She was free!
That was when she realized she’d made a mistake: She hadn’t taken a waterskin with her. She would never make it home without water.
But Thalia had no time to worry about thirst because she heard another rider. Ashtyn!
With fear driving her, she jabbed her horse in the flanks, and the poor animal stumbled in the deep sand. Once she’d cleared the dune, she urged the horse to a faster pace, hoping to outdistance her pursuer. But he was gaining on her.
Her horse was at an all-out run, but still Ashtyn was drawing closer. When he drew even with Thalia, he ordered her to stop, but she had no intention of obeying.
“Halt!” Ashtyn called out once more.
“I will not!” she yelled back over her shoulder.
By the time Thalia realized what was happening, it was too late to react. Ashtyn had drawn even with her and leaped forward, catching her in his arms and taking them both to the ground.
Thalia landed hard, and pain ripped through her body. She couldn’t move or breathe with his weight pressing against her.
“What did you think you were doing?” he demanded.
She tried to throw him off, but it was impossible. “L-let me up.”
Ashtyn took both her arms and manacled them over her head. “Not until you stop struggling.” He was angry, and she stilled as she stared into his silver eyes that reflected the moonlight. She felt the raw strength in him and knew she had no chance of escaping. His face was very near Thalia’s, and she felt his breath on her mouth. Fear was forgotten and other, more troubling feelings swamped her—unfamiliar feelings that took her completely by surprise.
Thalia had never been this close to a man, and her body reacted to his in a most shocking way. She raised her hips in an age-old movement dictated by instinct. His hands loosened on her wrists, and she felt him swell against her.
Why did she have the urge to take his face between her hands and grind her mouth against his?
“I shall never yield to you.”
His eyes glittered. “I think you shall.”
Ashtyn had finally subdued the little tigress and knew the very moment she admitted defeat. He had never met a woman as stubborn and unwilling to listen to reason as this one. Thalia could strike out with the precision of an Egyptian asp, and be just as deadly. This was the woman the king required him to marry?
If he had been allowed to choose a wife, she would have been docile and compliant. This woman would never bend to any man.
“Let … me … up,” Thalia said between clenched teeth.
“If I release you, I expect you to accompany me without argument.” His voice was soft but menacing.
She twisted, trying to get loose. “I do not agree to anything.”
“It seems to me you have little choice in the matter.” His grip tightened on her wrists. “The sooner you comply, the sooner I release you.”
Then Ashtyn felt her body arch toward his and desire slammed into him. Unthinking, he rubbed against her and watched her eyes widen. Her breasts were flattened against his chest, and he wanted to rip open the robe and expose them to his gaze. Yearning such as he’d never known burned within him, and he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted any woman.
Ashtyn tried to regain control over his passion when he saw the confusion in Thalia’s eyes and reminded himself she was an innocent. Or was she? Perhaps she knew exactly what she was doing.
Burning need coursed hotly through him and he lowered his head, his mouth a mere breath from Thalia’s. It took all of his willpower to resist the need to press his mouth against those soft parted lips. In exasperation, he released her hands and quickly stood, pulling Thalia to her feet. “Do not think you can use your womanly guile on me, little vixen. More experienced women than you have tried to turn me from my duty and failed.”
Thalia shoved against Ashtyn. What was he talking about? She knew nothing of womanly wiles, and if she did, he’d be the last man she’d try to entice. She was so stunned by his accusation that she made no protest when he lifted her onto his horse and mounted behind her.
Taking the reins of Thalia’s horse, Ashtyn headed back toward the oasis.
Thalia searched her mind, wondering what had just happened between them. There had been a moment her body had responded to his, and that disturbed her.
She glanced over her shoulder at Ashtyn. “You cannot watch me all the time. I will eventually make my escape,” she told him tauntingly.
He halted his mount and gripped her chin, staring into her eyes. “I am not a patient man. Do not push me too far. You are in my care, and after your attempt to escape, I will never be farther from you than I am at this moment. Grow accustomed to it.”
