She looked back at the game. A tense quiet moment passed. She felt her father’s assessing eyes on her. She had to finish it.
“What happened between the two of you?” he asked.
Nessa snapped her gaze up to her father, as did Luke. “Us?” She glanced at Luke and her cheeks colored with memory.
A slow scowl settled across her father’s weathered brow. “I meant with Urien.”
Relief came swiftly, diffusing her guilt, but not erasing it. “Luke saved me.” She looked at the chessboard. Even just saying his name brought remorse and excitement and sadness.
“What did Urien want? Why did he want to take Melwyn?”
Nessa shrugged slightly. “I don’t know. He thought I was Mel and treated me with the utmost respect.” Urien had been kind to her, even though she had been terrified he would discover who she really was. “He was bringing me to the caves.”
“The caves of St. Agnes,” Luke finished. “You know the legend.”
Her father became quiet, staring at the chessboard. “Yes. Your mother believed every word of that legend.”
“Apparently, so does Urien. He wanted me...er, Mel...to put our hands on the stain.”
Her father’s eyes shifted to Luke and then back to Nessa. “And Luke saved you?”
Nessa nodded. Urien would have killed her, she had no doubt. “He and Urien fought, and he won.”
“I owe you a debt of gratitude, Luke. If anything had happened to Nessa...” He picked up her hand and kissed it.
“I was charged with your daughter’s protection long ago. It was a duty I took to heart.”
There was something in his words that called to Nessa. She locked gazes with him. His deep blue eyes stared at her with such intensity, with such accusation that tears rose in her eyes. She was going to lose him. And there was nothing she could do about it. Quickly, she looked away to the chessboard. She moved her rook across the board to take the queen. “Check mate.” She stood quickly, as her father gazed in shock at the board. She moved from the bed and almost ran to the door.
“Nessa!” her father called.
Nessa froze. She couldn’t control herself. Not now. She silently begged him to let her go.
“Where is my kiss?”
Her chest spasmed with a sob she refused to let past her lips. “Later,” she managed to gasp before racing from the room.
Luke stared after her, confused. She didn’t love him. He heard the words from her own lips, but there was anguish in her eyes, and tears. Something was wrong here.
Lord Tristan shook his head. “Women. I’ll never understand them.”
