Heroes Return (30 page)

“Aye. Four spells successful, so far.” I grinned.

“What kind of spells?”

“Really simple, harmless ones.” That thrilled me all the same. I couldn’t believe I’d managed to do it. I hadn’t expected to be able to do it.

“You look almost gleeful about it,” he accused me.

“Why shouldn’t I? It’s a new skill.”

“A skill that will get you in trouble.”

“That doesn’t stop you,” I reminded him.

“That’s different.”

“How?”

“What I do is a natural outgrowth of what I’m supposed to do.”

“There are many who would disagree. Which is why you’re so desperate to keep it hidden.”

“Is that why you’re doing this? To be even with me?”

“Of course not. I’m not in competition with you.” What a horrible thing to suggest.

“Then what is this all about?”

“I’m bored. And it’s interesting.”

“It’s illegal.”

Well, yes. There was always that little hiccup. “Nobody here thinks it’s illegal.”

“Nobody here makes the laws.”

“But it’s up to the people here to enforce them, and they’re not going to. Besides, I’m not going to make it obvious that I’m doing it.” Though talking about it in the middle of the ballroom wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done. But really, no one around the area was going to care. No one about seemed to think much of the new Emperor or his laws, and it appeared no one was giving the slightest assistance to the Imperial Guards.

Who were not present. Interesting.

“I can’t believe you’re risking our lives to play with this garbage.”

“We won’t be killed even if we get caught.”

“We’ll get sent to a cold site.”

“And would that be so bad? You hate it here.”

“That hasn’t got anything to do with it. You’re flinging this thing around with no concern for the repercussions.”

“How is this any different from you creating disasters whenever you feel like it?”

He opened his mouth to give an inadequate response to my valid point, but he didn’t speak as we realized people were applauding. Apparently, we had finished the dance and bowed to each other without noticing. That was embarrassing.

Taro escorted me to the side of the room, and as soon as we were free of the dancers swinging into circles, Fiona was grabbing his other arm. “I’m getting a crack at you before everyone else stakes their claim,” she announced, and he was gone.

Leaving me, I noticed, beside Tarce. Who wouldn’t ask me to dance. And I wasn’t about to ask him.

“Look at them all,” he drawled as he watched the dancers. “Wearing their finest. Straining their minds for witty conversation. Why do you think they do it?”

Why did anyone do anything? “There must be something about it they enjoy.”

He chuckled. “You are naive for one so worldly.”

I wouldn’t have thought of myself as worldly.

“No,” he continued. “They all want something.”

Most people did. “Such as what?”

“Allies in their little games. Lovers. Making their power and appeal known.”

“I see.”

“And then there are all the unmarried guests,” he added. “They’re all here for me.”

I didn’t bother to fight a smile then. “Really.”

“You think I’m being arrogant.”

“I do indeed.”

“The Westsea family is the premier family in the area. The title itself is among the highest in the world.”

“You don’t have the title.”

“No, but being as close to it as I am is appealing enough to most people hoping to marry. Look at them,” he said with disgust. “Eyeing me like I’m a horse at market.”

So I looked. It was true that some young people were sending covetous glances toward young Lord Tarce. Many were doing the same with Taro, although he was pretending to ignore them as he laughed with his cousin. The majority of people, however, seemed to be looking only at the people they were with, which made sense.

“And what do they see?” Tarce said. “What I look like. What I have. Nothing else.”

“What else do you have to offer?” Ouch. I really hadn’t meant to say that out loud. He glared at me. I kind of deserved that, but it was a valid question. “Look at how you treat people. Like they’re beneath your notice. Like their concerns are too trivial for you to bother with. You’re not going to find someone interested in your personality. Except people with defective personalities of their own who like to be abused.”

“What the hell gives you the right to talk to me like that?” he demanded.

“You being ridiculous.”

“Remember your place, Shield,” he growled.

“I do,” I said. “And it is not beneath you.”