“Then what Turk said about you is true: you are a destroyer.”
Ashtyn frowned and pulled her against his chest. “I can assure you no one in the king’s service calls me that.”
Although Thalia was not looking at him, she could feel those searching eyes on her.
“ ’Tis no more than a name the rebels call me to frighten young recruits.” He paused. “Are you afraid of me?”
“I fear you no more than the desert scorpion.” Thalia was quiet for a moment while she gathered her thoughts. “You are not what your humble clothing would suggest. Who are you really?”
“What do you mean?”
“There is evidence on your upper arms that you wear armbands. Did you purposely remove them before you arrived in Egypt? And I know that is a signet ring you wear on your finger.”
Ashtyn urged his horse forward as he spoke in a tone swift and soft, “You see too much.”
When they reached the oasis, Ashtyn ordered the camp struck although it was not yet daylight. Captain Darius glanced worriedly from one to the other but said nothing as he gathered their supplies.
“She’ll be riding with me,” Ashtyn told the big man.
Being forced to ride on the same horse with Ashtyn was a punishment. Thalia held herself stiff, and his laughter told her he knew what she was doing. But as the day wore on and the heat drained her strength, she fell back against him.
Ashtyn whispered close to Thalia’s ear, “Tell me, little vixen, how far to the village where the Nile meets the sea?”
She looked over her shoulder at Ashtyn and watched him smile. “I will not tell you.”
“Perhaps you do not know how far the distance is,” he suggested.
Irked by his skillful prodding, she answered, “We will be there before sundown unless the horses go lame, or unless my brother and Queen Cleopatra’s army sweep down on you.”
He laughed softly. “You are a bloodthirsty little princess.”
It was late afternoon when they rode through the ancient fishing village of Osage. Thalia glanced at the small mud-baked houses with palm-thatched roofs while listening to the rhythm of the life going on around her. Here, as in all Egypt, the people owed their existence to the bountiful Nile. The mud-colored flow hummed with life now that the seasonal floods were upon them.
The brush along the banks was so dense, Captain Darius had to hack his way through thick reeds as high as his head. They trudged through the marshes of papyrus rushes, making way for the villagers who were harvesting the valuable crop to sell at the marketplace in Alexandria.
When they reached the dock, they had to step around the heavy fishing nets drying in the sun. Thalia glanced about, looking for anyone who could help her. Captain Darius was speaking to a man about buying the horses, while Ashtyn stared out at the Mediterranean.
Thalia saw her chance when she noticed a young lad mending a tattered net. Bending down to him, she quickly pressed her ring into his hand and whispered, “Give this to Lord Ramtat, Sheik of the Badari, when he comes looking for me, and your family will be richly rewarded. Tell him you saw me, and that I am being forcibly taken onboard a ship to an island called Bal Forea.”
The boy looked puzzled that such a grand lady would stop to talk to him. “We have heard news of a grea
t one who was taken,” he said, staring into her eyes. “Are you the one?”
“Shh,” she cautioned, as Ashtyn turned to her with suspicion in his silver-blue eyes. “Say nothing that man can overhear.”
Ashtyn stalked toward Thalia, grasping her hand and pulling her to her feet. “What did you tell the boy?” he asked, tightening his hand on her wrist.
Thalia’s eyes met the child’s, and she watched him quickly tuck her ring into his shabby linen belt. “I was noting what artful stitches he took.” She nodded at the boy. “If you do not believe me, ask him.” Her gaze met the lad’s in understanding. “He will tell you what I said.”
Thalia turned sharply away, lest the boy might confess all out of fear. She was relieved when Ashtyn followed her.
“It matters not what you told the lad. We shall be gone from here before sunset.” He pointed to a ship that was little more than a small dot on the horizon. “Say farewell to Egypt. We shall soon put out to sea.” When he saw her face whiten, he took her hand and said in a consoling tone, “I can assure you that you will have every comfort on this voyage.”
