Lady Lure (5 page)

“No, I cannot wait.” Startling her out of her
unhappy ruminations with his sudden movement, Halvo grabbed both of
Perri’s hands in his and held on tightly. She thought the dizziness
must have assailed him once more because when she looked up at him,
he immediately went pale, but he did not let her go.

Perri was aware of the latent power his hands
possessed even after a year of illness and rehabilitation. It was
more than physical strength. There was a quality in Halvo that
touched Peril’s spirit, awakening in her needs and possibilities
she had never considered before meeting him. She wanted to curl her
fingers around his, to sit with their hands clasped on the cold,
bare metal surface of the galley table and their eyes locked, while
they sought in each other unexpected truths.

Did Halvo experience the same reaction to the
touch of her hands? She did not think so. Halvo was interested in
only one subject: gaining his freedom. She could not blame him for
that. Elyr was probably thinking similar thoughts.

“I have a right to know what I will face on
Regula,” Halvo said, adding with a faint smile, “It is my life,
after all, such as it is.”

“It is Elyr’s life, too,” Perri whispered,
unable to stop the words because her thoughts were at that moment
upon Elyr. At once, Halvo seized on what she had said.

“Who is Elyr?”

“Please.” Telling herself the emotions
swirling through her heart and mind were most unseemly, she tried
to tug her hands away from his. Still he held on to her. Afraid to
look into his eyes again, Perri concentrated on his hands. They
were large and strong. A man weakened as Halvo was should not have
hands so strong. Her own looked remarkably fragile in his grasp.
Halvo’s hands were warm. For an instant, before she caught herself
in shame and dismay, Perri wondered what it would be like to lie
unclothed with Halvo, to be stroked with tenderness by those
hands.

“Who is Elyr?” he said again, more
insistently.

“Let me go, Halvo.”

“Not until I have some answers that make
sense of what has been done to me.”

“You have been planning this moment for days,
haven’t you?” she cried, alarmed by her wayward emotions. “You
tricked me! You have been pretending to be weaker than you really
are and you told me about your wounds to soften my resolve, didn’t
you? You were counting on my sympathy.”

“Prisoners are expected to use whatever
weapons they have available, including their wits. You saw only my
apparent weakness and thus you misjudged me.” He paused before
adding in a wry tone, “It was a tactical error not common to
successful pirates.”

Perri opened her mouth to call for Rolli, who
was as usual monitoring the ship’s controls in the cockpit. Again
she misjudged her opponent.

Before she could make a sound Halvo pulled on
her hands, dragging her across the table until her face was close
enough for him to silence her by covering her mouth with his. Like
his hands, Halvo’s lips were warm and far stronger than she
expected. He grasped a fistful of her hair, holding her head so she
could not twist away from him.

Aware that one of her own hands was free,
Perri lifted it to scratch at his face or pull his hair, to make
him stop what he was doing. She did neither. Instead, her fingers
settled limply on his shoulder. Unable to control her instinctive
response, she opened her mouth and gave herself up to the kiss
blistering her lips. With the last wisps of thought available to
her fevered mind, she wondered how anything so hot and demanding as
Halvo’s kiss could also be so sweet.

Afterward, when he finally allowed her to
sink back into her own chair, she gaped at him, seeking for words
to express her outrage. For it was – it must be – outrage that was
making her heart pound and her stomach quiver. The guilt would come
later. It always did, after she had time enough to consider any act
of disloyalty to Elyr, however minor. But what had just happened
was not a minor event. Perri felt as though she had been jolted by
an earthquake.

“You are neither as sick, nor as weak, as you
pretend to be,” she said at last, her voice husky from continuing
breathlessness.

“I fervently hope you will never experience
injuries or weakness like mine,” Halvo said, “though, I must admit,
I would be pleased if you were to be as emotionally stressed as I
am at the moment.”

“I am not stressed, not in the least.”
Denying all she had just felt, Perri took a deep breath, willing
her pulse and her stomach to return to normal. “Halvo, if you touch
me again, I will call Rolli and have him put you back on the bench.
There you will stay, under restraint, until we reach Regula.”

“Fair enough.”

