The Carnelian Legacy (22 page)

He gave her a curt nod and stared back into the fire. As Darian retreated back into his shell, Marisa sulked. She knew that he was probably just trying to protect himself. After all, she was doing the same thing and couldn’t honestly blame him.

Arrie rolled out their mats and pointed her toward the tent.

“Marisa, your tent is ready anytime you wish to retire. You’ve had a pretty rough day and should probably get some sleep.”

“I’m so exhausted that I could fall asleep right now.”

“Don’t worry about a thing—we’ll be right over there,” he said, gesturing toward the fire just a few feet away. “Now go try to get some sleep.”

“Sleep well, milady,” Darian added softly.

Marisa crawled inside her tent and lay down on the mat. The temperature had cooled off considerably in the past hour. She shivered as she thought of Darian and Arrie out in the cold and wondered if they would be warm enough. She covered herself with her cloak and finally decided they’d be okay under their cloaks and wool blankets next to the fire.

As she lay on her mat, her mind raced. She tossed and turned for nearly half an hour but still couldn’t get comfortable. Realizing that the earpiece was still in place, she reached up to remove it.

Something caught her attention as she heard Darian and Arrie whispering. She adjusted the translator and strained to listen.

“Are you absolutely certain about this?” Arrie whispered.

“Quite certain,” Darian replied softly.

“Have you told anyone else?”

“No, and I shall not inform the Crimson Court until after I’ve had the opportunity to tell my mother and Adalina first.”

“I don’t think I need to remind you that Savino will use all means possible to defeat you. When he finds out, he—”

“Savino isn’t going to find out,” Darian interrupted. “I am certain that he must be planning something, and I must act before he does. I believe he would hurt her if he ever found out. But by the time he learns of our betrothal, it will be too late.”

“You’re not planning to elope, are you?” Arrie whispered.

Marisa gasped.

“Of course not. I don’t want that, and neither does she.”

“Then I offer you my warmest congratulations, Darian. I hope that you will be supremely happy together. If anyone deserves it, it’s you. When will you be making the announcement?”

“Soon—when the timing is right. I plan to invite Mattie and Savino to Crocetta as guests of honor at a ball. With all the members of the Crimson Court present, there will be plenty of witnesses should Savino try anything.”

There was a long pause as Marisa held her breath. The two men said nothing for a moment, and she heard only the popping and cracking of the fire.

“What about Marisa?” Arrie whispered finally. “When are you planning to tell her about the engagement?” Marisa leaned against the tent and strained to hear Darian’s reply.

“I—I don’t know how to tell her.”

“What!”
Arrie said out loud.

“Shhh, you’ll wake her!”

“No more games, Darian. She cares about you and has a right to know. You may be my cousin, but if you don’t tell her, I will.”

Darian let out a long, heavy sigh. “Just let me handle it. I will need some time to break it to her gently.”

“Not too much time. You need to tell her soon.”

“The poor girl has had so much to endure in recent weeks, and the last thing I want is for her to hear about it from someone else. Promise me that you won’t say anything to her?” Darian asked.

Another silence.

“But when are you planning to tell her?”

“Arrie, please—just promise me.”

“All right. I promise.”

Marisa fell down on her mat and rolled over on her side, tears flooding her eyes. Ripping the translator from her ear, she threw it against the side of the tent, unable to hear anymore. She recalled what Darian had said just a few short hours ago:

In just two days, we will reach Crocetta. Many things will change when we get there, but one thing that will never change is how much I care about you.

Darian had never made a secret of the fact that he’d probably end up marrying Matilda. He’d told her straight out that he wasn’t in a position to offer Marisa anything. Arrie said he always put duty before his heart. Why should she be so surprised?

Her father had always said that life wasn’t fair. Well, there’s no way she’d stick around and watch those two get married among a host of well-wishers.

Pulling the hood of her cape over her face, Marisa tried to muffle her gut-wrenching sobs and started to wish she was dead.

CHAPTER 16

APPREHENSIONS

MARISA
AWOKE
THE
NEXT
morning with a terrible headache and muscle pains that stretched through her whole body. She’d never cried herself to sleep back home, but since she’d come to this strange new world, it had become a frequent evening ritual.

Great, now I’m turning into a basket case.

She quickly dressed and twisted her hair up in a knot. She looked terrible from all the crying and the poor night’s sleep, but she just didn’t care anymore. She emerged from the tent to find Arrie and Darian sitting around an early-morning fire.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” joked Arrie.

“Very funny,” she muttered under her breath, in no mood for jokes. “How much longer before we get to this Crocetta, anyway?”

“About eight hours,” Darian answered.

“Another day of sore muscles—that’s just great!” The two men exchanged puzzled glances.

She looked down at the smoky fire, avoiding eye contact with either of them. She swiped the last piece of bread and fruit, turned away from them, and gobbled it down in just a couple of minutes. After washing her meager breakfast down with a cup of water, she stood up and stomped down to the river.

As she splashed the icy water on her face and arms, Marisa shivered. She was looking forward to taking a warm bath once they got home.
Wherever home is these days,
she thought.

Once Arrie had taken down her tent, they saddled up and moved out on their final stretch of the journey toward Crocetta. They had been gone for more than a week, and tonight they would finally reach the city.

