Shades of Truth (The Summerlynn Secrets) (32 page)

It was very irritating to watch as things became clear for someone else. Yes, I knew Colton had much more information than I, but surely I had enough clues to at least understand why the mention of Sabean sent him off on some wild fancy. What did she have to do with my father?

My father. For the past week, I’d thought he was dead. Colton wouldn’t tell me my father might be alive if he didn’t have solid evidence. Why had I been so quick to quiet him? Then he’d proposed marriage, effectively burying any thought of my father. Is that why he’d proposed? To distract me from thoughts of my father?

If my father was alive, everything changed.

I was tempted to go directly to him, no matter he appeared to be involved in some very dangerous and perhaps dishonest work. If I went to him, would I be tainted with the same brush? It appeared I already was, but I could at least hang onto the pretense of innocence as long as I separated myself from him. Going straight to him would declare my allegiance.

The marriage proposal also lingered in my mind. I didn’t understand why Colton proposed. I revisited my earlier theory of the proposal as a way to make me stay here. What would happen if I left? The world would not stop turning. He would find some other woman to play with and I would be able to get on with my life in peace although I had a sneaking suspicion everything would feel wrong once Colton was no longer part of my life.

As I saw it, I had two options. I could remain here, in close proximity to Colton, and allow him to further twine himself around my heart, confuse my thoughts and turn me around until I didn’t know where to find the sky. Or I could gather what was left of my heart and find my own future, something I couldn’t do as long as doubts about my father lingered.

That meant discovering what the pendant and map meant. I felt they were connected, but wasn’t quite certain how. At least the map provided a starting point. If I could ever decipher what it represented. Slight problem, that.

Crossing to the closet, I found the borrowed overcoat from the night I arrived. From the pocket I withdrew the pendant. It looked pretty much as I remembered, the sunlight etching the symbol on the front. I fingered the circle in the middle.

I palmed the book in the other pocket. The map wasn’t really a viable option as I didn’t even know where to start. I’d found maps in one of the libraries and an afternoon spent poring over them hadn’t netted anything. It would help if the map had actual cities and names instead of bumps and lines. Were those meant to be mountains and streams? If I ever found the author of the map, I’d smack him.

Since Sabean said the holder of the pendant had to have the book, it was safe to conjecture the pendant must be brought to the x on the map. Unfortunately, that x could be in Africa for all I knew.

So that meant I should go to the island. It was a better option than chasing an x around the globe. Lord Liberty told me if I had questions, I should go to the island. I certainly had questions, more so than I could handle. I wanted to know if my father lived and where he was and why his work was so dangerous to the Norths.

Then there was that comment about the twin. A twin in itself was nothing to be alarmed about, so why would Liberty mention one? The edges of my conscious pricked, and I knew there was something I was missing.

I took a further step back from the problem. The pendant was a threat to King Richard and the royal family, and then it was mentioned in almost the same breath as a twin. Why would a twin be a threat to Goran? Add that to the fact my father, supposedly a member of the Tallons, a group sworn to protect the North family, was working in opposition to the same family he was sworn to protect.

But where did Treeman and his group of men fit in? Colton had met with my father and then spent more time negotiating with Treeman, refusing to escape while we’d been held captive. Then there’d been that entire bizarre conversation with Sabean, where she claimed my father was not a traitor. And how did Sabean know about my father being a Tallon?

Then I remembered something else Sabean said. She mentioned she’d only seen one pendant before mine, and that had been ages ago…

Sabean was a North. And, to make matters even more interesting, she was the missing twin, probably Richard’s, going by her age. Then I realized why her existence was so very dangerous. Sabean might be King Richard’s
older
sister, meaning she was the rightful ruler of Goran.

No wonder Colton was dead set against my father, why he’d been sent to meet with him before the attack on Sal de Mar. That must mean my father, as a Tallon, was protecting Sabean. His letter mentioned something about the house being ready for her. What if the house meant the monarchy? Had he been scheming to replace King Richard with Sabean?

I’d hate my father, too, if I was a North.

I must speak with Colton, even though he already knew Sabean was his long lost aunt. After our conversation last night and him haring off after my mention of her name, he knew. I was the slow one.

Which meant I had a definitive reason for seeking Colton out an hour later, a reason not related to how gorgeous he was, or how smart or fearless or funny. No. This meeting would be strictly business.

My resolve lasted until I saw him outside the breakfast room. Looking unfairly gorgeous in a perfectly tailored blue shirt and brown riding breeches, Colton scrambled all my previously planned words with a warm grin. I gaped at him a moment, willing my heart to slow.

Holding the door open, he indicated I should precede him into the breakfast room. I nearly did, until I remembered I needed to speak with him about…what was it again? The twin! Yes, I thought with relief, I did still possess my brain.

“May I speak with you? Privately?” I nodded toward the hallway.

His blue eyes narrowed. “Dare I hope you’ve had a change of heart?”

“It’s not about that.” With relief, I heard him follow me down the hallway. Not certain which door led where, I thought it best to remain in the hallway and speak quietly.

“You are obviously not going to have your wicked way with me.” Leaning against the wall, his tone was lazy. “Disappointing.”

I looked at him, confused. “Why do you say that?”

“Well, to begin with, you would have chosen an empty room with a bit of privacy.” He smiled. “Although the hallway has interesting possibilities.”

“I said I wanted to talk to you.”

“One does not need words to talk.” His smile smoothly inserted itself beneath my ribs and into my heart.

