“It’s me who should be begging forgiveness. I should have believed you. The way I treated you, I was afraid you might have left already.”
“Never. When Rafael told me you’d run away, I vowed to find you. Each day I’ve scoured the city. I even prayed for you, and I’ve not prayed since I was a child.”
“I’ve done something terrible.” Adelina clutched Silvana’s hands. “I visited the Golden Vine and lay with Nerine. I thought that by sharing my body with another woman, the bond between us would finally be broken. Instead, that passion only brought my thoughts back to you.”
Silvana’s lips moved in a cryptic smile, identical to the one that had first captured Adelina’s heart. “If you’re worried I’ll think you somehow unfaithful, have no fear. I care not which road you’ve followed, only that it led you back into my arms.”
An inarticulate emotion suffused Adelina, something like a trembling fever that slipped through her body and left her weightless. She tried to capture the sensation, but it subsided, leaving behind an overwhelming sense of solace and certainty.
“Ada?”
“I’m sorry. I was dizzy for a moment with something I can’t explain.” Adelina took Silvana’s hand again, and her fingers touched against the band of the tree-marked ring. Her joy fled in an instant, and burning shame took its place. “You still have your ring.”
“Of course I do.” Silvana moved her hand, and the moonlight caught the ring’s edge. “I kiss it every morning, thinking of you.”
“And I threw mine away. I don’t deserve your love.”
Silvana laughed and reached into her pocket. “Have no fear.” She opened her hand to reveal Adelina’s ring. “Rafael retrieved it for me. I kept it knowing that someday I would place it once more upon your finger.” She slid the ring onto Adelina’s finger and looked directly into her eyes. “I love you, Ada. Be mine.”
“From this day, we’ll never be parted.” Adelina pressed her lips to the ring. “And even the stars will wonder at the sight of us.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Standing outside a modest inn, Silvana looked into Adelina’s face and lost yet another moment in reverie. She had long doubted that she would ever see Adelina again, and this was like the manifestation of some strange dream. Strange, in fact, in more ways than one. “By the way,” Silvana said. “Your hair…”
Adelina gave a winsome smile. “I’m just like you now.”
Silvana stroked Adelina’s cropped locks. To think that her long-haired beauty had become this waifish, vulnerable woman. “You look delightful, but you’ve lost some confidence, haven’t you?”
“I know. I thought that I would become bolder, but all I’ve done is frighten myself. I seem so small now, and everywhere I go people look at me.”
“In truth, the length of one’s hair is irrelevant. If you prefer to wear yours long, you’ll be no less bold for doing so—as long as it is your true preference, and you aren’t merely obeying what people expect of you.”
Adelina laughed. “Well, it’s too late now! Anyway, it was a good disguise.” She took Silvana’s hand. “Come on. Are you hungry?”
“Yes, as it happens. I skipped dinner. I’ve often done so lately.” Silvana tried to keep the darkness from her voice. It would do Adelina no good to know that she had spent many hours in brooding, unable to eat or drink because her stomach was already stuffed with dread. During those long hours, death’s hand had seemed far too easy to clasp. If it weren’t for her duty to find the missing Adelina, who could say what she might have done?
Though the little inn was clean inside, its cheap artwork and uneven furniture suggested the financial hardship of its owners. Adelina rang the bell on the counter, and a door creaked in the distance. Moments later, a good-looking older woman bustled down a hallway, wiping her hands on her apron.
“Evening, Marielle,” she said, peeking at Silvana and smiling in a knowing way. “Would you like to introduce me?”
“Agnete, this is Silvana, my lover. Silvana, this is Agnete, who owns this inn.”
Silvana tensed, expecting some outraged reaction, but instead Agnete’s shoulders shook with laughter. “I ought to own it, the amount of work I do! These damn fool laws that prevent us owning property. We should rise up and do something about it, I say.”
Silvana offered her hand, and Agnete pressed it. “I’m pleased to meet you, Agnete. If you do decide to rise up, you have my sword.”
