A Knight in Atlantis

by Diana Bold

  Sebastian clenched his hands into impotent fists. “I must try. I could never stay here, in such splendid comfort, knowing that everyone I have ever known or cared for has died an agonizing death.”

  “The plague did not come to your village because of anything you did, Sebastian. And even if I were to send you back there with the full arsenal of Atlantis’ medical expertise, you would not be able to save them all. Rhoswen is right. You would be better served in working with our scientists to try and find a cure.”

  “What could I contribute?” Sebastian asked, with a humorless laugh. “I do not belong here.”

  Oberon eyed him speculatively. “You have surprised me, Sebastian. You’re nothing I expected you to be and far too honorable for your own good.”

  Sebastian met his gaze squarely. “There is no such thing as too much honor.”

  “Be that as it may, I find that I must put my faith in you. Rhoswen will never forgive herself until she knows what happened to Trevelan.”

  A feeling of foreboding crept up Sebastian’s spine. “What does Trevelan’s fate have to do with me?”

  “Here is my proposal,” Oberon replied. “I’ll allow you to leave and give you the medicines you need to do what you can for your people, but if I do, you must find Trevelan and send him back to us.”

  “What of Rhoswen?” Sebastian asked. “She will want to go with me, but I do not want to put her in any further danger.”

  Oberon nodded, and Sebastian knew that in this at least, they were in agreement. Neither wanted any harm to come to her. “If you rescue Trevelan, you’ll earn Rhoswen’s undying gratitude.” He gave Sebastian a pitying look. “No matter how much she’s grown to care for you, Trevelan is her chosen mate. I’m sure you’ll agree it’s best for everyone if things go back to how they were before.”

  Chosen mate. Her attachment to Trevelan, and his to her, suddenly made perfect sense. They had been more than friends all along.

  All his old doubts about whether Rhoswen had pretended to care for him simply to ensure her escape came rushing back. He could not blame her, but it still hurt. Even more so, after having heard from her father the truth he had not even wanted to admit to himself.

  He loved her. Bloody hell, he loved her so much.

  He had not missed the fact that Oberon had not offered him the choice of coming back. No possibility existed of him rejoining Rhoswen and living the rest of his life freely in this beautiful place, exploring the wealth of knowledge he coveted so much. He sighed, knowing it had been too much to expect. Besides, Oberon was right, Rhoswen was far better off with Trevelan.

  “Thank you, my lord,” he said, wondering why it hurt so much to get exactly what he had claimed to want. “I will do my best not to let you down.”

  * * * * *

  Rhoswen paced the length of her apartment, waiting anxiously for Sebastian to return from his meeting with her father. Once the messenger delivered him back to sickbay, Kaylee had agreed to redress his wound and then bring him to Rhoswen. They’d both decided he’d recuperate far better in Rhoswen’s comfortable living quarters than the sterile, impersonal hospital room.

  Besides, she wanted him to see her home, wanted to spend a wonderful evening with him in her own private space before she asked him to help her rescue Trevelan and risked ruining their relationship forever.

  Was it too much, to want to create one more wonderful memory? To take one more night for herself, while Trevelan suffered untold agony on the Surface? She told herself that it was necessary, that Sebastian needed another day to recuperate before he attempted to return to Hawkesmere, but she still felt guilty.

  In truth, all she really wanted to do was keep Sebastian here in Atlantis. She wanted to see the look on his face when she showed him the library, wanted to watch him achieve his amazing potential as a scientist and researcher. Most of all, she wanted him in her bed every night for the rest of her life. Trevelan’s odds of still being alive were slim, and she couldn’t bear the thought of losing Sebastian on a wild goose chase.

  But if there was a chance…

  Trevelan’s life was more important than her and Sebastian’s reckless romance. But how could she choose between Trevelan’s and Sebastian’s lives? She would never even consider asking Sebastian to help her rescue Trevelan if he weren’t so intent upon returning to Atlantis to help his people.

  She still couldn’t quite understand why he would risk everything, give up the safety and knowledge he’d find in Atlantis, to try and save the same people who’d feared and whispered about him for years.

  She feared she’d caused this somehow. Her intrusion into the well-ordered austerity of his life had shattered the shields he’d put up to keep the world at bay. By letting her in, he’d opened himself up to the plights of those around him, and now he didn’t seem to be able to ignore anyone in need.

  Preferable by far to believe in his intrinsic goodness, instead of the other logical explanation — that he just didn’t want to remain in Atlantis with her. She’d given him no real choice in the matter, after all. Though certain he cared for her, she didn’t know if he felt as strongly as she did.

  Either way, it seemed she was going to lose him, and the thought of living without him broke her heart.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Sebastian drifted around Rhoswen’s living quarters, still a bit unsteady on his feet but determined to see everything. He wanted to know her world inside and out, commit it to memory so he could take each piece out and examine it later.

  Her suite of rooms shared a building with many others, yet boasted both a private entrance and a small outdoor courtyard that overlooked the green expanse of the small forest, which he now knew as a recreational park. Though smaller than any one level of his tower at Hawkesmere, the space was much better utilized.