Marisa had hoped that her life would return to some sort of normalcy, but she doubted it was even still possible at this point. Although she would never admit it to anyone else, she’d be a bit sad when their journey was over. It had been a frightening yet wondrous adventure, and she owed Darian and Arrie for saving her life more than once. The three of them had been through a lot together.

No matter what happened, she’d never forget either of them, and it would be strange not having them around for moral support. They had gotten her through a rough first week after her father’s funeral and even helped ease her into life in this strange new world.

She would stay friends with Arrie, but there was no way she could continue to associate with Darian once he married Lady Matilda. Not only would they move in totally different social orbits, but the pain caused by seeing him married to another woman would be too much for her to bear. For her own sake, she had to make a clean break.

Out in the open wilderness, Marisa had time to ponder many things for several hours, and she shifted her focus to planning her new life. She wondered what she could do to earn a living for herself in Carnelia. Most women seemed to marry and let the man take care of them for the rest of their lives. She wasn’t so sure that was what she wanted.

The option of starting a new life as Savino’s wife was still on the table, but she wasn’t sure yet if she could go through with it. Helinda had said she would be lucky to have such a powerful man, but it wasn’t passion and fireworks with him as it was with Darian. Although she felt tremendous pressure to marry Savino and save the country from war, Marisa needed more time before she could make her final decision on whether to marry him.

She wondered what would happen to the country if she turned Savino down. Darian had said that Savino would declare war and many people would die. Would she be hated by all as the woman who could have prevented war but didn’t? She couldn’t bear to think of that scenario playing out in her future.

On a more personal level, Marisa wondered if she’d ever meet another man that she could love again. She doubted it, but maybe somewhere in her future she might meet someone she could respect. Darian might be willing to find her a suitor, but that was the last thing she wanted from him. Arrie was right; she was still young, and time was on her side.

But she didn’t want to find someone else, and she didn’t want to settle for second-best in her life, either. What was it her father had written in his letter?
Never settle for less than that which is worthy and worthwhile.
Would her father have considered Savino as being either? She wondered.

Marisa came to the sad conclusion that she had few options in this world. She had met the man of her dreams in Carnelia but now wished she’d never even come here. The illusion of the fairytale happy ending had disappeared forever. It was probably just a gimmick used to sell books and movies anyway.

“You’re much too quiet over there, cousin,” Arrie said. “What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”

“Everything,” she said quietly.

“Could you be a little more specific, please?”

Marisa shrugged. “I’ve just been wondering what is going to happen to me. There don’t seem to be many options available for a girl like me. It’s not like I’m fresh out of college and can go interview for a job somewhere.”

“Your prospects are not as dismal as you think, dear cousin.”

“Ha! That’s easy for you to say. You’re a guy.”

“Nonsense! You’re a beautiful woman that many men would be willing to fight for,” Arrie said.

He glanced over at Darian and chuckled. “Or even die for.”

She made a face. “I seriously hope it doesn’t come to that. I don’t need any extra drama in my life right now.”

“Nevertheless, I think you give yourself and, I might add, Carnelia far too little credit.”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t yet know much about our world, Marisa, and you’ve still got a lot to learn. There are many opportunities for women in our world, believe it or not, and they
don’t
all end in matrimony.”

She looked at him skeptically. “Do tell.”

“Women are employed here just like they are on Earth. Maybe not in the same ways, but it is possible for a woman to make her own living here. We just have a different philosophy when it comes to women.”

“I’m all ears,” she said dryly.

“Women are equal in importance to men, but they have different roles to play. While your world has been fighting for women’s rights, emancipation, and equality for more than a century now, our world came to the conclusion long ago that men and women, though created differently and sometimes behave differently, are in fact equal.”

“Somehow Savino and his warriors didn’t leave me with that impression. They all treat women like they’re trophies or something.”

“You are most perceptive, milady. But that is a rather poor example. Savino is not your average Carnelian male.”

“
That
I can believe.”

Darian interrupted. “Time to stop and rest the horses.”

Marisa dismounted and grabbed her satchel. She headed toward a large grove of trees and turned her back toward them, hoping that they would take the hint and leave her alone. She removed the purple diary from her satchel and felt the soft fabric on its cover.

“What is that book anyway?” Darian asked over her shoulder.

“Do you always have to sneak up on people like that? It’s so annoying!”

“Sorry.”

She softened. “It’s some kind of diary my father gave to me. The only problem is—I can’t read it.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s written in Scottish Gaelic.”

“Scottish Gae-lic?”

“Yeah, the language my parents spoke back in Scotland.”

“Ah. May I see it?”

“Sure, I guess—why not?” She handed him the book.

He sat down next to her and began to thumb through it, stopping every now and then to look at a picture or drawing.

“Who wrote it?”

“I dunno. I was gonna ask my uncle about it but I didn’t get the chance. And now I might never find out,” she said wistfully.

“Well, it certainly is a beautiful book,” he said as he handed it back to her. “Someone obviously spent a lot of time writing it. Such an heirloom should be treasured indeed.”

“Yes, well, I’ve managed to hang on to it so far. And even if I’m never able to get it translated, at least I still have something that belonged to my father.”

“Yes, but what a pity you can’t read it,” he said thoughtfully.