by Leslie LaFoy
Having lost the rock-paper-scissors contest, Aiden would
follow on his heels. high and sweeping from right to center.
And they would find nothing except cobwebs and half frozen
muddy patches where the snow had melted and
poured down through the shingles. Honing the precision had
been entertaining the first half-dozen times they'd gone
through the exercise. The thrill of possible danger had lingered
a little while longer. But not much. It existed for a few
seconds each time they came up on a structure, but the absence
of footprints had a considerable dampening effect
on it.
Still, they were doggedly, albeit not hopefully, persistent
and consistent. Holding their guns at the ready, walking
wordlessly together, they circled the stone stable, their heads
bowed as they carefully sorted through the shadows in front
of their feet.
"Got him," Barrett whispered, abruptly halting, pointing
off to his immediate left. "He cut an arc from here to the rear
door."
His blood pumping hard and fast, Aiden flexed the
warmth into the chilled fingertips of his left hand and visually
followed the line of footprints around the perimeter.
Nodding his acceptance of Barrett's conclusion, he turned
and looked along the sight line that could be had from the
side windows of the building. Across the street, a half block
down, he could see not only the entire western and back
walls of the Blue Elephant, he could also see the kitchen, the
western side of their carriage house and the yard in its entirety.
The light still flickered through the iron grills of his
bedroom windows. The peacocks were sound asleep, huddled
together in the comer of their pen.
"It's the perfect vantage," he whispered, turning to Barrett.
"Back door or the front?"
He answered by setting silently off for the rear side of the
building, following the trail that had been laid down for
them. Aiden went along, scanning the windows on the lower
level. No light, no movement. He glanced up, noting the
height of the roof and pitch. There was enough that a loft
was likely. Would their quarry be on the main level or up
above? In his mind's eye, he pictured the views of the Blue
Elephant from the northern and southern ends of the structure.
He'd be on the lower. Probably at or very near the midpoint.
The latch lifted smoothly and without a sound. Barrett's
hand went up and, in rapid succession, his fingers went
down. Aiden pulled the door back just enough to let Barrett
scramble through and then vaulted inside behind him.
And froze just as Barrett had.
Straight ahead of them. in the darkness, stood the man he'd
seen at Alex's window, at the carriage line outside Christie's,
and climbing into the cab on Fleet Street Only those times he
hadn't been obviously armed. Now he held a gun in each hand
with a muzzle steadily aimed at each of them.
So much for the element of surprise, Aiden thought
darkly. And for Alex's early assurances that a native assailant
wouldn't use a firearm. The only course left now was
bluff and luck.
Never taking his eyes off the man, he eased sideways to
make himself a smaller target and fixed the man's chest
squarely in his sights. "I hope," he drawled, ''you speak English
because I have a helluva lot of questions you'd better
be able to answer. Let's start with who you are and why
you're here."
"My name is Vadeen," he replied, his words carefully
pronounced, his accent strong. "I am the bodyguard of
Prince Sarad, the younger brother of the raja, Kedar. I was
sent to protect Kedar's children from harm. I have seen you
with the prince and princess and know we share the same
task."
The puzzle pieces--:-every single one of them-tumbled
into place perfectly, swiftly, and with stunning ease and clarity.
If the man's intent was to knock the pins from under him,
he'd succeeded. In spades. Jesus. Sweet Jesus. His heart was
pounding and frantically urging him to turn around and walk
away, to pretend that the stable had been just as empty as all
the others. But his feet wouldn't move and the ragged, sad
voice of reason said he couldn't walk, couldn't run, far
enough, fast enough, to escape the truth.
"Princess?" Barrett repeated, very slowly straightening to
his full height, his movement mercifully distracting and
drawing Aiden from the swirl of horrible realization.
Vadeen lifted the muzzle of his weapon to follow Barrett's
progress, but the larger part of his attention remained
on Aiden. "There are many things you do not yet know. I
will put down my weapon if you and your friend will set
yours aside, as well."
''We'll lower them," Aiden conceded, his stomach cold
and hard. "But that's as far as we're going to trust for the
moment. You'll have to earn any more than that."
"A wise and acceptable compromise," the other said, his
smile revealing bright white teeth. The muzzles of his guns
inched downward at precisely the same angle and time that
Aiden and Barrett's did. "Do you have a name?" he asked
when all the weapons were aimed at the floor.