Thalia glared at him as despair hit her. “I have sailed from Rome to Egypt on Queen Cleopatra’s barge. And I have gone down the Nile on several occasions with my family and an entourage of servants.” She tore her hand from his grasp. “Let us hope you are better equipped for a sea voyage than you were for a trek through the desert.”
Ashtyn’s eyes flashed, and Thalia was glad she’d made him angry. She glanced over her shoulder to watch the young boy she’d given her ring to scurry toward the village. Ramtat would look for her here, she had no doubt of that, but she could not be certain whether the young boy would give her brother the ring or just keep it for himself. She must face whatever fate awaited her at the end of the sea voyage.
Thalia turned back toward the sea with her hand shading her eyes from the glare of the setting sun. The ship now loomed larger, riding restless waves. How ominous it looked with its red sails and a prow shaped like a great bird of prey. She thought it might be a hawk, but the ship was too far away to tell for sure.
Ashtyn signaled the ship, and soon two silent crewmen rowed ashore. Knowing it would serve no purpose, Thalia did not resist when Ashtyn helped her into the small punt. She noticed the crewmen avoided looking at her and concentrated instead on plying their oars with vigor.
Thalia also noticed Captain Darius glancing back toward the shore, his face pale.
“I am not a sailor, Commander, I’m a soldier,” the big man reminded him. “I do not like it on the sea.”
Ashtyn nodded grimly. “You spent most of our voyage to Egypt below deck. Perhaps the sea will be calmer on our return.”
The poor captain gripped the sides of the punt, his stomach already heaving.
Ashtyn fell into silence, staring straight ahead. When they reached the ship, he climbed up the rope ladder, then reached for Thalia. His strong hands clasped her arms, and he lifted her onboard. He kept a steadying hand on her shoulder until she became accustomed to the swaying of the ship.
“This is the royal galley, War Bird. Here you take your first step onto Bal Forea territory,” Ashtyn told her.
With a heavy heart, it took Thalia a moment to realize the strange occurrence that had taken place. All the crew members had postured themselves in deep bows, and some had dropped to their knees.
She whirled around and stared at Ashtyn, anger boiling inside her. “You pass yourself off as a humble soldier, but I see the truth of your deceit. Those men would not bow to a common man.”
“Nay, they would not,” he agreed.
“They are almost groveling at your feet. And think you I do not see the reverence in their eyes?”
A smile curved his lips. “What you see is no tribute to me, but rather your countrymen paying homage to you.” Ashtyn turned her around so she was facing the elevated prow of the ship. “Watch your subjects carefully when they see you watching them. They are so respectful of you, they cannot bring themselves to look upon your face. Those young men you see falling to their knees before you grew up with the hope that you would one day be found and brought home. The elder ones now have renewed hope for the future. Nay, Princess Thalia, they do not bow to me. ’Tis you they revere.”
Thalia quickly lowered her own head, swallowing deep. Her body trembled, and she wanted to cry. There was so much to say, but words failed her. She stumbled forward, gripping the aft railing as tears dampened her eyes.
“Princess Thalia, may I present Captain Normah to you?” Ashtyn asked from behind her.
She turned to find a tall, thin man with a swarthy sea-weathered face and keen blue eyes. “Highness,” he said, bending low. “I am blessed to have been chosen to take you to Bal Forea. If there is anything you wish, you have only to ask.”
“I would ask that you take me ashore and sail away without me,” she said ungraciously.
Captain Normah looked astonished as he bowed. “I shall see you safely home.”
It was too much to bear. Thalia was aware that Ashtyn still stood beside her, and she glanced at him. “I am not the person they believe me to be. Please tell them to stop bowing.”
His words were spoken in a kind tone, his gaze searching her face. “If you have never lost hope, you cannot know what these men have lived through. Now they look to you to change their lives.”
“I am not responsible for anyone’s life, save my own. ’Tis I who have no hope.”
