A Fugitive's Kiss

by Jaime Clevenger

  By the time she sighted him, her joints were stiff and her fingers frozen. If he approached, she’d have a difficult time handling her knife. Fortunately, he’d ventured out only to stretch his arms and listen. The wind howled and the snow was deep. Alekander hated snow almost as much as rain. She knew that the thick cover blanketed out the noises he relied on.

  “There’s the Northerner,” a man said. He paused in front of Darin’s hiding place, resting his wheelbarrow and gesturing toward Alekander.

  His companion answered, “I’d heard he was still here. No business with any of them is worth the gold they promise.”

  “Aye,” the first man agreed. He brushed his wrapped hand across his brow, then shrugged the load and pushed forward once more. The wheel hit a rut in the path and a package wrapped in wool fell into the rifts beside it. The laborer stopped in front of the outbuilding and his companion quickly retrieved the package and dusted it off.

  Their movements had attracted Alekander’s attention. Darin felt exposed. Alekander seemed to be staring at her. She reminded herself that he was no seer. So long as she made no sound, her presence was unknown to him. She steadied her breath.

  “He’ll be staying until the storm blows through, no doubt.”

  “That’s what Antar said. He gave him the best room in town, right above the tavern.”

  The first man laughed. “Best room in Glen Ore, or the only room, depending on who’s renting it.” The man rewrapped the scarf he had over his head so that only his eyes and nose were showing.

  “I wouldn’t let him stay, but Antar wants his silver. He doesn’t care about anything else. Did you hear the fugitive he’s hunting’s a woman? Stole a horse.”

  “I heard she killed a man. Northerners and their stories…” The man chuckled. “All of their tales are lies.”

  “That one’s got a look about him I don’t trust.”

  His friend spat in agreement. “The only room I’d have given him is this outhouse.”

  Darin felt the hairs on her neck raise. She held her breath until the first man started to laugh, muttering something under his breath that she didn’t hear.

  “Anyway, he can’t be that good at hunting if he chased a woman all the way to the Barrier and still couldn’t catch her. How fast is this wench, anyway? Come on, then. It’s too cold for standing about.”

  Alekander’s jaw muscles were clenched. He’d heard every word of their conversation, of course. He kept his gaze on the men until they were long past the inn’s entrance, then went inside, visibly angry at their taunting but not enough, it seemed, to linger in the cold to confront them.

  When the door closed behind him, Darin darted between the buildings until she reached the line of trees at the start of the forest. To avoid having the snow show her tracks, she kept to the well-trodden path. Soon she was in sight of Aysha’s barn. She slipped through Prince’s paddock and sank down in the dark corner.

  As soon as she had warmed her body enough to feel her fingertips again, her thoughts turned back to Alekander. She imagined walking up to him at the tavern and asking to end it all. With all the witnesses there’d be, she realized he’d most likely just reach for his shackles even if she pulled her knife first. He’d arrest her and take her someplace more secluded to kill her. And there was no guarantee he wouldn’t still go for Aysha afterward.

  Aysha entered the barn and Darin gripped the stirrup leathers on the saddle that hung next to her. She could hardly swallow. Seeing her again, this close, was too much. Her hands shook. She wanted to run to her, grab her, wrap her arms around her. The night they’d spent together was the only closeness she’d had in too long to remember.

  Yet months had passed and Aysha was practically a stranger. Worse, she had a fine white scar along her neck from Darin’s knife. Darin thought of Aysha’s lover and realized there was a chance Aysha would want nothing to do with her now. Her stomach knotted as she waited in the shadows.

  Aysha fed the horses an armful of hay and then sprinkled a bit of grain into each trough. Distracted by their feed, the horses gave no hint at Darin’s presence. Aysha leaned down to check the water troughs, muttering to the horses about not wanting to muck the stalls, and then made her way to the door. As she reached for the handle, she glanced over her shoulder at Darin’s corner.

  Darin stood slowly. Her heart pounded in her chest and her tongue was too thick to form words. She’d gone too long without speaking to anyone.

