Charming the Snake

by MaryJanice Davidson, Camille Anthony, Melissa Schroeder

  “Of course you are capable. You are also a smart woman, and smart women know when to bend.”

  “Bend?” She threw up her hands, her frustration and angst obvious to her old nurse. She’d never liked being confronted with a situation she had no control over. “Don’t you mean break, ayah? How far am I supposed to bend, Liana? If I go there pretending Father is... has died... Uncle David will believe he is my guardian. I haven’t turned eighteen, and by law, he will have control over me until that time. You know how greedy he is. What if he tries to marry me off?”

  “Really, Chassy, why build mansions out of servants’ quarters? You need only insist any betrothal last until your birthday. Once you reach your majority, you have but to refute the match. Think, girl! Where else can you ferret out our culprit? It is up to you to give your father the time he needs. Our enemy can’t learn the attempt at eliminating the duke didn’t succeed. The next plan will definitely be more lethal.”

  “Why can’t we tell my uncle and let him help?”

  “Didn’t you just bring up your uncle’s greed? Unfortunately, your mother’s brother has always coveted wealth and power. I cannot dismiss the fact that he might be involved someway. If he felt he could gain control of your family’s wealth through controlling you...” She shrugged and shook her head. “We won’t take that chance.”

  “I feel so torn. On one hand, I want to find my father’s enemy, but on the other, I dread not being here if he should need me.”

  The fear in Chastity’s eyes hurt her. If it were in her power, her former charge would never have to deal with the pain of losing a parent or loved one before the ordained time. Unfortunately, those kinds of resources belonged to Beings of higher elevation than herself.

  Sighing, she laid her palm on Chassy’s cheek. “Child, if I could go for you, I would. I give you my word -- I won’t allow further harm to come to your father. I have grown to tolerate him over the years. I will guard him for both of us. Go to your uncle. Find out what you can.”

  “What if I find... him?” Fear and anticipation warred in her voice and expression.

  Liana chuckled, refreshing amusement momentarily displacing the dread she’d felt since before arriving at the duke’s plantation. “I don’t doubt that you will. It is fated, after all. I suspect what you are really asking is, ‘How should I respond to the man who has been haunting my dreams for the greater part of my young life?’ and my answer is: honestly and courageously.”

  “Huh! I’m no coward! I fear no man.”

  “I didn’t say you did. However, you do fear giving in to the emotions of love.”

  “Love weakens a woman, steals her autonomy, and leaches her power. Once a man claims a woman, she becomes less in his eyes. I’ve seen it happen too many times to doubt my conclusions. Much as I love my father, I remember how he treated my own mother. She died of a broken heart.”

  “Chastity, you must stop allowing the past -- and someone else’s past, at that -- to influence your future. Grab your destiny with both hands and wrestle it into a shape you can live with. Do not bow your neck to strictures, but in the same vein, do not allow fear or bitterness to color your decisions so that you reject the one thing that can fulfill you.”

  Chastity sneered. “You think I need a man to fulfill me? Are you saying a woman cannot reach fulfillment without a big strong man to lean on?”

  “I’m not saying that at all. I’m saying that you need love to fulfill you. Do not be so focused on not allowing any man to dominate your will that you allow yourself to be blinded by prejudice.” She placed a gnarled hand on Chastity’s tense shoulder and squeezed. “Take my advice, young one. Don’t be like your old ayah, Liana, who passed up the most glorious opportunity of her life and has lived to regret it.”

  Chastity wandered over to the window, eyes roaming the contours of her family holding. “It has been years since I’ve journeyed away from this plantation.” She turned her head and met Liana’s gaze. A small laugh escaped her. “My heart pounds at the thought of leaving these familiar surroundings, my home.”

  Over at the stable yard, the grooms were saddling two celebeasts. The two women watched the giant steeds prance and stamp, their six huge feet shifting and moving in the odd pattern they used to produce the smooth gait they were so prized for.

  Chastity swung back to face her old nurse, a frown on her face and accusation on her lips. “All right, I’ll go. But then, you knew that, or the grooms wouldn’t be settling the celebeasts in preparation for a journey.”