Agnete glanced at the sheath hanging from Silvana’s belt. “My word, you’re not joking. Well, Silvana, I’m pleased to meet you. What a striking woman you are! Marielle’s a lucky poppet.”
Adelina hugged Silvana’s arm. “I certainly am. May we have a late dinner, Agnete? If you’re not too weary?”
“I’ll scrape something together for you, don’t worry. There was a stew tonight, and there’s plenty left, so I’ll go get it warm.” Agnete ushered them into an empty dining room and departed.
Silvana and Adelina took seats at the farthest corner. Silvana sat as she found most comfortable—reclined back in her chair, arms hanging loose, boots crossed. “How fortunate that she should be so unbigoted.”
“People are endless surprises. For one, Ira adores you and wants us to be together. I think my life’s most moving moment was when I admitted my feelings and she told me she still loved me.”
“Irena has a sweet heart and a generous soul. I like little Felise too. She’s clever in her own childish way.”
“How are they? Do you know?”
Silvana gave Adelina another lingering inspection. She was as beautiful as Silvana had remembered, though a touch wan, and it was thrilling to hear again that sweet voice with its mesmerizing lilt and to look once more into those expressive blue eyes.
“They both worry for you,” Silvana said. “Felise mopes about with her puppy in her arms, and Irena spends her days gazing toward the town.”
“And the courtship?”
“Your father has offered Irena to Rafael in marriage. She maintained his deception, not speaking a word about his poverty, and her happiness was so evident that even Delfina conceded to the match.”
“It’ll be terribly trying for Ira if this estate is as decrepit as you say.”
“Put that concern aside for now. When your parents learn that I have assaulted Orfeo and taken you ‘captive,’ as Orfeo will explain it, then Rafael will be tarnished perhaps irreparably by association. It may force the marriage to be canceled.”
“But that’s not fair to Rafael or Irena.” Adelina caressed the back of Silvana’s hand as she spoke. “Can’t we do something about it?”
“If we want to rescue their chances, all we can do is speak to your parents and obtain your father’s legal permission for you to travel with me. Otherwise, we will be hunted by the law, and the town that your father depends upon will consider me a criminal.”
Adelina took an indignant breath, and her ample bosom moved with it. Silvana smiled as her thoughts took an inappropriate turn. “Then that’s what we’ll do,” said Adelina. “Tomorrow we’ll go back to my family and make a final plea. I don’t imagine they’ll ever say yes.”
“I don’t imagine so either, but we can try. I won’t let you be apprehended, you can count on that much.”
“I wonder if my parents even care that I’m gone.”
“They do. Your father spends each day scouring the town, and he traveled to the three nearest towns in search of you as well. Your mother hasn’t left her bed since you disappeared. She sees nobody but Irena, who says that her eyes are always red from weeping.”
“Mother? Weeping? I don’t believe it. Her eyes are red because she’s a demon.”
Silvana kissed Adelina’s fingertips. “I don’t think so. Neither of your parents believed that you’d react in this way. I suspect that whatever their final words to you were, they’ve spent most of their hours since regretting them. They believe you very likely dead.”
Agnete reappeared with two steaming bow
ls. “Here you are, my ladies.” She set down the bowls and withdrew a pair of spoons from her apron. “If you’re thirsty, there are water jugs in the kitchen. You may help yourself.”
“Thank you, Agnete!” Adelina twirled her spoon in her hands. “And thank you for being so welcoming to Silvana.”
“Oh, it’s only common courtesy.” Agnete squeezed Adelina’s shoulder. “You keep an eye on this one, Silvana, do you hear? I’ve a liking for her. Third day she was here, my husband shouted some abuse at one of the servant girls, and Marielle shouted right back that he ought to be more respectful.”
Adelina giggled. “Oh, the look on his face.”
“Have no fear for her,” said Silvana. “There’s no woman more protected or loved in this world.”
“Goodnight, then,” said Agnete. “I’ll see you both in the morning. Don’t stay up too late now.” She winked as she left the dining room.