  Aysha scrambled to grab the manure shovel, holding it up like a weapon. “Who’s there?” Her voice trembled. She held the shovel higher and repeated the question, “Who’s there? Come out of the corner and show yourself.”

  Darin stepped into the light so Aysha could see her but couldn’t bring herself to speak. Aysha dropped the shovel and leapt forward, wrapping her arms around Darin’s body instantly. Darin couldn’t hold back the tears.

  When Aysha had finally relaxed enough to step back, she broke with laughter. “I was ready to beat you with that shovel. What were you thinking, hiding from me? You nearly scared the life out of me,” she chided.

  A moment later, Aysha clapped her hand to her mouth and shook her head. She was crying too. She brushed her hand across Darin’s cheek, catching tears. “You shouldn’t have scared me like that,” she said.

  Her smell was exactly as Darin remembered it. Desire. Intoxicating desire. Darin couldn’t speak.

  “You make a handsome man,” Aysha continued. “I don’t know that I would have guessed that you were a woman if I’d met you on the road. I’m certain I wouldn’t have recognized you anywhere but here.” She adjusted Darin’s collar and brushed a bit of hay off one shoulder. “These clothes fit you better. And I prefer the short hair. But your cheeks are much too soft. And where’s the beard?”

  Darin felt a blush warm her cheeks. “I missed you,” she managed. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”

  “You came back. I have some idea.” Aysha’s smile stretched across her face. “I didn’t think you would return. Not after so many months.”

  “I’m only back because he’s here.”

  “Only?” The smile slipped away.

  “I would have come back before if I could have…”

  “Of course.”

  Darin longed to take back her words. The distance between them grew. “I’m not free of him yet. I’ve thought so many times of returning once this is all behind me. But it isn’t. Not yet. He’s come to Glen Ore hoping to find me. He knows that you hid me here.”

  Her words came out like an accusation that she hadn’t intended. She could hardly think with Aysha close. The longing to kiss her was overwhelming. She hated that she’d put Aysha in danger. “If he gets to you…”

  Aysha waved off her concern. “Don’t worry about me. It’s you I’m concerned about. When did you last eat a good meal? You’re half starved, aren’t you? At least, you don’t have to hide any breasts if you’re going as a man.”

  “You have to realize how dangerous Alekander is,” Darin said.

  “I remember what you said. Don’t lie. I have to say something, though. So if anyone asks, I’ll say I chased a Northerner out of my barn. That’s all. Are you hungry or not?”

  “I’m always hungry,” Darin numbly agreed.

  “I’ll bring you breakfast. I doubt anyone will wander around with this weather, but if my neighbors see me going in and out…someone might get suspicious. So I’ll only come back once with the food.”

  After a moment she added, “He’s asking everyone about you. But the description he’s given hardly matches you now. He’s still looking for a tall pale woman with long dark curls and red cheeks. Gold’s been offered for any news of you. To someone in this village, a gold piece is a year’s savings. It isn’t safe for you to stay.”

  “I have to stay—at least long enough to make sure he doesn’t come after you. I need to find a way to finish this before he gets to you.” Darin rested her hand on the sheathed knife strapped on he
r belt.

  “Will it be his death or yours?”

  Darin felt a chill at Aysha’s words.

  “Why don’t you run instead? You know he’s here in Glen Ore, go in the opposite direction. Go to the river and take a boat to the sea. Go south to the desert or west to the mountains. Anywhere but here. You don’t have to watch out for me,” Aysha said. “I’d rather know you were alive. If he can ferret out a lie, I’ll tell him the truth. A woman slept in my barn months ago. I’ve no idea where she’s gone. He’ll likely stay until the storm has passed and you could have two days travel on him. No one else will tell him anything.”

  “You can’t talk to him. He has the right to kill you for harboring a fugitive, even months ago. Anyway, I’m not the rabbit anymore. I need to end this hunt.”

