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“Ah, firefly woman, how I wish such a situation might be solved with the hard swing of a blade and some bloodletting,” he said. “Unfortunately, this isn't one of those time and will require a lot more delicacy if we don't want to start a war on two fronts.”
The abbot employed an old but effective tactic of delaying any acknowledgment the commander's statements, allowing Serovek time to plan what he might do. He shouted over the battlements, “Why would you think the margrave of High Salure is here?”
“Let's not play games, abbot,” the troop's leader shouted back. “Half the valley knows he's here, along with a Kai ambassador from Bast-Haradis.”
Tionfa glanced at Serovek, one eyebrow raised in question.
“Tell him sha-Anhuset is no longer here. That there was no reason for her to stay once we brought Megiddo safely to you, and she's returned to Bast-Haradis.”
“What are you doing?” Anhuset practically hissed the question.
When Tionfa relayed Serovek's words, the troop leader shrugged. “She isn't our first concern. We're here for the margrave. If you don't turn him over to us, we'll simply return with a larger force and take him.”
Serovek had expected just such an answer and was ready with one of his own when the abbot said “What do you wish to do?”
“Give myself up, of course.”
This time Anhuset shoved him. “Are you mad too?” she snapped. “That's an admission of guilt, and you aren't guilty.”
He grabbed her shoulders. She was stiffer than a pike stand. “Listen to me. I hoped something like this wouldn't happen, though I'm not surprised it did. This is Bryzant's doing. I know it. A secondary plan in case Chamtivos didn't successfully complete his task. I can explain more later.”
Not at all appeased, she lashed out at him. “You say that as if you'll live to do so.”
He'd have to step carefully and present his argument posthaste, before she decided he was too much of a dimwit to understand his own dire circumstances and take the decisions out of his hands. He wouldn't put it past her to suddenly pull back and punch him hard enough to knock him unconscious.
“That's certainly my intention.” He stroked her arms, speaking urgently. There was only so long the troop's captain would be this patient. “Rodan is a suspicious bastard who sees a threat to the throne in every shadow behind every tree, but he's also clever and a good strategist.
“He has two advantages in play at the moment. I'm away from High Salure, in the territory of a rebel warlord, and enjoying the hospitality of priests many in this kingdom consider heretics. If I remain behind these walls, Rodan will raze my fortress to the ground and arrest those he considers loyal to me. He'll then send a full army to attack the monastery and declare the Nazim heretical.” Tionfa's nod and grim face lent strength to his argument. “This valley finally has a chance for peace. It doesn't need another conflict created by a one man's ambitions or, in my case, one man's innocence. I'm no more guilty than you or the abbot here, but if I don't willingly turn myself over to them, the repercussions will be far greater than my arrest. War started, lives unnecessarily lost. And you need to be well away from any of it. You know as well as I do that Rodan has been spoiling for war with Bast-Haradis since King Djedor signed that trade agreement with the Gauri.”
“Abbot,” the captain bellowed from below, “I don't have all day. Give us the margrave.”
Serovek jerked Anhuset in his arms and kissed her scowling mouth. She returned the kiss just as hard and was still scowling when he let her go. He joined Tionfa at the battlements, leaning out so those below could clearly see him. Anhuset's expletive-rich snarls about staying out of arrow range singed his ears. “Keep your boots on, man. I was just fetched from my bed. I'm coming down now.”
He retreated from the wall along with Tionfa and discovered Anhuset nearly standing on his heels.
“What do you want me to do?” she said.
I want you to become my wife and share my bed for the rest of our lives.Instead he gestured to the abbot. “Follow Tionfa's first suggestion. Use the back gate. Take Erostis with you. If Rodan's man asks, I'll say he didn't survive his wounds and his body was burned. Return to Saggara on Magas.” He'd turn himself over to his captors without struggle. Magas though was his and his only. “Rodan has always coveted him. He's out of a mare from Nadiza's lightning herd. The king doesn't get my stallion as a bonus.”
“He shouldn't be gettingmystallion either.” She glared at him as if he were the one who instigated all of this.
A euphoric swoop of joy at her words bottomed out his stomach. He considered pulling her into his arms a second time but as that glare turned even hotter, he thought better of it. “So I'm yours now?”
Before she could blister his ears about the poor timing of his teasing, Tionfa interrupted, motioning to the hall where his escort waited. “Margrave.”
He and Anhuset followed them down the stairwell. They'd split off from each other at the bottom. “Tell Brishen to keep an eye on his borders and a tight net on any Kai raiders trying to cause trouble on the Beladine side,” he instructed her. “Rodan is just looking for an excuse.”
“And I'm just to forget about you being led off in shackles to face a traitor's fate?”
He wouldn't pay her the insult of patronizing her by saying all would be well. No one could predict such a thing. “That honeyed tongue you said I had? Not only useful in seducing a prickly Kai woman. The king knows my value to him. I'll talk my way out of this one.”
“You are far too sure yourself sometimes,” she said as they reached the last step and. This time it was she who grasped his arms as if trying to resist temptation and hold him prisoner herself.
He kissed her forehead and the frown there. When he pulled back, he smiled. “Maybe, but here you are in my arms, so I must be doing things the right way.”
Their goodbye kiss was as swift and intense as the one on the battlements. Serovek set her from him and stepped out of her reach. “Go. If I were the captain of that troop, I'd send men to scout the surrounding area just to see what might be found. Fetch Erostis and get out of here quickly. Don't be found.”
She nodded and bolted down the hall leading to the stairwell that would take them to the wing of the monastery where guests were housed. Another pair took off for the stables at the abbot's instructions. If Magas and Anhuset's horse were already saddled, she and Erostis would be galloping away from the monastery before Rodan's men could clap Serovek in irons.
