Taken by Storm (ROMANTIC REALMS COLLECTION) (7 page)

CHAPTER NINE

Somewhere in the middle of the night, Tahj woke with a start knowing something was wrong. He jumped to his feet and was alarmed to see the bed was empty. Cursing, he grabbed his sword from where he had hooked it over the back of his chair, jerking it from its scabbard, and marched out into the main room. It was dark except for the red glow of the dying fire.

“Bashea?” he whispered loudly. Getting no response, he peered into all the corners of the room to see if some shadow had swallowed her, but found he was alone.

He grabbed a candle from the mantle and bent to press its wick to the hottest part of the fire. After a few seconds he was rewarded when it burst into flame. He turned from the fire and clomped in the direction of the front bedroom, which was Radeem’s. The door creaked as it opened, and the light fanned out to reveal the sleeping form of his captain with one girl slung over his chest, completely nude, from what Tahj could tell, the other two, in various stages of undress, within his outstretched arms on either side of him. Radeem had his hand on the naked hip of one—Tahj couldn’t say for sure who it was in the dark—and the opposite arm curled around another’s breasts as they were pressed against his far side.

Feeling like a voyeur, Tahj quickly closed the door. He felt a draft and turned to find the front door slightly ajar. “Oh, no, Bashea, you didn’t.” He stepped outside and immediately heard her piercing scream coming from somewhere in the forest behind the house. Tahj blew out the candle and dropped it at his feet; it was lighter outside with a three-quarter moon shining down. He tore off around the side of the house, calling out her name.

Again a shriek ripped through the air, followed by the all-too-familiar feline wail of a wild cat. Panicked now, Tahj ran forward, attempting to pinpoint the location the cries came from. Clumsily, he tried to draw his sword as its scabbard banged against his thigh, stumbling every now and then over tree roots and vines as he ran. After about twenty seconds he tripped into a clearing and saw Bashea several yards away, outlined by the moon as she swung a large branch threateningly in front of a pacing panther.

As Tahj watched, the panther sprang. With a mighty swing Bashea clubbed it, sending it flying back several feet. But the branch broke on impact, causing Bashea to lose her balance and tumble to the ground not far from the injured cat. It was evident by the yowl which issued from the animal’s throat Bashea had inflicted some major damage, but, at the same time, it was clear the panther wasn’t done with her yet.

Bashea searched frantically on the ground for another stick as the animal rose slowly to its feet. Tahj ran forward and Bashea, catching his motion, glanced in that direction just as the animal leapt. But before the cat could land on her, claws extended and teeth ready to rip her apart, Bashea’s quick reflexes had her rolling out of the way. The cat took a swipe at her but missed and was about to advance when Tahj came running, yelling to distract it. The panther took one look at Tahj, flailing and screaming, and took off into the brush, leaving Bashea quaking on the forest floor.

Tahj fell to his knees beside her. “Are you all right? Are you all right?”

“Y-yes,” she said, her voice trembling.

When he saw she had all her limbs attached, Tahj’s adrenaline suddenly turned to rage. “What, in the name of all that is good, were you doing out here? Huh?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know.” Her hands shook uncontrollably as she held them in front of her face.

Tahj stood and paced in front of her. “You could have been killed, Bashea! Has it really been that bad with Radeem and me you had to run away? We were going to take you home for goodness’ sake.”

“Home?” she suddenly screamed, her voice rising hysterically. She lifted her tearstained face to him. “Home? Do you really think I have a home, Tahj?”

“What?”

“They don’t welcome women home who have been used by Avistad men, Prince Tahj,” she said through gritted teeth.

Forgetting himself, Tahj responded, “What? I never touched you.”

“Did you really think they brought you a virgin?” she exploded. “That they wouldn’t have their way with me first?” Her voice caught as she stared into his shocked eyes. “Oh! I didn’t just say that!” She collapsed in a heap, her earlier fright turning to horror and humiliation. “Oh, why did I say that?” she mourned.

“Bashea?” Tahj knelt again and put a hand on her back.