  Aysha shook her head, but Darin wouldn’t listen to her argument. She knew she couldn’t explain her feelings in a way that Aysha would understand. Aysha was in a different world, one where it was safe to be the person she had been born to be. That world no longer existed for Darin, if it ever had. “I’ll never be able to stop running unless I know it’s over. And if he came after you, I’d never forgive myself.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The door creaked and Ranik lay still, waiting. She crawled under his blankets wordlessly, as she had nearly once a week for the past few months. Her cool skin brushed against his thighs and brought a shiver down his spine.

  Ranik gave in to the kisses. Her lips moved down his neck and chest and then back to meet his own lips. She straddled his hips and gazed down at him. He noticed how much her belly and breasts had grown over the past month. It wouldn’t be long until Aysha knew the truth. He could hardly believe she hadn’t guessed it yet…

  * * *

  Many hours later Ranik awoke alone. He sat up and pulled his curtain back far enough to glimpse out the window. Aysha was already outside letting the hens out to scratch at the snow. He blinked and closed the curtains. Somehow, she would find out. He hoped that day would come soon. For months he’d let her think that nothing was wrong. Or think that his temper was only about Jenner not coming for Winter Solstice. Worse were the times when she’d try to cheer him up. If he could, he’d go back to that first morning, when the guilt had been raw, and admit everything. Now it was too late to ask forgiveness.

  Shawn had first come to his room out of loneliness—at least that was what she’d said—on one of the nights that Aysha had been away helping a neighbor who’d been in labor. She’d insisted that Aysha didn’t mind her having other lovers. Ranik didn’t know if that was true, but he knew that in Aysha’s eyes he would not simply be another lover. Still, he hadn’t turned Shawn away.

  Ranik rose slowly and dressed. He touched Jenner’s pearl, now dangling on its chain from a nail near the door, a dark eye watching him, and sent it into a spin. He hadn’t worn it since Winter Solstice. He’d waited a week for Jenner, then sick with worry, took Cobalt all the way to the river. He found Jenner’s boat and spent an hour watching him. He chatted with another boatman as he scrubbed down the deck, then sat a while and worked on straightening a pile of ropes. He was as handsome and filled with health as ever—which made things all the worse.

  Following him back to Glen Briar, Ranik saw him enter the tavern where they had last been together, where everything had finally ended. Jenner soon emerged with his arm draped over another man’s shoulder. They were laughing about something. Ranik waited until they’d disappeared down an alley off the main road, then turned into the tavern and drank himself into a stupor.

  Shawn had moved in shortly after that. Nothing would have happened had she not made the first move. At least that was the story he told himself.

  The smell of sausage frying in the pan awakened his belly. Shawn was already in the kitchen cooking. She was sour to him, as usual. He returned the mood and didn’t say anything to her. They both regretted their act, but only the morning after. That was why the fights were so easy. Quarrels served as cover for a guilty conscience. Aysha greeted him with a warm smile. He forced a smile in return, wishing she could see through him.

  “It’s cold out there, but the clouds have lifted,” Aysha said. “I think the storm is passing.”

  “Maybe it will melt in time for the Spring Festival.” Shawn’s voice was irritatingly sweet. How could she keep this lie up and not be filled with the same loathing that he felt? Shawn set a plate of eggs and sausage in front of Aysha and another at Ranik’s place. She sat down opposite him and began to eat her portion. “The musicians have another meeting this morning and then I think we’ll be ready.”

  “Ah, Spring Festival. Such a glorious waste of time. What else could we possibly do that would be less productive? No reason to spend the time planning Glen Ore’s planting schedule or working on the sheep pasture…though I doubt a bunch of musicians could plan anything more useful than their next meal.”

  “Ranik, do you have to start off the day with this?” Aysha said.

  “With what?”

  “This mood.” Aysha ate quickly, then stood up and took her plate to the wash bucket. She grabbed her coat. “The chickens need their feed and fresh water. You know where to find me after. Usefully mucking stalls—which brings happiness to no one.”

  Ranik went to the window after Aysha had left. Something was off—she’d already fed the chickens. He pulled back the curtain in time to see her pass by the hen house and enter the barn. Aysha rarely lied. Was she beginning to suspect?