  “You give me too much credit, little one. The grooms are preparing to travel to my home and fetch back my healing supplies. I’ll be here longer than I had thought, since I plan to remain until this is all over. Besides, the celebeasts are better suited for country riding. You’ll be taking the ducal flitter into the city.”

  As she spoke, the air was gently displaced as a smooth, multi-windowed, cylindrical coach glided up to the main drive and hovered silently two feet off the ground. The door whooshed open, and a liveried chauffer stepped down and out and stood beside the craft, awaiting orders.

  Chastity hugged her mentor and teacher. “I’m only doing this because you’d never give me a moment’s peace otherwise,” she teased, knowing it was usually the other way around.

  “Report to me often,” Liana begged. “And watch your back. Trust no one. Don’t let anyone know you suspect foul play.”

  Jaw hardening, Chastity nodded. “I’ll take care. You make sure to keep me up to date on daddy’s status. Let me know immediately if he --” She broke off on a shaky breath. “-- takes a turn for the worse.”

  “I will, dear.”

  The maids came out with her luggage and loaded it into the cargo section of the hovering vehicle. One maid remained in the transport. She took a seat facing a window, hands folded calmly in her lap. With a last goodbye embrace, Chastity entered the flitter and motioned for the pilot to take off.

  The plantation fell away below, the panoramic view well-known and well-loved. Chastity had a fleeting notion to order the flitter about and return home. A frisson of fear slid down her spine and she knew -- as clearly as if she’d seen it in a vision -- her life was about to change.

  Chapter One

  Well, this is certainly not the way I’d choose to celebrate my birthday! Hunting for would-be assassins and breaking the stupid engagement my uncle has forced upon me.

  Standing beside her soon-to-be ex-fiancé on the wide landing of the lofty, ornate stairway, eighteen-year-old Chastity Tilson glared at the long queue of aristocrats lined up to make her re-acquaintance. Pert breasts riding high in a barely there bodice with no visible means of support, she managed to look both demure and daring in shimmering, glowing yards of shifting silver chiffon and lace.

  Wasting half the evening greeting the stuffy upper crust of society was the last thing she wanted to be doing. She needed to be following the few clues she’d been given, not hobnobbing with people who all hated what she stood for: female independence. She refused to be at the beck and call of any man. Bowing and scraping didn’t suit her. She’d never done so and had no intention of starting any time soon.

  Her uncle may think himself her guardian, but he and his handpicked puppet would soon learn better. Only her father had ever tried to boss her around, and he’d ceased that exercise in futility before her eighth birthday.

  On her other side, Alicia, the marchioness of Avondale, leaned over and hissed at her to please smile. Chastity glanced around and up, a sneer curling the right corner of her mouth as Alicia’s quiet plea sounded in her ear. She felt so much older than her cousin, it was always a surprise to realize the woman towered over her own petite frame.

  “I have no intention of being polite to this pushy, nosy rabble.”

  “Great gad, woman! Can you never act as you are supposed to? You disgust me.”

  “How nice to hear you say so, Bernard. In fact, I’m pleased. I believe the little surprise I’ve planned for you later this evening
will more than meet your expectations.”

  The marchioness took a faltering step back, head whipping to and fro between the engaged couple. As their sniping continued, she began to look faint... and panicked. “Lord Karmon, Father expects such uncivilized actions of Chastity; however, he would be shocked to see you behaving so before our company.”

  Bernard’s face turned red and he looked away, lips drawn tight with anger, body tense with the effort to control his temper. “You are correct, of course, Lady Avondale.” He gave a stiff bow. “My apologies. As usual, I lost my temper around your cousin.”

  Chastity hid her grin at Bernard’s chagrin. Patting Alicia’s arm, she gave the hostess of tonight’s extravagant gala a pitying glance. “Poor Ali, forced by your daddy to play chaperone to your wild, New Indian relative. This re-entry into polite society isn’t working, and it’s obvious you’ve realized I am slated to be this season’s most spectacular failure.”