Was he laughing at her? Did he perceive how
confused she suddenly was? Perri could not tell for certain, but
the possibility further unnerved her.

“All I want from you,” Halvo said, “is a
straightforward explanation. Am I accused of some crime? If so, I
am unaware of the nature of my offense.”

“This situation has nothing to do with you
personally.”

“Forgive me if I dispute that contention,” he
said. “It is personal. I am the one who was kidnapped. By the way,
in case you did not know, under Jurisdiction law you could be sent
to a penal planet for the rest of your life for what you have done
to me.”

He leaned forward as if he would take her
hands again. At a sharp warning glance from her he stopped with his
fingertips almost touching hers where they lay on the table. Perri
imagined she could feel a current emanating from his fingers and
arcing toward hers. Hastily she moved her hands to her lap. Halvo
did not appear to notice.

“Perri, you are no more a pirate than I am,”
he said to her. “I believe the appearance of piracy was a ruse to
mislead Captain Jyrit and the rest of the crew of the
Krontar
so they will provide inaccurate information when
they are questioned by Jurisdiction authorities. From the few hints
you have let slip about your background, I have a dreadful
impression that someone is using you. Perhaps I can help you. Tell
me who Elyr is.”

“He is my betrothed.” Perri did not know why
she should be embarrassed to admit the truth to him. After all, she
had not instigated that passionate kiss. It was Halvo’s misdeed,
not hers, and she would take care that it was not repeated.
Fiercely she told herself she had no reason for shame or
embarrassment.

“A few minutes ago, you said that Elyr’s life
was involved in this, as well as my life,” Halvo said.

The decision came to her with perfect clarity
as Halvo spoke. Perri acted on it instantly, before she could think
of the many reasons there must be for her to proceed with greater
caution, and before she could consider how Halvo’s kiss might have
something to do with her decision.

“The full details of what the Hierarchy will
do once you are delivered to them have not been revealed to me,”
Perri said. “However, I must confess to a belief that you ought to
be made aware of your true circumstances. I will tell you as much
as I know.”

“It’s about time.” Halvo sat back in his
chair, waiting for her to continue.

“Elyr has fallen afoul of the Regulan
Hierarchy,” Perri revealed. “For men like Elyr, who are highly
placed in our society, this is not a difficult thing to do. The
seven Hierarchs are all jealous of their power. They sometimes
quarrel among themselves, and their disagreements can spread to
involve those who are not Hierarchs.”

“The Regulan Hierarchs are famous throughout
the Jurisdiction for their complicated political intrigues,” Halvo
remarked. “Perhaps I ought to say they are infamous, since people
have been known to die as a result of their machinations. It isn’t
difficult for me to believe that your Elyr could be drawn into one
of those schemes. Go on, Perri. Tell me the rest. I need to know
how I got involved in this.”

“I was unaware of what was happening until
the day when Vedyr, one of Elyr’s most trusted servants, came to me
in great distress to warn me that Elyr’s life was forfeit,” Perri
said. “Believing that Elyr must have been innocently implicated in
the latest plot, I did the only thing I could think of to help him.
I went to see the Chief Hierarch to plead for Elyr.”

“I am beginning to understand,” Halvo said.
“You were told to capture me and turn me over to the Hierarchy. In
return, Elyr’s life would be spared. Am I right?”

Perri’s nod confirmed his speculation. “I was
also warned not to give you any information. So I have broken faith
with the Chief Hierarch for what I have just said. But I could not
let you go before the Hierarchy without knowing as much as I do. I
am sorry, Halvo. I saw no way to save Elyr except to do what the
Chief Hierarch commanded.”

“Wasn’t there someone on Regula who could
have helped you? If Elyr is so highly placed, his family must have
enough influence to do something for him. Or perhaps your family
could have. Do you have any family, Perri?”

“A few distant relatives,” she said,
dismissing his idea with a shrug. “I do not know any of them well.
Perhaps you are not familiar with our marital customs. I was
betrothed to Elyr when I was nine years old. Immediately after the
ceremony I was sent to live in his parents’ household so I could be
trained in their ways and thus grow up to be a pleasing wife to
Elyr. I have not seen my own family since the day of my
betrothal.”

