Everlasting (15 page)

Zack nodded. “The bribe had been arranged over a month ago. I had a special operative, Steve
Dubliss, waiting in Switzerland. We were planning to go in after her in the next few days.”

She shook her head in bewilderment. “You and Marna seem to have planned everything, down to the last detail.” She whirled away from him. “I've just thought of something. I don't believe you've told me the whole story. I have to talk to Marna.”

He fell into step with her as she hurried toward the encampment. “It's not as if we were trying to hurt you,” he said gently. “Why are you so upset, Kira?”

“I can't talk about it now,” she said jerkily. “I have to talk to Marna. I have to know everything.”

He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. He was silent the rest of the way.

Marna was standing on the edge of the little crowd surrounding Perry Bentley, but she broke away as she caught sight of Kira and Zack. She came toward them with a wide smile on her face. “A camera, Kira. How you will love—” She broke off as she caught sight of Kira's tense expression. “What is wrong?”

“She knows everything, Marna,” Zack said with a rueful shrug.

“Not quite everything,” Kira snapped. “But I'm beginning to suspect quite a lot.” She drew a deep breath. “Marna, when we crossed the border back into Tamrovia from Sedikhan and arrived at the Gypsy camp, how did Stefan's soldiers know we'd show up there?”

Marna gazed at her impassively for a long moment. “I told Paulo to send an anonymous message to Stefan telling him when we'd arrive.”

Zack let his breath out in a low whistle. “I didn't know that. Do you suppose Machiavelli had any Gypsy blood?”

Marna shrugged. “If he had been Gypsy, he would have had the sense not to become involved in all those intrigues and enjoyed his life instead. Intrigue should be used only infrequently to accomplish one's ends.”

“You
deceived
me,” Kira said in disbelief. “I was so frightened and worried about you, and it was you who deliberately arranged for your own capture. Why, Marna, why?”

“It was time for the
mondava,”
Marna said simply. “I had to find a way to send you to Zack and set it into motion.”

“She only did it for your happiness, Kira,” Zack said quietly.

“I know that.” Kira's voice was charged with tension. “She'd walk through fire to make sure I was happy.”

Marna nodded. “It was for the best.”

“You're both being so marvelously soothing and unconcerned about it all.” Kira's sapphire eyes were suddenly blazing in her pale face. “Don't you realize what you've done? You've
manipulated
me! All my life I've been just a chess piece for Stefan and my parents to move around the chessboard. I accepted that.” Her smile was bittersweet. “Perhaps not tamely, but I could accept it because they didn't really care about me. But you love me, Marna, and yet you've manipulated me too.” She turned to Zack. “And didn't it ever occur to you to come to me in all those years and not wait for Marna to pull the strings? You know, I don't think it did. I was just an empty-headed doll to you. Well, I'm
not
a chess piece or a puppet or a doll. I'm none of those things, and I'm not a child, either.”

Zack took an impulsive step toward her. “Kira—”

“No.” She backed away from him. “Don't touch me. I can't think when you touch me. And it's time I stopped reacting and started thinking.”

“You are hurting.” There was a flicker of sadness in Marna's face. “I never meant for you to experience pain.”

“Perhaps it's time I did experience pain,” Kira said huskily. “Whenever I was with you, Marna, I felt I had stepped out of the glass bubble. But I hadn't, not really. A strong, overprotective love can be just as effective in keeping someone from the real world as protocol and a ring of guards.” She thrust the box with the camera in it at Marna. “Will you keep this for me? I have some thinking to do and I want to go back up on the hill to do it.”

“I'd like to come with you,” Zack said.

She shook her head. “I want to be alone.” She smiled shakily. “You distract me too. I'll try not to be long.” She started away and then turned back to them. “It's not that I don't know how good you've both been to me. It's just that I feel as I did the other night when Paulo ruffled my hair and called me a child. I can't let that…” She made a
helpless little movement with one hand and turned away again. “I'll be back soon.”

It was dusk when Kira came down from the hill. She had watched the piercing blue of the sky turn to the blazing scarlet of sunset and then fade to the gentle violet of twilight. She had felt the warmth of the Indian summer afternoon cool to autumn evening chill, and still she had sat under the beech tree lost in thought.

