The Southern Trail (Book 4) (30 page)

“Marco, I love you,” she told him.

“But,” he stuttered in response.

“I’ve thought you were special ever since the day I first saw you.  I’ve tried so hard to remember that I’m engaged to Argen, but I can’t help myself – I have to tell you that I love you.  It’s like Fate has decided it for me,” she cut him off to speak in a determined voice.

“Ellersbine, I love you too.  I didn’t start on this journey knowing that I’d meet you, but since I have met you, I’ve thought about you a great deal,” he told her.  “Here, give me your baby to hold,” he adjusted his arms, and took the other infant from her, holding both children tightly against his chest with his left arm, as he raised his right hand over his shoulder.

“Read the back of my marriage collar,” he told her, and he made his hand glow softly to illuminate the fine script.

“Oh my word!  That’s my name!” she said moments later.  “When did you have it written on here?

“Who are these other names?” she asked.

“A long time ago, long before I ever met you, a dream came and wrote those names on my collar, and said the names there would be the three great loves of my life,” he said.  “I’ve met the first two, but I had no idea who you were or where you were, or what you were.”

“What happened to the first two?” she asked as she came back around to his side, one hand still touching the collar around his neck.  “Did you kill them with your powers?”

Marco gave a wistful smile.  “No, actually I married them.  They’re still alive,” he answered.

“You’re married to two other women, and you’ve come after me?” Ellersbine shifted her seat slightly apart from him.

“I didn’t come looking for another woman!” Marco exploded angrily.  He was angry at himself, not the girl beside him.  “I didn’t want to fall under your enchantment.  I didn’t want my heart to be unfaithful to the woman I’m married to.  Mirra deserves nothing but the best I can offer – she doesn’t deserve to be married to someone who is sitting hundreds of miles away from her, feeling besotted with desire for another woman.”  He took a deep breath, then bit his bottom lip, surprised by the release of pent up emotion.

There was silence between them, until one of the children in Marco’s arms started to cry.

“Here, let me take the other one,” Ellersbine quietly spoke as she reached over and pulled the smaller infant out of Marco’s crowded lap, and he placed his finger in the mouth of the coughing, crying two-year old.

“Marco,” she said later, after several awkward minutes.  “I became engaged to Argen even though I didn’t like him,” she began.

“I know; I know that.  You told me before,” Marco cried out an admission.

“Before?   When?” Ellersbine asked.

“I’m living through my confession of my love to you for the second time, and this is no easier than the first – maybe harder,” Marco told her.  “On the first night after I set you and Argen free, you and I sat up at night and talked about our love for each other,” he told her.

“I don’t remember that,” she faltered.

“I gave you a potion so that you wouldn’t remember,” Marco said.  “I had to; I had given the same potion to Argen, and we thought that you needed to forget things just like he did, so that you wouldn’t know – well, it doesn’t matter, but that’s what happened.

“You told me that you didn’t love Argen, that you did love me.  You told me the story about your father killing the wasp in your room when you were a little girl.  You told me about the stuffed animals you loved, and the first boy you kissed,” he released another emotional torrent.

“We are in love with each other,” Marco told the girl.  “We both know it, we both feel it.  We both know that we have other obligations that should prevent it from happening.  Oh Ellersbine, what are we going to do?”

They were staring at each other now.  The children were silent, the spring water suppressing their coughs and allowing them to fall into exhausted sleep despite the emotion storm playing over their heads.

“Is it this?  Is it this string of light between us?” the princess asked.  “Is that what’s causing our hearts to drift together?”

“That name was etched on my marriage torq long before the energy began to flow,” Marco said.  “You were dissatisfied with Argen long before we had this.  I was enchanted with you before there was any such connection between us – the energy is a symptom of our love, not the cause.”

Ellersbine reached out her free hand and placed it on Marco’s cheek, gently stroking the skin and sparse stubble, then her hand slid back to the back of his neck and pulled his face towards hers, as she leaned in towards him.  They began to kiss, and then lost all sense of time, until they heard someone coming up the stairs.

“Is everything okay up here?” the mother’s voice called anxiously.  “I haven’t heard a sound from the children in a long time.”

