by Annie Seaton
Sofia pointed to the edge of the fields where the cattle grazed, to a line of tall conifers edging the lower slopes of the mountain. “That is the limit of your explorations when you are by yourselves. You can roam the fields and explore the valley, but you are to go no higher than the tree line.” She was met by a chorus of protest. “When Mr. Grimoult or I are with you, we will climb into the snow.”
Jory and Jago agreed, albeit reluctantly, and headed to the small shed at the front of the inn where Herr Schwandt had invited them to see the woodcarver at work. Sofia stood and breathed in the alpine air. It was a pleasure to be away from the noise and grime of the city and she decided to rest for a couple of days before they trekked to the snow level. The two hikers moved closer and crossed the grass fields below her. They paused to examine the cattle before disappearing into the trees at the bottom of the hill.
Sofia’s heart thudded in her chest.
It couldn’t be.
Both men wore kilts, although they were too far away for her to see the tartan. She closed her eyes and swallowed. In one breath she hoped it was Dougal...yet in the next, she knew if it was him, it was too much of a coincidence and he couldn’t be trusted.
Sofia opened her eyes and sighed as the Earl of Rothmore and his manservant broke from the tree line and walked up the grassy hill toward her. Feelings warred within her and she didn’t know if it was joy...or sadness...or fear.
Chapter 9
When Dougal stepped from the trees and looked at the lone figure on the top of the hill, excitement filled his chest.
She was here.
Sofia stood at the top of the hill above them. Her bright scarlet dress contrasted with the soft blue of the sky and her hair was bound in coils on either side of her face. She raised a hand and waved and he knew in that moment, he would do anything to protect her. He had not been able to get her from his thoughts since he had left her in Vienna a week ago and had given much consideration to the method of ensuring her safety. Together with Edward, he had hatched a plan and they had been in the mountains taking readings for the inclinator journey. It had to be three days hence and after noon for the co-ordinates to be suitable for their destination.
As he watched, two young boys joined her at the top of the hill and she reached down and put her arms around each of their shoulders before pointing down the hill.
Damnation, who the dickens was that?
He groaned and turned to Edward. “I believe we may have an impediment...or two to our plan.”
Edward nodded. “I see.”
They reached the top of the hill to the excited voices of the two young boys and Dougal smiled at Sofia. “I was hoping the Madame de Vargas, Herr Schwandt mentioned, was you, Sofia.” He bent over, took her hand and kissed it gently, pleased to see the flush in her cheeks.
“A wonderful coincidence, Dougal.” She smiled at him but her voice was cold.
An astute woman.
“And who have we here?” He turned to the two boys.
“I’m Jory Thoreau.” The one on the left one spoke first, followed quickly by the identical boy on the right.
“And I’m Jago.”
“Boys,” Sofia said. “This is the Earl of Rothmore, an acquaintance of mine.” She inclined her head to Edward. “How do you do, I am Sofia de Vargas.”The young man blushed and stumbled over his reply. “Ah...Edward of Kilmarnock.”
Sofia’s eyes narrowed and Dougal sensed her withdrawal.
She gathered up the twins and pulled her light cloak across her shoulders. “Come young men, it is almost time for dinner.” Holding her hand out to him, she held his gaze for a moment before speaking. “No doubt we shall see you there, Dougal?”
Warmth shot up his arm and he ignored it as he replied. “It will be my pleasure, Sofia.”
Dougal asked Herr Schwandt to set a table for five. He would invite Sofia and the two young lads to join he and Edward for dinner. The elderly innkeeper shook his head. “Nein, we will haf sechs. There is her man as well.”
Dougal’s chest tightened and he frowned at the old man. “Her man?”
“Her servant.”
The relief was profound. When this whole quest was done with, and he and Edward had hastened the demise of the ancient order in Kilmarnock, he had every intention of courting Sofia. The instant he had seen her, when he had entered her salon with that damned automaton, she had bewitched him. He was not looking forward to the events of the next few days, but they must carry out their plan. Her life depended on it. However, now they had the complication of the boys and her manservant to contend with.
