After another series of deep, calming breaths, she kicked off her shoes and rolled her stockings down. The water in the stream looked far too inviting to miss the opportunity of dipping her feet. She was already due for a scolding from Lady Rochford or even the queen, so she might as well enjoy her moment of freedom.
Rhys stared at the door, which was still reverberating from Verity’s exit. He felt equally shaken himself. What in God’s name had she meant?
Olivia touched his hand. “Lady Verity has a very bad temper, doesn’t she?”
“She . . .” Rhys realized he had no intention of discussing Verity with Olivia. “She had her reasons.”
Elias moved toward the door. “Should I go after her? Even during daylight it is unwise for her to be alone.”
“I’ll find her,” Rhys said. “After all, the fault was mine.” He met Elias’s surprisingly sympathetic gaze. “Of course I agree to share our blood. I suggest we take Olivia along with us to stand watch.”
“That is an excellent idea, Sir Rhys.” Elias looked at Olivia. “Your connection with me and the Ellis family should help you recognize if any of us are in danger—and you will be able to gauge how much blood each person can afford to share.”
“I’d be glad to help,” Olivia said firmly. She glanced up at Rhys. “I could also help you find Lady Verity.”
Elias stirred. “I think it would be better if you went back to Lady Rochford and told her some tale about Lady Verity being too upset to return because of the news she received.” He looked at Rhys. “Is it widely known that Lady Rosalind is carrying another child?”
Rhys tried to gather his thoughts. “I’m not sure.”
“Would it hurt for Olivia to mention that there is a suspicion of it to Lady Rochford?”
“I don’t see why it would,” Rhys muttered. “The Vampire community seems all too well-informed about everything these days.”
Elias paused at the door. “Ah, that reminds me. I understand that Janus was the first to assert that Lady Verity bore the mark of Awen.”
Rhys went still. “By all that’s holy, how would he know that?”
“I have no idea, but it does raise some interesting questions, does it not?” Elias paused. “Is it possible that there is a traitor among the Druids?”
“That is always possible. I will have to write to Sir John Llewellyn and tell him to be on his guard.” Rhys eyed the door again, aware that every passing moment meant Verity was farther away from him.
Elias opened the door and Olivia, after an anxious glance back at Rhys, left first. Rhys followed her and shaded his eyes against the glare of the sun in the vain hope that he might see a sign of Verity.
“Lady Verity is by the stream. You will see where she left the path, pushed through the bushes, and headed down to her left,” Elias said quietly.
“Thank you.” Rhys clasped the Vampire on the shoulder. “I’ll take care of her.”
“I know you will. You just have to convince her of that.” Elias hesitated. “I believe she loves you, Sir Rhys. But like most human females, she is wary of being hurt, and you have championed Lady Rosalind far too well and for far too long.”
Rhys glared at Elias for a long moment. “Are you now a wise woman who tells fortunes and sells love potions?”
Elias smiled. “I’ve lived for over four hundred years. Even I have noticed a few things about women that never change. They wish to be first in their lover’s eyes, not forever competing against a fantasy.”
“I know that!” Rhys stopped and lowered his voice again. “I will find her and make sure she is safe.”
Elias’s smile became even wider. “Of course you will, and I wish you good luck. One other thing I have noticed is that human females, particularly the Llewellyn kind, are very stubborn.”
Rhys headed off along the path and saw the place where Verity had gone down the bank toward the stream. A knot of gold ribbon from her sleeve decorated one of the gorse bushes and he picked it up and tucked it inside his doublet. Eventually he spied her through the trees. She sat beside the stream, her head bent and her hood discarded along with her stockings and shoes.
He worked his way over to her. She didn’t look up when he sat down beside her, but after a while she glanced at him.
“I suppose you want me to apologize for what I said.”
“No apology is necessary. You were right. I know I have been unable to give my heart until now.”
“Until now?” She kicked her feet in the water, splashing his brown hose.
He took her clenched fist and slowly unfolded her fingers until her hand lay quietly in his. “The other night, why did you come to my room, truly?”
“Do you now think I came to seduce you so that you would do my bidding and agree to share our blood?”
“Did you seduce me? I was asleep, remember, and having a very pleasurable dream.”
She scowled at him. “You were not.”
“I might have been.”
“Please don’t make me remember that night. The things I said—I feel so foolish. I know it meant nothing to you.”
He frowned. “When did you decide that you meant nothing to me?”
Her smile was bittersweet. “When I was about fourteen and I saw the way you looked at Rosalind.”
“I thought she would marry me. Her grandsire was in favor of the match and I never dreamed . . .” Rhys stopped talking and stared at the rushing water.
“You never expected her to take up with a Druid slayer. You had a right to be angry, Rhys.”
“But no right to take that anger out on you.”
She half turned to look at him. “Whatever do you mean?”
“When Rosalind chose Christopher over me, I decided I was done with love. It was too painful.” He tried to smile. “As I said, there is no need for you to apologize to me. You were right. I have avoided sharing my heart ever since.”
“No, I was unfair. You have destroyed many Vampires and kept the Tudors safe—that is no small achievement.”
