Authors: Nicole Conway
Tags: #children's fantasy, #sword and sorcery, #magic, #dragons, #science fiction and fantasy
Traitor (37 page)
Then I showed him what I’d collected. One by one, I spread all the items out on the bed. The clothes, the food, the pack, the wineskin, and the bedroll.
He didn’t say anything at first. He just ran his hands over all the things I’d gathered and made, examining each one before he turned a puzzled gaze upon me.
“What is this?” he asked.
“You’re going home,” I told him. “Back to Luntharda, where I know you’ll be safe.”
His mouth opened in surprise but no sound came out.
I picked up the clothes and pushed them into his hands. “Hurry and get dressed. I’ll be right back.”
My eyes were tearing up as I left him there to change. I didn’t want him to go. That is, I didn’t want us to be apart. I wished I could go with him. I wished we lived in a different place or time, when we could have stayed together. But wishing never did anyone any good.
I’d wasted a lot of time on wishing.
Slipping into my dad’s bedroom, I took a deep breath and whispered an apology to him as I opened the top drawer of his armoire and took out the wooden box buried under his socks. Inside was a fist-sized black velvet bag filled with gold and silver coins—all that was left of my wedding dowry.
I tucked the bag into the pocket of my apron and put the box carefully back in its hiding place before returning to my bedroom. By the time I got back, Kiran was nearly finished changing. He was sitting on the edge of my bed, slipping on the knee-high riding boots.
He stood and straightened the high collar of the leather jerkin. I couldn’t help but admire him; those clothes definitely suited him. Stepping forward, I helped tuck his long white braid into the back of his shirt so it would be hidden and buckled the long cloak around his shoulders. With the hood up, no one would be able to tell he was a gray elf.
I packed all the traveling wares into the leather bag and threaded it across one of my shoulders. Then I grabbed his hand. Together, we made a break for the front door.
But when we got there, Kiran dug his heels in. He stopped in the doorway and wouldn’t budge another inch. He pulled me back and looked down at me with his expression riddled with intensity and concern.
“Why are you doing this?” he demanded.
I couldn’t look at him. It hurt too much, and I didn’t want him to see me cry again. “Because I can’t bear this anymore. You deserve better than to be anyone’s slave, Kiran.”
He placed his fingers under my chin and tilted my head back so that I had to look at him. “You could get in very big trouble for this, you know.”
He really had no idea. I might go to prison. And even if I didn’t, now I would have no wedding dowry at all. Not that it mattered. There was only one man whose wife I would have wanted to be.
“I’m not afraid,” I told him.
He smiled. His fingers brushed the side of my neck until his hand cupped my jaw. His beautiful, wild eyes went to my mouth and made my stomach do an excited flip.
But a commotion down the street made both of us jump. A carriage was rattling towards us. Now wasn’t the time or place. Someone might see us or recognize that Kiran wasn’t human.
I grabbed the hood of his cloak and pulled it down over his head to hide his silver hair and pointed ears. “Follow me.”
Hand-in-hand, we ran through the city streets. City guards were making their nightly patrol rounds. More than once, I had to yank him into a corner or through a back alley to avoid them. I knew if we were caught, we would be questioned. There wasn’t any sort of curfew in place now, but they would still be suspicious.
At last, I brought him to the front steps of an inn very near the city’s outer wall. I happened to know the owner quite well; I’d treated him for a bad eye infection not a year ago. He owed me big time. Without my remedies, he would have lost his sight in that eye—maybe even the eyeball itself.
I leaned over, gripping my side while I caught my breath. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
Leaving Kiran to hide in the alleyway behind the inn, I quickly ducked inside. A few patrons were seated about the common area, enjoying warm brews and the light of the evening fire smoldering in the hearth. No one looked up to acknowledge me until the innkeeper poked his head out of a back room and waved.
“Holly! What brings you here at this hour?” He smiled cheerfully.
I tried to act casual. “Good evening. I’ve got a favor to ask. Is there somewhere we can talk?”
