A Knight in Atlantis

by Diana Bold

  “Cease this nonsense!” He scrambled to his feet and held up one hand to quell any more argument. “I will not take you, Rhoswen. Nothing you can say will change my mind.”

  A bullheaded look settled upon her fair features, but she remained quiet.

  “Thank you,” he told her, trying to soften his tone but finding it incredibly difficult. “Now, if you do not mind, I am going to try out that shower, then sleep for a few hours so I will be ready to leave when your father comes for me in the morning. I would appreciate it if you would just let me do what I must without any further arguments.”

  “I’ll make you a tray and leave it by the bed,” she said, after a long moment of obvious internal battle. “You need to eat.”

  He nodded and strode from the room, entering the bathing room and leaning heavily upon the door as he tried to bring his rioting emotions under control. He wished like hell there was somewhere else to go, but the apartment was simply too small. Like it or not, they were stuck with each other for the next twenty-four hours.

  With a deep sigh, he finally found the strength to push himself away from the door and disrobe. It took him a moment, but he found the right knob to get the water in the shower running, then stepped beneath the steaming waterfall, gasping a bit as the water hit his wound.

  Wonderful. The shower was everything he had dreamed it would be, but without Rhoswen by his side, the entire experience seemed empty. Bloody hell, it would be hard to leave her, especially when she was begging him to take her with him. Despite the danger, he could not help wanting to prolong this impossible thing between them for as long as possible.

  He prayed for the strength to resist her pleas.

  Chapter Twenty

  Rhoswen stood in her bedroom doorway, watching Sebastian sleep, her heart in her throat. If she had ever seen anything more beautiful in her life, she couldn’t remember it. He lay sprawled on his stomach across her bed, a towel wrapped around his lean hips, his disheveled sable hair spread across his broad shoulders and the white sheets.

  He’d shaved, and his lips looked soft and lush against the harsh planes of his aristocratic features. The thought of never kissing him again, never touching that hard, strong body brought tears to her eyes. She blinked them rapidly away, determined to stay strong. She needed to keep her wits about her if she were going to persuade him to take her with him back to Hawkesmere.

  His arguments made sense. If she went with him, she’d only slow him down. She’d get in his way, and she feared his concern for her would take away the edge he’d need to do what needed to be done. In fact, she couldn’t think of anything in her defense other than her need to stay with him just a little longer.

  If she let him leave Atlantis without her, she knew she’d never see him again.

  He was obviously furious with her and confused about her relationship with Trevelan. Somehow, she had to help him understand the truth of it — Sebastian was all she’d ever wanted, and she didn’t intend to let him go without a fight.

  Moving quietly, she changed into a pair of soft flannel pajamas, turned off the light, and slid into bed beside him. Though it was only mid-afternoon, the days of stress and worry had exhausted her, and she needed some rest nearly as much as he did.

  As she snuggled up beside him, he turned and cradled her against him, instinctively adjusting his position to make her comfortable. As his breathing evened out again, she released a sigh of bone-deep contentment. In his arms, she could almost believe that everything would be all right.

  Hopefully, things would be clearer when she awoke.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Darkness filled the preternaturally quiet room, and the lack of all light and sound chilled Sebastian to the core. For a moment he lay perfectly still, wondering if he had died during the night. He had always thought death would feel like this — an absence of… everything.

  A small movement beside him drew his attention, and he realized a soft female body pressed against him from chest to hip. Not dead, then. As he tentatively pressed his hand against her soft hair, memory returned. Despite their argument, Rhoswen had gotten into bed with him.

  He didn’t know why it surprised him. Every time he thought he knew her, thought he knew what was going on in her lovely head, she turned his expectations upside down.

  Yesterday, he had convinced himself the tenderness between them had been a sham, a way for her to gain her freedom. He had thought her wish to go back to Hawkesmere with him was nothing more than a way for her to put her fears for Trevelan to rest. Yet here she was, sleeping trustingly in his arms.

  He had decided to keep her at arm’s length until he left, but now that he held her again, he found it impossible to move away. In a few minutes, he promised himself. For now, he just wanted to revel in the feeling of contentment and belonging he had only found with Rhoswen, be it real or a mirage.

  She shifted against him, then pressed her lips against his collarbone, dispelling the myth that she had been sleeping. “How are you feeling?”

  “Better.” He made a pretense of stretching, which disentangled him from her sweet clutches, without, he hoped, being too obvious. He did not want to hurt her; he just wanted to make a clean, relatively painless break.

  To his surprise, he did feel better. Though his shoulder ached like hell, his strength seemed to have completely returned.

  He rolled out of bed, then realized he had fallen asleep with nothing more than a piece of drying cloth around his hips. He managed to secure it just as she reached over and flicked a switch on the bedside table lamp, flooding the small, comfortable room in a soft glow.

  Her gaze drifted down his body with obvious appreciation, and it took every bit of his willpower to turn away.

  “I will be back in a moment,” he told her as he headed toward the bathing chamber.

  He dressed quickly in the soft, comfortable clothing Kaylee had provided him yesterday, then took a moment to get his wits about him. “What time is it?” he asked through the door. “Is it morning yet?”