Zack and Marna were alone at the
saldana
when she walked into camp. The evening camp-fire had been lit and the pungent smell of coffee drifted to her.

Marna glanced up from her cup. “You haven't had anything to eat since lunch. I've made a stew.”

“I'm not hungry. I'll take some coffee, though,” Kira said as she strolled over to the fire and plopped down on the sheepskin pallet beside Zack. She crossed her legs tailor-fashion and took the tin cup Marna handed her. Marna returned to her stool on the other side of the fire and picked up her own cup again.

Kira felt their concern as she took a sip of the strong, hot coffee and looked up with a half-comical grimace. “I feel like Moses coming down from the mountain with the ten commandments. I didn't mean to be that pretentious when I stalked off. I haven't made any philosophical discoveries that will shake the world.” She paused. “Except perhaps my own.”

“And ours,” Zack said quietly. “Everything you do and say and think are very important to us. Did it help, Kira?”

“Yes, it did help.” She cradled her cup in her hands as she gazed into the fire. “For one thing, I decided I had no right to be upset with either one of you. If you manipulated me, it was because I let myself be manipulated. I've made a habit of acting impulsively. I relied on you, Marna, to do my thinking.” She met Marna's gaze across the camp-fire. “No mature adult would let herself be sent to a stranger with instructions ‘to do whatever was necessary.’ I was so accustomed to relying on you and believing you were always right that I merely followed your instructions without questioning them.” She held up her hand as Marna would
have interrupted. “I don't say that I wouldn't have done it if I'd stopped to consider. There's a good chance I would have acted in exactly the way I did. But I would have known it was my choice, the choice of an independent individual.” She paused as if searching for words. “You see, I've always played at being independent with my little defiances, but I've never been willing to take that extra step into true independence.” She laughed shakily. “I was frightened, I guess. As long as I was an irresponsible child I didn't have to commit myself totally to anything or anyone. Well, I've decided I can't live that way anymore. I have to assume the responsibilities that go along with love.”

She set her cup down and spread her hands on her knees, her fingers flexing nervously. She drew a deep breath. “I love you, Marna, and I'm going to keep on loving you until the day I die. You're going to be a part of me for the rest of my life. I don't give a damn what you think the
mondava
is going to do to our relationship. I
know
myself and I know my love for you isn't going to change… except to grow stronger maybe.” She
turned to Zack. “And I love you too. I've never told you before. We've all been so concerned with this
mondava
business that we've ignored the basics.”

Zack smiled faintly. “I'd say you couldn't get much more basic than the
mondava
.”

She met his eyes directly. “Yes, you could. There's always a plain old-fashioned declaration of undying devotion. Which you haven't made, by the way. I think there are several people around here besides me who have a few problems.” She made an impatient gesture with one hand. “We'll address that later. Right now, I just want you to know I love you. And no matter how you feel about me at the moment, someday I'm going to know that you love me too. You once said I had the idea my value lay only in my title, and maybe you were right. But I've been thinking about it, and I'm a hell of a lot more than a title. I have intelligence and stamina and determination.”

“And a very loving heart,” Zack said softly. “Thank God.”

Her eyes met his with glowing serenity. “Oh,
yes, I have that too. Any man who gets me will have a prize. I'm going to make sure you appreciate me, Zack.” She was having trouble tearing her gaze away. His dark eyes reflected so many wonderful things—pride, understanding, tenderness. She finally managed it and looked back into the flames. “However, that's all going to have to wait. I'm going to have to straighten out this mess with Stefan before I'm free to pursue you.”

Zack stiffened warily. “I don't like the sound of that.”

“I didn't think you would.” She made a face. “You're going to like even less the way I intend doing it. I'm going to fly back to the palace tonight and make Stefan give me his word that Marna will be allowed either to live with or visit her tribe without any interference on his part.”

“No!” Marna said harshly, coming erect on her stool.

“Yes,” Kira said firmly. “I'm not going to let you suffer for helping me. Stefan was wrong. I just can't cave in on something this important.”

“You tried to convince him before.” Zack's
face reflected none of the resistance she had expected. His expression was merely speculative. “What makes you think you can do it now, when you couldn't do it then?”