  “Would you please stop snarling at your guests and behave?”

  “Your guests, cuz,” she returned out the side of her mouth, lips barely moving, “yours and Bernard’s. I didn’t invite any of them, so my behavior has been exemplary... relatively speaking.”

  Alicia’s shoulders slumped. She did dejected well and managed to make Chastity feel guilty. After all, her quarrel wasn’t with her cousin. Truthfully, she had always liked Alicia best of all her relatives.

  “Doing it a little too brown, dear,” she whispered.

  Lowering her head, Alicia slumped more.

  Chastity threw her hands up in surrender. “Oh, very well, I’ll try to act civilized... for your sake.” She laughed at Alicia’s exaggerated, relieved sigh, but the next guests had her wishing she could take back her rash promise. Gritting her teeth, she gave a curt nod and begrudgingly acknowledged the duke and duchess of Pettibone.

  Slim to the point of scrawniness, Pettibone towered over his stout lady wife, his sour expression stealing what little handsomeness he had. Completely ignoring her, he greeted Alicia and Bernard, leaving his wife to trail along behind him.

  Fighting back the wicked urge to do something to shock the spit out of the dour-looking aristocrat, she settled for batting her eyelashes at him as she snatched up his hand and vigorously shook the limp appendage.

  The duke’s appalled expression pleased Chastity to no end. He was trapped by his own interpretation of socially acceptable behavior. He couldn’t retrieve his hand without committing a gross social gaffe.

  She smiled full in his face. The duke froze in place. His eyes widened then flared with sudden heat.

  What? Why do men always get that look on their faces when I smile? Yuck! Deciding she needed to stop smiling, Chastity shrugged off the incident and reached to shake the duchess’s hand. She, at least, looked friendly.

  The pale green eyes that met her brown ones held no censure, and the generous mouth curved in a motherly smile as the dimpled woman squeezed her hand. Unwinding a bit, Chastity gave the short woman a real smile in return. The duchess startled her by drawing her closer and furtively whispering, “My name is Lucynda. You need to come to me at the earliest opportunity, dear.”

  Already acknowledging the next guests crowding behind the royal couple, Chastity nodded absently. Trying to pay attention to names and titles and figure out what the duchess of Pettibone’s secretive exchange had been about started a pounding headache behind her eyes. She gave up both exercises, content to have Alicia prompt her with names.

  “His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Archer and Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess of Archer.”

  Now, here were people she delighted in seeing.

  Chassy’s curtsey to the royal couple was deep and respectful. The king’s brother and his wife had always been true friends.

  “Chastity,” the grand duke began in his powerful basso voice, “we were so sorry to hear about your father’s demise. He was a good friend. We shall miss him.” His voice never cracked, but she read his sincerity in the hooded look he shared with her.

  “Thank you, Your Highness.” She bowed again. “My father always held you in high regard, as do I.”

  “Has the murderer been apprehended yet?”

  Chassy’s lips drew flat, her eyes narrow. “Not yet, sir, but you can rest assured I will find the person or persons responsible for separating me from my father.”

  “Not now, Archer!” The low reprimand reminded Chassy she was not in a private place.

  “Your Highness,” she whispered, sinking into another deep curtsey.

  Duchess Eileen pulled her up from her genuflecting and hugged her, pressing a warm cheek against hers in a sign of affection. “It is so good to see you out of mourning, Chassy. Life must continue, but we understand how you still miss him. Feel free to call upon us for any need, darling. You are like a niece to us.”

  Their words melted the shield of animosity she’d erected, and tears stung her eyes. She cringed, not willing to expose her true worry to the crowd of vultures comprising most of the evening’s guests.

  “Yes, indeed, you may call upon us, child.” The grand duke curled his index finger under her chin and lifted her face. “Losing a loved one is hard, liebchen, but this is not the place to let others see your pain... or your anger.” His low-pitched words were for her ears only.

  Grateful for the support, Chastity nodded, letting him wipe away the evidence of her pain with his finger.

