Keeper of the Flame (14 page)

“You can’t let her win,” Hugh said softly, drawing her attention. She was heartened by the compassion and strength in his expression. “There is really only one thing you can do. You must return to the city and reclaim your throne.”

“But the Eyes…” She hated the fear that crept into her tone and made her hands tremble.

Hugh took both of her hands in his, warming them, stilling the fear.

“If you allow it, I will stay by your side. I will keep you safe, Lera. I promise you, I am a much better bodyguard than I am a spy.”

His rueful smile invited her to chuckle at his words. He was such a good man. And he had formidable abilities in both his human and his dragon form. If anyone could keep her safe, it would be Hugh. More than that, she trusted him. After the night they’d had, between the assassins, the mad flights from danger and the sweet pleasure they’d shared, she felt she knew him better than most of the people who’d been in her life for years.

He certainly had seen her at her worst. And she’d seen him act with courage and chivalry. He was both a fighter and a gentleman. He had treated her so well throughout their adventure. He’d cared for her wellbeing both physically and mentally. He was a man she could easily come to depend on—or love.

“Would you really come with me? We’ll be walking into certain danger. Eyes don’t quit just because a job has become more difficult. They will send ever more skilled members of their brotherhood until the job is completed. As long as the holder of the contract keeps paying. I can’t imagine Sendra will stop now that she is committed to this course. They’ll keep coming until I’m dead.”

“Or until I kill them all.” Hugh’s gaze went steely and she could well imagine a pile of dead assassins at his feet. Hugh was a warrior who would not balk at killing those who confronted her with death on their minds.

Silence reigned for a moment while his words echoed through her mind. It would be dangerous, but she really did have to return to the city. Her people depended on her. If Sendra seized power, the land would suffer greatly. She could not let that happen, no matter the danger to her personally. The land and its inhabitants had to come before her own happiness and wellbeing, if necessary.

“I must go back,” she said bleakly, knowing there was no alternative.

Hugh’s arm came around her shoulders. “I’ll go with you.”

“I go too.” Miss’s simple words were punctuated by the gryphlet’s small bow. Where had she learned such courtly manners? Perhaps it was instinctual, Lera thought, but it would bear investigation, if and when she was free to look into such things.

“Thank you, Miss. When we get to the palace, there are some others like you that I want you to meet. I believe you would be welcome among their number and they would treat you well.”

“Want sstay wif Hoo.”

“We’ll talk about it when we get there, sweetheart.” Hugh tabled the subject efficiently. She could see the concern in his expression. She felt the same worry. She couldn’t knowingly put the child in danger and just being around Lera at the moment was a very dangerous place to be, indeed.

They’d have to sort it out when they got back to the city. For now, that was the best Lera could come up with.

Things were moving quickly. Hugh was almost shocked when he realized how neatly events had unfolded. He’d spent the night under the stars with a woman who set his world on fire. True, she was running from assassins, but that was only a minor complication. He hoped.

Hugh would do everything in his power to keep her safe. He’d stay with her night and day if he had to. If she let him. This was her land and he’d play by her rules…as far as he could. If her life was in danger though, all bets were off.

“How do you want to do this?” he asked as they sat before the waning fire, making plans. “The last time I approached the palace with you on my back, something was definitely off. You said the guards weren’t at their posts and the gryphons were out of place.”

A worried look crossed her lovely face. “I’ve been thinking about that. We have to move in cautiously. Maybe work our way through the city a bit.”

“Very dangerous,” Hugh commented, not liking the options. “It might be better to do a little reconnaissance first. Is there anyone in the city that you can be certain of? Someone you trust with your life?”

“I thought I could trust my cousin Sendra.” Her words were tinged with both sadness and betrayal. Hugh felt for her, but now was not the time to dwell on the disappointments of the past days. Now was the time for decisive action and carefully measured boldness.

“Is there anyone else?”

“Hyadror.” She nodded to herself, confirming her own thoughts. “He has saved my life before. He would not side with Sendra against me.”

“How do we find this Hyadror?” Hugh could work with this. If only they had at least one ally within the city, it might make all the difference.

“If we get close enough, I think he will find us. If he’s the friend I think he is, he will have noticed I am nowhere to be found and will be looking for me.”

“What good can one man do in searching an entire city? The chances seem slim to me.” Hugh had to be realistic. Lera’s chuckle took him by surprise.

“Hyadror isn’t a man. I mean…he’s male, but he’s a gryphon.”

That sounded a lot better to Hugh. “A fully grown gryphon, right?”

“Of course. He was one of my teachers when I was in training.” The fondness in her voice was clear.

“All right.” He could definitely work with an adult gryphon on their side. “Let’s fly closer to the city tonight, under cover of darkness. I’ll do some scouting ahead and we’ll see what’s been going on during your absence. How does that sound?”

“Sounds about right,” Lera agreed. “Do you want to stay here for the day or can we move a bit closer while there’s light?”

“A black dragon is very visible against a light blue sky,” Hugh mused. “But we can do some trekking on foot if you’re game.”

“It’s better than sitting here, waiting all day.”

“There are other things we could do, but not with the little one about.” His wink made her blush and he found that he enjoyed teasing her.

“Behave, Hugh.” The smile on her face was his reward.

“I’ll start packing if you want to wash up. There’s an empty water skin in my pack. Maybe you could fill it in the stream while I take care of the embers?”

“Certainly, my liege.” She made a funny little bow as she stood, reaching for his pack.

