back out of the room.

I wondered if Taro and I should leave. I didn’t want to, having dished up a plate full of eggs and cheese and bread. I looked at Fiona and Dane, and neither of them was looking back at me. So I sat still and kept eating.