At least the boys would not be left alone when they took Sofia with them.
THE FIRELIGHT REFLECTED in the crystal wine glasses on the table and brought out the deep warm hues of the timber-lined dining room. Dougal sat back in his chair and sighed, replete from the sumptuous meal provided by Frau Schwandt. Jory and Jago had been escorted to their beds by Mr. Grimoult when they had begun to nod over their dinner. The old retainer had kept them all entertained with tales from his navy days with the boys’ father—Sofia’s brother-in-law. Edward had followed them yawning and now Dougal and Sofia were alone in the dining room; their group were the only guests at the inn tonight.
A bright shard of light reflected from the unusual jewel sitting between her breasts and he leaned forward. “May I?”
He reached over and lifted it, and turned it to the light. It was obsidian with intricate gold and silver wire holding it to the chain. He had not seen anything like it before. “It is most unusual. Was it handcrafted for you?”
Sofia nodded and tucked back into her bodice as soon as he let it go. A high flush on her delicate cheekbones indicated she was not as immune to him as she was pretending to be. She held his gaze.
“The boys’ father, Zane, tinkers with jewelry making,” she replied. “Speaking of whom, it is time I went to check on the boys.”
She stood and brushed against his shoulder as she moved around the table, and he smelled the sweet fragrance of her skin. His arm seemed to lift of its own accord to circle her tiny waist and pull her closer to him, but she moved away from him and crossed to the doorway. Sofia looked at him, her features warring between a frown and confusion—and if he was correct—desire.
“Ah,” she breathed. “Dougal, you are not good for my composure.” Her chest rose and fell quickly, and he smiled to himself as she fought the attraction between them. He stood slowly and crossed the room to her. He took her hands between his and lifted them to his lips.
‘Will you walk in the moonlight with me, Sofia?”
She nodded without speaking and he sensed she had come to a decision. Together, they strolled through the garden to the hill where they had spoken earlier in the evening. He kept a firm grip on her hand until they paused at the top of the hill.
She sighed and turned to him, placing her hands on his chest. “Dougal, will you answer one question for me?” He held her gaze and nodded. “Why are you here? I am asking you to speak the truth. Are you following me?”
He looked down at her and rested his brow on the top of her head and gently pressed a finger to her throat, touching the pulse beating madly in the alabaster skin. Tonight she wore her hair loose for the first time and he had imagined running his fingers through it all night. Now he grasped it gently and tipped her head back looking down into her eyes. “That is a strange question, Sofia. Why would I be following you?”
She shivered and he drew her closer.”Do you believe in coincidences?” she asked. Pulling away from him, her eyes flared. “You were less than truthful with me in Vienna and now I want to know the truth.”
“No, Sofia, I am not following you. I am here to partake of some mountain air, and look at the cattle breed I spoke of that night in the kaffeehäuser. If you remember back, it was you...you, yourself... who recommend this inn to me.”
Her shoulders slumped and she pulled away from him. “I am sorry, Dougal. There is much in my life that makes it imposs
ible for me to trust. I am not good for you and this... attraction between us can only lead to trouble.” Her eyes shone in the moonlight as tears threatened to spill. “I cannot speak of what is between us, but it cannot continue.” He moved closer to her and he lifted his hand letting his fingers wipe the single tear on her cheek.” Her sad eyes tugged at his heart and he vowed once more to protect this woman, not only from the evil men who were plotting her demise, but from the sadness consuming her. A missive from the Grand Master had been waiting for him at their lodgings in Salzburg with a warning that the demise of the target must be sooner rather than later; he had deliberately not told the leader of their final destination so the automatons could not be sent to follow.
“We can be friends, Sofia? We will enjoy our time on the mountain with Edward and your little family. It can be a time full of laughter and joy and we will ignore those things worrying you.”
She smiled up at him and peace stole over him despite the contents of the missive he’d received. He would trust in good triumphing over evil. All would be well.
