“Yes, ma’am. Your Highness, I mean.”
There was a long, very uncomfortable pause. “I see,” she said at length.
Talia didn’t have a clue what that meant. This entire meeting was nerve-racking.
“You have given me much to think on,” the queen said, sounding dismissive. Then abruptly, she asked, “How old are you?”
“Twenty-eight,” Talia replied, caught off guard. When the silence grew long, she finally said, “I know you were counting on my mum to help you. I don’t know if I can do anything. I wasn’t able to learn much from Baleweg—”
“The Old One?” The queen seemed stunned. “You actually found him? Eleri was rumored to have a strong affection for him. My father searched far and wide for him after her disappearance. How did you find him, Mr. Archer?” she demanded.
Archer stepped into the pool of light beside Talia. “Trade secret.”
“I do not find your arrogance amusing. Explain how you found him. And where, exactly, she hid herself and her daughter. Obviously you were not the only one to uncover Eleri’s secret, so either you tell me or I will summon the High Parliamentarian directly. I believe he was likely the one responsible for commanding the actions of both Mr. Anteri and Mr. Dideon. Am I not correct?”
Archer swore. “What do you know of that?”
There was a pause and Talia was surprised to hear the queen answer his question. “My sources tell me Chamberlain was actively working against your cause and had sent agents of his own to thwart you. But where, when, and how they planned to do so, I was unable to determine.”
“Did you question him? Or Dideon? Anteri?”
There was a frosty pause that made it clear the queen was not happy being interrogated, yet she responded again. “I did not. Not directly. I have no tangible proof of his mutiny and I do not wish to force a confrontation until I am certain of a swift victory.”
“So you knew nothing about Talia?”
There was a brief pause. “No,” she answered, her voice strangely tight. There was a pause, then her tone hardened once again. “I was only aware that his agents had been sent to halt your efforts and had returned unsuccessful. We hadn’t learned more than that when you arrived. Now explain to me how you located the Old One.”
Archer blew out a sigh. “In my research, I discovered Baleweg was the last one to have contact with Eleri.”
“This was not a secret. He has been the subject of many investigations, but no one has ever found him.”
“He made himself available to me.”
“Why now? He must have known when others looked for him in years past.”
“He knew Eleri’s daughter was in danger. He only came forward to aid her.”
Another pause, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees.
Talia tried not to fidget. She was certain the queen was not thrilled to hear that Baleweg’s allegiance was to her mother first and not his queen.
Then the queen asked, or rather demanded, “Where is the Old One now?”
Archer smiled. “You sorely underestimate me if you think I will give you that information. Or that he would remain in that location if I did. He isn’t given to suffering the predatory nature of court. Besides, there is nothing more he can do.”
There was an impatient sigh.
Now Archer’s expression hardened, as well. “I did my job. Your part of the bargain was to ask no questions.”
“A part I am now regretting. But you are right. I am, however, interested in finding out what you know of Anteri’s and Dideon’s activities. You have the Old One. Who is helping Chamberlain?”
Archer paused, then said, “There is one other like Baleweg. Someone with … peculiar powers like his. Perhaps even stronger. He is the one helping Chamberlain.”
“The Dark One,” she murmured. “I never really believed—” She broke off. “How did you circumvent them?”
“Wait a minute. You knew of him?” Archer’s temper visibly spiked. “Didn’t you think this information might have aided me?”
“His existence was as much a myth to me as the Old One was. I had no idea either was involved in this. In what manner did he aid Chamberlain?”
“He is the one who helped get the agents in to monitor Talia.”
“Then he already knew of her existence?”
Archer nodded. “Chamberlain was simply having her monitored. Baleweg thinks he intended to use her skills against you somehow. When we showed up, the stakes changed. That is when he sent Anteri. I was able to prevent him from completing his mission and we brought Talia here immediately afterward.”
The queen fell silent for a moment, then said, “There is much we must discuss about this before you leave.”
“I will be more than glad to discuss it with you, as I intend to continue to be responsible for Talia until it is known whether or not she can help you.”
“Impossible.”
Archer smiled coldly. “Nothing is impossible, Your Highness.”
“You doubt I can keep her safe?”
“I didn’t say that. Considering the pressure the court is under, the divisiveness that even now threatens to split Parliament, and your failing health, I’d think you’d gladly take me up on the personal service I am offering. In addition to your personal guard, of course.”
Talia slid her hand into Archer’s. He tried to ease his hand away, signaling to her that this was not wise, despite the fact that they’d entered the chamber with hands held. They’d been in darkness then. But Talia figured she held some sway here, and she intended to use it now. “I wish him to stay.”
“I see.” And there was no doubt, even in those two little words, that she did, indeed, see. Talia saw a great deal, too. Or heard it. The fatigue in the queen’s voice had increased in the last several exchanges. She sounded younger … and vulnerable. Talia wondered what her regal bearing had cost her these past minutes. She felt her own guard slipping and the tentative tentacles of her mind beginning to reach out. Only the queen’s resumed speech snapped her focus back into place.