“Oh no.” I wagged my finger at him.

“Oh no what?”

“You are not going to be charming this morning. I cannot think when you smile like that.”

“That is the first thing of interest you’ve said so far.” His amusement sat lightly upon his cheeks, lending appealing warmth to his features. “Tell me more about how you feel when I smile at you.” Colton took a step toward me, bringing the smell of expensive spicy cologne with him.

I held up a hand. “Stop crowding me.”

“We cannot conduct a private conversation in a hallway if we are yards apart.” His tone was entirely reasonable, which is why I hated it. How dare he have a handle on reason when my own fled down the hallway the minute I saw him? “Besides, this is hardly close. If I were to stand here, yes, this is close.”

Not quite touching, but near enough, we stood face to face. Though a good five inches taller, the distance between our faces was not far enough to miss the tiny creases mirth made around his mouth, or the stray eyebrow hair at odds to the rest of the golden hairs. I wanted to correct that tiny imperfection, then run my finger around his eye, across his cheekbone to the straight nose and finally, to the finely textured skin of his mouth.

Instead I did none of those things. I lowered my head, turning my face toward the side before I foolishly kissed him. I would not be distracted by the strength of his body or the attractive way his lower lip nudged forward in the suggestion of a pout.

I took a step back before raising my head. “I know my father wanted Sabean to replace your father as ruler of Goran. My question concerns how far the plan progressed.”

“We cannot discuss this here for anyone to overhear.” Serious now, Colton snagged my elbow and towed me through the nearest doorway. It appeared we’d found the music room.

Upon a raised platform, a piano stood in front of a row of floor to ceiling windows with dramatic red drapes framing the outermost windows. A harp sat between the piano and the windows, and a rack next to the stage held violins, cellos and any other stringed instrument one could ever want.

I hardly had time to consider anything else as Colton was already questioning me. “How long have you known about your father?”

Checking the grandfather clock aligned beside the door we’d entered through, I said, “An hour and a half.”

“How did you reach this conclusion?” Giving nothing away, his face smoothed. Excellent. I was close.

“At a dance, a certain man asked after my pendant and in the next breath, mentioned a twin. I took that to mean the two were associated. Since my pendant, given to me by my father, is a symbol of the Tallons, who are connected to the Norths, it must mean the twin is also connected to both my father and the Tallons. Why else would the two be mentioned together?”

“Why indeed.” Far from looking annoyed, Colton appeared pleased at my reasoning.

“If Father was a Tallon and closely connected to the twin, then the twin is a North.” I fixed him with a steady look. “Does Sabean know who she is?”

“Sabean?”

“She told me she once saw a pendant like mine.”

“Excellent work, sweetheart.” He smiled. “Now do you understand why your family is such a sore spot with my father?”

“And with you.”

“I have no problem with the Summerlynns. At least the younger generation.” Those blue eyes were a long stroke against my body.

“Stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Flirting with me! I am attempting to have a serious conversation and you have to go and ruin it with innuendo and compliments!”

“I had no idea you hated compliments. Or is it innuendo that sets your back up? I would be happy to clarify matters for you.”

Sensing I didn’t want to hear how he thought things were, I rushed on. “What exactly do Tallons do?”

“They protect the Norths. That’s the way it’s been for at least a century.” From the way his eyes drifted to my mouth, I knew his mind wasn’t on our conversation.

“So the Tallons are bodyguards.”

“Of a sort.” Running a hand through his hair (I would not dwell on the now disarrayed locks and how they would feel beneath my hand), Colton turned to look out the windows. “I honestly am no expert on the Tallons. I simply behave myself and hope I never see one.”

“Do they ever follow you around?” I looked around the room.

“They normally have more important things to do.”

“Then your trip to Lisbon wasn’t exactly important.”

“Try unexpected.”

I frowned. “Who is your Tallon?”

“I cannot tell you.” Colton laughed at my interested expression. “Marry me and you can have your very own Tallon.”

“Enough reason not to.” I tapped a finger against my chin. “If the Tallons do not follow you around, what do they do?”

“I’ve always assumed they lurk about and investigate mysterious people or circumstances. I never dreamed they’d scheme to dethrone my father.”

“If it were that simple, your father would have killed all the conspirators and been done with it.” I folded my arms over my chest. “Instead he sent you to negotiate.” Which meant my father had something they wanted.

Of course it was the pendant. Is that why Colton insisted I stay here in the hopes he could charm whatever it is from me?

“It is nice to fully understand all aspects of a situation before acting.”

“What you really mean is even a king cannot murder indiscriminately.”

“Correct.”

“Were you under orders to kill my father?” I had long admired the width of his shoulders, the strength in the length of his arms and legs. Now I was forced to consider how easily he could murder.

Meeting my eyes steadily, he replied, “No.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding. Of course not. The heir to the throne would not dirty his hands with murder. “Was an agreement reached?”

“No.”

“What did you offer him to walk away and forget all about Sabean?”

“You have very little experience in negotiations if you believe I offered and he refused.” The words rolled easily off his tongue.

I was beginning to get a whole new picture of the man Colton was. “If he hadn’t sent you to Lisbon with me, where would you have gone?”

“Here. My father is understandably anxious for news of my progress.”

“But it was in your best interests to accompany me to Lisbon.”

“Yes.”

I moved to the next topic. “Why were the twins separated?”

He paused a moment, his eyes searching my face. “Nobody knows.”

“We’re discussing the royal family of Goran! Of course somebody knows.”