Gwennore jumped back from the door. “Oh, good morning. I—I’ve started the bath.”
“I’ll heat some water for you.” Nissa held the kettle under the spout of running water and gave Gwennore a curious look. “Are you considering taking him back, my lady?”
“No, of course not.” Gwennore glanced at the door once again as she stepped away.
Nissa set the kettle on the stove, then added some wood to the fire. “It must be hard to turn down a man like the general.”
Gwennore sighed. Definitely hard.
* * *
She must be bathing, Silas thought, as he pressed his ear against the door. How many times had he stopped himself from knocking on her door last night? He’d been up half the night, fighting temptation.
With a sigh, he stepped back. He wanted to respect her wishes, but weren’t they supposed to be working together? Didn’t that give him a legitimate reason to talk to her? He’d heard about her new workroom in the western wing. Maybe this afternoon, he could drop by for an official report.
He clenched his fists. How could he wait till this afternoon? Maybe, if he timed it right, he could run into her in the hallway?
What a lovesick fool he was. He quickly washed, shaved, and threw on his clothes, all the while listening to the noises next door. When the noises stopped, he rushed to his bedchamber door and peeked out.
When she stepped into the hallway, he quickly exited, then stopped as if surprised to see her.
Damn. He was surprised. She was wearing breeches!
“What?” He strode toward her. “What are you doing?”
Her cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink, but she avoided looking at him. “Good morning.”
“You’re wearing breeches.”
“I am aware of that.” Her pretty ears turned pink. “Annika loaned me a pair. We’re going to collect wild herbs and such from the forest today, so I thought—”
“You’re going into the forest?” Silas scowled at her. “You should take an armed soldier with you—”
“I am.” Gwen gave him a wry look. “Annika.”
His mouth twitched. No one could set him straight as well as Gwen. Even so, he would ask Karlan to send some guards to make sure the ladies were safe. No matter how capable Annika was, she’d have trouble fighting off a bear all by herself.
He crossed his arms over his chest as he studied Gwen. “So did you want to join the army?” He leaned close. “I have a really nice tent you could share with me.”
She snorted. “If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” She walked past him, and as he turned to follow her progress, his gaze dropped to the lovely sway of her hips, so well defined in those tight breeches.
Damn. He stalked after her. “It’s against regulation not to wear the complete uniform. You’re missing the breastplate.”
Gwen stopped. “Annika had only one of those.”
The breastplate was long enough to cover most of a woman’s hips. Didn’t Gwen realize how much of her sweetly rounded rump was on display? He grabbed her shirt and started pulling it from the waistline of her breeches.
Gwennore stiffened. “What are you doing?”
“Hiding your sweet ass,” he grumbled as he let the shirt fall around her hips.
She huffed. “I’m hiding enough, already. I’ll be in the workroom most of the day.”
“Hiding from me?”
She pushed his arms away. “Avoiding you.”
“I miss you.”
A pained look crossed her face before she affected a bland expression. “It hasn’t been that long. You saw me yesterday.”
“I kissed you yesterday.” He reached for her, but she stepped back.
“I told you, the make-believe affair is over. I have no intention of copula—”
“It wouldn’t be copulating, dammit! It would be making love!” He froze, stunned by the words that had come out of his mouth. Damn, had he just confessed?
Her eyes widened with shock.
“Gwen.” There was no point in denying it now. “It’s true. I have fallen for—”
“I have to get to work!” She darted down the hallway.
Crap! He slammed a fist against the wall. She was running away again.
How could he convince her to stay? What could he do to impress her?
The truth about her parents. Gwen was a person who appreciated the truth. And he could do that for her.
He dashed down the stairs and strode across the courtyard. Hopefully, after missing dinner and breakfast, Romak would be hungry enough to spill a few secrets.
As Silas neared the dungeon, he spotted Karlan at the entrance, yelling at two of his soldiers.
“How could you leave your post?” Karlan growled.
“What’s wrong?” Silas asked.
“These two were supposed to watch Romak last night.” Karlan cuffed the nearest one on the head. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
Silas followed Karlan and the guards down the stairs into the dungeon, lit by torches along the stone wall. They passed two empty cells, then stopped at the last one, where the gate was open.
Silas’s breath caught. Romak was inside, lying in a pool of blood, a knife protruding from his chest.
Dammit. Silas rushed inside. One look at Romak’s glazed eyes and he knew the man was dead. He’d been dead for several hours. “How?”
The captain scowled at his soldiers. “These two were supposed to watch him last night, but when I arrived this morning, they were lounging around outside the door.”
Silas gritted his teeth as he strode toward the guards. “You left your post?”
The two men exchanged nervous looks.
“We—we were ordered to, my lord,” one answered.
“That’s right,” the other one agreed. “We were told to wait outside until morning.”
“Who would tell you that?” Karlan demanded.
The two men turned pale as they exchanged a frantic look.
Karlan grabbed one by the collar. “Who?”
The man gulped. “It was … you, Captain.”
Karlan released the man, his eyes wide with shock.
The second soldier gave Silas a pleading look. “It’s true, my lord. The captain told us to leave. Then he went inside.”