“
Don’t
!” She threw back her head with a jerk. “Don’t touch me!” Her words echoed in the night. Bashea focused on his eyes and rose, unsteadily, to her feet. “Don’t pity me, Tahj! Don’t you pity me!” She spun around and leaned with one hand against the tree, the other wrapped around her middle as she was again wracked with sobs.

Tahj stood dumbfounded, wondering what to do. He wanted to sweep Bashea up into his arms, but he was afraid to touch her again. He circled around her, trying desperately to come up with something to say to comfort her. He reached out to touch her again but she batted his hand away.

“Don’t, please,” she said more weakly.

He waited while her tears slowed. “Let’s go back inside, Bashea.”

“I don’t know what to do. I don’t even know who I am anymore.”

Tahj could tell she was past reason; her brain had shut off and gone someplace else. “Come. Let’s go inside.” This time when he put his arm around her she didn’t strike out. Tahj’s heart broke when he felt her tremble under his touch.

“I don’t know what to do,” she repeated.

“Come on. We’ll figure it out in the morning,” he said kindly, leading her forward.

By the time they reached the house, Bashea had melted into his side and was no longer repeating, “What am I going to do?” over and over again. Tahj got her into bed, and she almost immediately fell asleep. He untied her sandals and let them drop to the floor. He sighed, weary to the bone, and fell into his chair, closing his eyes. That was when he heard things starting up again in Radeem’s room.

“Ugh!”

* * *

When the morning dawned, Tahj woke up stiff and sore. Bashea was still asleep when he left the room. In fact, she was the last one to rise, and when she joined the others at the breakfast table, she definitely wasn’t herself. She hardly spoke to anyone, and when Tahj tried to engage her in the conversation, she wouldn’t even look at him. After a while,
it seemed Radeem couldn’t take it any longer.

“Uhh, can I speak to you outside?” Without waiting for an answer, he yanked Tahj to his feet by the back of his shirt, jaw clenched.

When they got out on the porch, Radeem released him with a shove and wasted no time in jumping him. “What the hell did you do to her?”

“What?”

It seemed that Radeem could barely control his anger. “Don’t act all innocent like you don’t know what’s going on.”

“Listen, I didn’t do anything to her.”

“Then why won’t she look you in the eye? Huh? Huh?” He pushed Tahj in the chest with each accusation, backing him off of the porch.

“All right,” Tahj said, licking his lips nervously. “Something did happen last night, but I can’t tell you about it.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because it’s personal.”

“You’ve got about two seconds to tell me what’s going on here or I’m going to—”

“Not that kind of personal.” Tahj hesitated, trying to figure out a way to tell Radeem about what happened without telling him anything Bashea might not want him to know. “She…she was upset about…things, personal things, which happened before we came here.”

Radeem looked at him skeptically. “What kind of things?”

“Look,” Tahj said, becoming irate, “I told you, it was personal things, and I don’t have the right to share them with you. It’s up to Bashea,
in her own time
,” he added threateningly, “to tell you. I don’t want you pressuring her.”

“All right, all right,” Radeem said, backing away from Tahj with his arms held up in surrender. “You’re quite the panther when you get mad.”

“You have no idea.”

Bashea stepped out onto the porch. “Can I…talk to you, Tahj?”

Radeem punched Tahj in the shoulder and headed inside, nodding at Bashea who gave him a weak smile. Tahj rubbed out the pain in his shoulder as Bashea approached, still not looking him squarely in the eye.

“I just wanted to say sorry about last night. I shouldn’t have said… I think maybe the wine made me—”

“You don’t have to say sorry.”

She looked up with a relieved smile.

“I would like to know what you were doing out there, though.”

Bashea sagged against the porch rail, and Tahj came to stand next to her, bending his head to catch her eye. She stammered, “I…I just thought maybe I should leave. I don’t know, the wine… It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Tahj glanced down, playing in the dirt with his foot. “Was it because Radeem was with those girls?”

She laughed. “No. I mean, that was rude, but I wouldn’t have left because of that.”

“You weren’t jealous?” he asked in surprise.

“Of Radeem?” She laughed. “Radeem? No. No! No. Radeem is like…my big brothers. I want to hit him as much as I want to hug him. No, I’m definitely not jealous of Radeem.”