Chapter 10
Two days passed and Edward and Dougal had hiked to the upper reaches of the mountain to look at the cattle each day. Sofia had her hands full looking after the boys and keeping them safe and thanked Mr. Grimoult many times each day for assisting her.
“You are a pair of young devils.” She laughed as she removed a live frog from her pocket. “To-day, when we hike with Edward and Dougal, you must do as we say at all times. Is that clear?”
Jory and Jago giggled and nodded. Sofia knew how much they were looking forward to going up into the snow. She glanced across at Mr. Grimoult and he nodded.
“I am ready to go as well, Sofia. We are going to pick some flowers to take back for Indigo.” He turned to the twins. “Will you strong young men assist me to collect some botanicals for your mother’s laboratory?”
They both groaned. “More smelly flowers for our mother to boil in her biome. We won’t see her for a week.” When Mr. Grimoult raised his bushy eyebrows at them, they agreed, albeit with moans of displeasure. Sofia smiled at him across the boys’ heads. He was setting up a good cover for her.
The party set off after lunch. They had set aside time for the boys to play in the snow and Sofia planned to gather her moonflowers while they played under Mr. Grimoult’s watchful eye. She would trust her life to him, as well as the boys. He and his wife had been faithful retainers to her own father many years ago and had lived with Indigo in Cornwall since their father had been murdered.
The cover was good; Sofia had told Dougal about the biome complex and Indigo’s work with pharmaceuticals and cosmecuticals. Herr Schwandt had advised them not to go too high as the clouds were building to the west and could bode a change in the weather. The excited chatter of the boys kept them entertained and the walk had passed quickly. Sofia’s legs ached and her calf muscles protested as she climbed the final steep section of the path.
Ahead Dougal and Edward led the way and she smiled as the cold wind plastered Dougal’s kilt to his brawny thighs. He certainly looked at home in the outdoors, although he had been withdrawn and quiet since they had commenced the outing.
For the first time since she had left Vienna, Sofia was certain she would succeed. Mr. Grimoult carried the containers for the moonflowers in his rucksack and Dougal and Edward had shown little interest in their talk of moonflowers. It was strange they were both preoccupied today. She had attempted to start a conversation with Dougal on two occasions and he had answered in monosyllables and kept walking.
Now she hurried to catch up to Dougal. “Do you think the weather will hold out long enough for us to stay for a while?”
He stopped and shaded his eyes with his hand, looking up to the peak.
“Aye, it will be fine.” He turned away from her and she shrugged and kept walking along behind him. A sharp squeal came from Jago and she turned swiftly to him, but he was only expressing his delight at the snow ahead of them. Both boys raced past her and dived into the snow drift. Sofia shook her head— they did not see much snow in the Cornish winter, but they were still children and she took pleasure in their play. She smiled and spoke to Mr. Grimoult as he caught up to her, puffing and red-faced as a snowball came whistling toward them. She ducked and shook her finger at her nephews, laughing as Edward formed a snowball and caught Jory unexpectedly in the shoulder with a perfect shot. The boys squealed and giggled as Edward returned snowball for snowball, despite being outnumbered by the twins,
“You watch the boys and I will climb a bit higher. If there are any moonflowers up there, I will call you. We should be close by now, surely.”
The old man nodded and sat on a large rock with his back against the sheer rock wall which edged the mountain pass they had reached. Sofia looked down past him to the edge of the rock face. Her stomach dropped and her legs trembled as she looked over the sheer precipice. The inn and the forest were like toy buildings far below them. They had climbed higher than she thought.
“Make sure the boys stay well away from the edge,” she instructed.
“I will guard them with my life.” Mr. Grimoult smiled at her. “Now go and search for your flowers, Madame.”
The twins were engrossed in building an igloo by the time she reached them and satisfied they were safe, she climbed further up the narrow track. Edward had left the boys to catch up to Dougal and they had both surged ahead, obviously following the cowbells which tinkled down from higher up the path.