He walked off. As far as I was concerned, that meant I won.

“That was cruel,” a low voice said from behind me. I turned. It was Radia.

“It was true,” I said.

“And you think the truth can’t be cruel?”

No, but the fact that it was true and that the person receiving it was being an ass made it forgivable. “Do you think he’ll contemplate what I said?”

“No. He’s a young man. It’s against their nature to listen to anyone, especially young women.”

“Is that why you’re hiding from him?”

She smiled. “I am a responsible Wind Watcher. I hide from no one.”

“Uh-huh.” I wondered how she, surrounded by the noise of the ball, would be able to perceive the warning signs of a coming wind, but to ask would be to imply she didn’t know her own business. “I think you would be good for him.”

“Of course I would be, but he’d be terrible for me.”

I couldn’t deny that.

The music stopped midpiece. That got everyone’s attention. His boots thudding against the marble floor, Bailey walked from the musicians’ alcove to the principal entrance to the ballroom. Over the whispers he announced, “Her Grace, the Dowager Duchess of Westsea. The Honorable Lady Simone of Eastbrook.”

Oh, of course. How did I manage to forget? I watched the two women glide down the steps, the focus of everyone’s attention.

Simone was breathtaking. Slim, tall, with golden blond hair, light eyes and perfectly chiseled features. Her gown was rather simple in cut but dramatic in its deep red color. She wore little jewelry, the only real extravagance the lightly jeweled string of gold threaded through her hair. Her expression didn’t give her emotional state away, but she certainly seemed calm.

It was my intention not to stand next to her. Ever.

“Where is my son?” the Dowager Duchess asked in a commanding voice.

She just never skipped an opportunity to embarrass him.

“In the middle of a dance,” he called back.

“Resume the music,” Fiona ordered, and whatever the Dowager Duchess had been planning to say was drowned out by the instruments.

I really liked Fiona.

Taro couldn’t stay out on the floor on a constant basis, but he was able to work around that. I watched him lead Fiona to the side of the room and his mother lead Simone over to him. Before they could reach him, however, he picked another willing partner and was back out on the floor. I watched the Dowager watch her son, trying to figure out where he would end up by the end of the piece, and she was fairly accurate, just not accurate enough to reach him by the time he had scooped up another dancer. And that was what he did at the end of every piece. I watched the Dowager drag Lady Simone from one end of the ballroom to the other without quite catching Taro. It was hilarious.

But he could do that for only so long. In time, the Dowager was able to corner Taro with Simone in tow.

I wondered what Simone thought of all this. Did she know of the Dowager’s plans? Did she approve? She had to know something was odd about having to follow the Dowager all over the ballroom.

I saw Taro glancing about, and when he caught my eye he gestured me over with an imperial jerk of his head. “Excuse me a moment,” I said to Radia.

“Are you kidding? I want to see this.”

So Radia and I fought the wave of the crowd surrounding the dancers. I thought it would be better to have the confrontation in private, though I could understand why Taro would be unwilling to discard any sense of restraint witnesses might impose on the Dowager. When we reached them, Taro put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him.

“That is no way to behave before others,” the Dowager chided him.

“And you’re the authority on appropriate behavior, are you?”

“You’re not needed here, dear,” the Dowager said to me.

“But she is welcome here,” Taro responded for me. “By me, and that is all that matters.”

“There is no reason for you to make a drama of this, Shintaro. All I wished to do was introduce the two of you. Lord Shintaro Karish, this is the Honorable Lady Simone Frezen, daughter of the Baroness of Eastbrook.”

Taro did know how to be a gentleman. He released me and bowed low, and Simone curtsied in return. “I regret that you came to Her Grace’s attention, Lady Simone,” he said. “Whatever plan she has will not come to fruition.”

“Certainly, it will not,” said Simone, “should I not choose to accept the Dowager’s proposal.” Ooh, aye, she had a nice dollop of arrogance going there.