The innkeeper showed me to his office behind the bar, closing the door to give us a little privacy. “What’s the matter? You look awfully flushed, miss.”
I forced a smile. “Oh, I’m all right. Just a little winded. I don’t guess I’ve walked this far from the clinic in a while.”
“Well, what can I do for you?”
I started fingering the bag of coins in my pocket. “I wondered if you still had that horse for sale? And the saddle, too?”
He arched an eyebrow suspiciously. “What in the world do you need with a horse, Miss Holly?”
Casual. Act casual. “It’s not for me. It’s for my dad. You know he goes on so many house calls these days all over the city. I thought he might like having a horse to ride rather than going about on foot all the time.”
“A horse and saddle don’t come cheap.” The innkeeper still didn’t look convinced.
I took out the bag and poured the coins into my palm. “I believe this should cover it, and then some. You know, just to keep this a secret between us. I want it to be a surprise.”
I watched the innkeeper’s eyes widen at the sight of so much gold and silver. “Miss Holly, this is too much. The horse is just an old nag.”
“But it’s fast, isn’t it?”
Once again, his eyes became suspicious. “I suppose so.”
“Then I’ll take it. And the saddle, too.” I held the coins out to him. My pulse was pounding in my ears, and it took everything I had to keep from shaking.
Hesitantly, he took the coins. “Where did you get this money, child?”
I winced. I didn’t have a good excuse for that, but the truth still worked sufficiently. “It’s all that’s left of my wedding dowry. There was never much to begin with, and it seems silly to cling to it now. I’m going to take over the family business, become a surgeon like my father. That’s all the dowry I’ll need.”
I must have been a better liar than I ever realized. Either that, or I was performing well under pressure. He seemed to believe me, although he gave me a nearly sorrowful look as he took my money.
“You’re sure you don’t want the change?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Not so long as you promise never to tell anyone I was here tonight.” I added a cutesy, girlish wink for good measure.
He smiled sadly and patted my shoulder. “I promise.”
Gods and Fates, I hoped I could trust him.
I tried not to think about it any more as I readied the horse and brought it around to the alley where Kiran was still waiting for me. He eyed the creature anxiously, like he’d never ridden one before.
I started to panic. Didn’t gray elves have horses?
“I can manage,” he tried to reassure me as he took the reins.
I was so nervous I couldn’t keep myself from shivering. “Are you sure?” There really wasn’t time to give him a riding lesson.
Kiran nodded. He ran a curious hand over the horse’s neck with a mystified look on his face. “I’ve seen them ridden plenty of times. They move quite fast.”
“Hopefully it will be fast enough,” I muttered. “Do you know the way back? Can you get there on your own?”
He turned his gaze on me, emotions flickering over his handsome features so quickly I wasn’t sure what he was thinking. But there wasn’t time to sort it out. He had to go, now—before someone noticed.
“Kiran,” I started to speak, to warn him that he had better take his opportunity while he had it.
He cut me off by pressing his soft, warm lips firmly against mine.
The world spun for a moment. I steadied myself, putting my hands against his chest. His kiss grew deeper, more desperate and passionate by the second. I held onto him as tightly as I could, drinking in every little detail of how he felt, smelled, and tasted.
And then it was over.
I watched him climb up into the saddle, settling his feet in the stirrups and turning the horse around to leave the alley—and me—behind.
“I will come back,” he promised when he stopped and looked back. “Wait for me.”
I couldn’t speak. My throat ached to call out for him to stop. To come back. I knew he probably would have if I’d asked him to. But I couldn’t. I wouldn’t dare ask him to come back and be our slave again.
I loved him far too much to ask him to do that.
Standing alone in the dark of the alleyway, I watched Kiran gallop away into the night, listened to the clatter of his hoof beats fade to silence. He was riding away from me, but he was headed for freedom.
Wait for me.
His words echoed in my heart over and over again. I would wait, even if it took a lifetime. It would be worth it.
I would see Kiran again.
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