A few hundred yards ahead, a clump of green foliage peeked out of the sheer rock and Sofia smiled. The patches of white scattered amongst the green appeared to be the elusive moonflower. Dougal and Edward had disappeared and she surveyed the path ahead of her. An outcrop of fallen rocks covered in snow blocked her way and she looked around for an alternate route. An eerie quiet had fallen over the mountain and she shivered. The cries of the boys had stopped and the cow bells were silent. For a moment she debated going back for Mr. Grimoult and the rucksack. She shook her head; it would be better if she made sure it was the moonflower before she went down. A cloud passed over the sun and she looked up, the high clouds were scudding; they would have to return to the inn before the weather changed.
To her right, there was a gap in the rock face and Sofia stepped toward it and clung to the sharp rock with her fingers as she tried to see if there was a path around the rock fall. She squeezed through a narrow slit between two rocks and gasped as a deep precipice yawned in front of her. Clutching her chest, she stepped back slowly and hit a solid warm wall. She turned and Dougal’s chest filled her vision. She looked up at him, the words dying on her lips. Edward stood close to him with a strange brass contraption in his hands. Dougal grasped her arm with steely fingers and held her gaze silently. Her head spun and fear crawled into her stomach. She backed away from them and gasped as her foot flailed in the air searching for a foothold.
Dougal reached back and held onto Edward’s arm. She searched their unsmiling faces trying to understand what was happening.
“I’m sorry, Sofia. It is the only way.”
Dougal pushed her and Sofia screamed as she plummeted to the rocks below.
Chapter 11
Dougal bowed his head and listened to the sonorous beating of the drum heralding the entrance of the Holy Five. Four of them moved to the table and sat, but the Grand Master remained standing. The white-cloaked men seated on the benches in the Great Hall looked up expectantly as their Leader summonsed Dougal and Edward were to the front of the gathering
A huge smile broke the usually solemn features of the old man and he bid them kneel in front of him. Reaching out he placed a hand on each of their heads and gave thanks for their loyalty.
“You may stand.” He pointed to the raised dais in the centre of the room. Dougal and Edward climbed up the two steps. The gathering stood and a rousing cheer echoed through the hall as the Leader led the men in praise.
“Earl of Rothmore and Edward of Kilmarnock, you
have proven your loyalty to the Knights. You shall be rewarded in this life and the next.”
Dougal glanced across at Edward. The young man stared ahead; his face devoid of any expression and Dougal directed his own gaze back to the Leader.
Tonight, the Grand Master did not commence with the libations but moved straight to the vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and piety. Dougal allowed a smile to creep onto his face. The collective relief of the knights at the shortened ceremony was almost palpable and he knew his quest to end this chapter would be made easier by the motivations of the men gathered in this room
The motivations of these knights were known to him and none were for any spiritual reason. Greed motivated each one of them and not one could lay claim to a pious life. Soon, he and Edward would embark on their plan to end the corruption of this order. He had promised his father he would end the reign of these men and their political and spiritual power, and the decline had finally begun.
Unknown to them.
The death of Sofia would ensure the induction of both he and Edward into the inner circle and they would be privy to information which he could use against the Grand Master. The trip to Austria would be rewarded greatly.
The chanting ceased and the sonorous voice interrupted his thoughts. “I will meet with you and Edward of Kilmarnock in the Solar.”
INDIGO PULLED THE BLACK veil over her face and wiped her eyes. The boys were playing in the garden, but their usual exuberant cries and whoops had been missing since the twins had returned from the Alps. Jory and Jago still had trouble sleeping, and she and Zane had taken turns sitting up with them at night.
Mr. Grimoult was inconsolable and had been unable to carry out his usual duties, He had aged ten years in the month since she and Zane had been called urgently to Austria after Sofia’s murder.
They had just returned from a memorial service for Sofia in London. The staff from Salon de Vargas had travelled over by dirigible and Lucienne had sobbed in Indigo’s arms.