The Treasure

serve him well. He had always thought martyrs deserved their fate, and he was being disgustingly noble.

“Lord Kadar?”

He turned to see young Haroun, Ware’s page, hurrying toward him. “What is it?”

“A ship has docked in the harbor.”

He stiffened. “Our harbor?”

“No, the harbor at Dalkeith, where we first landed when we came to this land. Robert sighted it and rode to give us word.”

It had come. They had always feared the Knights Templar would discover Ware was not dead and pursue him. “Only one ship?”

Haroun nodded.

One ship was not bad. The castle was well fortified and Ware had kept his men battle-ready. “Did Robert say who captained the ship?”

“Ali Balkir.” Haroun moistened his lips. “It is the Dark Star, Lord Kadar. The ship that brought us here.”

Sinan.

Kadar felt the familiar chill grip him. There had been times when he had almost forgotten Sinan. No, that wasn’t true. He had buried the memory, but the Old Man was like an underground river, ever present, an eternal danger. Ruler of a band of assassins whose skill and power had intimidated even the great Saladin, Sinan could never be dismissed so lightly.

“The captain sent a message. He wishes you to come and meet with him.”

It was what he had expected. He nodded. “I’ll go at once. Have my horse saddled.”

“Do you wish me to come with you?”

The boy was afraid. Who could blame him? Balkir was an arm of Sinan, and the entire Christian world feared the Old Man of the Mountain. “No, I’ll go alone.”

Haroun was clearly relieved. “I’ll go tell Lord Ware. Perhaps he’ll want to accompany you.”

“No.”

“But I must. He will want to know about the ship.”

“The Dark Star is no threat to him. Why should he be troubled when he has guests? I’ll tell him myself-later. Tell Robert he’s to return to the harbor at once.”

“You’re sure there is no danger?”

“Lord Ware is in no danger, and neither is Montdhu,” Kadar repeated.

Haroun gave him a troubled glance but turned and ran back toward the stables.

Ware would be in a fury when he found out that Kadar had kept the news from him. Perhaps Kadar would tell him later. He would make a decision after seeing Balkir. It could be safe. Maybe he wasn’t here for the reason Kadar suspected.

Kadar!

His head lifted and his gaze went toward the south, where the Dark Star lay at harbor. Imagination. He could not have heard the Old Man call him from halfway across the world. It was clearly impossible.

But not for the man who always stood in Sinan’s shadow. Nasim, the master, the trainer of assassins, the man who was only waiting for the chance to become as powerful as Sinan. Kadar had seen many mysterious happenings that boggled the mind connected with Nasim.

A chill went through him at the thought. Nonsense. Nasim was only a phantom from the past. Sinan had not even mentioned him on that last trip to Maysef. It was Sinan who had sent the Dark Star, and Kadar had always been able to deal with him.

Kadar had spoken the truth when he had told Haroun there was no threat to Montdhu. Sinan had no interest in Ware or Thea or Selene as anything but tools. Kadar could keep them all safe.

All he had to do was answer the summons.

It was no use trying to sleep.

Selene swung her feet to the floor, wrapped a cover about her naked body, and moved across the room to the window. The stones were cool beneath her feet. It had grown chilly now that midnight had come and gone.

She gazed out into the darkness. Kadar was out there somewhere. He had left far before the evening had come to an end. She hadn’t seen him go, but she had sensed the loss. It was always as if a flame had gone out when he left a room, everything drained of life. Where had he gone? To the stables to dice with Haroun and the other men? Maybe to the Last Hope. He had a chamber here at the castle, but he often spent the night on board his ship.

Was there a woman with him? He never brought his lemans to the castle, but the ship…

Rage seared through her and she quickly blocked the thought. No use to torture herself with imaginings. She had found out the reason Kadar held her at bay, and she had found out something about herself as well.

So what if she was wary and lacking in trust? What did he expect? She and Thea had been born slaves in Nicholas’s House of Silk in Constantinople. They had spent most of their childhood in the house of women, laboring from dawn to dusk at the looms. The only trust they had learned at Nicholas’s was to trust that the lash would fall if they failed in their tasks or tried to escape captivity. Why could Kadar not accept that in her? She couldn’t give what she didn’t have.

But if she didn’t give him what he wanted, she might lose him. He might tire of waiting and go to some other-

She was doing it again. Trust. Why could she not trust that he would not leave her?

Because it would mean lowering her guard and letting herself become vulnerable. Yielding that part of her that she had fiercely protected all her life.

How could she be more vulnerable than she was to Kadar right now? She could think of nothing else but the stupid man.

Her eyes were stinging again. She would not cry. She was not one to weep and moan when she could take action to find a solution.

But, dear God, the solution to this problem was agonizingly hard. She was not sure if she even knew how to go about it.

“You understand the message?” Ali Balkir asked.

Kadar nodded. “It’s what I expected.”

“You promised Sinan you’d come and do whatever task he set you. He’s summoning you now. You will obey, of course.”

“Will I?” Kadar smiled. “I’ll have to think about it.”

Panic tore through Balkir. It was what he had feared when Nasim had given him this mission. As a boy, Kadar had walked his own path, and he had even defied Nasim by leaving him. “You’ve got to come.”

Kadar’s smile faded. “I said I’ll think about it.”

“Don’t be a fool. It’s Sinan who sends for you.”

“I’ll let you know my decision in three days.”

“We leave tomorrow. Sinan wants you at once.”

“Then he’ll have to wait.” Kadar moved toward the gangplank. “And have your men stay on board the ship. I want no raping or violence here at Montdhu.”

“Then you’d best make the right decision.”

Kadar glanced at him over his shoulder and said softly, “I have no liking for threats, Balkir.”

Balkir suppressed a shiver as he met Kadar’s gaze. The overwhelming menace was almost as strong as what he felt when he had confronted Nasim. “It is Sinan’s threat, not mine. You must come with me.”

“Three days.” He turned and went down the gangplank.

Balkir’s hand tightened on the rail as he watched him leave. By Allah, he had known there would be trouble. What would he do if Kadar decided not to obey the command? Terror iced through him. He had been given a mission, and one did not fail a mission given by Nasim.

Yet if he attacked the castle, he would risk injuring Kadar, and Nasim would regard that as a failure also. He would have to find another means to assure Kadar’s compliance.

“Murad,” he called over his shoulder. “Follow him. Make sure he goes nowhere but Montdhu. I want to know