“I will want to talk with you, Archer, and with you, Miss Trahaern, at length. But at the moment I need my rest. I will have Marletta show you to your quarters.” There was a pause, then she added, “I am assuming one suite of rooms will be sufficient for your needs?”
Archer smiled, but Talia felt her cheeks heat, despite the fact that she’d been the one to bring their relationship out into the open. But she didn’t ask for two rooms, either.
“Yes, Your Highness,” he said. “That will be quite suitable.”
The queen’s assistant materialized behind them then and touched Talia’s shoulder. “Follow me.”
Although the experience had been nerve-racking, now that it was over, Talia felt as if she hadn’t done enough, that she’d somehow let the queen down. Maybe she should have reached out. Maybe that was what a royal healer did. Followed her instincts. And she’d failed before she’d even begun. She’d protected herself, when she was born to protect the queen first.
Baleweg thought her mother would have eventually brought her back here, to serve the House of Dalwyn, that this was what she’d have wanted. Talia thought so, too. Otherwise why tell her all those stories? Was it too late now? She took a calming breath and tried to still her racing thoughts so she could reach out, but Marletta was there, talking.
“The queen must rest now.”
“Wait.” The connection was right there. All she had to do was reach for it. She turned and stepped toward the queen, only to encounter a shield. Not an invisible wall, so much as air too thick for her to walk through.
“I must insist,” Marletta said firmly.
Talia turned to find the queen’s assistant pocketing a small device. She very firmly took Talia by the shoulder, a grip that was immediately, if gently broken by Archer.
“No one touches her but me.”
In an efficient tone that brooked no argument, the assistant merely said, “We must leave
now. The queen is asleep. I daresay this has been an overly taxing day for her.” She was already ushering them toward the door.
Talia wanted to ask how in the hell she could tell what the queen was doing, buried in the shadows as she was, but the personal guard had surrounded them, separating them from Marletta, who was leading the throng out of the room and through a doorway she hadn’t seen before. A large mural in the antechamber where she and Archer had waited literally shifted to painted air, then after they passed through, turned solid again as Talia saw when she looked over her shoulder.
“State of the art,” Archer whispered with a wink.
“Very funny.” But Talia gulped nonetheless. Unbelievable. She tried to focus on where they were going, on the scenes painted on the walls, wondering how many concealed additional pathways and how many were just paintings.
They stopped in front of a rather large, elaborate one and Talia felt her cheeks flame yet again. “I see the queen has a sense of humor after all,” she muttered under her breath.
The painting on the wall in front of them was a stunning rendering in oil, or what appeared to be oil anyway. The subject matter, however, was … explicit. A man and woman, both nude, both fully and quite graphically entwined, lay stretched out on a carpet of flowers. Delicate little fairies floated above, dropping red and white petals on the lovers. Talia couldn’t tear her eyes away from the way the woman’s slender back arched and the muscles in the man’s shoulders bunched as he—
“I like the queen’s taste,” Archer said, then made a small ooph sound when Talia dug her elbow into his ribs.
“You would,” she said.
“Your palms are sweating.”
She scowled and tried to slide her hand out of his, but he wouldn’t let her.
He leaned down to her ear and whispered to her as the painting in front of them turned transparent. “I wanted to make love to you in exactly the same kind of bower. Maybe the queen can read minds, hmm?”
Talia’s only response was a tight swallow … and continued sweaty palms, as the queen’s assistant motioned them to follow her. “You will be safe here for the night. I will have a full supper sent to you shortly. Tomorrow the queen will send a summons. At that time you will have a full guard escort. Do not leave with anyone other than the queen’s personal guard. Until then, please enjoy your accommodations.”
Archer smiled at her. “And if we need anything?”
The small woman turned with a smile of her own. “You won’t.”
Archer stepped through the screen, pulling Talia with him. They both turned in time to see the queen’s guard take up stations along the passageway.
Archer nodded in approval, then the screen turned solid and they were inside their chamber.
Prison, actually. Talia felt a sense of claustrophobia, of being sealed inside a tomb or something. Until she turned around at Archer’s urging.
“Look at this,” he said. “Nice setup.”
Talia’s mouth dropped open. It was like something from a sultan’s fantasy. Silk draped the walls and the carpeting was so thick it almost swallowed her sandals. The ceiling was a recessed dome, painted with scenes that Talia only glanced at, but already knew were likely produced by the same artist who had done the handiwork in the passageway. She looked back to the room, which was dominated by a huge fireplace, and fronted by a sumptuous, wide lounge upholstered in opulent jewel-toned fabric and edged with thick, gold-colored fringe.
“It’s … different.”
Archer laughed. “Do you think the queen is trying to tell us something?”
Talia tried to laugh, but it came out as a sort of rasp. “Gee, I can’t wait to see the bedroom.”
Archer grabbed her hand and tugged her to one of two doors, framed in gold, on the far wall.
“I was joking,” she managed, but he was already halfway there. “Archer!”
He looked over his shoulder. “Aren’t you curious?”
She stalled. She was curious, but she didn’t think she wanted to tell him that. She was still reeling from everything else she’d witnessed today.