“Oh,” Tahj replied, unable to keep the note of happiness out of his voice. There was a long pause while this soaked in. He considered her with a smile. “So, am I going to have to worry about you leaving the next time I fall asleep?”

“No. If there comes a time when I decide to leave, I’ll let you know first. That’s only fair.”

“Good. Because I need to get some sleep tonight.”

They turned to go back in. “And Tahj…”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for being so sweet last night.” She bent in to give him a kiss on the cheek, and his heart took a double beat. “Radeem,” she said to herself, and chuckled as she turned around to leave.

When they entered together and Bashea was laughing, Radeem visibly relaxed. The rest of breakfast was spent pleasantly. Radeem entertained everyone with stories about Tahj when he was a boy, and Tahj evened the score with a few of his own stories about Radeem. Bashea joined in the laughter and, at one point, Tahj looked over to find Radeem standing behind her chair, holding onto the back comfortably as Faraz began a tale about his three daughters as children. Radeem bent down and kissed Bashea on the head, and she reached up to squeeze his hand while still listening to their host. Earlier that morning, it would have made his stomach ache to see it, but now he just grinned with contentment. She had no interest in Radeem, so the field was clear.

But the more he thought about it, the more he wondered. If she thought of Radeem as a brother, was it possible she thought of him the same way? Bashea glanced over and caught his eye, smiling at him.

If there was a road map to help me read her heart, I would pay my last Abba for it.

CHAPTER TEN

Tahj was going to miss having Bashea riding behind him on his horse, but Faraz insisted they take some of their money back and get a “suitable” horse for her. On the way into town they talked about what they needed. Faraz and his daughters sent them off with more food than they could possibly eat for the final part of their journey, so it was decided all they needed was the horse, two tents, and perhaps some clothes. They would travel the desert by night and stay out of the blistering sun during the day in their tents.

The city of Shiraz was smaller than Avistad, but it was still a bustling marketplace filled with fishmongers, horse-traders, and people hawking a multitude of wares. A high stone wall surrounded the city, keeping in the noise of the bartering and the clip-clopping sound the many horses’ hoofs made on the cobblestone. But they could not contain the myriad of smells which wafted over the walls, the pleasant scents of perfumed oils combining strangely with the briny smell of fish and the odor of sweat given off by the crowd.

Tahj enjoyed watching the way Bashea’s eyes lit up whenever she spotted an unusual object for sale, or perhaps not so unusual, but still something she hadn’t seen in her relatively sheltered life. She exclaimed over the many colorful carpets and blankets strung between stalls or displayed on the rungs of ladders left leaning against the sturdy walls of the shops.

The city had an interesting effect on Radeem, too. He seemed to come alive as he chatted with shopkeepers and flirted with shopkeepers’ wives. The city once held a certain glow for Tahj, having not strayed much from the confines of the castle. But since taking on his father’s work, he’d had his fill of cities. But he did like living the excitement anew through Bashea’s eyes.

They spent some time exploring, but by late afternoon, the tents were purchased and Radeem was haggling over a horse.

“She’s beautiful!” Bashea cried out happily when the proprietor led the horse out.

Radeem frowned at her, but then turned to the shop owner. “You call that a horse?” Radeem snorted. “More like half a horse.” It was true; the mare was a good three hands shorter than either Ballamore or the other horse Radeem had stolen. “So I’ll give you half what we talked about.”

The proprietor began to coax, cajole, and finally argue loudly with Radeem. Tahj shook his head. Radeem was in his element. Excitement lit his face as he argued his case, and Tahj could tell this had very little to do with money and everything to do with coming out on top.

Tahj pretended to study some bolts of material on the sidewalk, but he was really watching Bashea as she stroked the mare’s velvety muzzle. He could tell by the way she was speaking softly to the horse and the way her eyes lit up when the dappled mare nuzzled her that Bashea was already in love.

The proprietor walked away to help another customer, and Radeem stomped over to Bashea’s side. “You’re not helping any, you know.”

“What?” she said innocently. “Come on, now, Radeem, look her in the eyes and tell me she’s not a beautiful horse.”