“He was carrying that knife.” The first soldier pointed at the knife embedded in Romak’s body.
“What?” Karlan stepped back with an incredulous look. “I didn’t kill him!”
What the hell? Silas clenched his fists as his heart squeezed in his chest. Had Karlan betrayed him? Was he in league with someone like Lord Morris who had ordered him to kill Romak before the man could talk?
But dammit, Karlan looked as shocked as Silas felt. It didn’t make sense for Karlan to be the murderer. He’d always been loyal. And he was too smart to leave such obvious evidence. He would have covered his tracks better than this.
“You had better be sure about this,” Silas growled at the guards. “I can easily check Karlan’s whereabouts last night. And if I discover you two have been lying—”
“It was him! I swear it!” the first soldier cried, and both men dropped to their knees. “Please forgive us, my lord. We thought we were following orders.”
“It wasn’t me,” Karlan whispered, his face pale. “I swear it wasn’t me.”
Silas glanced at the dead body in the cell. What the hell was going on here?
Chapter Twenty
Gwennore’s heart pounded as she rushed to the workroom in the western wing. It would be making love. Goddesses help her, how could she resist falling in love if Silas was feeling the same way?
She shut the door behind her, then leaned against it to catch her breath.
“How does it feel?” Annika asked.
Frightening. Gwennore pressed a hand against her still-thudding heart. No, it was exciting. And so tempting.
Annika motioned to her breeches. “Doesn’t it feel strange at first?”
“Oh.” She meant the
breeches. Gwennore pushed away from the door. “It made it much easier to run up the stairs.”
Annika gave her a curious look. “Why were you running?”
Gwennore hesitated, then changed the subject. “Did you check on Her Majesty this morning?”
“Yes, she’s about the same. Margosha and Olenka are with her, giving her some verna tea. They should be here soon.” Annika motioned to a table where the plates contained small portions of bread, cheese, and fruit. “You missed breakfast, but we left some food for you.”
“Thank you.” Gwennore grabbed a slice of cheese and ate it as she approached the bowls of water and lily pads. “Has there been any change?”
“One is starting to look bad.” Annika pointed at a lily pad that was turning brown along the edges. “But it could be a natural reaction from being transplanted.”
“Or it could be caused by poison.” Gwennore picked up the slip of paper next to the bowl.
EMERALD RING, RECTANGULAR, SURROUNDED BY EIGHT SMALL DIAMONDS
“We need to examine this ring.” Gwennore studied the bowls on the table. Only half of them had tested jewelry, and that was only a small sampling of the large amount the queen owned. “Actually, I think we should test all of Her Majesty’s jewelry.”
Annika’s eyes widened. “That will take a while.”
“Yes, but I suspect there could be other tainted pieces.” Gwennore tapped her finger on the label. “This is an emerald ring, so the queen would wear it only once a week on Emeralday. I’m not sure that would produce the amount of poison she has in her system.”
The door opened and Margosha and Olenka came inside.
“Any progress?” Margosha asked.
“Perhaps.” Gwennore handed her the slip of paper. “What do you know of this ring?”
“It’s one of the Her Majesty’s favorites.” Margosha frowned. “Are you saying it’s poisoned?”
Olenka snatched the paper away and read it. “Oh, I know about this. It was a gift to Her Majesty last summer after she suffered her last miscarriage.”
“A gift?” Gwennore asked. “Who gave it to her?”
Margosha winced. “Her husband.”
The king. Gwennore swallowed hard.
“King Petras gave her a poisoned ring?” Annika asked. “Is he hoping to replace her with a healthy—”
“He’s devoted to her,” Margosha interrupted. “He would never…”
“Oh, my.” The piece of paper slipped from Olenka’s hands. “Then it’s not a curse, after all? Someone is trying to poison the queen?”
“They already have,” Annika muttered.
“It can’t be His Majesty,” Margosha insisted. “He’s with her now. He’s beside himself with worry.”
Gwennore nodded. “Then we need more information. Where did the king buy the ring? Or did someone give it to him?”
“I’ll ask around and check the jewelry shop in the village,” Margosha offered.
“Good. But before you go, could you bring us all of the queen’s jewelry?” Gwennore asked.
“All of it?” Olenka scoffed. “She has three caskets. We can’t just walk out of the queen’s bedchamber with them. She’ll throw a fit!”
“We need to test everything,” Gwennore insisted. “I seriously doubt that this one ring is responsible for the amount of poison in Her Majesty’s system. Especially if she received it only last summer. She’s been ill for longer than that, right?”
“Right.” Margosha nodded. “We’ll tell her that we’re cleaning her jewelry. She’s been complaining lately that it doesn’t sparkle enough.” She motioned to Annika and Olenka. “The three of us can bring the caskets here.”
Gwennore sighed as the women left. Obviously, she was still not welcomed in the queen’s quarters.
Two hours later, they had the contents of the first casket all soaking in fresh bowls of water, each one topped with a lily pad. After raiding the castle garden of all of its lily pads, they’d resorted to taking them from the pond in the village.
“Whew.” Olenka collapsed in a chair. “So what do we do now?”
