Missing Lily (Tales of Dalthia) (35 page)

“Be safe.”

My father kissed her hand and stalked out, signaling his knights to follow.

When the sound of hooves had faded and the dust still hung in the air, I was left standing on the steps with my mother and sister.

“Shouldn’t we return home?”

Lorraina’s question made me tense. I couldn’t go home. The waiting and worrying was bad enough. Trying to keep my emotions in check while keeping up appearances for the sake of everyone who would be watching at the palace was something I was unwilling to face. If my mother chose to return, she would have to do so without me.

My mother sighed, gazing around at the trees and land that left us isolated. “I think it would be wise to handle this as a family matter. There’s no reason to return home and alert everyone to the situation.”

“We’ve managed to keep it a secret?” I asked in surprise.

“Some of it.”

“What is common knowledge?”

My mother turned to enter the manor and we followed.

“It’s common knowledge that you were attacked and wounded here on Fallon property and that you had to recover here. The identity of the attacker is not common knowledge. Mr. Fallon’s previous dealings with our family are not well known either.”

“Hm. I always thought it would be near impossible to keep any part of our lives private.” How strange to be wrong about that.

We sat in the parlor and for the first time I really looked at Lorraina. She looked awful—sad, distressed and nervous. She didn’t sit, just stood in the middle of the room, her gaze fixed on me, her hands fidgeting.

“Lorraina, whatever is the matter?” I asked in alarm.

Her eyes widened. “How can you be so calm?” Her voice was ragged.

My brow furrowed, confused and concerned.

She finally sat. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

I was at a loss, wondering what she might have done to provoke such a vulnerable apology.

“If I had known what Tobias was capable—”

“Tobias? You’re apologizing for him?”

“Not
for
him. I’m not, I’m—I’m apologizing
about
him. I just—I didn’t know. I didn’t—”

“Nobody knew, Raina. This is not something you need to apologize for.”

She nodded her head, staring at her lap as she let out a breath.

I put my hand over hers where it sat clenched in her lap. “I’m sorry you’ve been worried about this. And I’m sorry for the pain he’s caused you.”

She gave a derisive laugh. “He and I were always good at hurting each other.” She attempted a smile but it fell into a grimace. “And yet we still understood each other. What does that say about me?”

I had no idea how to answer that, but she didn't seem to expect an answer. She appeared small, sitting there with her shoulders slumped and her hands crumpling the fabric of her gown. Her hair was disheveled and her face lacked its usual luster.

I shook myself to action. “You both must be tired. Would you like to rest? Or eat?”

Lorraina looked up with a strained smile. “Playing lady of the manor already?” She usually said such things with a clear intent to mock, but his time it was only a gentle teasing. I smiled, not only at the thought of being lady of the manor, but at the flicker of sisterly affection.

I lifted a shoulder. “I have to do something to entertain myself while the men are off doing battle.”

“Do you really think it will be a battle?”

I had asked myself the same question many times. “You know Tobias best. What do you think?”

She took a deep breath, but instead of answering, she just shook her head, her eyes worried.
 

“That’s what I was afraid of.”
 

She shrugged. “I hope I’m wrong.”

What had Rhys gotten himself into?

“So do I.”

Chapter 25

M
Y
MOTHER
WAS
off speaking with Rosamond, probably trying to organize some sort of meal for the sole purpose of distracting herself. Lorraina and I sat in the drawing room, the air thick with awkward tension and strained silence. I cast about for any words that might ease our discomfort.
 

Lorraina spoke first, surprising me with her inquiry. “Does Lord Fallon have any archery equipment?”

“Of course.”

“Maybe you could help me with my aim. And my draw. And everything else.”

A small laugh made its way past my lips as I saw the pathetic look on her face. I readily agreed, and we headed out behind the stables, where I tried my best to help Lorraina improve her skills with a bow. And she did—marginally. She and I were both on the brink of quitting when the slow plod of a horse reached my ears. I turned toward the trees and found Joe walking doggedly toward the stables, his head bent, his breathing labored. He held no rider.

“No,” I breathed, the bow slipping from my hand as I stumbled over my skirts. I reached for him and it wasn’t until I touched his neck that he stopped walking. Then he rested his nose in my palm and went no further.

I stroked his head with nervous movements, and over the sound of his breathing I heard myself whispering, “No, no, no, no...”

“Lylin, what is it?” Lorraina asked as she carefully approached.

“This is Rhys’s horse. He should be with Rhys.” My eyes swept over the horse’s features, searching for answers as my thoughts tumbled in panic. “Why aren’t you with Rhys?” I whispered in his ear.

“Lylin.”

Lorraina’s tone caught my attention. She was looking past me, pointing. “There’s something stuck under the saddle.”

I turned to find a piece of parchment shoved under Joe’s saddle. I carefully pulled it out, opening it with shaking hands. Lorraina read over my shoulder.

My brother is here with me. He is unharmed and will remain so if Princess Lorraina will come and do me the honor of speaking with me. A conversation is all I ask and when it is concluded, I will give myself up, willingly. If I am not allowed the opportunity to speak with Lorraina, I will fight to the bitter end. The choice is yours.

I can be found at the old fortress near Sorel.

Tobias Fallon

“We must show the guards, and mother.” Lorraina said, turning toward the manor.

I grabbed her arm. “Wait.”

Worry creased her brow. “What?”

Rhys’s words about Tobias being vicious when cornered marched through my head. “He says he will comply if you only talk to him. Do you think that’s true?”

She took a breath. “Yes.”