"Aiden." He barely motioned with his head. "My friend is
Barrett."
He made a similarly restrained nod of his own, indicating
several mounds of hay and some barrels against the wall on
his right. "My home is a humble one, but I invite you to sit
and make yourselves comfortable. The story is long and will
take some time."
It wasn't too late to go. If he turned around and left, supposition
and educated guesses would be all he really had. He
could go back to Alex and … pretend that there was no danger.
Pretend that he knew enough to keep her safe. Pretend
that they were the only people in the world and that they
alone shaped their fates. He could pretend that he wasn't living
a lie. A lie that could well get Alex killed.
The three of them moved, the Indian backing, the two of
them advancing; always at the same time, never glancing
away from the gun in the other's hand.
"All right," Aiden said, easing down on a barrel opposite
Vadeen, the gun resting in his lap, his hand still wrapped
around the butt, his finger lying along the side of the trigger.
Barrett settled likewise on a barrel to his right, and Aiden
nodded crisply and added, "Start talking. I'm listening."
''With great suspicion," the other pointed out, his smile
even brighter with the distance closed.
''Can you blame me?"
His smile disappeared. "No, I cannot. A suspicious man
lives longer than one who readily accepts."
"Begin the story, Vadeen."
"And start with the princess part of it," Barrett added.
"It is too soon for that," Vadeen replied, his gaze darting
to Barrett only momentarily. ''I will come to it when it is
right to do so."
"Fair en
ough," Aiden allowed, resolutely willing his emotions
to the farthest, darkest corner of his awareness and
then sternly admonishing himself to concentrate on the details.
Being able to separate truth from deceit depended on
his ability to sort it all quickly and accurately, to match what
Vadeen said with what few facts he already knew. If there
was a way out of the maze, he had to find it. The alternative
was too dismal to even contemplate.
"Five weeks ago," Vadeen began, "the enemies of Kedar
at last moved against him, their goal to murder him and seize
his throne. By the power of Vishnu, they failed. One of the
conspirators was killed. His name was Kalin. He was a
cousin of Kedar. The other escaped in the chaos. His name is
Hanuman. He is the younger brother of Kedar and of Sarad."
They were the right names, the same ones attached to the
same relationships that Alex had given him yesterday afternoon
as they'd rolled down Fleet Street.
"Kedar does not know where Hanuman has fled, but fears
he may come to London to take the prince and princess prisoner
or do them grave harm. I was sent here to find Hanuman
and to see that he dies before he can act again on the
evil in his soul"
Or so he claimed, Aiden silently countered. Vadeen could
just as easily be Hanurnan's agent and here to see that Alex
and Mohan died. "Speaking of death and evil . . . Did you
know the two bastards who tried to take Alex out the back
door of the Blue Elephant?"
"No, I did not," came the instant, easy response. "I came
here on the ship that brought the crates for Princess Alexandra.
The men who delivered them to her told me of Lal's
return to India. They also told me of your presence in her
house. As I did not know of your ability, I feared I might be
required to abandon my search for Hanuman to take up the
duty of Lal. Not certain of what to do, I chose to watch and
wait.
"In the night I found this place and in the morning I saw
the two men make their way along the walk and toward her
shop. I did not like the look of them, and thinking they might
enter, I went after them. It was my thought to intervene if
they proved to be immoral."
Immoral? That was one way of putting it. A rather too polite
way.
Vadeen's smile grew by slow degrees and then he added,
"It was through' the window that I learned you are a most
capable man and understood that the prince and princess
would be best served if I kept to my duty to find Hanuman."
Flattery was nice, but it didn't necessarily mean a man
was telling the truth. Even gilded words were still nothing
more tangible than air. ''The last bastard standing looked past
me. I think he saw you at the window and recognized you."
"He did see me," Vadeen admitted, his smile fading as he
nodded. "As I saw him. But in his fear, at a distance, and in
the truth that to Western eyes all Indians look alike ... I believe
it was Hanurnan he thought he saw. It is his way to use
others to achieve his depraved ends. I cannot prove it, but I
am certain those men were serving him."
"All right," Barrett fairly growled, inserting himself into
the exchange. "Since you can't prove it, we'll let that go for
now and move on to the next obvious question. Why did
Kedar send his brother's bodyguard? Why didn't he send
one of his own?"