Annika ate the last piece of cheese left over from breakfast. “After lunch, we’re going into the forest to collect medicinal plants. If you’re serious about becoming my assistant, you should come along.”
Olenka saluted her. “Yes, Captain.”
Margosha shook her head, but smiled.
“Silas wants us to take some armed soldiers with us.” Gwennore nabbed the last crust of bread from the breakfast table.
Annika snorted. “We can take care of ourselves. When did he tell you this?”
“This morning.”
“Ah.” Annika’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “Before you had to run up the stairs?”
Gwennore tossed the piece of bread onto the tray. “This is stale. Why don’t we have lunch?”
Annika’s mouth twitched. “Why don’t we change the subject?”
Gwennore gave her a wry look. “Nothing happened.”
“Well, isn’t that a shame?” Annika nudged her with an elbow. “You should have jumped his bones.”
Olenka giggled.
“Go get some food,” Gwennore fussed at her friends. “I’m hungry.”
Annika grinned. “All right, let’s go.” She waved at the others as she headed for the door. “Of course, Gwen wouldn’t be so hungry if she was satisfying her other appetites.”
“Go!” Gwennore threw the crust of bread, missing Annika, who laughed as she left with the other women.
Gwennore smiled. It was almost like being back with her sisters.
Her smile faded. She would miss her new friends here. And goddesses help her, she would miss Silas something terrible. It was like her heart was being torn in two different directions.
She wandered over to the long line of windows to gaze at the beautiful view. The charming village of Dreshka was nestled along the banks of the Norva River. And across the valley, green pastures dotted with fluffy white sheep swept up the hillsides. Then the forest began, stretching up the mountainsides till they gave way to patches of snow.
Gwennore sighed. I would never grow tired of this. Once again, she had the odd feeling of coming home, as if this place had been secretly harbored in her heart all her life.
What had Annika said about the elves? It was the river elves who lived in the mountains and had white-blond hair like hers. That had to be why she loved mountains so much. They soothed her soul, because they were in her blood.
A movement in the sky drew her attention. An eagle? It flew straight for the castle, then swooped along the windows on the western wing.
Brody? Gwennore quickly opened a window and waved. “Brody!”
The eagle circled around then came straight for her. She jumped to the side as it shot through the open window. It landed on the floor, then turned into a black-and-white shaggy dog.
“Brody!” Gwennore gave him a hug. “I didn’t expect you for a few more days.”
He grinned at her, then barked.
“Oh, you must have news.” No doubt, he wanted to shift into human form. She glanced around the room, but there were only a few small towels, not big enough to wrap around him. “Wait here a minute. I’ll bring you some clothes.”
She dashed off to Silas’s dressing room, wondering what had happened to cause Brody to come early.
* * *
Silas pulled off his shirt as he entered his bedchamber. He’d managed to stain the sleeves with blood while examining Romak’s body, so he wanted to put on a clean shirt before making his report to the king.
Although there wasn’t much he could tell Petras, since nothing was making any sense.
As he opened the door to his dressing room, he tossed the dirty shirt into a basket and heard a gasp from across the small room.
He spun around. Gwen? She was next to the shelves of clothes, holding up a pair of his underpants. At first she looked stunned; then her gaze drifted over his bare chest, and her lovely eyes gr
ew even bigger.
His mouth twitched. “Have you acquired a sudden interest in my underwear?”
“What? No!” She hastily dropped his underpants on his dressing table. “I can explain.”
“No need to. I’m thrilled you want to see my underpants. Here, I’ll show you the more exciting version.” He unfastened the top button of his breeches.
“Stop that!”
He choked back a laugh. “Gwen, sweetheart.” He stepped toward her. “Why are you here? Did you miss me?”
She huffed. “I just saw you this morning.”
“You ran away from me this morning.”
A blush invaded her cheeks as she quickly folded up his underpants. “If you must know, I was simply checking the size of these to make sure they would fit—”
“Why? Were you planning to wear them?”
“They’re not for me!” She placed the folded underpants on top of some folded breeches. “I could explain if you weren’t so determined to distract me.”
“You find me distracting?”
Her gaze drifted to his bare chest again, then lingered on the dragon tattoo.
How much did she suspect? He motioned toward the shelves. “Could you hand me a shirt?”
“Of course.” She passed him one, then placed a second one on her stack of clothes. “I’m in a bit of a hurry. Brody is in the workroom, stuck as a dog until I—”
“Brody’s here?”
“Yes.” She gathered up the stack of clothes. “This was the only place I could think of that would have some male clothing. So if you don’t mind…”
“Of course not.” He slipped on his shirt. “Let’s go.”
She followed him into his bedchamber. “You didn’t button your shirt.”
“It can wait.” He glanced at his bed, then at her. “Unless you have something else in mind.”
She scoffed. “You seem to have only one thing on your mind these days.” She darted past him to open the door.
“It’s what happens when a man falls in love.”
She froze in his doorway, then whispered, “Don’t.”
“Don’t what? Fall in love?”
“Don’t tempt me.” She stepped into the hallway.
Did that mean she was tempted? He ran after her, slamming his door behind him. “Gwen.”
Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon Page 24