Silvana sampled her stew. Plain though it was, it had been a long time since she had been able to enjoy her food, and she soon reached the bottom of the bowl. Adelina ate at a more measured pace, pausing often for coy looks and shy smiles. How readily it recalled the memory of their first dinner and the way Adelina’s cutlery had trembled in her hands each time Silvana spoke…
“Do you remember when I offered you that goblet?” said Silvana.
“What a silly question. I’ll never forget.”
“I never expected you to accept it the way you did.” Silvana rested her head in her hands and watched Adelina licking her messy lips. When the sight of somebody eating stew inspired affection, then it could only be true love. “I intended the gesture to be suggestive and thrilling, a way of expressing that I’d like to bed you. You see, the fancy had entered my mind to lure you into a lewd dalliance or two.”
Adelina sucked her spoon dry. “You mean you were trying to seduce me.”
“That’s right. But instead of recognizing my bawdy joke, you took very seriously the gesture of courtship. You wanted more than to couple discreetly with me. You wanted to love me, to take me as your life’s companion. I saw it all in your eyes, and though I didn’t then know it, from that moment I became yours.”
“You flatterer!” Adelina grinned, revealing a piece of food stuck between her front teeth. “To think that the shameless temptress proved to be a romantic at heart.”
“I’ve always been a romantic at heart, and you have something between your teeth.” Silvana waited while Adelina prodded at her teeth. “Yes, you have it. As I said, I’ve always wanted romance, but each time I’ve let myself become enamored with a woman, it has ended in heartbreak. Oh, some of my more fervent lovers have sworn to part from their families and travel with me, but in the end the pressure was too great.”
“I won’t be that way. Haven’t I already proved that?”
“Yes.” Silvana exhaled, and something like an old shadow escaped with the breath, leaving her heart clear. “Yes, you have.”
“I dreamed about you. The day I rejected you, I went to my room and fell back to sleeping.” Adelina’s forehead furrowed. “I saw you in a tree about to hang yourself. I’ll never forget the words you spoke. ‘Old roots wend deep, Adelina. I feel this night will never end.’”
A fearful thrill ran down Silvana’s spine and set her blood tingling. “Where did you first hear those words?”
“I just told you. In my dream.”
“How can that be? The first words are one of the ritual sayings of my childhood faith. And the second words I spoke to Rafael on our first night here.”
“There was something else too. A strange phrase I heard in my head. ‘The blood will call.’”
Silvana shivered. “Goddess within. It can’t be.”
“I suppose that has some magical significance to you as well?”
“It’s the most powerful invocation of my faith. Rafael and I were deemed holy, and the elders repeated those words to us to remind us that despite our intentions, someday we would return to act as archons over the faithful.” Silvana gazed at the full moon visible above the rooftops. “But that faith is gone. The elders died one by one. My mother faded of a wasting sickness, and my father lost his mind. The villagers turned to a less mystical form of worship. Rafael, who had never believed, and I, who had only ever believed in the Goddess and never in the God, gladly tossed aside the masks and garments and entered the world of flesh and blood.”
“You’re not having a conversion, are you? Mother is religious, and she’s insufferable. I don’t want you to become the same way.”
“No. I think the truth of the Goddess is more sublime than our superstitious elders could ever have conceived. And we will never know it with a waking mind.” Silvana turned her eyes back to Adelina. “Have you ever been overwhelmed by the realization of love’s tragedy? As if for a moment you were given true comprehension of the sacrifice and beauty that is two frail lives each depending upon the other?”
“I think I know what you mean.” Adelina’s eyes glittered. “Love is our greatest joy and our greatest agony. We’ll never know a greater happiness, and when one of us passes from this world, the one left behind will never know a greater sorrow.”
“Hence the urge to hold you to my breast, to never want to be parted, to be dragged into that abyss with you…” Silvana sighed. “Hence the Goddess who keeps us in Her embrace even after death. I feel that my long night is over, and tomorrow will mark the first true morning since our eyes first met. Take me to your room, Adelina. I want to show you what’s been left untaught.”