Radeem complied, and his face softened as he stroked the horse’s speckled white coat. “Well, sure, she’s beautiful, but is she fast? We need something fast to get you safely home, and a horse with short, stubby legs isn’t the ticket.”

Tahj noted how Bashea reacted slightly when Radeem mentioned taking her home, but then she continued to coo at the horse. “You don’t have stubby legs, do you, Star?”

“Good gracious!” Radeem said, exasperated. “You’ve already named her?”

“And, besides,” Bashea continued persuasively, “you can’t tell how fast a horse is by the length of its legs. It’s all about heart, and Star, here, has heart to spare. Don’t you, Star?” She put hands on either side of the mare’s head and leaned her forehead on the horse’s nose, near the oddly shaped black spot that had earned the horse its name.

Radeem spied his adversary inside the door helping some customer fill a flour sack. “He didn’t need to wait on that customer right then,” he grumbled. “He only wanted to give you more time to become enamored of his dumb horse. You fell right into his trap.”

Bashea ignored him, checking the horse’s legs and withers as a smart purchaser would while Radeem schemed. But then, as Tahj watched, she lifted her head and stilled, as if listening. Her face drained of color. She turned to look behind her, and when her head swiveled back Tahj could tell something was definitely wrong. She shrunk against the side of the mare, taking a deep breath, her eyes darting back and forth, though he was sure they were registering nothing. After a beat, she turned toward Radeem, but he had moved off and was again going back and forth with the owner, both men red-faced by now.

Tahj tore his eyes from Bashea and searched the crowd behind her. Within seconds he spotted the large, baldheaded man harassing some other shop owner. Gesturing widely, the big man melted back into the crowd and continued up the street, his eyes scanning the faces around him as he passed. Bashea called Tahj’s name out sharply and he nodded, having recognized the beast of a man he had first seen in his bedroom a few days before. Bashea came up behind Radeem, Tahj trailing her.

“Pay the man whatever he wants,” she said abruptly.

“What?”
Radeem mumbled, barely glancing at her.

Tahj snatched the moneybag from Radeem’s belt and plopped it on the counter in front of the startled owner. “Do you have a back door?”

* * *

The trio quickly clomped down a dark, shady, covered walkway between buildings to a back courtyard, Tahj with his hand on the small of Bashea’s back, Radeem following, looking over his shoulder nervously. They stepped out of the shadow into a bright courtyard on the far side of the shop, and the owner came around the opposite side, holding the reins to Bashea’s new horse while one of his helpers led their other two horses, loaded with the provisions strapped on back.

Radeem shook the proprietor’s hand while Tahj helped Bashea up into her saddle. Then the two men mounted their horses simultaneously and turned their steeds’ heads toward an opening in the surrounding buildings directly across the courtyard. They spurred their horses into a canter. The setting sun’s rays lit up a stone archway, and as they steered their horses through it they heard shouts behind them. They had been spied.

Their horses’ hooves clamored against the
cobblestone as they flew, sometimes scattering people in their path, other times finding themselves virtually alone in back alleyways. Tahj kept twisting in his saddle to check if they were still being followed. He would sometimes see their pursuers, and then leave them behind again by making an unexpected turn or dodging into the throng of shoppers.

He was so distracted with what was following them he didn’t think to look ahead when he, Radeem, and Bashea turned into an alleyway that sloped upwards. Sun poured over the top of the hill where the alley met the upper street, and when Tahj turned his head for a minute to look forward, he was blinded by the rays, which seemed to be level with his line of vision. But as his eyes came into focus, he saw two small groups of men chatting with each other in a relaxed position on either side of the alley.

Time seemed suspended for a moment, hanging in the dusty air. The man closest to them turned casually at the sound of horses behind him, still laughing over something his companions had said, while holding a steaming drink in his hand. That was when Tahj realized the man, and in fact the others as well, had on a familiar uniform—a uniform Tahj himself carried in the pack behind him—the uniform of an Avistad soldier. Tahj reined in his horse so abruptly Bashea almost collided with him.

“It’s them!” the young captain shouted, throwing his drink down on the cobblestone with a crash. The others turned as if on a string and then sprang to life, running around the corner of the building, presumably to get their horses.

