Princess Avenger - Brightcastle Saga Book 1 (21 page)

“Princess,
you’re not thinking. You can’t keep up the charade through your
trial, no matter how short it is. You must reveal your
identity.”

“And what
then? My father will have to choose between enforcing my sentence
and allowing me to walk free. His people will hate him, no matter
his decision.”

“His people
already hate him, Princess. He’s a bad ruler.”

She remained
silent while Vard’s mind worked furiously to construct a solution.
“I can’t allow you to be punished for this,” he said. “I’ll go to
the prince and confess to the killing.”

Alecia surged
to her knees and gripped his arms. “No, you must not do that. He
will see you dead. He will somehow blame you for all the
crimes.”

“And you wish
to protect this man?”

“He is my
father,” she whispered.

As Vard
crushed Alecia to his chest, her body shook as though she had a
fever. He closed his eyes, willing her pain and fear away and
finding an answering terror in his own soul. How had it come to
this? How was he to haul her back from this precipice?

She pulled
back, her eyes full of a new dread. “Take your hands from me. I do
not know what you are but you are not human.”

Vard reeled as
if she had thrown icy water over him. Slowly he let her go. “I
don’t care what you think of me,” he said. “I won’t allow you to
carry this charade to its conclusion.” He bent and gripped her
upper arms and hauled her to her feet. “Cover your head.”

Alecia’s eyes
contained more panic than he’d ever seen. Was she truly that
frightened of him? His lip curled at the thought that he had ever
imagined his life could be twined with hers. And he had, after the
kiss they had shared and the moment in her chamber. He bent and
retrieved her cap and hood from the straw and shoved them at
her.

As if in a
trance, Alecia fixed her hair, placed the cap on her head and drew
the hood over the top. “Why did you protect me after the first
mercenary died?”

Vard stared.
He’d never known anything of this woman. “Instinct, the need to
protect. I knew there had to be more to the attack.”

“What do you
mean by instinct?”

“I told you
yesterday. At the very core of my being is the instinct of
protection. I can’t ignore that impulse when it strikes me. That
day, I changed the details of the incident to protect you, even
though I didn’t know why at the time.”

Alecia stared
up at him, her scent confused and uncertain but less fearful than
it had been.

He couldn’t
afford to hope. “Are you ready?”

“Tell me what
you intend,” she said. “I do not like the look in your eye.” The
words were defiant but the wobble at the end told the lie.

“You will
follow me from this cell and back to the guardroom. Stay behind me
so that the guards don’t see you. If I say run, you’ll do so and
return to your father.”

Alecia lifted
her chin. “I will not.”

Vard
knew the stubbornness of the princess. This had to be good. “If I
ever meant anything to you, do as I say. I’ll hold the guards off
as long as I can. I may pay with my life and am content to do this,
but
you
must live.
The kingdom needs you to be a force for good. Let that sustain you
in the darkest times.”

Vard paused to
judge the effect of his words. Her eyes dropped to his mouth and
she swayed towards him but then she stiffened and nodded. “It shall
be as you say.”

Vard pulled
her to the door. “The passage is clear. Follow me.”

He swept into
the darkened hallway, keeping his cloak spread to provide more
cover for her.

Alecia knew his scheme
could not possibly fool the guards. They would see her and stop the
escape. They could both die this night. Why hadn’t she told him she
loved him? He needed to know. Now it was too late. Vard swept along
in front of her, his movements as graceful as a leopard, as
dangerous as a wolf.

She struggled
to keep up, her breath coming in gasps from her damaged throat. In
moments, they reached the guardroom at the end of the passage and
Vard strode in.

The duty
sergeant sat at a sturdy wooden table, sharpening his knife on a
stone. He looked up as Vard approached him. “Did the lad reveal
anything, Captain?” His eyes widened as he caught sight of Alecia
and he stood, his hand going to his sword. “Why have you removed
the prisoner from his cell?”

“I thought to
take him to another chamber,” Vard said. “Surely you’ve one with…
implements?”

The sergeant’s
eyebrows rose. “Torture has not yet been part of my duties. The lad
will be questioned in his cell and nowhere else. The prince was
very clear about that.”