  “No. It’s not even midnight. There’s still plenty of time.”

  Plenty of time for what? Only one pastime came to mind, but making love to her was no longer an option.

  He took a deep breath and opened the door, returning to the bedchamber. She sat against the headboard, her knees drawn up to her chest, looking sweet, vulnerable, and achingly beautiful.

  “You look…” She trailed off, then swallowed. “You look so good, Sebastian. Yourself, yet different. More like the you I think you’ve always wanted to be. You look like you belong here.”

  He gave a low, bitter laugh. He did not think he had ever belonged anywhere, especially not here. “Do not be cruel, Rhoswen.”

  “I’m not trying to be cruel. I’m just… I don’t know. You look so perfect standing here in my apartment.”

  The ache in the pit of his stomach intensified. “I will be sorry to go. But we both know I cannot stay.”

  She was silent for a long moment, but he could practically see her mind working. She had something she wanted to ask him, and he was afraid he knew what.

  To his surprise, she slipped out of bed and went to the battered pack that rested on the back of a chair. “I wanted to explain this to you when we were in Hawkesmere, but I couldn’t risk having all the information it contains fall into the wrong hands.”

  Turning, she held out the large, flat object he had spent so much time examining in the tower. With a quick motion of her hand, she opened it like a book, showing him that one side was clear like glass, while the other was filled with small, lettered squares in some sort of pattern.

  “What is it?” he asked, intrigued even though he knew she was purposely trying to distract him.

  “When our people fled our homeland, they took thousands of books with them, then spent the years before the cataclysm gathering even more great works from all over the world. But by the time we built Atlantis, many of the fragile scrolls had been damaged or were starting to d
ecay. We needed a way to store all that precious information, so that it would never be lost.”

  His eyes widened, but he said nothing, afraid the explanation that had just popped into his mind could not possibly be real.

  “We invented a storage device, something capable of holding millions of pages worth of information in a very small space. We set scribes to entering the information into the data unit, and now all my people’s knowledge is available with the click of a button.”

  “Millions of books?” His voice trembled with excitement. “How does it work?”

  She sat down on the edge of the bed and patted the space beside her. “Sit down, and I’ll show you.”

  He walked toward her like a sleepwalker, riveted by her actions as she placed the device in her lap and started moving her hands rapidly over the buttons. All his anger and dismay evaporated. Everything he had ever wanted to know was apparently at her fingertips.

  “Ask me a question,” she urged. “Anything you can possibly think of, and I can probably find the answer for you in less than a minute.”

  “You choose,” he murmured, too stunned by the possibilities to be able to pick one thing.

  Her fingers flew over the buttons, and then she placed the data unit in his lap. The clear upper section was now filled with Latin text. He skimmed the first few lines and found that ‘twas the legend of Atlantis, as told by Plato. He grinned and met her mischievous gaze. “He got it a little wrong, didn’t he?”

  She nodded. “You can search by any topic — just enter a word that interests you, and all the books on that subject will be available to you.”

  Excitement raced through him. His stunned amazement gave way to a flood of questions. He did not even know where to start.

  “I will show you how to use it, help you look up anything you like. I just wanted you to know what you’ll be giving up if you leave. Much as I want you to find Trevelan, and even though I know you truly want to help those who are ill, this data unit represents everything you’ve ever wanted.”

  He sat back, putting the precious object carefully on the bed beside him. “You know me well,” he admitted, angry all over again at her underhanded tactics. “There is nothing I would like more than to remain in this room with you for the rest of my life, pouring over all the history and technology this thing contains. But I cannot. In fact, I do not even want to start, for fear I will not be able to stop when your father comes for me in the morning.”

  She reached out and threaded her fingers through his, squeezing tightly. “You’re such a good man,” she whispered. “Not one man in a thousand would put the needs of others above his own heart’s desire. That’s why I can’t bear to see you walk away without me.”

  “You cannot go with me, Rhoswen,” he whispered, disentangling himself from her silken hold. “You will be a distraction I cannot afford.”

  “The tunnels I told you about are real,” she promised, turning to face him with her heart in her eyes. “What if I led you to the tower, then promised to remain locked safely inside while you do whatever you need to do?”

  He wished she would stop. The temptation to take her with him grew by the moment. He was not ready to say good-bye. Not yet. “It is still far too much of a risk.”

  “I can’t stand the thought of sitting here, waiting for news, when you’re out there risking your life for me, for the people of Atlantis. I want to be close enough to know what happens to you, to Trevelan, and have the chance to say good-bye properly.”

  “We can say good-bye here, Rhoswen. In a far more comfortable, safe, manner. And does it really matter? It is still an ending. I cannot see that drawing it out will make any difference.”

  “I’ll be fine in your tower,” she assured him. “And who knows what difference a few days could make? We may find a solution to all the things that stand between us. If you leave in the morning at my father’s behest, I’ll never see you again, and I don’t think I can bear that.”

  Her words promised hope, something he had nearly given up on since he had spoken to her father. She stared up at him, her blue eyes sad and entreating.