  Upon entering, he’d found himself in a spacious living area. The azure walls boasted lovely seascapes in white frames, and the overstuffed furniture looked casual and comfortable.

  A small kitchen area with amazing cooking and cooling capabilities opened off the living area. He promised himself to explore the incredible technology later and kept looking, intent upon finding the rain box that haunted his dreams.

  Rhoswen spoke to Kaylee as he prowled her domain, shooting him an occasional amused glance as Kaylee rattled off myriad instructions about his care. Though his meeting with Oberon had sapped his strength, he still felt amazingly well, considering how close he had been to death just a few days ago.

  Oberon had grudgingly allowed him to spend the rest of the day with Rhoswen before he attempted his dangerous rescue of Trevelan. He planned to make the most of every minute.

  Though she might not love him the way he loved her, he had managed to convince himself once again that she at least cared for him a bit. Her enthusiastic welcome when he and Kaylee had arrived at her door had done much to soothe his bruised heart.

  He entered a small hallway, which led to a sleeping chamber with a large, soft-looking bed. He still was not sure what they made their mattresses of — one of the thousand questions he had been accumulating since he had arrived — but the bed in sickbay had conformed to his body like a cloud, softer than anything he had ever imagined.

  The last unopened doorway yielded success.

  The room was not large, but contained all manner of wonders. He had already been introduced to the amazing toilets in sickbay, but he flushed this one anyway, amazed as ever by the swift replacement of the old water with new.

  There was a porcelain wash bowl against the wall, where one could shave or brush one’s teeth with the assortment of pastes and gels that lined the shelves beneath the crystal-clear mirror.

  But ‘twas the rain box that captured his complete attention. The glass and marble chamber, easily big enough for two, was exactly like the one he had seen in the dream he had shared with Rhoswen. A tremor of desire wracked him as he thought of making love to her here.

  Just one more time before he left…


  “You found it, I see.” Rhoswen came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her face against his back. A soft laugh shivered through her slim frame. “I wondered if that dream had affected you as much as it did me.”

  He smiled and willed away the pain of his imminent departure. “You have no idea. I do not think I have had a dream since that did not include it. I had no idea if ‘twas real or not, but my imagination certainly did not care.”

  “Well, I have made something for lunch. While we eat, you can tell me how your meeting with my father went, and then later we can see if reality is as wonderful as your imagination.”

  A bit disappointed over being made to wait, he followed her back toward the living area of her home. But as his blood cooled, he realized ‘twas for the best. He needed to sit down, rest, and eat something. At the moment, he was feeling a bit light-headed.

  Besides, he needed to ask her some questions about her and Trevelan being chosen mates before he even thought about making love to her again. The last of his arousal faded in an icy rush as he sank down in the comfortable chair she indicated beside the glass dining table.

  Bloody hell, his common sense utterly disappeared every time he saw her.

  For a man who had spent most of the last decade celibate, he had allowed his passions to dictate nearly every move he had made since he met her.

  “Relax for awhile.” She brushed her lips against his temple in a sweet caress. “It’s almost done.”

  As he watched her bustle around the kitchen, deep melancholy gripped him. ’Twas far too easy to imagine what might have been.

  If only he had come here of his own will and been invited to stay…

  If only Rhoswen cared for him as much as she cared for the man they had unwittingly left to a fate he did not deserve…

  He wished he had been born here, and Rhoswen was his chosen mate. He could see himself spending his days in some amazing laboratory, stretching his mind to the limits in search of answers, then coming home to eat dinner with this beautiful woman. He would make love to her in the shower and then hold her in his arms all through the night in that clean, wonderful bed.

  But it seemed he would have to content himself with this single night. A house that was not his, a life that was not his, and most of all, a woman who was not his.

  “So, what did my father say to you?” She covered her hands with two padded, cloth gloves, opened what appeared to be a very sophisticated oven, and withdrew a serving container filled with some flavorful-smelling dish.

  Sebastian frowned. “He delved my mind. But it was not like when you did it. He only invaded my thoughts for a moment, but the pain was intense. After that, his entire demeanor changed. He seemed to warm toward me and said I was not anything he thought I was going to be.”

  She bit her lip as she took a couple of plates and some silverware from a cupboard. “I’m sorry if he hurt you. I know you’ll find it hard to believe, but I don’t think either one of us has ever delved a mind without permission before. It just isn’t done, because it’s a horrible invasion of privacy. But with you, we were both pushed into situations where we felt we had no other choice.”

  He understood what she meant, but that did not make it any easier to forgive the brutal assault he had experienced at her father’s hands. In any event, he cared far more about what her father had told him. “He explained that Trevelan was your chosen mate.”

  She set a plate down in front of him, her hand trembling so much she almost spilled the food in his lap. “He did?” She sounded surprised, but did not deny his accusation.

  “I asked you about your relationship with Trevelan,” he reminded her, his voice brittle with betrayal. “I never would have made love to you if I had known. You assured me the two of you were just friends.”

  She sank into the seat across from him, refusing to meet his gaze. “We are friends. And I don’t think you understand what it means to be chosen mates here. It’s nothing like the marriages of your people.”