“Come on. Dinner will probably be here shortly. If there is a bathroom behind that other door, you can wash up as soon as we’re done exploring, okay?”
Now she did laugh. “We’re not at Club Med, you know.”
“Club what?”
“Never mind.” She lifted her free hand. “Lead on, MacDuff.”
“And people say Aussies make no sense.”
She was smiling at his back when he opened the door and swept her through in front of him. Her smile froze on her face. Oh. My. God was her first and only thought.
Archer crowded closer and nudged her farther into the room so he could see. He whistled his appreciation. “You know, I never understood why people threw money away on decorators. I’m rethinking my position on that.”
“I bet,” Talia said dryly. She slid her hand from his and stepped farther into the room. If the front room had been pure sex, this room was downright pornography. “Well, the queen accomplished one thing,” she said, looking over the sea of silk and pillows that only someone who thought about sex twenty-four hours a day might describe as a bed.
“And that is?”
His voice was disturbingly close, right behind her left ear. But he didn’t touch her. In some ways, that was even more torturous. “She’s taken my mind off my worries.”
Archer chuckled and the husky sound sent ripples of pleasure over her skin. “There is only one thing you’re supposed to do in this room. And it’s not worrying.”
Talia slid out of his way and circled the massive bed to look at the various lounges that encircled the large room. Each one was structured in an … unusual shape. “What in God’s name are you supposed to do on these?” She looked up to find Archer’s grin so broad it made his cleft almost slice his chin in half. “Never mind,” she said firmly. “I don’t want to know. And I don’t want to know how you know, either. Sex can’t have changed that much in a couple hundred years, and if by some miracle it has, I don’t think I want to know about that either.”
Archer shrugged and moved off to examine some of the lounges. “If you say so.”
Talia made a face at his back, but then the painting on the wall just beyond the lounge in front of her caught her eye. The same pair of lovers that starred in the painting in the hallway were performing an encore. On a piece of furniture much like the one positioned in front of her. “So,” she murmured. “That’s how you use that.”
She ignored Archer’s low laugh. But that didn’t stop her from moving on to the next lounge and the next painting. “Wow.” And on to the next one. “Jesus.” And the next one. “Dear God, how does she do that?” By the last one her knees were decidedly weak and her panties unabashedly soaked.
Archer cleared his throat, making her start. She quickly turned around and attempted a self-deprecating smile. “I’ve heard of circuit training, but these two—” She gestured toward the walls in general, then gave up any pretense of being cool about this, and closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands.
The next thing she felt was Archer’s fingers prying her hands free, then lifting her chin. “Look at me.”
She did, warily.
“When they bring dinner, I’ll have them move us.”
It was the last thing she’d expected from him.
“The queen has had her little joke and I can honestly say I appreciate her sense of humor,” he went on. “But you have enough to deal with, without—”
Talia shut him up with a kiss. When she finally let him up for air, she was already unbuttoning his shirt. “Dinner can wait.”
Chapter 18
Archer’s muscles bunched in his shoulders as Talia arched beneath him. The silk draped across the bed felt slick against his skin … and looked damn erotic against hers. Her hips slid easily up to his and he leaned down to take her mouth again as he pushed deep into her. “Talia,” he groaned. “Dear God.”
“I know,” she whispered, then moaned as he moved harder and faster. She grabbed his shoulders and hung on, moving with his every thrust. “Devin. Please.”
“I will, Tali. I will.” And he did. And that was the way it went, for hours. Their bodies communicated with very little need for words.
Finally, their bodies still twitching from their most recent release, Talia slid off Archer and the divan, down onto the carpet, her face serene, sated … and smug. She stretched, smiling even as she winced.
Archer slid onto the thick carpet beside her. “Too rough?” He pulled her limp body to his, draping her lazily across his chest and legs, unwilling to be even an inch away from her without touching her.
Her head lolled toward his, her eyes luminous. “No. I just discovered some muscles I didn’t know I had.”
“Maybe we need … what did you call it? Circuit training? Maybe we need to train more often.” The suggestion alone made her shudder with pleasure against him. He grinned and pulled her closer.
She kissed his chin. “Most definitely.” Then she leaned down and pressed her lips to his heart.
Archer felt his eyes burn and there was absolutely no reason for it. Except his heart felt as if it were going to explode and that sweet little kiss she’d just delivered might have been the one to push it over the edge. She gave herself to him so generously, so completely, he wanted to please her as fully in return. “Are you hungry?” he managed.
She tipped her chin onto his chest and looked at him, the most wicked grin on her face. “Ravenous.”
Archer had to laugh.
She smacked his chest, but laughed along with him as she pushed herself upright. “Where are my clothes?”
Archer rolled to his knees just behind her. He reached past her and yanked a silk drape off one of the lounges. “Here, use this.”
“I believe we already have,” she said dryly.
“My, we are the wicked ones, aren’t we?” He pulled another swath of silk off the lounge, then tugged her unwillingly to her feet and wrapped it around her. “I’d as soon keep you nude, but I imagine dinner has long since been delivered to the next room and I have no idea if the guard is within, or without.”
The Royal Hunter Page 20