tales of the latter kingdom 08 - moon dance (25 page)

And so my thoughts twisted this way and that, even as I laid myself down in my new bed later that night. The bed was even more luxurious than the one I had slept in at my aunt’s home, with a new feather mattress and a coverlet of silk, and yet I knew sleep would not be my friend. I would have to fight it, wrestle it into submission, for I could not get my roiling mind to settle down enough that I might get the rest I so desperately required.

In the darkness, just as the edges of the silvery moon began to touch the arched window opening a few yards from where I lay, I heard a voice I thought I had lost forever.

“Iselda?”

Although I could not be sure that I was not dreaming, still I sat upright in bed, the silken covers clutched to my breast. “Reynar?”

He stepped out of the shadows, moonlight glinting silver in his hair. As I stared at him in shock, he came over to my bedside and dropped to his knees there, just as he took one of my hands in his. “Yes, it is I. But you — you are quite unharmed?”

“Why, yes,” I replied, puzzled. “That is, I have been greeted with the utmost hospitality here, even though I would much rather that I was at home.”

His fingers, which had wrapped themselves around mine, tightened their grasp. Indeed, his grip was almost painful, but I was so glad to see him that I cared little for a bit of discomfort. “So…you do not love Lord Mayson?”

“Of course not!” I replied with some indignation. “How could I love him, when you know my heart has been given to you already?”

For a few seconds, he said nothing, but only continued to hold my hand. His eyes caught mine and held. When he spoke, there was a certain roughness to his tone which seemed to belie an emotion held barely in check. “I had hoped…but then I heard the dreadful news….”

Although I knew how terrible it must be to anyone who did not understand how I felt about Reynar, I could not help leaning over and pulling him toward me so our mouths might meet. I did not care that I was in my bed, and clad only in a nightgown. I had kissed him thus once before, albeit out of doors, and not in the questionable surroundings of a bedchamber. Right then, however, it seemed more important to me than anything else that he know I loved him and only him, no matter what the world might think.

And oh, the sweetness of his mouth, the despairing intensity with which he deepened the kiss so we might taste one another, could remind ourselves of how we could only be with the person we now held, and no one else. Again shivers and heat flooded my body, and I had the stray thought that it would be so easy to pull him to me so we might press against one another, limb to limb. I had only a very hazy idea of what might happen after that, but I was willing to take the risk. Surely Reynar would know what to do.

But then he pulled away, shaking his head. “You make this very difficult for me, Iselda.”

“What is difficult about it?” I asked. “I kissed you then because I wanted you to know that my heart is yours…only yours. Lord Mayson trapped me into this horrible engagement. I had thought we were friends, and that he would at least respect my wishes not to discuss any future plans until after Adalynn’s wedding. But then he kissed me, and made sure to do it in a place and time where we were certain to be seen. After that, I had no choice but to accept his suit, or at least pretend to. Do not think that I have not been planning my escape ever since, although I must confess that it has seemed rather impossible.”

Despite the direness of my circumstances, Reynar’s mouth lifted into a smile. “Yes, I believe you would have rather a difficult time scaling down the walls of this tower.”

“Oh, do not tease me,” I said, not amused at all. “You are here now, and so you must have a plan to take me away.”

“I am trying to come up with one,” he replied, the smile disappearing as if it had never been. “It is not all that simple, you know.”

“But you are a mage,” I told him. “How did you even get in here? Surely if you were able to sneak in, you should be able to spirit me away.”

His shoulders lifted. “As I’ve shown you before, I have the ability to change my appearance. Anyone who looked on me as I walked down the corridors would have thought me merely another of the earl’s guards. In the same vein, I have cast a spell to make any who might pass by decide they have urgent business elsewhere, and another so that even if someone should draw near, they would not be able to hear us. So I do not fear getting caught.”

“But….”

“But I cannot do the same for you, Iselda. I cannot change your appearance, hide you in any way so I might walk you out right in front of the guards with no one noticing.”