“Who’s in
charge of this investigation, man?” Vard said, his voice thick with
menace. “Let me pass or you’ll pay the cost.”

“I’ve waited
for the day I could test my skill against you.” The sergeant’s
sword hissed from its scabbard. “The lad returns to his cell.” He
moved from behind the table, the tip of his blade pointed at Vard.
Alecia moved away from Vard to give him room to fight then froze as
the sergeant’s eyes swung to her.

“Run, lad!”
Vard said and hurled himself at the sergeant. Swords rang as the
two opponents came together. Vard launched a blistering attack but
he seemed stiff, his usual deadly grace absent. The sergeant easily
met the assault and then countered with one of his own. To Alecia’s
eyes, Vard looked hard-pressed to hold off the attack. She had
promised she would run but instead watched in horror as the
sergeant forced Vard past her and pinned him against the stone
wall. Her eyes met Vard’s, his glowing in the light of the
guardroom. Alecia opened her mouth but no words came.

“Run!” Vard
said again, desperation blazing from his eyes.

Alecia tore
her gaze from his face and ran into the hallway. The passage sloped
upwards, lit every ten paces by flaming torches. She hugged the
rough stone walls, moving from shadow to shadow, and listening at
crossing hallways before hurrying on.

When she
was almost to the end of the hall, footsteps echoed from above. She
looked around and spied a recessed doorway. In her dark clothes, it
might provide her enough cover to remain unseen. She slid into the
niche and flattened herself against a rough wooden door. A fumble
at the latch brought a squeal of protest from the metal.
Too noisy!
The footsteps had almost
reached her. She would have to hide as she was.

Alecia
closed her eyes, sure whoever passed would hear her thudding heart,
and pressed her body against the moist stone.
Thank the Goddess for dark
clothing and shadows!
The stench of male sweat filled the passageway as men
passed, and she opened her eyes to see three burly soldiers
approaching the guardroom. The clash of swords told her that Vard
still fought. He would not be able to handle four men; not in his
condition. She stepped from the alcove, her hand reaching inside
her boot for her knife and finding nothing.
No!
Alecia crouched in the middle of the passage,
imagining cold steel slicing through Vard with each ring of metal
on metal.
Perhaps I could seize a sword from one of the
soldiers.
It was not her
preferred weapon, especially not in the close confines of the
guardroom but Vard needed her.

Then
Alecia remembered why she had left in the first place. Vard would
not be able to fight with her there. She would distract him when he
needed all his attention to survive. Even with four opponents, he
stood a better chance without her. A sob escaped her throat.
I can only help him
by abandoning him.
If he
died, it would not be in vain. She stood, took a deep breath and
ran up the passageway.

Alecia crouched
in the shadows at the corner of the guardhouse, her arms clutched
around her knees. She trembled so that her teeth chattered. Her
heart had long since stopped its pounding and each beat sounded a
dull thud in her ears, the sound of the nails being hammered into
her coffin
-- or Vard’s.
She had to wait for him, or at least see his body carried
out.

Seconds
dragged like hours as she huddled there, the cold seeping into her
fingers. The clash of steel sounded as if from a great distance and
then the roar of an animal. The screams of men followed. The
realisation that Vard had shifted into the bear shook her out of
her stupor and her heart soared.
He will be well!
The relief was short-lived. Cold memories of the
beast sliced through her. In this form, Vard might destroy her. She
must do as he urged and return to her father.

Pain shot
through her head as she pushed herself to her feet. Staggering as
if drunk, she kept to the shadows, thanking the Goddess that the
guardhouse adjoined the castle grounds. She slipped between it and
the wall that surrounded the castle. A patrol of her father’s
soldiers surprised her as she stepped from the cover of the
guardhouse. She flung herself behind a dung heap outside the
stable, her hand pressed against her nose to stifle the choking
fumes of the urine-drenched manure. The soldiers passed without
seeing her and she hurried past the castle entrance around the
corner to the trapdoor in a nearby stand of trees.