  “Smile for me, now. Let me see that vaunted appeal others have mentioned,” he urged with avuncular humor.

  Obeying, she flashed the couple a wide grin and was shocked to see the man she thought of as an uncle stiffen and flinch back. The grand duke stepped back and reached blindly for his wife’s hand, curling his fingers about hers as if he held on to a lifeline.

  Unease roiled through Chassy. The smile fell from her face. She didn’t want to understand his reaction, but was glad beyond words she hadn’t seen lust glittering in his gentle eyes.

  “That is a mighty weapon you wield, young woman,” the grand duchess murmured, mouth curved in a wry grin. “Use it wisely.”

  Huh?

  She pondered the grand duchess’s words while the royal couple passed on. Another took their place, with another and another lined up behind those. Growing more frustrated by the minute, Chastity fidgeted beside her momentary fiancé and her cousin. “When does this interminable ritual end?”

  Bernard drew away, distancing himself physically as well as emotionally. His nonverbal disapproval was biting and acerbic. “It ends as soon as the last well-wisher is greeted, and not before. Cretin,” he finished, muttering under his breath.

  His pompous attitude irked her, and she twitched her skirts to the side. He wasn’t the only one who could convey disgust and dislike with a gesture. Giving him her back, she resumed greeting and smiling at the guests, her emotions as frozen as her fake smile.

  Her uncle had done exactly as she’d prophesied, forcing a dynastic betrothal upon her almost as soon as she’d arrived. The duke of Eathrington was a familial martinet, holding the reins of his household in a tight, controlling fist. His wife and children all toed the line or faced the threat of disinheritance. He pretended he acted in Chastity’s best interests, but he lied to himself as well as to her.

  Bernard, Lord Karmon, was the only son of the neighboring aristocratic family. Lord Eathrington had long coveted the rich lands that marched along his northern borders and saw a way to ensure they would come into his hands. By offering Chastity’s vast ducal lands as bait, he’d managed to get the family to agree to deed over the contested land. As soon as the marriage went through, the lands were his.

  Little did her uncle know she had no intention of falling into line and being one of the quiet, retiring, brainless social butterflies he’d turned his own daughters into. This betrothal would end tonight. She would finally be able to rid herself of Bernard’s possessive posturing and snide male attitude of superiority.

  The party wouldn’t really ge
t started until midnight. When the clock struck, Alicia would have a huge cake rolled out, and the guests would wish her felicitations. Bernard planned to announce the date of their wedding.

  Chassy’d made plans contrary to theirs. She could hardly wait. A few more guests to greet... a few more hours ’til freedom.

  Tremendously bored, she barely noticed the last few people she greeted. A handshake, a curtsey, a regal nod of the head, depending on the social status of the ones presented to her. And then a commotion at the door distracted her. Gaze wandering toward the front door, she glimpsed the new arrivals.

  She froze in the act of clasping the hand extended toward her. Mouth falling open, Chastity gaped at the tall gentleman passing beneath her elevated position at the top of the flaring staircase. Her spice-brown eyes followed his path, greedily drinking in the unadulterated male splendor.

  “Great guardian angel-serpents... just look at him!”

  Under the glittering light of a thousand flickering candles, the man’s darkly tanned skin was a dramatic contrast against the pristine white of his neck linens. The tailored cut of his formal black tuxedo and skintight breeches emphasized the powerful outline of his magnificent build. The close-fitting cloth indecently hugged his body, highlighted the heft and jut of his sex.

  “My god!” Chastity gasped, ignoring the shocked expressions of the bewigged nobleman standing before her, hand still outstretched for the acknowledgement she’d failed to make. He huffed, insulted when she absently shooed him out of her line of sight, and then literally pushed him out of the way when he didn’t move fast enough.

  Head a-swirl with the giddy rush of sudden arousal, she leaned over the banister for a longer, more focused look, craning her neck to keep him in view. She couldn’t drag her eyes away.

  “You are insufferable!” Bernard snatched her arm, pulling her away from the railing. “You’re making a fool of yourself.”