In that moment, I rather wished that mages were more like the fearsome creatures I’d read about in my storybooks, powerful men who could cast any spell they liked and who commanded powers that leveled mountains. The reality was somewhat disappointing. But I did not want to be disappointed by Reynar. He had come here, after all, and that meant a great deal. Together, we should be able to devise some sort of plan for getting me away. “A sleep spell, such as the one you cast back at Mirfeld Hall, so my cousins might slip out of the castle without anyone noticing.”

He shook his head. “That would not work here, I am afraid. And I fear the situation is even more perilous than you might imagine.”

A small tendril of cold began to unfurl its way down my spine, but I tried to sound calm as I said, “And how can that be, Reynar? For I am engaged to a man I do not love, and surrounded by his family’s servants and guards. And even if I do escape, I will disgrace both myself and my family. So forgive me if I am having a difficult time understanding how things can be any worse than they appear to be.”

“Oh, they are.” He hesitated then, eyes shadowed with worry. “You know how I never told you who my master was, how he carefully guarded his name so no one could guess his true identity?”

I nodded, wondering what that had to do with my current predicament. Yes, I was sure Reynar had taken a risk to slip away and come here to see me, but….

Another pause. Then he said, “My master is Lord Elwyn.”

CHAPTER 15

I could not speak. I could not do anything except stare at Reynar in horror, for my mind did not want to accept what he had just told me. It was not possible. How could such a thing be possible?

His mouth curved in a grim smile. “You are surprised.”

Somehow I found my voice. “No, ‘surprised’ is what you might be when the cook promised venison for dinner and you are given chicken instead. This…this….” I floundered for a moment, then asked, “How is such a thing even possible?”

“Do you think the old blood appears only in the veins of commoners? True, Lord Elwyn appears to be an ordinary man…unlike myself…but he was born with the same gifts. Or rather,” Reynar added, “his own particular gifts. And he was trained, just as he trained me, although his education was undertaken in secret, under the very nose of the former earl, from what I have been able to gather.”

My mind did not want to accept this new and strange reality. Mages by their very nature must keep in the shadows, must do everything they could to escape notice. And yet Lord Elwyn was by all accounts a very sociable man, one who did not turn up his nose at an invitation to come to dinner, or to step out on the dance floor, should the occasion warrant. He clearly doted on his son. But….

“What are his powers?” I demanded, although my voice dropped to a near-whisper. Yes, Reynar had reassured me that we could not be overheard, and yet I could not help but think Lord Elwyn would certainly discover us, would….

In truth, I did not know what he would do. I could only think that he would not be happy to learn that his apprentice and his future daughter-in-law had formed an alliance without his knowledge.

“He is powerful in many ways. The more so because many of his powers are subtle ones, gifts he can bring to bear to hold others under his sway, to make them do his bidding. As he has done with Lord Mayson.”

“What about Lord Mayson?” I asked then, my voice sharpening despite my best efforts to keep it low. “What has he forced him to do?”

“Why, to compromise you so the two of you must be married,” Reynar replied simply.

I slumped back against the pillows and stared at him in shock. At once he took my hands, holding them tightly before continuing.

“I cannot speak of Lord Mayson’s feelings for you, because I have never had any kind of speech with him. His father made sure that we never met, that he did not even know I existed. I did gather, however, that Lord Mayson was not terribly eager to be married. This reluctance annoyed his father to no end, as you might imagine.”

“Lord Mayson does not possess his father’s powers?”

“Oh, no. He is an ordinary enough man. But still, he is Lord Elwyn’s heir, and I know my master hoped the old blood would appear in any children Mayson might father, even if he himself does not possess any magical gifts.”

“But….” I clenched my cold fingers around Reynar’s, needing their warmth to drive away the chill that had entered my body, even though the night was quite warm. “Why me? If Lord Elwyn only wanted to make sure that he had grandchildren who could carry on the magical blood, he would have done far better to have Mayson pursue my cousin Carella, who was more than eager, and who also is the daughter of a baron, rather than a commoner like myself.”