  Shawn stared at Ranik. Her look was inviting. “I enjoyed you last night.”

  Ranik cursed. “How can you not hate yourself? I’m sick over this. I want it to stop.”

  “You didn’t last night.”

  “Well, I’ve changed my mind.”

  “Lower your voice, Ranik.”

  “Why? She’ll soon know. I’d rather it was today.” He went for his coat. He had to see Aysha alone to say what he had wanted to tell her every day for the past month.

  Shawn reached for his hand. “You know I don’t like lying to Aysha. And I know we need to tell her. We will…When the time is right.”

  Ranik didn’t meet her eyes. “I can’t wait another day.”

  Shawn let him pass without another word. He headed straight for the barn, but then stopped before he’d opened the door. In a day’s time, he could be packed and have his goodbyes said. Everyone would guess that Callan was the baby’s father. Or one of the other musicians. He paced the courtyard, formulating his plan, and was starting to turn back to the house to act on it when he heard voices inside the barn.

  Aysha let out a sharp cry when Ranik threw open the barn door. The Northerner was standing at her side. He scarcely would have recognized her if Aysha wasn’t with her. She was dressed as a man and had cut her hair short. Ranik held back when he saw the knife in her hand.

  “What is she doing here?”

  “Close the door, Ranik,” Aysha said. She seemed relieved that it was him.

  He turned to the fugitive. “Do you realize the danger you’re putting us in?”

  “I am aware of many things.” Her tight-lipped smile chilled the air.

  “Ranik, just leave us, please, and say nothing,” Aysha said.

  “We can’t hide a fugitive.” Ranik wanted to rush at the woman and drag her out, but she was his size, or taller even, and had the knife. “Aysha, think this through. She is the one that must leave.”

  “I have thought many things through, Ranik.”

  “And what of Shawn? What should I tell her? That you are out here with this woman? This fugitive who has a bounty hunter looking for her?” The sudden thought that Aysha might share in some of the blame for things—for leaving Shawn alone in order to tend sick neighbors, for obsessing about this fugitive—was tempting.

  “Quiet, Ranik.” Aysha hadn’t raised her voice, but her sharp tone stopped him. “Her name’s Darin. And there’s no reason to shout.”

  “What about Shawn?” Ranik continued, not bothering to lo
wer his voice. “Does she know you’ve slept here with her? And now that she’s back—”

  “Shawn?” Darin interrupted. “The woman who sleeps with you, Ranik?” She continued, “Why would that woman care where Aysha sleeps?”

  “What are you talking about?” Ranik felt the blood rush up his neck. “Shawn and Aysha are lovers.”

  “She had your smell on her. And she was in your room. I saw her come out of one room and go in the other only last night.”

  Ranik felt the barn start to sway around him. He opened and closed his mouth, not knowing what he could say. Lines furrowed Aysha’s brow. She seemed about to argue with the Northerner but then stopped. She met his gaze and he looked away quickly, feeling sick.

  “When were you in our home?” he stammered. “Were you spying on us?” He couldn’t steady his shaking voice so he spoke faster. “Fugitives are a danger. She can’t be here. I want her gone from the barn at once.”

  “I plan to leave tonight,” Darin said. “I wasn’t spying. I was stealing your food. When that woman came out of your room, I hid under the table in your kitchen, hoping she wouldn’t see me and scream. She’s with your child.”

  Ranik felt his throat tighten. He could hardly swallow.

  “Shawn’s pregnant?”

  Ranik couldn’t manage any answer. He stared at the Northerner, wishing he had taken the bounty money and led the hunter directly to his barn. If he had only known that she had returned… How could she have guessed the truth?

  “Ranik, is it true?” Aysha’s voice was now scarcely above a whisper. “Tell me.” Ranik went toward her, but Aysha backed away from him. “Is it true that she carries your child?”

  “I’ve tried to tell you, so many times, but I…” his voice faltered.

  “How could you?” Aysha sounded distant and removed. She wasn’t screaming. She only seemed confused—as if what had happened simply didn’t make sense. “Did you forget about Jenner?”