"Many of his trusted men were killed in protecting him,"
Vadeen answered, his gaze holding Aiden's. ''Those that lived
were needed where they were. I was chosen from Sarad's men
because I speak English and can be trusted."
"And the next one," Barrett went on. "If you're supposed
to be looking for Hanuman, why are you following Alex?"
Again, Vadeen didn't look at Barrett when he replied. "It
is the princess he wants. As he comes to her, he will come to
me. I have followed her to keep watch and to stand between
Hanuman and you, Aiden. I know what Hanuman looks like.
You do not. I am the one who will see the danger first. It is
my thought that should I fail to stop him, you will be warned
in it and more prepared to protect her."
Aiden cocked a brow. "Aren't you at all worried that Hanuman
will come after Mohan?"
"I mean no disrespect to Prince Mohan, but the princess
is the most valuable prize. She is the one that Hanuman most
wants."
Barrett asked the question before Aiden could. "Why?"
"The throne is lost to Hanuman now, but he will not accept
his failure with grace. He seeks to cause as much pain
as he can. Prince Mohan is the first son of Kedar's first wife
and he will be the next raja. His death would be tragic and he
would be mourned. But there are other princes and there will
be another raja after Kedar. Princess Alexandra is the daughter
of Kedar's heart. She cannot be replaced. Her death
would tear the soul from his body."
"And we're to the story of the princess," Aiden said,
wishing they weren't but knowing deep in his gut that the
truth couldn't be ignored. God, his heart was beating so hard
and fast it was going to fly apart.
Vadeen considered him for a long moment and then nodded.
"When Kedar was a young man and not yet the raja, he
was sent by his father to live for a time with his mother's
brother in Delhi. He was to learn what he could of British
ways so that when his time came to lead his people, he could
do it well."
Just as Mohan had been sent to live in London, Aiden
silently added. A family tradition.
"It was in Delhi that he met a young English woman. She
was the daughter of a British East India officer. They fell in
love. Her father discovered their love and, being a man of
narrow thinking, sent his daughter away in the night. Kedar
looked for her for many years in many places, but could not
find her.
''When his father died, Kedar had to put away his yearning
and fulfill his duty. He became raja and took a wife.
Then, in accordance with our customs, he took another and
installed mistresses. Prince Mohan and the others were born.
The kingdom was preserved into the future. But Kedar never
forgot the English woman. She remained in his heart."
''And then one day in a temple …“ Aiden supplied, sighing
and easing his finger off the side of the trigger.
Blinking, Vadeen stared at him. "You know the rest of the
tale?"
"Only bits and pieces Mohan shared," he admitted, his
stomach knotted and cold. "And a few guesses of my own
based on comments Alex has made. You might as well tell
me all of it."
"In the temple was an English girl stealing the offerings
of food. Kedar saw her and knew the face of the English
woman he had loved in Delhi. The girl ran away from him
but he sent his soldiers out to find her. They returned with
the girl and her mother."
Being found in a temple and loo
king like your mother
didn't make a girl a princess. There was more to the tale than
that. Not that it was all that difficult to guess what it was.
The pieces had been there all along. He just hadn't wanted to
see the picture they formed.
"And Kedar was happy at last," Barrett summarized cynically.
"The angels broke out the harps and all was finally
right in the kingdom."
Aiden snorted and shook his head. It was bad enough that
Barrett seemed determined to be as unpleasant as humanly
possible, but he was pursuing the course without having the
slightest idea of all the intricate requirements of caste and
race in India. He hadn't understood, either; not until Alex
had explained the basic outlines of them. And all that she'd
told him squared with what Vadeen was saying in the darkness.
"Ah, I see, Aiden, that you have some understanding of
his dilemma," Vadeen said. "No, he could not be happy. He
was the raja and knew there were enemies who sought means
to remove him from power. His love for the English woman
would have been seen by some as a sign that he was unfit to
rule and he knew that if he were foolish enough to provide
his enemies with such a weapon, they would use it against
him. And against the English woman. He had no choice but
to hold her secret in the shadows of his heart."
"And Alex?" Aiden asked, already knowing the answer,
beating back the rising tide of despair. "Was she a secret,