  Did she love him? Or was all this for Trevelan’s sake? He was not sure, but he no longer had the strength to resist her.

  “All right,” he whispered, holding out his arms. “I will take you.”

  She leaned into him, burying her face against his chest, a shudder wracking her slim body. “You won’t regret this. I promise I’ll be careful. And the two of us are better off together, haven’t you figured that out yet?”

  “I am starting to,” he admitted. “God knows you certainly make everything sound easy.”

  She made a strange noise, somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “What? Did you think it would be hard to sneak back into Hawkesmere, steal your brother’s prize prisoner, and administer medicine to a group of people who think you’re a sorcerer or worse?”

  He hugged her tight, hoping he was not making the biggest mistake of his life. “Well, I doubt your father will be happy about my change in plans, so I am afraid we will have to sneak away before morning. Do you think Kaylee will give us the medicines we need?”

  “I’m certain of it.” Rhoswen stood up, giving him a brilliant smile. “I’ll contact her right away and make sure. Then all we have to worry about is how to steal one of the submersibles and disable its tracking device.”

  “Oh,” he murmured with a shake of his head. “Is that all?”

  * * * * *

  Rhoswen gave Kaylee a quick hug as they completed their covert transaction of antibiotics. “Thank you so much, Kaylee. I’ll never forget this.”

  “It’s my pleasure to help,” Kaylee assured her. “I never get the chance to do anything worthwhile with my skills. Sebastian’s visit has been the most exciting thing to happen to me in years.”

  Rhoswen grinned wryly. “Yeah, me, too. That’s why I’m doing this.”

  Kaylee bit her lip. “Are you sure you realize the consequences of your actions? Your mother will be screaming for your head and even your father will have a hard time getting you out of trouble this time.”

  “I know. But it may be a moot point. I won’t return if Sebastian can’t come back with me. I just want to be where he is, Kay. Is that so hard to understand?”

  Kaylee smiled, though her eyes filled with tears. “Having never experienced anything even close to the love you obviously feel for this man, it is hard for me to understand. But I’ll take your word that he’s worth it. Just promise me you’ll be careful.”

  “I will be.” She gave her friend one last tremulous smile. “I’ll miss you, Kaylee.”

  “I’ll miss you, too.” With a sad little wave, Kaylee backed away and disappeared through the sickbay doors.

  Clutching the little bag of medicine, Rhoswen hurried to make her next stop, the storeroom where she and Trevelan had always kept their Surface supplies. She’d left Sebastian in her apartment with a map of the docking bay, so he could decide on the best way to steal one of the submersibles.

  At this time of night, there would only be one technician on duty, so she didn’t anticipate too much trouble, but they would need to incapacitate the technician in some way. Otherwise, an alert would be sounded, and no doubt her father would soon be hot on their tail.

  If she had her way, they would be long gone by the time anyone even noticed they had left.

  She opened the storeroom and slipped inside, grabbing lightsticks and a few lightweight but warm blankets, a couple of watertight packs, two wetsuits and a change of Surface-appropriate clothing for both of them.

  For a moment or two, she stared longingly at the array of weapons, from both the Surface and Atlantis’ ancient past, but finally decided against them. Kaylee had returned Sebastian’s sword, so they wouldn’t be completely helpless, and she didn’t want him to get caught with a weapon he couldn’t explain.

  Satisfied with what she’d accomplished, she made the trek back to her apartment, keeping in the shadows, though she
ran into no one. The people of Atlantis usually kept regular hours that did not include prowling the corridors after midnight.

  When she reached her apartment, she realized she was holding her breath. Would Sebastian still be there? Perhaps his complicity had merely been a way of getting rid of her, so he could escape on his own. Maybe he had changed his mind, realized he did not want to take her with him.

  She was still stunned that she’d managed to sway him and could only hope that meant he was as reluctant to part from her as she was from him. He cared for her, she had no doubt about that, though she thought he had somewhat less confidence in her own feelings for him.

  Her relationship with Trevelan bothered him, and she wished there was some other way to ensure Trevelan’s escape. She hated to ask Sebastian to risk his life once again for something she had done, but could see no other way; she couldn’t bear to leave Trevelan to his captivity even one more day.

  Sometimes she feared that they wouldn’t be in time, but whenever the thought crossed her mind, she did her best to ignore it. She refused to believe her actions had brought about Trevelan’s death.

  By the time she reached her apartment, she’d worked herself into a frenzy of new worry. To her relief, she found Sebastian bent over her small dining table, pouring over the maps of Atlantis.

  When she entered, he glanced up and smiled. “This city is an amazing feat of engineering and technology. You were right. I never would have believed such a thing possible if I had not seen it with my own eyes.”

  She was so glad to see him, she could only nod weakly and deposit her supplies on the sofa. “Have you come up with a plan?”

  He shrugged. “With only one technician, I do not think it will be too difficult. I will simply bind the unlucky fellow to a chair in the control room until his replacement comes in the morning. Hopefully, by then we will be back on the Surface.”

  “That’s what I was thinking, too.”

  He gestured at the pile of supplies. “Were you able to get everything you needed?”