“We’re fine,” Marco said breathlessly.

“The children are doing fine,” Ellersbine said at the same time.  “Are they cured?” she asked Marco in a lower voice.  “Do they need more spring water?”

“Maybe some more tomorrow morning, just to be sure,” he said cautiously.

“We’re done treating them,” Ellersbine called.   She rolled herself around and then stood up while holding the baby.  “We’ll come back tomorrow morning to check on them.

“Come on Marco,” she called as she delicately maneuvered herself around to descend the steps to the apartment below.  Marco followed, and arrived at the floor of the home as Ellersbine handed the larger child over to its mother.

“What did you do to them up there?  Are they going to be alright?” the mother asked anxiously as her husband took the infant from Marco.  She studied the sleeping babies, then looked up at Marco.

“They’ll be fine.  We’ll come back tomorrow morning to check on them,” he said reassuringly.  “Now get a good night’s sleep,” he urged them, as he took Ellersbine’s hand, and led her out the door and down the steps.

When he reached the ground he stopped and turned, bringing the princess to a stop on the last step, so that their eyes were level with each other.  He didn’t say a word, but smiled at her, then embraced her and started to kiss her passionately.

She happily accepted his advance, but after several minutes she pulled back and looked at him.

“Marco, I want this; I want it so much, but,” she paused.  “Argen has been so pleasant lately, friendly and kind and thoughtful.  I feel badly about betraying him like this. Let me take my time away from you to really decide what I feel, and to decide if I want to end my engagement to him.”

Marco stood facing her, and spent several seconds wrestling with how to respond.

“Marco, can you say anything?” Ellersbine asked as the silence between them stretched.

“He is kind now, but I don’t think it will last,” Marco decided to confess the truth to Ellersbine.  “When we reached the river valley, and you and Argen drank water from a spring on the morning that we began to walk along the riverbanks, you drank from an enchanted spring.

“The water there has the power to make anyone who drinks from it friendly.  It lasts until the next full moon.  That means that you and Argen will be just the way you are now for another two weeks, and then the enchantment will wear off.  It won’t make any difference to you, because you are friendly and good-hearted already, my sweet friend.  But when it wears off of Argen, I’m afraid he will revert to the pettiness and anger and cruelty that were his personality before,” Marco warned her.

“An enchanted spring?” Ellersbine pulled even further back from Marco.

“Can you doubt such a thing?” Marco asked, as he held his own gloved hand up before her.  “I spoke to the spirit of the spring, Quonna, and she told me what the enchantment was.  Think about Argen – can you imagine any other reason for the friendliness he now displays?”

“I don’t know, I mean, no I don’t understand,” she paused and sighed then leaned against Marco and hugged him tightly.  “Oh Marco, you are so enticing,” she told him then pressed her lips to his again, then pulled them away.  “See?” she spoke in a scolding tone.

“Let’s go back to the inn,” she suggested to Marco, who gave a sigh, then stepped aside, and walked with her back to their inn, where he kissed her chastely goodnight outside her room, and went into the room he shared with Argen, to slowly fall asleep.

Chapter 24

When Marco awoke the next morning, Argen was already sitting up in bed.  Marco said good morning as he got dressed for his morning visit to the children, all the while wishing that Argen would remain the good person he was under the influence of Quonna’s spring.

“Where are you going?” Argen asked as he saw Marco pull his boots on.  “You two were out late last night; are the patients okay?”

“I’m going to go check on the babies right now, as a matter of fact,” Marco said.  “We treated them a little last night, and I expect they’ll be fine this morning.”

“Can I come along?  I’d like to see some of the city,” Argen stood up as Marco did.

“Sure – why not?” Marco replied, and he held the door open so that the two of them could depart.

It was only when they climbed the steps to the store keeper’s apartment that Marco realized the problem of having Argen along; Marco wanted to dose the children with the spring water from his finger again, but he didn’t want to reveal the secret of the water – and the golden hand – to Argen, for fear that the information would be used against him at a later date.

They went upstairs, and found the door opened – after several knocks – by a sleepy-looking storekeeper.