“You must love Elyr very much to be willing
to risk your life in order to save him,” Halvo said.

“Love?” Perri frowned. “I do not know. We are
on friendly terms. Elyr is an honorable man. His mother, Cynri, has
often told me so. I know that I have improved in the last few years
in my attempts to please him. He says I am almost an acceptable
cook and my needlework is very fine. I make all of Elyr’s clothing
with my own hands,” Perri said proudly.

“What more could a man ask of a wife?” Halvo
said in a dry tone. “What does he do for you in return?”

“In another year or two, when I have
perfected my skills, he will marry me,” she said. To her chagrin,
Halvo chuckled. “Do you find me so amusing?” she demanded.

“Not at all. I was only wondering what my
mother would think of your attitudes. She would turn Regula upside
down if she were to visit it.”

“I have heard that Lady Kalina is formidable.
On Regula, she is considered most unwomanly.” To indicate that she
meant no insult to his mother by these remarks, Perri allowed the
corners of her mouth to tilt upward, but she could not resist one
final comment. “Perhaps it is just as well that the Leader of the
Jurisdiction has not sent his wife to us on one of her state
visits.”

“I assure you, my mother’s needlework is
impeccable and she is an excellent cook,” Halvo said. Then, more
soberly, he said, “Perri, for all your cleverness and your bravery,
you seem to me to be remarkably naive. Don’t you see the terrible
possibilities behind your mission to capture and deliver a hostage?
For example, the Hierarchy surely has its own secret service. All
planetary governments have. Why did the Chief Hierarch recruit you
for such a dangerous job instead of using professional
operatives?”

“Because I am the one most concerned with
saving Elyr,” Perri said. “For me, it is a matter of honor to
succeed quietly before Elyr’s name can be publicly besmirched.”

“Are you saying he has not been officially
charged with any crime?”

“The Chief Hierarch promised me the affair
would be kept confidential until I have a chance to carry out my
mission.”

“Perri.” Halvo shook his head as if he could
not believe what he was hearing. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-two Jurisdiction years,” she said.
“What has my age to do with any of this?”

“I am almost forty-three,” he said. “I’m old
enough to be your father.”

While middle age did not begin for humans
until at least age 60 and, depending on one’s planetary
environment, the onset of old age might be delayed for many years
or even for decades, the difference between Halvo’s age and Pern’s
included an education and a career in space that set him far beyond
her in experience.

“I do not think of you as a parental figure,”
Perri said, blushing a little.

“I am glad to hear it,” Halvo said with a
smile. “We will discuss that later. For the moment, let someone who
has more practical knowledge of government intrigue make a few
suggestions as to what may be going on here.”

“I know what is going on,” she said, not
wanting to hear what Halvo might say. But she was forced to ask
herself with brutal honesty why she didn’t want to hear his ideas.
Was it because she had begun to wonder if she had been told
everything by the Chief Hierarch? Of course she had not been told
every detail of Elyr’s situation. Some matters of state were far
too important for her ears.

“The first possibility,” Halvo said, “is that
for some reason the Hierarchy wants to be rid of both Elyr and you,
and they plan to achieve their goal by blaming the two of you for
my kidnapping. Thus, after I am delivered to the Hierarchy they
will free me, thereby gaining a great deal of credit for honesty
with the Jurisdiction government, with the Service, and not
incidentally, with my parents. Of course, you and Elyr will have to
be killed before you can say anything to suggest that the
Hierarchy’s version of my abduction and release is false. Please
note that, for all I know, my kidnapping was concocted between you
and your betrothed, and your tale of the Chief Hierarch’s
involvement in the scheme is a vicious lie.”

“No!” Perri cried. “No one who knows Elyr or
me would believe such a wild, unfounded story. Nor would the Chief
Hierarch be so dishonest with me. He was willing to help Elyr.”

“The Hierarchs are always involved in some
plot or other, though this one does seem unnecessarily
complicated,” Halvo said. “If the Hierarchy wants you and Elyr
dead, some local, trumped-up charge would have done the job. I
suggest to you that the Chief Hierarch has not told you the truth –
or at least, not all of it.”