WINDKEEPER (29 page)

They watched in silence as he stalked off into the darkness, crashing into the bushes like an enraged animal. His outburst had stunned, and sobered, the men. He was flaunting his obsession before them and that was nothing like the Conar they knew.

Liza’s face was wet with tears as she looked at the men. "You know I will never be permitted to stay with him once the marriage contract is signed. There was a time he knew that, as well, but I can see that time has passed."

"It’s this gods-be-damned succession of postponements," Teal swore. "With each new postponement of his marriage, he gets worse."

"Mayhaps if the marriage would be done with, His Grace would be in a better temper," Rayle ventured.

"The marriage has nothing to do with this," Legion acknowledged. He was looking at Liza.

"He was so miserable, Lord Legion. I thought I was doing the right thing in returning to him. I had heard of the postponements. I knew they were testing him, these people from Oceania. Their ill-care of his feelings is intolerable. I thought not to be the further cause of his sorrow. I have only managed to hurt him more by coming back." She buried her face in her hands, weeping bitterly. "I should have stayed away."

"Aye," Legion agreed, "you should have, Mam’selle."

Her head came up and she pleaded with him. "I love him, Lord Legion. I love him more than life itself! He is my heart."

"And can never belong to you, girl," Legion admonished. "You have caused him great pain and great trouble. Our people will not countenance a dalliance between their future King and some commoner. The monarchs of Oceania will see him put to a flogging post before they will allow him to commit adultery."

"How can it be adultery when even the marriage contracts have not been signed?" she asked.

"How do you know that?" Legion countered. "That is not common knowledge."

"I know everything there is to know about him, Lord Legion."

"Aye, you know more than you should." He took her arm. "I will not allow you to hurt him, lady. Not ever again."

"You have my word, sir. When the time comes, I will leave him and never return. I would do nothing to hurt him in the eyes of his people."

"Aye, I know that right well enough!" Legion spat.

"Legion," Teal warned.

Legion looked to his friend. "This foolishness can only cause Conar trouble, du Mer. Is that what you wish for your friend?"

Teal took Liza from Legion’s hard grasp and pulled her against him. He could feel her sobs as she trembled against his chest. "Let him have his freedom until that freedom is snatched away."

"Snatched away?" Legion exploded. "Is that how you see his marriage?"

"Isn’t that how you see it, Lord Legion?" Rayle asked. His face wore a kind expression. "It is how all of us see it. Are you different in your opinion of the bitch from Oceania?"

"This will only cause him more pain," Legion said stubbornly.

"He’s a man full grown, Legion," Teal told his friend. "He is responsible for his own mistakes, if this be a mistake."

"You think it isn’t?" Legion asked.

"I think he should be the one to make the choice. Not you."

Legion stared, looking from one man to the other. He could see they were both behind Conar’s insanity and his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"All right," he murmured, his mouth pursed into a hard line. "I can see where your loyalties lie." He stepped forward and cupped Liza’s chin in his strong fingers. "I love my brother more than anything in this world, and I would never see him hurt if I could prevent it. If you are what he wants, then you will be what he gets until the day he can no longer put off this hell-spawned wedding."

"As I stated, I love him as well, Lord Legion."

Legion could see the truth of what she said. "I know you think you do." He took his hand away and looked at Teal. "Keep this lady company while I see to him."

Teal nodded and glanced at Loure. Neither man was sure that this was the best thing for Conar, but neither would deny him the happiness he had long been denied. Neither were they sure it was the best thing for any of them, Liza included. Something dark and disquieting seemed to fill the night air like a warning and both men felt it to the marrow of their bones.

Legion found his brother sitting against a tall oak, one hand viciously stabbing the ground with his dagger. Conar glared at him as Legion hunkered down beside him. "I won’t argue with you, Legion," he said testily.

"Then don’t. I came to discuss with you a way we can keep Papa from finding out about Liza and having the flesh stripped from your backside."

"You would help me do that?" Conar’s tone was incredulous, for he had feared opposition.

Legion shrugged. "Against my better judgment, aye, I will." He ran a hand though his prematurely graying hair. "But I swear, Conar, I don’t see how you can keep this from blowing up in your face. What happens when King Shaz finds out? And he will. You aren’t supposed to be consorting with a mistress for six months prior to the wedding."