“You don’t think it could be a trap?”

“I’m not afraid of him hurting me, if that’s what you’re asking.”

I tried to sort through my thoughts, to think rationally. “If we tell the guards, and they go after them, what happens to Tobias? What happens to Rhys?”

“I—” She shook her head in frustration. “I don’t know.”

“We could go. Just you and me.”

Her face blanched. “We can’t go alone!”

“If you aren’t afraid of Tobias, then what makes you hesitate?”

She was silent, the shaking of her head becoming faster and more frantic. “I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to see him again. It’s not that I’m afraid of him hurting me physically, it’s all the other hurt I don’t want to deal with.”

I knew the idea was dangerous. Though Lorraina may have trusted that Tobias would not hurt her, I knew he had no such restraint where I was concerned. But that didn’t matter. I had to go. The only question was whether Raina would go with me, so I waited, hoping she might be willing. She put her hands on her hips, her back straight, her jaw working in agitation as she looked off into the trees. After an interminable minute, she closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

“You’re right,” she conceded. “If Father’s knights find him, he’ll fight and he won’t surrender. But he wouldn’t feel threatened by us. If a conversation is all he wants…”

I held my breath, waiting for her to work it out.

“What if I’m wrong about Tobias? He did hurt you. I’m not forgetting that.”

I cast my eyes about, trying to come up with an answer. They fell to the archery equipment we had been using. “I’ll take a bow. I’ll try to find a place to watch where he won’t see me.”

She swallowed, her face a bit pale. “And what if you had to use it? Would you really be able to shoot someone?”

My voice shook as I answered. “If it was all I could do to protect you, to protect Rhys, then yes.” She was clearly reluctant and I had to ask. “Are
you
really willing to do this?”

She nodded slowly, resigned. “Tobias is in our lives because of me. And maybe I need to have this conversation as much as he does.”

We stared at each other, our decision made, but unable to move.

“Are we mad to think we can do this alone?” she asked.

It didn’t matter if we were or not. This was the simplest way, and I had to believe that if we approached without guards, Tobias would honor his word. “I don’t think we have a choice.”

Her eyes swept the trees, then focused on me. “We need horses.”

There were only a few guards left at the manor and each had taken up a defensive position. None of them had considered that they would need to prevent us leaving. I asked a young groomsmen to help us saddle two horses, and he did so without question or suspicion.
 

We walked the horses into the trees before mounting.

“Nathaniel is going to be livid,” I muttered as I pulled myself into the saddle.

“Everyone is going to be livid,” Lorraina corrected as we headed to the road leading north toward Sorel.

I knew that our guards would follow as soon as they found us missing, which they would as soon as someone noticed Joe. They would find the note that we had left tucked under his saddle and come after us. I was counting on it. For though I hoped to resolve the situation with the simple conversation Tobias wanted, I took heart in knowing that we wouldn’t be left to our own devices for long, and that the guard would be ready to take care of Tobias.
 

An hour later, we stopped as the fortress came into sight through the trees. It wasn’t just old; it was in ruins. Only a small portion of the roof remained, one wall was nothing but rubble, and another was half as tall as it once had been. The keep rose above the outer walls, more solid than the rest where it stood at the center of the fortress, the last and strongest defense. The forest had grown up around it, encroaching on the walls, even making its way inside. It was haunting, and beautiful.

“Now what?” Lorraina’s words drew my attention to where she sat atop her horse, back rigid, jaw tight.

I turned back toward the structure, trying to figure the best way to approach. The front gate was raised half way and looked as though it had rusted in place long ago. “Your approach needs to be direct. If he’s watching, then he needs to see you coming. Ride up to the gate, leave your horse outside, and walk in.”

She nodded.

“But only after I get inside.”

There was no guarantee that any move I made would go unnoticed, but I’d just have to try. “I’ll go in there,” I said, pointing at the missing wall. “And hopefully I’ll be able to find them without being seen.”

“Where do you think they are?”

“I have no idea. Hopefully they are somewhere in the yard, so that I can use the keep to watch from above.” I gazed up at the battlements surrounding the roof of the keep. Most were intact, though some had crumbled away.

“What if he’s in the keep? That is the most defendable position.”

I sighed. “I’m hoping that he wants to talk with you more than he wants to defend himself. But if he is in the keep, you need to get him to come down.”

She turned to me and her gaze was steady. “I’ll watch from here. When you get inside, I’ll ride up to the gate.”

I slid from my mount, grabbed my bow, and headed for the wall.
 

“Lylin.”

I turned to look at Lorraina.

“We really are insane, you know.”

I shrugged, trying not to over-think anything. “Sometimes insanity is necessary.”

She shook her head. “That doesn’t make me feel better.”

“Tobias won’t hurt you,” I reminded her, and I meant it.
 

“I’m not worried about me.”

I tried to give a reassuring smile. “He won’t hurt me either.”
 

I hurried through the trees, staying among the denser foliage and slowing as I neared the crumbling fortification. I crouched down when I reached the corner. Rubble littered the ground, broken chunks of stone from the fallen wall hiding among the grass. I peered inside the opening, looking into each corner, listening for any sign of Tobias or Rhys. There was none. I climbed carefully over the moss-covered stones, keeping to the shadows by the wall as I searched for the brothers.
 

I nocked an arrow, holding my bow ready, the tip pointed at the ground. Finding the entrance to the keep, I decided not to search the entire yard, but to seek the high ground. I climbed the stairs, my chest tight, my hand fisted around my bow. The sound of my breathing shattered the stillness around me, making me more nervous.