Chapter Thirteen
Ramtat dismounted at the oasis and stared down at the scattered ashes of what remained of a campfire. He glanced at his master of horse, General Heikki. “It appears to be two days old.”
Heikki bent and sifted the ashes through his fingers. “Aye, at least that.”
Ramtat traced the outline of his sister’s small footprint. “I make out that there are two men with her.”
Heikki observed a deep imprint. “One man is large.”
“They will have gone to the village of Osage, and I suspect she will be taken out of Egypt by ship.”
“Master, who are they, and what do they want with Lady Thalia?”
“If we knew the who, we might know the why,” Ramtat said worriedly. “We ride to Osage with all haste. Perhaps someone there will have seen my sister.”
The fierce Badarian warriors knew the urgency that drove their lord. They were the best trackers in all Egypt, and if they could not find Lady Thalia, no one could.
No man complained because he was tired. They had ridden for two days without stopping, leading fresh horses and changing mounts often. They ate as they rode, and some even fell asleep in the saddle, knowing their well-trained horses would follow the others.
When they reached the village, a young boy came rushing up to Ramtat, waving a ring at him. “Great Lord of the Badari, I know of whom you seek!”
Ramtat took the ring and dismounted. Bending to the boy, he said, “Tell me everything you know about the woman who gave you this ring.”
The boy pointed toward the horizon where a ship was barely visible. “She was a great lady, Lord, and she gave me this to show to someone of importance, like you.”
“Did she tell you their destination?” Ramtat urged.
The boy hung his head. “Aye, Lord, but I do not remember.” Then his head snapped up and his eyes brightened. “It was an island!”
“Tell me about the men with her,” Ramtat prodded, anger burning inside him because he had missed Thalia by mere hours.
“One was a giant of a man. The other appeared to be a lordly man, with cold eyes as silver as the underwing of a kilta bird.” The boy’s brow knitted. “They were different from us.”
“In what way—taller, darker, lighter?”
“They wear their hair long. One man had no hair at all. But the strong one had hair to his shoulders. So did the man who came in the small boat to take the lady to the ship.”
Ramtat could think of no country where the men wore long hair. “The ship,
did you see any markings on the sails?”
“Aye. The sails were red and had the markings of a huge black bird with wings spread. It was a hawk, clutching a gold crown.”
Ramtat stood, glancing hard at Heikki. “I cannot think of any country that flies such a standard.”
“Nay, Master,” Heikki said. “Nor can I.”
Ramtat glanced around at the flimsy fishing boats that were built to hug the shoreline. “We have no ship to follow, nor do I know in which direction they sail.”
He glanced back at the boy and gave him several gold pieces, unmoved by the happiness that shone in the lad’s eyes. His mind was on his sister and how frightened she must be.
Thalia stood on the deck staring out to sea, aware that Ashtyn was speaking privately with the captain, no doubt about her. Out of the corner of her eye she watched the crew members move away from her and go about their business of getting underway. She suspected Ashtyn had explained to the captain that she had been made uncomfortable by the crew’s reaction to her.
With an ache in her heart, Thalia watched the coastline of Egypt grow smaller in the distance. After a time, she was unable to watch any longer and directed her attention to the bow. Her gaze swept upward to the tall red sails billowing in the wind, displaying a huge pattern of a great hawk. With the wind whipping at the sails, it almost seemed the bird was in flight.
“What do you think of the ship?”
Thalia had not heard Ashtyn come up beside her, and his voice startled her. “ ’Tis a warship, is it not?”
“Aye. The War Bird is the pride of the fleet. She was built for ramming enemy ships. Many victories are attributed to the hawk figurehead.”
Thalia stared upward at the billowing red sails. “It seems your country is obsessed with war.”
“How can we be otherwise when war is thrust upon us?” Ashtyn said with a bite to his tone.
He noticed that Thalia’s attention was drawn to the billowing sails. “The hawk is the symbol of Bal Forea. It is said by soothsayers that if the hawks leave the island, the royal house of Forea will fall.”
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