Adelina stood and crooked her finger. “Come, nymph!”
She took off at a run, laughing as she pattered across the floorboards, and Silvana set off in pursuit. Adelina leaped up a precarious flight of stairs, and Silvana followed with a little more care, not much liking the idea of breaking her neck.
The stairs opened into a long, empty corridor. Adelina’s head peeked through an open door at its end, and she beckoned again. Smiling, Silvana strode down the hall and entered the bedchamber. Adelina awaited her on a narrow wooden bed, her tunic already cast off and her breasts bared in the lamplight.
Silvana closed the door and leaned against it while admiring Adelina’s considerable curves. “I see you’ve lost your shyness,” she said.
“I was afraid at first that my breasts were too large.” Adelina arched her back and stretched her arms behind her head. “But now I realize that I’m just how I am, and that’s how it is.”
“Profound.” Silvana took off her own tunic, and Adelina’s gaze lowered without hesitation. “Does your arm still hurt, my love?”
“No. It’s better. You cured me with your kisses.” The crimson in Adelina’s cheeks crept to her ears. “Take everything off.”
“Oh? You’re commanding me?”
“I want to see you.”
Silvana knelt and untied her boots. After kicking them free, she stood, unloosed her belt and stepped out of her pants. Adelina watched the performance wide-eyed, a bent finger caught in the corner of her mouth. Now entirely naked, Silvana put her hands on her hips and frowned. “Are you satisfied?”
“Um.” Adelina bit on the end of her finger. “Oh, God.”
“I’m curious to see if you can become any redder.”
“I might if you keep laughing like that.” Adelina wriggled out of her pants. Nude and blushing, she sat upright, her hands folded in her lap but not quite concealing the dark triangle between her legs. “Am I too fat, do you think?”
“You’re beautiful, Ada.”
“Then hold me, dryad, and whisper poetry into my ear.”
“You’re the poetess here, my little star.” Silvana lay on the bed and put her arms around Adelina. The meeting of their bare skin stirred Silvana’s lust further, but she willed her urges to temper themselves. Adelina, the beautiful innocent, was trembling again. “Don’t be nervous.”
“How can I not be?”
“This love will be unlike our first time. We’re going to compl
ete something heavenly, you and I.”
Adelina nuzzled Silvana, and her lashes brushed against Silvana’s cheek. “Tell me how.”
“First we make love with words.” Silvana entwined their fingers together. “Speak your feelings for me.”
“Um. I’ve completely forgotten how to be poetic.”
“How can that be? We’ve been practicing so often.”
“But your thigh is touching my thigh, and I can see your breasts and…between you.” Adelina’s blush deepened. “I’m not thinking about romantic starlight, weepy souls, trembling hearts and all that pretty nonsense right now. I’m thinking about the unchaste things I want to do to you.”
“And what might those be?”
With deliberate slowness, Adelina studied Silvana’s body. “I want to lay a trail of kisses across your chest, while I cup your breasts and feel your nipples stiffen against my palms. I want to trace the line of your neck and the swell of your hip. I want to place my fingers inside you, and I want to sit astride your thighs and gaze into your face while your lashes flutter in ecstasy.”
“So much for courtly love.”
Adelina’s lips curled into a wicked grin. “To hell with courtly love.”
Silvana kissed her, and their tongues met. When the kiss had broken, Silvana placed another upon Adelina’s cheek, and then upon her neck, and then upon her collarbone.
“Love and lust are as one for us,” Silvana said, breathing her words into Adelina’s ear. “To feel the heat of her wanting skin, to follow the lineament of her body and elicit pleasure in her most intimate places…this is how we make love, Adelina, with hearts as well as hands, with words as well as lips.”
“I didn’t know it could be like this.” Adelina shivered as Silvana touched the soft inside of her thigh. “It’s never like this in the romances.”
“For those are written by men.”
Adelina murmured, and her hand slid between Silvana’s legs and fumbled there—too soon, and too painfully. Silvana trapped Adelina’s clumsy fingers. “Slower, my love.”
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