His gaze searched hers, swept over her as if to memorize her every feature, dipped to her mouth. His brows rose as if in question.
Did he seek to kiss her?
A new and pleasant thrill shot down her spine. She had never received a kiss before. She had witnessed them—ardently given by the landsknechte to the kampfrauen, shyly accepted by maidservants from stable hands. But a kiss herself? Never.
Overcome by a surge of timidity, her cheeks warmed, and she sought to conceal her gaze from him. He lifted her chin and peered down at her. From the moment of their introduction she could hide nothing from this man. That had not changed. In his gaze she read his heart and knew that he read hers as well.
Slowly his head descended, and she raised hers to meet him. Their lips touched ever so lightly, but just as her body had demanded to breathe when pressed under the water, it now demanded more of him. Upward she surged, timidity gone, and claimed with conviction the man the Lord had put in her path.
Her chest squeezed, and that heat, oh, that blessed heat, burned through her limbs. Her breast ached for want of air, but then he was there, sharing his breath with her. His heart with her. His life with her. As ever he had done.
He cradled her head in his hands, treasuring her and making her feel like the princess she never would again be. But she did not need velvet gowns nor a comfortable bed in which to lay her head. All she required was what held her now. The arms of her Savior and those of the man she loved.
Slowly, as if reluctant to do so, Lorenz drew his head back and smiled. “Though I would like nothing more than to remain with you thus, I fear it would be unwise.” He cleared his throat. “On many fronts.”
Christyne’s lips tipped at the red hue tingeing her scholar’s ears.
He peered down the length of her. “How do you fare? Do you think you have the strength to carry on? It would behoove us to put as much distance between Heidelbraum and ourselves as we can as quickly as possible.”
She made an inventory of her person. Still her lungs did not fill with as much breath as they desired, and the path from her throat to her stomach burned. Lorenz was right, however. If even one person witnessed their escape from the lake from behind the waterfall then their reprieve would be brief. She did not wish to face the water’s grave a second time.
“Where will we go?” she asked. “To Waldshut?”
Lorenz’s face shuttered. “I am afraid even there is not safe. TheTäuferjägerseem to be everywhere these days, hunting the Brethren.”
But Waldshut was where Peter, Katherine, and Bytzel were headed. If the city held not a modicum of safety, what would become of their friends?
The same as ever. What the Lord would will. She had to remind herself that their lives, as well as her own, were in God’s hands. Though He had the power to keep their feet from stumbling, there was also an eternal weight of glory in play. She would trust and submit and accept what He brought to their lives.
“If not Waldshut, then where?”
He eyed the north. “To the land of Schlesburg.”
“Clare’s hometown?”
“It is appropriate, do you not think, that both great princes have lost their daughters to the emperor’s decree, and yet now both will protect the other’s offspring?” He smiled at her. “Prince von Schlesburg’s defiance is already known because of Speyer, his allegiances brought to light. We will be as safe as we can be within his state.”
Christyne looked in the direction of Heidelbraum—the only place she had ever called home. Would she miss the familiarity of her life? Her father? And Clare, her new friend? Aye, she would.
She returned her gaze to Lorenz. This. Him. He was home now. And she would follow him anywhere God led. Even if, God help them, the heretic hunters caught up to them and finished what the lake could not do.
You have helped me save him once, Lord, and him, me. Now, together, I pray your protection over us as we endeavor to share Your truths with those shrouded in darkness.
Christyne slipped her hand into Lorenz’s. “God will grant me the valor I need for our journey, but mayhap I can draw upon your strength as well, my love.”
He caressed her with a look. “All that I have, all that I am, is now and forever will be yours.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Germany, Present Day
Ben slammed the side door of the second van with a resounding thud. Amber blinked. Had she missed Seth? Not possible since she’d been staring at everyone exiting the vehicle with bated breath. She hadn’t figured out what she would say to him yet, but her body hummed with a need to be near him. Maybe then the circuits in her brain would stop running at a million miles a second and she could settle down enough to actually think. Although, he usually made her feel more alive, not sated, so perhaps her logic was off.
Her gaze never wavered on the van door, but sheer power of will didn’t cause it to open and spit Seth out.
“Bereit?” Ben asked in an exuberant voice as he stood at front of the trailhead. Volunteers and kids alike cheered, an excited vibration thrumming through the air. Everyone had been anticipating the trip to the Black Forest for days, and now that they were here, they all seemed itching to explore.
Everyone but Seth.