Hugh wondered how she’d react when she found out that he really was of royal blood. He wasn’t sure why he’d kept that fact to himself, other than some vague idea he had about being wanted for himself rather than his social rank. He didn’t think Lera was like that, but all too many highborn ladies were. He’d felt hunted in his brother’s kingdom by more than one court lady intent on marrying into the royal household.

Third in line for the throne wasn’t a bad place to be. Or so many of those shallow women thought. One had even whispered to him that with the dangerous life Roland led and Nico’s commitment to the Jinn Brotherhood, it was likely Hugh would wear the crown sooner rather than later.

Hugh had thrown the conniving wench out of his bed for even thinking such a thing. He’d had her banned from court as well, though he’d gone about that more subtly than the middle-of-the-night ouster from the royal apartments accompanied by armed guards. He’d alerted his brothers to the possibility of trouble from her, and Hugh had only been satisfied when Nico had sent one of his operatives to check on her noble family from the inside. Nico wasn’t the Prince of Spies for nothing.

Miss pranced down to the stream with Lera and he watched his two females with a softness in his heart. They both had beautiful souls. Miss was so eager, so trusting, as only a child could be. Lera, on the other hand, was all woman, mature and strong, and more than a match for him on so many levels.

He’d been blown away by their night together and hoped it was only the first of many spent in her company. First, however, he had to take care of the threat against her. Those Eyes had been deadly and more skilled than he liked. Three times now, one of them had snuck up on them without his knowledge. It was unheard of. Such things did not happen to a man with the senses of a dragon. He should have smelled them coming even if he didn’t hear their whisper-soft footfalls.

Or perhaps the woman had been too distracting. Now there was a thought. He was off balance, worrying about Lera when he should have had all his senses focused on the danger they faced. Hugh had to get over that. He had to be ready for the next time they faced Eyes. He had no doubt the assassins wouldn’t quit. He’d have more blood on his talons before this was over. In a way, he almost looked forward to it.

Proving his strength and skill against highly trained opponents was thrilling in a primitive way. Even more primitive was his desire to protect his woman. Proving himself the victor when her very life was at stake was a dangerous game, but one he planned to win. He would die before he’d let harm come to Lera. Or the baby gryphon.

Miss was every bit as precious to him. He couldn’t feel more protective of her if he’d fathered the little girl himself. Odd, that. But there it was. He loved the poor, brave creature and would do all he could to keep her safe from harm.

Lera and Miss came back in short order and Hugh had his bedroll and the few items he’d used from his pack back together. Lera gave him the filled waterskin when he reached for it. Slinging it over one shoulder, with the small pack on his back, he was ready to go.

They walked for a half hour or so, steadily uphill, though the grade was easy. The small sand dunes were hard packed and rolling across the landscape toward the much higher hills. The city of Alagarithia sat on the other side of the hilltops, in the triangular valley nestled between them and the cave-filled cliffs where so many gryphons nested. The sea was the third and final border to the city, which allowed some protection as well as easy trade via the many ships that docked there from other lands.

Their pace was easy, no hurry to their steps. Hugh wanted to time their arrival to take advantage of his natural, dark camouflage. They had hours to go before the sun would set. There was no reason to hurry. All rushing over the dunes would do is tire out the ladies and he didn’t want to put either one of them through any more strain.

He coached the gryphlet as they walked, giving her little exercises she could do to strengthen her wings as she walk-hopped alongside them. A few times she actually caught air and the delight in her prancing steps was clear to see.

“Try cupping your wings when you hit the top of the next rise, sweetheart,” he told her. “Gather a little speed and leap. You might be able to coast down to the bottom of the dip.”

“I try,” she promised very seriously, then ran ahead to test her wings.

Hugh lost sight of her for a moment, then had to laugh when he saw her practically galloping back up the dune from the bottom, triumph in every step.

“I fly, Hoo! I fly!”

She ran right up to him and rubbed up against his legs, her wings folded sloppily along her back. She was so excited, she hadn’t even taken time to tuck her feathers in. He patted them into place as she pranced around his feet.

“Want to show me?”

“Yess!” Miss ran back toward the top of the dune.

Hugh glanced at Lera before following the gryphlet so he could witness her first little triumph in flight. As he expected, she instinctively caught the air and coasted beautifully down the small hill created by the sand dune. She was a natural flyer.

“Hoo! Did you ssee?” she asked from a few yards away at the bottom of the dune. She bounced on her front paws, excitement making her fur stand on end in places. She looked adorable.

“I saw, sweetheart. You did great.” He crouched down to her level when she ran back toward him, nearly bowling him over with her enthusiasm as she jumped into his arms.

He praised her a bit more before she got impatient to try it again over the next dune. He let her go, enjoying the moment.

“You’re very good with her,” Lera observed, coming even with him as they watched the boisterous gryphlet.

“She is a joy. It’s good to see her like this. Especially after the way I found her. Or rather, she found me.”

“I can imagine.” Lera’s focus was on the child as they walked along, side by side. “It was during the last round of storms, wasn’t it?”

“She was shivering and half frozen. Her fur was wet through and through. It took hours to get all the mud out of her feathers and fur. She was so afraid of the fire at first. Her front paw was badly burned.”

Lera turned toward him. “She was burned? Did she say how it happened?”

“No. She didn’t want to talk about it. I assume, like most children, she didn’t know that fire could hurt her until she tried it.”

“You healed her, didn’t you? I can’t see any evidence of a burn on her anywhere.”

Hugh nodded. “She might’ve been crippled otherwise. I couldn’t let that happen.”

“She’s lucky she found you.” Lera turned her attention back to the scampering child.

“I don’t think luck really had anything to do with it. The more I think about it…” He trailed off, not sure whether he should share his suspicions.