Spurned

by R. Moses

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Knowing she was defeated, knowing she was getting ripped off in the worst way possible, Kara picked up the bag with both hands, amazed at the weight. She turned and staggered out, clutching the money to her chest.

  She slipped in her tent and packed a day's worth of food and water along with a few candles and matches. She would have to wait in the secret passage beside her father's study for goodness knew how long. It was best to be prepared.

  She shoved the heavy coins in her satchel last and gave thanks to the Goddess that Lyla had stepped out, probably still covering their scent from the hound dogs. She just wanted to sneak onto the estate as quickly as possible...

  She shifted the weighty satchel on her back and felt a pull on her shoulder muscles. She would have to be careful lest she injure herself. Kara stepped out of her tent and ran smack into a rock hard chest. Huge hands gripped her arms and she looked up at Vayne, hating that fluttering that still wafted around her insides when she was touched by him.

  “Kara.” He gave her that heart-melting smile.

  “Vayne.” She shrugged out of his grasp, wondering why she kept literally running into him. “What? Not busy spreading rumors about me being the thief instead of you and Naomi?”

  Confusion flitted across his face, then slow understanding. She was glad to see that his pupils looked normal and his stance seemed relaxed. He shook his head and sighed. “I heard the rumors. It's just Naomi being jealous.”

  “Her jealousy is ruining my reputation!”

  “I'm sorry. Hey.” He grasped her arm again, gently yet firmly. She hated his possessive touching of her person even as she craved it. “Look, Kara, I'm sorry for us getting off to the wrong start the other day. We're still friends, right?”

  Oh, that she had wanted to be so much more at one point. “No,” she said. “We are not friends.”

  He frowned. “Well, that's too bad, because we are going to be working very closely together starting tomorrow.”

  She edged around him and started walking towards the general direction of the spring house. “I don't know what you are talking about.”

  “Sure you do. It was in the contract you signed.”

  She paused mid-step and turned. “You're kidding.”

  “No. You and I are going to try something new. A joint strongman and knife throwing act just like I wanted. Naomi will be our assistant.” He had a fevered glow to his eyes that had nothing to do with the rhone. “I'm going to pick her up and spin her while you throw knives. And that is just the first act-”

  “No!” She stomped her foot. “I refuse!”

  “You can't refuse. Hither is looking to amaze the King. A rival carnival is going to be at court at the same time we are, and we are going to one up them every step of the way. He is combining other acts too. Didn't Icari tell you he'd be working with the belly dancers?”

  A hot stab of jealousy shot straight through her middle. Her Icari, surrounded by those wanton dancers...She pushed the image out of her mind and said, “No. I didn't know. And I don't know how you persuaded Hither to get us to work together and I don't care. I'm going to convince him I want my own separate act.”

  “He'll never agree.”

  “Why not?”

  “Who would be your assistant? Who will you train with? Your act will be slow and clumsy until you learn the ropes. We don't have time for that. We are here for two weeks then we are going to court. You will never impress the King by yourself. If you work with me, I'll do all the heavy lifting. All you gotta do is throw a knife once in a while and flash your tits if you are feeling feisty.”

  She ignored the degrading 'tits' comment. “I have no interest in impressing the King.”

  “Hither does. And you work for him. Trust me, Kara, this is going to be great for all of us.”

  “How can I trust you? You're an addict and a thief! I won't perform with you or Naomi!”

  A dozen roadies were gathering around the argument despite the early hour. Vayne's face closed and he glanced around. “What are you all staring at?”

  The crowd remained quiet, though there was a low buzzing beginning at the edges. Kara's face was burning and her breath was starting to come in short bursts, but she was happy this confrontation had so many witnesses. Discrediting Vayne and Naomi was the only chance to get her good name back. She straightened her shoulders and said calmly, “I don't have time to discuss this right now.” She turned towards her original path.

  “You'd better show up at my tent for practice tomorrow! I'm doing you a favor working with you, whether you want to admit it or not!”

  She ignored him as she walked away, her chin held high. Let everyone see how he yelled and blustered while she kept her cool (mostly). As she left the press of eyes and then the circle of tents, she sensed a plot afoot, a trap by Hither that would close its neat jaws around her when least expected.

  But why? Why was Hither working against her? Or was she just being paranoid, thinking everything was about her?

  She crossed the King's Land quickly and walked under the trees, welcoming the dappled shade. She hurried to the spring house and quietly opened the outer door. She saw no paw prints in the dust, smelled no hounds. She lit her candle and opened the secret inner door. The draft of cold, stale air greeted her the same as last time. She hurried through the tunnels and came to the ladder soon. Clamping the base of the long candle in her teeth, she climbed up and entered the manor.

  She paused to spit the taste of wax and fear from her mouth. This was it, this was the day she had held near and dear to her heart for nigh on a year. She took three deep breaths, collected her mind, then started towards her father's study.