"Does that vile man expect me to be a stone? He and that warrior-wife of his postpone the gods-be-damned wedding at their convenience, yet I am to remain celibate indefinitely?" He looked away from his brother. "I think that’s a bit much to ask of any man."

Legion smiled. "Well, I do, too, but obviously they look at it differently. I can understand their concern for their daughter’s health. I’m sure she has remained pure for you."

A rude snort shuttered from Conar. "Who the hell would bed the bitch?"

"True," Legion mused. "If she’s as bad as Rayle says, I doubt anyone would try." He saw Conar glance at him. "Look at it this way. Burlap bags make suitable veils, too, little brother. If the bitch is a nag, put a feedbag over her ugly face."

Conar shook his head. "With my luck, she’ll want to screw while every candle and chandelier in the room is lit."

"The better to see your magnificent body, sweet Prince," Legion whispered, nudging his little brother’s leg with his own and wagging his dark brows.

"You can jest all you want, A’Lex," Conar snarled, "it isn’t your body she’ll be pawing!"

"Thank the gods!" Legion swore in a gush of relief that made his brother chuckle.

"I can always close my eyes, I guess." Conar laughed at his own expense. "Or I could use the burlap to drown her in Lake Myria."

"Now that’s a thought," Legion said, pretending to think it over. "Maybe the bitch can’t swim."

"She’s probably got gills and fins. Most amphibians do," Conar said in disgust. "Only the gods know how truly bad the hag looks."

Legion smiled. "Maybe she’ll surprise you and be as devoted to you as this Liza seems to be. Even if she’s the ugliest hag in the Seven Kingdoms, kindness counts for something."

"As long as I have Liza, The Toad can be whatever she may be. It won’t matter." He looked at his brother. "I won’t give her up, Legion. Not now and not after the wedding. I’ll tell The Toad that, as well."

"And risk being hitched to an Oceanian flogging post?" Legion shook his head. "That’s folly, Conar."

"It doesn’t matter! If pain is the only way I will be allowed to keep Liza, then pain I will endure." His face went hard with memory. "It’s nothing new to me."

"Conar, just think before you act. That’s all I ask."

"I have thought, big brother. I will not give up my one chance at love."

Legion turned his head away, hearing Liza’s words in the back of his mind. Conar wouldn’t be given the choice of whether or not to let Liza leave. The girl had meant what she had said. Once the wedding was sealed, Liza would leave, never to return. Legion didn’t question how he knew that. It just seemed right to him.

"So where do we put your lady in the meantime?"

"I’ll have to find a place in the village for her…"

Vehemently shaking his head, Legion discouraged that notion. "Servants’ tongues wag. Soon everyone in the keep would know about her, including Papa. You can’t put her in the village, and you sure as hell can’t bring her into the keep. It has to be some place close so you can visit her and yet far enough away for Papa not to get wind of it."

"I don’t know of such a place."

"But I do." Legion looked at his brother. "Ivor Keep."

"The old keep at Epstien?" Conar thought about it. Their father had given the keep to Legion as a present for his coming of age many years earlier. It was rarely used except as a place to spend the night when traveling to Oceania. Only a small skeleton crew manned the keep and the place was far enough from the capitol so those servants who did live there were not likely to make visits to Boreas.

"It’s within a day’s ride of Boreas."

"That was where Mama ran when she left Papa on their wedding night." A smile lit Conar’s face. "I was conceived there."

A frown marred the humor on Legion’s face. "You’d best make sure no child of Liza’s is conceived there."

There was a hard note of challenge in Conar’s voice. "What if there is?"

Legion fused his gaze with his brothers. "It would be unwise for a child of this lady’s to be born. Such a child would be more than just a loved byblow, Conar, and you know it. That child would be all."

"As the mother is all," Conar said softly.

"Aye, I can see that, Conar." Legion glanced toward the distant glow of the campfire, picturing Conar’s lady sitting there. "But I would have you think long and hard on this. What if a child was born from this love and then a child was born from your marriage? You would be legally and honorably bound to make the second child your heir. What if no child came of your union with the Princess Anya? You still could not claim Liza’s child as your heir. The crown would then go to Coron’s firstborn because we both know Galen will never sire a babe."