“I pleaded. I appealed. I reasoned. Now I'm going to try something else. I'm going to set forth my terms and cram them down his throat. If I'm forced to, I'll blackmail him. I'll tell him I'll give interviews to the press revealing conditions in Tamrovia. I'll even involve Sedikhan if there's absolutely no other way. If you decide to do something, it's worth going all the way.” Her lips curved in a tiny smile. “Or so someone told me quite recently.”

“You're not going back to the palace. I fight my own battles.” Marna's eyes were flashing.

“This isn't one of your battles. It's mine,” Kira said just as firmly. “And make up your mind that I'm going to be the one to fight it.”

Zack set his cup on the ground. “All right. We go back to the palace tonight.” He ignored Marna's low cry of protest. “I'm not sure what good it will do, but we'll give it a try.”

Kira shook her head. “No, not ‘we.’ Me. I'm going back alone.”

Zack didn't reply for a moment. “I rather thought you had something of the sort in mind.”

“I wouldn't be the one fighting the battle if I had Zack Damon beside me, ready to exert economic and political muscle.” She shook her head. “I'll do this my way.”

His expression was inscrutable as he studied her face for a long moment. “Okay.” He rose abruptly to his feet. “You return by yourself. I'll go get Paulo and we'll pull the helicopter out from under the tree cover and check it out. You'd better change your clothes.” He smiled. “As beautiful as you look, that's not an outfit in which to discuss ultimatums. It's entirely too soft and feminine.”

Kira was startled that he'd given in so easily. She stood up, her eyes narrowed on him with a touch of suspicion. “No arguments?”

He shook his head. “It's your battle.” He looked toward Marna. “And your debt. I respect that. I'll meet you in the clearing in fifteen minutes.”

Marna was glowering ferociously at both of them. “I've changed my mind. You are a
chitka
, Zack. Tell her not to go. You are joined in the
mondava
. She will listen to you.”

“If she did listen, she'd be taking a step backward. I wouldn't ask her to do that.” He turned away. “Fifteen minutes.”

F
ULL DARKNESS HAD
fallen by the time Kira had changed back into her jeans, sweater, and jacket and walked the short distance through the woods to the clearing. The helicopter had already been moved out into the open by Zack, Paulo, and Bentley, who were waiting beside it. Marna stood apart, holding a lantern, whose glow revealed the grimness of her expression.

Kira crossed to her at once and stood on tiptoe
to plant a kiss on her broad jaw. “It would make me feel a good deal better if you'd wish me well.”

“Why should I wish you well when you're doing a
chitka
thing like—” She broke off, a multitude of conflicting emotions crossing her face. “Good journey,” she said gruffly. “Better than you deserve.” She enfolded Kira in a breathtaking bear hug. “And if Stefan causes you problems, I will make a spell that will cause his
nudocs
to rot and fall off. I'm very weary of his stupidity.” She released Kira and gave her a gentle whack on the derriere. “Go.”

Kira's eyes were misty as she covered the few yards to where Zack was standing by the helicopter. Perry Bentley had left the clearing and Paulo had taken a few steps back to allow them a limited amount of privacy.

“I'd be interested in knowing if those
nudocs
that are about to be cursed are what I think they are,” Zack murmured as he opened the door of the helicopter.

“To put it delicately,
nudocs
are a gentleman's private parts,” Kira said with a grin.

Zack flinched. “Hm-m. So I thought. I'll be
very careful not to risk incurring that particular curse.” His gaze was suddenly grave. “Are you going to tell me what your plans are?”

“I'm just going to talk to Stefan. I'll land the helicopter in the clearing in the woods across from the main gate and go through the cave and the secret tunnel into the palace itself.” She shrugged. “I could just march in through the front gate, but I'd prefer to take him off guard. It's likely that I'm going to need every advantage I can manage. When I succeed in bringing Stefan around to my way of thinking, I'll contact you by radio.”

“When
, not
if?”
Zack asked with a slight smile. “You're very confident.”

She drew a quivering breath. “I can't let myself be anything else. Otherwise, I'd be shaking like a bowl full of jelly.”