  She listened for any clues of Anna's whereabouts drifting through the passage's thin walls, but heard little. She hurried up the stairs and turned to the peepholes that looked in Lord Brahm's study. She waited, listening, and heard nothing again. She blew out her candle, which was nearly spent anyway, and opened the peephole panel to discover an empty room. She shrugged out of the heavy satchel, sighing in relief as she eased it to the ground. Carrying around so much wealth was hard.

  What seemed like days passed, though it could not have been more than an hour. She tried to eat an apple but her stomach was too knotted up. She wondered if there was a tunnel to the cottage her mother was housed in and thought not. Surely she would have discovered it by now. And there was no way to cross the open gardens unobserved...

  A soft knock at her father's study door. She tensed, ready to spy. A pause, then the door opened and two maids came in.

  Her heart lightened when she saw who was cleaning her father's study. Wanda and Jennifer. They were her friends. They had worked alongside her in the kitchens or the house for years. How she longed to burst out of hiding and ask them a million things...

  But she stayed silent and still, waiting for the inevitable gossip to flow.

  Jennifer rolled a cart full of breakfast delicacies to her Lord's buffet, set to the right of his desk, under his favorite pastoral painting. It was nearly priceless, a work by the revered master Lunda Afferton showing a field with a few horses grazing and nymphs peeping from the surrounding trees. Kara had never seen what the big deal was with the painting. She was pretty sure she could do better.

  Wanda's stiff black skirts rustled as she prepped the fireplace though it was a hot summer's day. It was the tradition of these old houses to observe daily rituals perfectly. Whether a fire would be set or no, the Lord should never have to ask for the fire to be prepped. Jennifer was done with laying out the cold cuts and cheeses. She moved quickly to fill Lord Brahm's decanter, which was nearly empty. She shook her head at it as she carefully poured more of the expensive liquor in. She and Wanda shared a worried glance then Jennifer whispered, “The Lord and Lady have both been drinking like fish.”

  “That they have.” Wanda added, “The Lady Anna would go a'hunting again today.”

  “Her Lady mother disapproves so. Why does An
na provoke her?”

  Wanda shrugged. “Don't know. I've got to alert the stable boys to have the horses saddled by noon.”

  “Horses?”

  “His Lordship the young Mr. Liam will be joining her. As well as Lady Brahm.”

  Jennifer giggled. “He's a handsome one.”

  “That he is. Wouldn't the two make a fine match, with the estates bordering each other?”

  “Truly they would.”

  Despite all the worries gnawing at her insides, Kara had to smile. She had forgotten how constant the stream of gossip was with servants. She had also forgotten how most of them liked Anna, how her constant false charm wooed them. The only time Anna had openly hurt and threatened Kara was when she was spurned. Her father and any servants near the lawn had witnessed Anna kicking Kara into mud. She hoped a few remembered the incident and were disquieted by it.

  And the servants had wonderful news, which made her smile on in the dark. Anna and Lady Brahm would be out, with half the household trailing behind. Her father would likely stay behind. Unlike most nobles, hunting did not thrill him at all.

  The two servants left. Quiet descended. Nervous boredom ensued. To be so close to confronting your mother's captor, but stuck waiting, waiting...

  Gernan came in a while later and inspected the room. He opened the windows. The heat was already thick in the air, in the dazzle of the morning sun. Despite the dark and relative cool of the passage, she was sweating a little.

  Her father entered without warning. She let out a pent up breath. He selected a few fruits and cold cuts from the buffet then poured himself a drink. She stared through the peepholes, aghast. It was not even noon yet and he was already drinking brandy?

  He sat and took turns staring at the pastoral painting and out of the open windows. Gernan came in once more and asked if his Lordship would like lunch. His Lordship shook his head and took yet another sip of liquor. “The breakfast buffet is fine. Please attend her Ladyship and Miss Anna for the big hunt.”

  Time was crawling so slowly now that Kara wondered if it had actually stopped. Spying had a shivery kind of thrill to it, watching those who thought themselves alone, but there was only so much vacant gazing from her father she could stomach. She wondered what could bring such a fortunate man's spirits so low. How lucky was he, to be borne into such power and wealth?

  A chorus of barking began. The hounds had been released. Kara tensed up. She glanced at the satchel for reassurance.

  She heard Anna's laugh, light and beautiful, then a sharp retort by Lady Brahm.

  The sound of hooves on the graveled bath, then greetings. The party was in a hurry, it seemed. They thundered towards the east, entering the woods.

  Quiet descended yet again. Kara could not even hear the bustle of the servants. No doubt a few had been left behind in the kitchens for dinner prep. But no one should be in the upper stories during this part of the day unless Lord Brahm rang the servant's bell.

  Now was the time. She hefted the satchel on her back.

  She gathered every last bit of her courage and walked to the hidden door that let out to the hallway outside her father's study.