There was pain in Legion’s voice. "I know all too well how it feels to be illegitimate, little brother; to be the son of a man who can not do for you what he wants. When a royal offspring comes into this world and can not be claimed as anything but a moment’s pleasure…it hurts. It hurts in a way you will never know."

Liza looked about the master’s chambers at Ivor Keep and smiled. Lush furs were spread out on the cold stone floor and elaborate tapestries of naked wood nymphs being chased by randy satyrs lined the thick walls. A huge brass bed gleamed in the center of the room and was covered with a plush throw of pure white ermine, soft to the touch, sensuous to stroke. Sitting on the high mattress, she sank into a down-filled softness that made her eyes widen. The whole room was very masculine, not a single feminine frippery to soften the bold male look. The chamber even smelled masculine: the aroma of cinnamon and leather, tobacco and lime filled the air.

She glanced at the ceiling and giggled. A huge scene of frolicking wood nymphs played over the frescoed surface.

"I’ll have the servants bring in different furnishings," Conar told her as he stretched out across the bed beside. She sat with her knees drawn up in the circle of her arms. " ’Zelle can help you decorate it to your tastes." He ran a finger down her leg and smiled as she squirmed.

"I rather like it this way. It has a certain decadent charm." She looked at the heavy velvet hangings tied around the four-posters. "This is a room for seduction, Milord."

"Aye, that it has been." He grinned.

Liza cocked a brow.

"Not me, but Legion. And our father before him." Conar propped his head on his hand. "Have I told you about my mother’s wedding night?" He wrapped his hand around her calf.

"No, but I would like to hear."

"I’m not sure you should."

"And why not?"

"You might get ideas."

"Oh, and I haven’t already?" She grinned.

Conar laughed and tugged on her leg. "You have the most wicked eyes, lady."

Liza pursed his lips. " ’Tweren’t my eyes that caught your attention, Milord."

"True."

"Your mother?" she prompted.

"Aye. She was from Virago. Her mother was a Serenian, but she married one of the royal heirs from that wild land. My mother was born in Virago and she was married there at the ripe old age of thirteen to a nobleman’s son."

Liza’s brows shot up. "Your mother had been married before?"

Conar nodded. "I don’t know that much about him, for Mama never spoke of him. If Papa knows much, he hasn’t told me. They say he was a traitor, this man, and he was hanged somewhere outside the town of Derry-Byrne. They wouldn’t allow my mother to have his body for burial. Virago has the same laws as Serenia. A traitor may not be buried in his home soil; he must be cast into the sea." Conar’s face darkened. "When I am King, that law will change."

"Were there children from that marriage?"

"No, no children. My mother was left alone. Within a week of his death, my grandmother died as well, and my mother was sent to live at Norus Keep with her maternal grandmother, my great-grandmother, Violette."

"She went to live in that horrid place?" Liza was shocked. "But why?"

Conar shrugged. "I don’t know. It must not have been so bad back then."

"It is an evil place," Liza protested.

Conar looked away from her. "At any rate, my mother went to visit the dowager estate that is very near my father’s game preserve in Colsaurus. Papa was there at the time with a few of his half-brothers, no doubt raiding the countryside for game as well as girls, and he happened to see this lovely lady riding by on a big white stallion. She had flowing gold hair to her hips and the most beautiful blue-green eyes he says he has ever seen. She frowned at him as she rode by, not realizing, I am told, that it was the Heir-Apparent to the throne of Serenia she was ignoring. Papa says his heart melted at the sight of her. He fell in love with her then and there."

"You McGregor males are ever taken to falling in love at first sight, aren’t you?" she teased.

Conar looked up at her with steady eyes. "When we fall in love, Lady, it is forever."

Liza smiled. "What then?"

Conar was silent for a moment, but when he spoke again, his voice was soft and filled with wonder. "He followed her to Norus and when he tried to gain access to the keep, he was denied. Technically, the keep belongs to our family since it is on Serenian soil. But back then, Norus had been a wedding present to my maternal great-grandmother from her widowed grandmother and so her heirs had the right to say who could, and could not, enter the keep, whether he be King or not."