“That much, I do not know,” Reynar replied. He did not relax his grip, but seemed to understand that I needed to hang on to him like a drowning swimmer might cling to a rope. “I am sure he has his reasons, for my master does nothing without a plan, but I cannot begin to see what his motivations are here, and he has not explained them to me. I am sure he believes it is none of my affair, since this involves the continuation of the Bellender name.”

My heart sank. For if Reynar, who had known Lord Elwyn for years and years, could not begin to guess at his intentions in having Mayson claim me rather than some other young woman, then I certainly had no idea, either. Some called me beautiful, but Carella was beautiful as well. I had no wealth, no title. And I was not precisely alone in the world, and therefore easy to take advantage of, because I could always go to my aunt and uncle for help if I must.

No, the whole situation had me completely flummoxed.

“So…why the dances under the moon?” I asked then. “Did that have something to do with the spells he was casting on his son?”

“No,” Reynar replied. “At least, only partially. It is a ritual he performs once a year, to gather the power of the young and vital, and bring it into himself. Have you not wondered why he has the air of a man some ten years or even more younger than he is?”

Well, I had, but I had not thought on the subject too much. After all, there were always those who seemed blessed in that manner, who appeared more youthful than their peers. “I suppose it crossed my mind once or twice,” I replied slowly, then added, guilt overcoming me that I had remained silent and had said nothing to my aunt or uncle, “Did it…did it hurt them?” For while I already quite hated Lord Elwyn, I certainly did not want to think that Reynar had been complicit in any sort of activity which might have caused harm to my cousins or Janessa.

“No,” he said at once. “I have already told you that. It is something he has done every year for the past decade. At first, he was able to perform the spell on young women who lived near the estate — daughters of farmers and cottagers, that sort of thing. There must always be at least three. Four is better, and five the most desired, but harder to come by. He could not use the same girls year after year, for they must be between fifteen and twenty, and as you know, young women grow up and get married, and move away.” Reynar’s fingers tightened on mine, as if he wished to give me more reassurance. “The light you saw dancing around them — that was the energy he was drawing forth and collecting so he might bring it into himself. But your cousins, or any of the girls he had taken it from, would not notice it gone, any more than you might miss the few strands that remain in your hairbrush each morning.”

That explanation did reassure me somewhat. I had not noted any ill effects of the spell, save that Janessa and my cousins seemed rather tired the morning after one of their outings. And who could blame them, when they had lost several hours of sleep? But if that was the only harm they suffered….

“Very well,” I said. “It is done, and my cousins and Janessa are safe now. But what should
we
do?” I asked, hating how hopeless I sounded, but unable to do much of anything about it.

Reynar bent and kissed me on the forehead, very gently, and then let go of my hands. “I am not sure yet. But we have time — your wedding will not take place until three days from now, and within that span, I am sure an opportunity will arise for me to get you away from here. Now, however, I fear I must go. My spells must be doubly strong when cast here in my master’s stronghold, and I cannot maintain them indefinitely.”

“No, please — ” For I thought I should go mad to be left here alone, knowing what I knew now.

“My dear, I must.” He kissed me again, this time on the mouth, the taste of him sweet and warm. I reached up and seized his hands, and attempted to pull him toward me.

But he was too strong. He remained standing where he was, his face a pale mask, one taut with worry and fear.

“Do not tempt me, Iselda. You have no idea — ” He broke off his words there, his jaw clenching. “If I am caught, I can do nothing to help you. Do you understand?”

Of course I did. I released his arms, and slumped once more against the pillows. “I understand, Reynar. I do not wish to jeopardize you in any way. But perhaps — ” I sat up a little straighter as a sudden thought occurred to me. “What if I speak to Lord Mayson? His father cannot hold sway over him at all times. I have seen it, I think — when Lord Elwyn’s control begins to slip, and Mayson appears confused, or not sure precisely what is happening. If I could wait for one of those moments — ”

“It is far too dangerous,” Reynar cut in. “For when my master has control of his son’s mind, he can see everything he sees, hear everything he hears. He would guess at once that you know far more than you should. Do you understand why you must say nothing?”