“Is everything okay?” Marco asked, worried.  “You don’t look like you got much sleep.”

“On the contrary, we had a great night’s sleep.  I just woke up from your knocking.  Everyone else is still sleeping soundly – especially the babies!”

“I’d like to look at them,” Marco said politely.  “I want to make sure they’re completely on their way to healing.”

“Come in, and bring your friend,” the shopkeeper pulled his robe tight and held the door open, then went and fetched the two sleepy children.  They both looked in good health.

“Let me take them up into the sunlight on the roof to look them over,” Marco requested.

“I’ll come up and help you,” Argen eagerly offered.

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” Marco quickly replied.  “I just want to see them in the sunlight.”  He took the first baby up to the top of the steps and opened the hatch, then removed his glove while he was above and out of sight by the others, and gave the sleeping child a minute to sip more of the sweet spring water that had cured its discomfort.

“This baby is fine,” Marco said as he backed down the steps.  He took the second child up and repeated the quick treatment, then closed the hatch and returned.

“They’ll be fine,” he handed the child to its mother, who had also gotten up and come out.

“You have done something amazing,” the shopkeeper said. “I’ll be downstairs in the shop in an hour, and you can come collect the things you want, unless the thing you want is a little more time to smooch with that pretty girl you brought last night?” the man laughed and slapped the mortified Marco on the back.  He hadn’t known that the shopkeeper had seen him and Ellersbine’s exchange, and he hadn’t expected the man to reveal it in front of Argen.

“We’ll be going, and I’ll see you soon,” Marco spoke quickly, and led the way down the stairs to the alleyway, waiting for Argen to say something.

“What was he talking about?” the count obliged Marco by asking as soon as they were off the stairs.

“Last night,” Marco began, then paused before he spoke, “last night, after treating the babies, I kissed the princess.  She said that she shouldn’t do that because she was engaged to you,” Marco’s speaking speed went from slow to fast as he blurted out the explanation.

“I know I shouldn’t have done it,” Marco told Argen as he looked at him.  While the count was so friendly and kind, it felt like a betrayal.  Yet Marco knew that the old Argen would re-asset himself in just a matter of days, and be outraged by the event.  It was only a matter of time before Marco would suffer some consequences, or worse, he feared, Ellersbine would suffer.

“The princess was very proper about my behavior, Argen, and I apologize,” he said.

“Marco, you’re a very good man, and you’ve been a hero to the girl.  And she’s a beautiful girl, and a princess.  Plus we have all spent an enormous amount of time together in continual intimacy,” Argen spoke in a reasonable tone.  “So I understand.

“But I hope that it won’t happen again,” he said firmly.

Marco started to reply that it wouldn’t, then stopped.

“She is beautiful, and kind, and bright.  I find her enchanting – I can’t make a promise that I may not be able to keep,” Marco answered.  “And I want to be honest enough to admit that to you now.”

“So be it.  Forewarned is forearmed, I suppose,” Argen answered, and they walked the rest of the way to the inn in silence, as each considered what had been uncovered.

When they got to the inn, Ellersbine was in the dining room eating a piece of bread.  “There you two are.  You had an early start, I see.  How were the children?” she asked.

“They are as good as new,” Marco said.  “I won’t need to do anything further with them.  But I do need to go to the dry goods store and get some supplies,” he remained standing, while Argen sat down with Ellersbine.  Without another word, but feeling certain that words would be exchanged, he left the pair and went up to his room to pick up the scarred and torn leather bag that held his scraps and dregs of alchemy supplies, then went back down to where the two companions had serious expressions on their faces as he waved at them and went out the door.

He returned to the shop, where the storekeeper had the front door open and the blinds raised to let the morning light in.

“You had an unusual shopping list, from what I recall of our conversation yesterday,” the man greeted him.  “Tell me what you need, and we’ll locate as much as we can.”  And so, once Marco was given a counter to work on, he spent four hours working at the shop, mixing together the bug-killing powder that the innkeeper wanted, as well as mixing parts of the powder that would provide breezes for the sailing ship they hoped to depart on the following day.