Her fingers
grasped the metal ring concealed in the side of the stone block and
she heaved on it. The heavy stone would not budge. Alecia
collapsed, sobbing, her courage stolen by the violence she had
endured and the injuries that made every muscle ache.

“Halt in the
name of the prince!” a male voice said, close by.

Alecia flung
herself over and froze as a sword tip hovered at her breast. The
face at the end of the sword was Ramón’s. She groaned. “I mean no
harm. Leave me be.”

Ramón raised
the lantern he held, his handsome face suspicious. “Who are you and
what is your purpose? This is a foul night to be abroad.”

“Let me go,
sir. I promise to go straight home.”

Ramón’s eyes
narrowed and he bent closer, studying her face. Then he raised the
sword and flicked the hood off her head, followed by her cap.
Alecia flinched as her hair tumbled from its binding.

“Alecia!” He
fell to his knees, dropping the sword and placing the lantern
beside him on the ground. “You are hurt! Who has done this?” When
she remained silent, Ramón made a closer study of her wounds and
the clothes she wore. “It was you who killed those men tonight,” he
said. “It was you all along!”

Alecia was too
tired to think of a convincing lie. She had no time to waste on
Ramón when Vard might be right behind her. “I don’t intend to sit
here and explain myself to you. I’m the princess, remember? Let me
go…now!”

“Oh no,
Alecia. That is where you are wrong.” His hand reached out to
stroke the side of her face where a bruise throbbed. “I want to
know everything.” He leaned closer. She raised her hands to ward
him off but he grabbed them and pulled her against him.

Panic
fluttered in Alecia’s stomach. She had been so close to safety and
now Ramón might spoil everything.

His breath
brushed her cheek. “I love you, Alecia. Your grubby little secret
is safe with me. You belong to Lord Finus now, but he need never
know. Let me be your first. Surely you would rather me than that
old stork?”

“Please,
Ramón, we are friends. Don’t do this.” Alecia could feel the
tension in the squire, knew he wanted her despite the stench of her
clothes. Perhaps what he felt for her really was true love if he
could ignore that. She thought of Vard behind her and Lord Finus
waiting for her back at the castle and shuddered. Let Ramón have
her tonight. He would save her from the bear and she would give him
what he longed for. At least Lord Finus would not get that
gift.

Ramón must
have seen something of her thoughts, for he bent and kissed her.
His lips felt soft against hers and his arms moved around her, but
his mouth did not distract her as Vard’s had. She found herself
remembering another kiss, another embrace, and pushed him away. He
sat back on his haunches, his hand gripping her fingers and a frown
on his face.

“If you were
ever my friend,” she said, “help me lift this trapdoor and say
nothing to my father.”

“You will grow
to love me in time,” he said. “Come away with me tonight.”

“I know you
care for me,” Alecia said, “but I am not for you.”

“I love you,
Alecia,” Ramón said. “There will never be anyone else for me. I
have loved you from that first day when you asked me to fetch your
horse and then complained when I helped you to mount. I knew then
that you were no ordinary princess. Your actions since have only
strengthened my love.”

“I cannot
discuss this here. It is not safe. I must return to my chambers and
you to your room. Please, just help me with this door.”

Ramón stared
at her for a long moment and Alecia’s heart ached at the
disappointment in his eyes. Finally, he helped her to her feet,
hauled the stone up and thrust the lantern at her. “Take this; you
will need it.”

Alecia took
the light. “Forget your feelings, Ramón. There can never be more
than friendship between us.”

“You
considered more just moments ago,” he said. “I saw it in your
eyes.”

“You saw
hopelessness and desperation, not desire or love, and you deserve
better.” Alecia stepped down and did not look back. She prayed that
Ramón would return to his quarters. He was in danger if he was out
this night.

The return to
her room was accomplished quickly with the aid of the lantern.
Flickering candles lit the chamber as she passed from behind the
tapestry. Alecia built up the fire and sat on a chair near the
flames, rocking back and forwards, trapped in a limbo of uncertain
grayness; her heart given to a man not human, but given all the
same. Her promise to Vard had sealed her fate as wife to Finus and
mother to his brats. Her dreams of being a warrior queen and of
marrying for love would never be.