Lion's Bride - Iris Johansen [86]
Cool? No, there had been nothing cool about their coming together. Their coupling had been hot and stormy, changing every moment, gaining power and strength. Whatever had been their beginning had soon become transformed. But Jasmine would not be able to comprehend that alteration. “I’m glad you understand.”
“Of course I understand. Now Lord Ware takes you to Damascus and gifts you with many bolts of silk. It’s good for all of us.” Jasmine dismissed the subject with a wave of her hand. “Now, you must work hard, but not as hard as you have these last weeks. That was not good. You must not fall ill. We can wait…a little while.” She turned away. “But not too long.”
Thea smiled ruefully as she watched Jasmine enter the castle. She supposed she should be grateful Jasmine had decreed she did not have to work day and night to succeed in their common goal.
“I’m going to ride.” Selene rushed up to Thea, grabbed her hand, and pulled her down the rest of the steps. “Kadar wanted me to ride in the wagon, but I told him that it wouldn’t do. You must ride too.”
Thea shook her head and smiled. “I don’t know how, and this is not the time to learn. I’ll ride in the wagon.”
“No.” Ware mounted his horse, then leaned down and held out his arms. “You ride with me.”
“Is it necessary?”
“Yes.” Then he shook his head. “No.” He added haltingly, “but it would please me.”
This might be the last time he would ever hold her, she realized suddenly. She took a step forward and held up her arms. He lifted her onto the horse before him.
As he lifted the reins, he spoke in a voice so low, it was almost inaudible even to her. “I thank you. It is most kind of—”
“Be silent.” She had to stop to steady her voice. “You’re such a fool. It was my wish also.”
Tears blurred her vision as they rode through the gates and over the drawbridge. Torches everywhere, fire and flame and light. She remembered her first impression of Dundragon and how she had complained to Ware that such extravagance was wasteful.
“You’re shaking.” Ware’s arms tightened about her. “Are you cold?”
“No. How long will the journey take?”
“Two days, perhaps a little longer. Stop shaking. You needn’t be afraid. Nothing will happen to you. I’ll keep you safe.”
“I’m not afraid.” She leaned back against him. It was true. At that moment she did not fear the danger that lay beyond the gates. She felt only sadness and regret and a terrible sense of wrongness. She should not be leaving Dundragon. She should not be leaving him.
She was being stupid. She had no place here. Was she to stay and become his mistress, bear his children, live for his pleasure? She would be as much a slave as she had been in the House of Nicholas.
He did not want or need her. Oh, perhaps in his bed, but any woman would do as well there. He had never said he felt anything but lust for her. When she was gone, he would probably take another woman and be just as content.
By the saints, she would not weep. She determinedly blinked back the tears. This was what she wanted, what they both wanted. It was not as if she were deserting him. He was the one who had arranged the journey and rushed her from Dundragon.
She would not weep.
It was two days later that Thea caught sight of the fortress. The walls seemed high and strong as those of Dundragon, but they surrounded a castle that was completely different. It was like the exotic Arab palaces she had passed on the way from Constantinople.
“What is that place?” Thea asked, her gaze on the fortress. “It’s very beautiful.”
“El Sunan. It belongs to Kemal ben Jakara,” Ware said. “He’s a very powerful sheikh and guards this province for Saladin.”
“From the Franks?”
He shook his head. “These lands are too isolated to attract the Franks, but there are more bandits in these hills than Kemal can battle and any number of rival sheikhs who eye his power with envy.”
“You seem to know a great deal about him.”
“We’ve encountered each other upon occasion.”
“But you fought for the Franks.”
Ware started down the hill. “All Islam knows