  “Then tell me what it is like,” he demanded. “I deserve to know that, I think, after everything we have been through together.”

  She sighed. “It’s all to do with procreation. Our numbers are so few, so regulated. Certain bloodlines have to be mixed, so we do not become too inbred. We don’t have sex in order to procreate; the man’s seed is artificially inserted into a woman in a lab, the sex of the baby predetermined. In some instances, the man and woman who are chosen to be the parents of a child create a deeper bond, but often, as is the case with my parents, they do not even live together. The children are raised in dormitories by women who are suited to show maternal love, then educated for whatever position they will assume upon reaching adulthood.” She attempted a weak smile. “Your arrival has the geneticists very excited. I heard one of them say they want a sample or two from you, to add some fresh bloodlines."

  He gave her an incredulous glance, shocked and hurt by her obvious acceptance of something he found morally repugnant. "You expect me to father children like a stud horse? What about you? What about us? I think we would have beautiful children together."

  For a moment, her eyes softened, but then she banked the emotion, once again the cold, Atlantis princess. "That would be lovely, but it's impossible. Trevelan has already been chosen to father my child. When the current Owain dies, Trevelan and I will bear a new one."

  "I do not see how he can father your child if he is dead." Sebastian knew he was being cruel, but he hated the thought of her bearing another man's child, no matter if the man wasn’t even in the room when it happened, the concept of which still seemed ridiculous and inhuman to him.

  She caught her breath and turned away, refusing to meet his gaze. "There are samples of his sperm in the lab." Her voice turned positively frigid. "I must do my duty. I can’t allow my people to suffer for my own selfishness."

  "How can you live this way?" he cried. "How can you allow them to plan every moment of your life?"

  "Do you think the way your people live is any better?" she fired back. "The women of Hawkesmere have no choices. Nor do the peasants. And those who do have choices are usually greedy, capricious, and cruel."

  She was right, of course. He scrubbed a hand across his face. "I do not want to fight with you, Rhoswen. But I cannot stay here as your caged pet, no matter how tempting the prospect."

  “What are you saying?” The anger had disappeared from her voice. Now she just sounded tired and resigned. “If you have already made up your mind about something, you might as well tell me.”

  “Your father and I have reached an agreement,” he admitted, feeling tired and resigned himself. “He will give me the medicines I need and allow me to leave. In exchange, I will do my best to send Trevelan home to you.”

  “You were just going to leave? Without telling me? Without taking me?” She sank into the chair across from him and stared at him beseechingly, all her coldness vanishing in the wake of obvious emotion.

  Which side of her was real? The tender lover or the ice princess? He truly did not know and was not sure he would ever be able to tell.

  “I was going to tell you. Later. And as for taking you — Christ, are you insane? If I have my way, you will never set foot upon the Surface again. It is too dangerous, and you are terrible at fitting in. You do not belong there, which is obvious for anyone with eyes in their head to see. If it were not for me, you would have come to a bad end in Hawkesmere, Rhoswen. We both know it.”

  She flushed and buried her face in her hands. “How are you going to help Trevelan when your brother would sooner have you dead than look at you?”

  “I will throw myself upon his mercy,” he answered tightly, refusing to admit, even to himself, that Simon’s mercy was not a thing to gamble upon. “He will listen to me. I will make him listen.”

  “What if there was another way? What if I could get you into Hawkesmere, into your tower, undetected?”

  He narrowed his gaze, sensing he was not going t
o like what she was about to tell him. “How on Earth could you do that?”

  “There’s a secret passage that ends in the hot springs beneath your tower.”

  “More secrets.” He shook his head, disgusted by all the things she had hidden from him. “If this tunnel exists, why did you not use it to escape? I left you alone down there for nearly an hour.”

  “I couldn’t find it,” she admitted. “But I know it’s there somewhere. The entrance should be easier to find from the other side.”

  “Perhaps you should draw me a map,” he conceded reluctantly, seeing how such a thing could aid his quest. “It would be good to have another way in.”

  She shook her head and lifted her gaze, meeting his with grim determination. “I won’t draw you a map. But I’ll show you. If you take me with you.”

  He pushed his food away. Her words had destroyed his appetite. “Absolutely not. Your father would never allow it, and neither will I. Everything I have done during the past few days, every risk I have taken, was so I could see you safely home where you belonged. Why would I risk that now?”

  “How can you expect me to sit here and wait? Not knowing whether you made it? Not knowing whether you found Trevelan or not? This whole thing is my fault. If I wouldn’t have jumped to conclusions, we wouldn’t have left Trevelan behind, and you’d have been able to help your people when they needed you. Please, Sebastian. I’m begging you. Give me the chance to help make this right.”

  “There is nothing you can do.” Her words and recent insistence on the importance of order in Atlantis made it obvious that Trevelan was her only concern, and he was more determined than ever to keep her here where she belonged. “You will only impede my efforts.”

  “I won’t,” she cried. “I swear I won’t. I can help you get there, and then I can help Trevelan return to Atlantis, so you can remain at your precious Hawkesmere.”