Proposal. That was an odd choice of words. Proposals usually had benefits for both parties. What would the Dowager get out of a relationship between Simone and Taro?

“Perhaps I can save everyone’s time by saying no right now,” Taro said with a trace of desperation.

“You have not investigated my circumstances.”

“Your circumstances are irrelevant.”

“That is an unwise position to take in any situation,” Simone said coolly.

At least she wasn’t trying to seduce him with sweetness.

“Well, I’m foolish like that. I’m sure Her Grace has told you that.”

“She told me that the bond between Source and Shield is completely unlike marriage.”

That was a sharp conversational curve to take. And blunt, considering the audience.

“That’s nothing you need to concern yourself with,” Taro said coolly.

“I have also been informed that your Shield is involved in an irregular relationship with Academic Reid.”

I had planned—hoped—to stay out of the conversation, but I couldn’t let that slide. “That’s not true,” I said. Bitch. Though I supposed I should have saved the irritation for the person who told her the lie. That would be the bitch standing next to her.

“None of that matters,” said Taro. Not a rejection of the woman’s allegation, which I found disappointing. “Listen, you’re just a victim of Her Grace’s manipulations. I don’t hold you responsible for that. But I have no intention of having anything to do with you. So you might as well go home.”

“I’m not a romantic, Lord Shintaro. I am quite capable of accommodating your other relationships as long as you’re not ridiculous about them.”

Hell, that was cold. “I’m not,” I said.

She looked at me for the first time. “After all this time, he hasn’t married you. What does that tell you?”

“That he has no political alliance to build or land to trade.”

“If he truly loved you, he wouldn’t need such reasons. You are merely an entertainment for him until he meets someone more appropriate.”

Did she really think the words of a complete stranger would make me doubt the words of someone I knew? Was she really that stupid?

“I need to dance with Lee,” Taro announced. “Ladies.” He steered me toward the dancers.

They had already begun their sets, but Taro and I were able to join them without causing any disruption. It was a pleasant dance, not too demanding, and I was able to think of other things. Unfortunately.

I couldn’t believe the Dowager was telling people I was sleeping with Reid. Was that something of which she was trying to convince Taro? I was pretty sure he wouldn’t believe it—he’d better not—but he didn’t need to be hearing that trash.

What was she trying to accomplish? Simone was mentioning marriage, which was just ridiculous for a first meeting. She had to be responding to some kind of invitation or suggestion from the Dowager. Why did she want Taro to marry Simone? How could Taro marrying Simone result in him getting the Westsea title, which was the Dowager’s ultimate aim? Was she merely torturing us both for her own pleasure?

Clearly, the woman needed something harmless with which to fill her time. Like knitting. Or steeplechasing.

At the end of the dance, a young woman claimed Taro for the next set, and I was free to move back to the side, where I engaged in idle chatter with anyone who cared to talk to me.

That dance ended, too, and there was a bit of a pause. Then all the musicians seemed to dive into the next piece with unusual vigor. It was an odd piece, strident and fast. What kind of dance could be performed to music like that? Apparently a lot of the dancers felt the same, for they stood in the center of the floor and looked confused.

I took a deep breath. My heart had picked up its pace a little, and I felt uneasy.

And oddly invigorated.

One of the fiddles screamed into high notes. It pierced my ears and seared through my mind.

What was going on? Something was happening. No one played that kind of music for entertainment.

It was a sign of something, I realized. I was in danger. So was Taro. I had to get to him. But there was something wrong with my eyes. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t see Taro.

Someone was trying to hurt us. I had to find them. I had to stop them.

My mind was racing. I couldn’t think.

Someone touched me, and I struck out. I felt soft flesh under my fingers. Someone was trying to hold me in place. I couldn’t let them. Taro was in danger.

I ran. I hit something and pushed it out of the way. Why were all these things obstructing me?

Because they were all my enemies. They wouldn’t let me find Taro. Well, I wouldn’t let them stop me. I balled my hands into fists and swung them in every direction.