Everlasting

idea if you led the way, Kira. I appear to have lost my sense of direction at the moment.”

The two armed guards standing before the double doors of Marna's suite were garbed in the elaborate dark blue dress uniforms of the Tamrovian army and reminded Zack vaguely of stage extras he'd seen in an operetta he'd attended in Paris. They failed to challenge Kira as she opened the door and gave Zack no more than a passing glance.

“Not exactly razor-sharp security,” Zack murmured to Kira as he followed her into the elegant suite and closed the door. “This may be easier than I thought.”

“Stefan lets me come and go as I please,” Kira said. “And everyone in the palace will have been told about you by now.” The door opposite the sitting room opened and she was suddenly running toward the tall woman dressed in black who stood quietly in the doorway. “Marna!”

Kira was immediately folded in the woman's strong arms, her diminutive frame appearing even slighter in contrast with Marna Debuk's massive build. Zack hadn't remembered her as being that tall. The Gypsy towered over six feet and vaguely resembled a lady wrestler. The features of her face were harsh and blunt and her dark, shining hair was clubbed just below her ears. That impassive face didn't look any different from the way he remembered it over fifteen years ago. Her black eyes were just as snapping bright, her face as inscrutable and ageless as the day he'd first seen her when he was a boy of nineteen.

Her arms were hugging Kira with the fierce maternal affection of a grizzly, but her eyes met Zack's over Kira's head. “You came.”

He smiled faintly. “You knew I would.”

“Yes. I knew.” She gave Kira one final embrace and slowly released her. “It is done?”

“No.”

Marna's expression sharpened. “Why not?”

“Because I am not a chitka,” he said softly.

Her face clouded with anger. “I wanted it d-” She broke off and then gave a deep, booming laugh. “No, you are not a chitka,” she said, shaking her head. “You never were, Zack. Though in this case I wish you had been. It would have been easier for me.”

“And for me too. But the easy way is not always the best way.”

Kira was looking from one to the other with exasperation. “I'm still in the room, you know,” she said pointedly. “I have the distinct feeling that I've just become invisible.”

“Go sit down, Kira,” Marna said, not looking at her. “I must talk to Zack for a minute. We have things to discuss.”

Kira turned obediently away and then suddenly whirled back to face them. “The hell I will. I'm not an infant to be sent out to play while adults talk.”

Marna's eyes widened in surprise and then darkened with a touch of sadness. “It has already begun then.”

“Oh, Marna, I'm sorry,” Kira said, instantly contrite. “I didn't mean to snap. It's just that I don't understand any of this, and both you and Zack are treating me like a child.”

“All right, stay,” Marna said with a shrug. “It will make no difference.” She faced Zack, her jaw set a trifle belligerently. “You accept the mondava?”

“I accept it,” Zack said quietly. “With all my heart.”

The belligerence suddenly faded, replaced by weariness. “That goes without saying. It has to be with all your heart or there is no mondava.” She turned away. “It must be done as quickly as possible. I'm finding this very difficult.”

“Tonight,” Zack said.

Her face took on a sudden fierceness. “No! You've had your chance. You can wait now until we can do it properly and with all due ceremony.”

Zack frowned. “The hell I will. We don't even know when that will be and I'm already going crazy.”

There was the slightest hint of malicious pleasure in Marna's smile. “How unfortunate. Then you'll just have to arrange matters so the ceremony can take place quite soon, won't you?”

Zack muttered a low oath under his breath. “Has it slipped your memory that right now we have to concentrate on your escape from Tamrovia?”

“I thought you'd both forgotten,” Kira said caustically. “You won't mind if I interrupt this cryptic conversation to remind you that we came here to inform Marna we're planning on getting her out of here tomorrow?”

Marna's gaze moved to Zack's face. “How?”

“Tomorrow night there will be a reception at the palace and people will be coming and going constantly. Your guards will be bribed to allow you to be smuggled out of here and through Belajo to the woods south of the city. A helicopter will be waiting there. Kira and I will join you as soon as we can get away from the reception. Then we'll take off. By dawn we should have crossed the border into Switzerland.” He turned to Kira. “Are the grounds to the rear of the palace as well guarded as the main gate?”

“Yes,” she said thoughtfully. “But you won't have to take her out either the back or the front.” Her eyes met Marna's and she smiled. “There's another way.”

Zack's brows lifted. “A flying carpet.”

She grinned. “Better. A secret passage in my apartment that leads underneath the grounds and the main gate and into a cave in the woods. All you have to do is arrange to have a car standing by out of sight of the palace.”

“A secret passage,” Zack repeated, a little smile tugging at his lips. “I should have known. What else could I expect in a situation like this? Gypsies, palaces, and Balkan intrigue. It fits right in. I wonder why I even bothered to formulate an efficient plan.”

“It is efficient,” Marna said slowly. “Just what I would have expected of you, Zack. I will make only one alteration.”

Zack frowned. “Alteration?”

“The helicopter pilot will put us down in a clearing that I will designate, about eighty miles from here. He will be ordered to return in twenty-four hours.” She smiled calmly. “And then he will fly us to Switzerland.”

“No!” Zack said. “It's too risky. The entire countryside may be crawling with-”

Marna held up her hand to stop him. “It is the only way I will go.”

“Marna, please,” Kira pleaded. “I don't know what this is all about, but if Zack thinks it's too dangerous, then I believe you should do as he asks.”

A curious smile tugged at Marna's lips. “You trust him?”

Kira met her eyes steadily. “I trust him.”

“Good,” Marna said. “I trust him, too, but we'll still follow my plan and not his.” She patted Kira's cheek gently. “Give in to me in this, little one. It is for the best, I promise you. For this last time, let me be the one to make things as they should be for you.”

This last time. The words were weighted with a strange sadness that made Kira vaguely uneasy. “Marna…” She stared at her helplessly. Then she turned to Zack, unconsciously squaring her shoulders. “Zack, I think we should do as she wishes. Can't you find some way to make it safe for her? It's only for one night and-”

“All right.” The quiet assent surprised her so much that she broke off in mid-sentence. Where she had expected to find resistance, she now found only gentleness and understanding. “Don't look so astounded, love. I know how you feel about Marna.” He turned away. “I'll get to work right away rearranging my plans.” His gaze met Marna's across the room. “I guess this means you're keeping Kira with you tonight?”

Marna nodded. “Yes. We will have dinner together and talk of the old days and remember. I will send her back to you tomorrow afternoon.”

A crooked smile slanted his lips. “I suppose it wouldn't do any good to remind you that Karpathan will consider it a little strange for me to let her leave tonight, when we've put out the story we're a very hot item?”

“Has Karpathan seen you together?”

Zack nodded. “Yes.”

Marna smiled faintly. “Then there is no problem. Karpathan is not a chitka either. He has eyes to see what is there and many things not so plain.” She paused. “He came to visit me a few times while you were gone.”