“Yes, of course,” she agreed absently.
“Aren’t you happy, your Highness?”
“I’m delirious with happiness,” she assured him. “It’s just not seemly that a woman in my position display extremes of emotion.”
He smiled with relief. He had forgotten how well mannered she was, how careful she was not to shame herself. It must have been so hard on her, having to pretend to be nice to everyone, while inside she was missing Prince Cratyn so badly.
“It will be alright, your Highness. Prince Cratyn will be here soon.”
“I can’t tell you what a comfort that is,” she said.
Mikel stood up beaming. To have been able to deliver such wonderful news to his lady was more than he could have hoped for in this dreadful place.
Adrina smiled down at him. “I thank you, Mikel, but shouldn’t you be getting along? The Defenders haven’t surrendered yet, and I’d hate for you to wear a beating on my account.”
“It won’t be long now, your Highness,” Mikel promised with an encouraging smile. He turned and ran from the stable, almost colliding with Lord Wolfblade. He yelped with astonishment and fled past the Warlord, praying he hadn’t been recognised.
A few paces from the stable, Mikel stopped and looked back over his shoulder. The Warlord had vanished inside. The princess was in there. Alone. It just wasn’t proper. He wavered with indecision for a moment and then headed back to the stable.
Mikel slipped back into the building silently, grateful for Dace’s instruction on how to sneak around without being noticed, and hid in the first empty stall he came to. It was close enough to hear what the Warlord said to the princess. The boy smiled expectantly. Now that she knew she was to be rescued soon, he fully expected Adrina to give him a piece of her mind.
“You don’t have to do that, you know.”
Adrina looked over her shoulder. “When I was a child, the only thing we were ever allowed to do for ourselves, was groom our horses. Hablet thought it would teach us a responsibility.”
“And did it?”
She smiled. “Actually, I think it taught us more about the value of bribes. It was more fun trying to avoid the task than doing it.”
Damin walked up behind Adrina and placed his hand over hers as she brushed the animal with long slow strokes. He stood so close behind her that their bodies were touching. The princess didn’t scream. She didn’t even flinch. Damin bent his head and touched his lips to her neck, just below her right ear. She arched her back and leaned into him.
“Stop that.”
“Why?”
“There’s no future in this, Damin. You know that as well as I.”
He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. “Ah, that’s right, we hate each other, don’t we?”
She turned in his arms and touched her forehead to his. “You’re confusing lust with genuine feeling, my Lord.”
As if to give lie to her words, she kissed him. There was no mistaking it for anything else;
“If that’s your idea of trying to make me stop, then the
Adrina smiled. It was the same sort of intimate smile R’shiel saved for Tarja. The sort of smile Adrina had never bestowed on his prince.
“That’s all this is, you know. A simple case of two well trained and rather bored people amusing themselves far from home.”
“I grant you that we’re both well trained,” Damin agreed, unwrapping her arms from around his neck. He held her hands for a moment and then turned them over, kissing the palms. “And I’ve no doubt you’re bored. But this is far from simple, Adrina.”
She sighed. “I know. So what are we going to do?”
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m heading home while I still can.”
“How noble of you. What happens to me?”
“That’s up to you. You have two choices. Stay and face Cratyn, or come with me.”
Adrina’s eyes widened. “Follow you to Hythria? You’re pretty damn certain of yourself, aren’t you?”
“I wish I could say my offer was entirely motivated by the knowledge that you’d rather die than live without me, but the fact is, neither you nor I want a Karien heir to your father’s throne. The whole
“You are the most arrogant pig I have ever met.”
“Probably. Will you come with me, or not?”
“Is sharing your bed a condition of the deal?”
“No. If you want, I’ll never touch you again. I’ll escort you to Hythria and kill any man who tries to lay a hand on you against your will. Myself included.”
“You’d throw yourself on your sword for me? Somehow, I doubt that, Damin.”
“It sounded rather noble, though, don’t you think?”
Adrina kissed him again. Mikel couldn’t tell how long it lasted. He was too busy wiping away tears of anger and disappointment. Adrina knew that Cratyn was on his way to rescue her. The only reason she was doing this was the one he had refused to contemplate until now.
“I have conditions,” she said, when they finally broke apart.
“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.” Damin gathered up the mare’s lead rope and led her to an empty stall next to the one where Mikel was hiding. He held his breath.
“I’m a princess of royal blood, Damin, not some whore you picked up in the followers’ camp. I expect to be treated as such.”
“My men shall treat you with the utmost respect, your Highness, or I’ll whip them myself.” He closed the gate on the stall and walked back to her. The sun had almost set and it was getting hard to see them in the gloom.
“I wasn’t referring to your men, I was talking about you.”
“I’ll ignore that. What else?”
“The remainder of my Guard, those men the Defenders are holding prisoner, are to be released.”
“I think I can arrange that.”
“And I’m not your damned prisoner, either. If I go with you, I go of my own free will. I’ll be free to leave anytime I want.”
“Was that all?”
“No. I want it clearly understood where we stand with each other.”
“And where is that, exactly?”
“I don’t love you, Damin, and I’m damned sure you don’t love me. I’ll admit that there is a certain... physical attraction... between us, but that’s all it is. I get a thrill out of flirting with danger and you are about the most dangerous thing around. I don’t want you mistaking this affair for something it’s not.”
Damin didn’t answer her for a long moment. Then he smiled. “You’re a consummate liar, Adrina.”
“I assure you, sir, I meant every word.”
“That’s what makes you so believable. Very well, I agree to your conditions. I’m planning to break camp the day after tomorrow. Be prepared for some hard riding. If your husband should happen to discover where you are, we’ll have every Karien on the border chasing us all the way to Hythria.”
“Then you’d better hope your Medalonian friends don’t tell him. I wasn’t planning to leave him a note, you know.”
“Now there’s a thought,” he laughed. He picked up her cloak from where she had thrown it over the railing and held it out for her. Adrina turned and allowed him to drape it over her shoulders. “Let me see, how would it go?