Tahj turned his mount’s head and was about to spur him in the opposite direction when Radeem came into view at the end of the alleyway shouting, “They’re right behind me! Get going!”

Tahj made an immediate decision
, pulling on the reins once again to lead his horse toward the top of the alley. The soldiers would probably be mounted by now, but he hoped to have chosen the lesser of two evils.

As Bashea rode behind she felt a twitch in her shoulder; a reminder of where the arrow had dug into her flesh. She knew it was likely
that, in facing the soldiers up ahead, she would soon be feeling the same. The thought didn’t cheer her, but she knew she would rather die with a chance of escaping than fall into the hands of Lord Boltar’s men again. She spurred her horse to faster speeds, regretting now she hadn’t listened to Radeem about a bigger horse. She glanced over at Tahj, whose face was beautifully, if grimly, set, and wished things could be different. At the same time, it became clear to her what she must do. Tahj was the prince, after all; should anybody survive this, it was most important that it be him.

“Hyah! Hyah!” she cried, using both arms to snap the reins and encourage Star even faster. She got a glimpse of the surprised look on Tahj’s face as she pulled alongside and then out-distanced him, breaking out into the open sunlight of the street a full four horse-lengths ahead of him.

The soldiers were also surprised. They knelt or stood on opposite sides of the alleyway with arrows nocked, bows arched and ready. When she and Star burst out into the clear, strings were pulled back. Bashea waited for the twang of half a dozen bows being plucked and the searing pain to follow, but the soldiers were caught so off-guard at seeing her come flying out, and not the prince, they hesitated, glancing at each other uncertainly.

With a shout, they turned to mount their horses just as the prince emerged. A few fumbled to get their bows back up and ready, but, realizing it was too late, they turned again to their horses just as Radeem and Ballamore shot past them. No longer confused, the
soldiers mounted their horses, furious they’d failed to capture the threesome when they so clearly had the jump on them. They were further stymied when they turned their horses to go, and their group clashed at the mouth of the alley with the soldiers who were behind Radeem.

Tahj realized, although they successfully squeaked past the soldiers, the group would still be hot on their tails. They bent over their horses’ necks, trying to present the smallest target for the archers’ arrows. Tahj urged his horse up to Bashea’s.

“What do you think you were doing back there?” he screamed over the wind rushing by and the driving clamor of the horses’ hooves, glowering at Bashea.

“It worked, didn’t it?” she threw back.

Tahj couldn’t argue with that, so he just growled and turned to face forward again just as an arrow shot between the two horses.
Think, Tahj, think,
a voice clamored in his head.
How are we going to get out of this one?
He envisioned Bashea’s pale face as she slipped from the side of the horse after she was shot with an arrow. He was determined to make sure that didn’t happen again.

He tried to get his bearings. Scores of people were still milling about, trying to finish up business before the shops closed, or chatting with neighbors on the street, unaware as yet of the chase bearing down upon them. A big bell was ringing somewhere, slowly, but with a deep, reverberating t
one. Up ahead, he saw a half dozen men struggling to close the big city gates, their back to the action, oblivious to the scene unfolding behind them. They were closing up the city for the night.

That’s our chance.
“Hurry!” Tahj yelled back over his shoulder to Bashea and Radeem. Coaxing all the speed out of his mount he could, the prince drove for the crack of daylight the city dwellers seemed intent on shutting out on the other side of the gate.

“H
yah! Hyah!” Catching on, Radeem and Bashea pressed their horses further, watching their escape route becoming narrower and narrower.

Once through the opening,
Tahj turned in his saddle to see the dust flying in thick clouds from Bashea and Radeem’s horses’ hooves. They sliced between the edges of the shutting doors, absorbed into the sunshine bathing the city walls, one after the other. The men shutting the gates jumped back, startled, and then shook their fists, cursing as they continued their job of locking the city up safely for the night. Once the seam of the doors was sealed, Tahj could hear shouting behind the gate.

“Open the gates! Open the gates, man!”

The mass confusion which ensued was more than adequate to provide a head start for the escapees, who thundered off into the sunset at lightning speed.