He shrugged. “A man has to fill the empty space he created in his life with something. But I have been a fool. Your presence here at court has taught me that.”
“My presence?”
He kissed the center of her palm. “You have shown me that I am ready to share my heart again.” She tried to pull her hand away, but he wouldn’t let her. “I don’t want you to be Rosalind,
cariad
. I just want you to be yourself.”
“But I’ll always be second best.”
“Why do you think that?” he said gently. “Do you not believe I love you?”
Her eyes widened. “No. I never thought you would
love
me.”
He blinked at her. “Then why did you share yourself with me?”
“Because . . .” She shook her head. “I was weak. I wanted to have you, even if that was all there could be between us.”
“And you assumed that would be enough for me?”
“Yes, because you are still in love with Rosalind.”
He took both her hands in his. “But I’m not. I love you, Verity.” He waited for her to say something, but she just stared at him. “Can you not believe me?” Rhys tried not to let his disappointment show, but it was difficult. “Why would I say such things if I didn’t mean them?”
“I don’t know.”
He stared at her. Wasn’t she supposed to tell him that she loved him back? He knew she did—didn’t she?
She squeezed his hands. “Rhys, don’t look at me like that, please. I’ll have to think about what you said. It just seems so sudden . . .”
He supposed he had to allow her that. His realization that she had replaced Rosalind in his heart
had
been sudden. Perhaps she just needed time to come to terms with it.
“I’m not going to change my mind, Verity. I trust that in time you will come to believe me.” She still looked a little dazed and so he kept talking. “And when you do, I will ask your grandfather for your hand in marriage.”
She yanked her hands out of his grip and scrambled to her feet. “I don’t want to get
married
.”
“Why not?”
A look of revulsion crossed her face. “I just don’t.”
Rhys tried to hold his frustration in check. “Just think about it, first. I believe we would suit. And what if there is a child?”
Her face blanched and she covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh no.”
With a stifled sound, she ran away from him, her wet footprints gradually fading in the heat of the sun. Rhys stared after her until she disappeared from sight. He realized she’d left her shoes, stockings, and hood behind and went to pick them up.
Was she already with child? It was the only reason he could think of for her sudden panic. Frustration rose in his gut. Didn’t she understand what he’d told her at all? He loved her! Wasn’t that enough? Would his love
ever
be enough for a woman he had set his heart on?
Chapter 17
“D
on’t you think it is time we talked to the queen?” Olivia asked. She’d changed out of her women’s clothing into her male attire and looked far more comfortable than Verity was in her silk skirts and thick petticoats.
Verity looked at Elias. She had arranged to meet with the Vampires in the ruined bathhouse near the chapel. It was already dark, although the banked heat from the day still lingered in the air and in the stones.
Elias looked thoughtful. “Do you think she will listen to you?”
“Mayhap,” Olivia said. “If we can persuade her that her life is in danger without mentioning Vampires, we might succeed.”
Verity looked at Olivia. “But Queen Jane doesn’t encourage familiarity from her ladies. She only really listens to Lady Mary and Lady Rochford.”
“That is true,” Olivia said. “What if you talked to the king instead, Lady Verity?”
“I can certainly try. Lord Thomas Seymour seems to have the king’s ear at the moment, so I’ll have to be careful not to arouse his suspicions.” She brightened. “Perhaps I can word my request in a way that won’t alarm the king and will keep the majority of the courtiers out of Queen Jane’s presence.”
Elias stood up and paced the broken mosaic floor, his hands behind his back. “I wonder if we can persuade Lady Rochford onto our side instead.”
“Lady Rochford?” Verity grimaced. “She dislikes me intensely.”
“That is so. Mayhap we can persuade her through Olivia.”
“How?” Verity said simply.
“You said she is terrified of this Vampire.”
“That’s true.” Olivia nodded.
“Then maybe there is a way to turn her fears to our advantage.” Elias smiled and Verity shivered. “I will think on it.”
“And in the meantime, I’ll speak to the king,” Verity said far more bravely than she felt. “In fact, I’ll go and seek an audience with him right away.”
“I’ll accompany you to the king’s chambers, my lady. I know of several ways to enter that are more discreet than the usual.” Elias bowed to Olivia, who disappeared, and then offered his arm to Verity. He patted her hand. “Be careful, Lady Verity. The king’s temper is most uncertain at the moment.”
“I am aware of that.” Verity forced herself to smile. “He is anxious about this business of an heir.”
“Indeed.”
Verity glanced up at Elias’s face as they walked through the deserted gardens and back to the well-lit palace. “Do you have children, Elias?”
“None that I know of still living, my lady. Obviously, there are those whom I have turned, but despite our blood connection I would not consider them my true family.”
“It must be hard to live for so long,” Verity mused, then hastily collected herself. “I’m sorry, Elias, I did not mean . . .”
Elias smiled at her. “Immortality has many sides to it, my lady, not all of them pleasant. But I fancy it is preferable to being beheaded by a slayer and left out to die in the daylight.”
Verity found herself smiling back at him. In all her imaginings she had never thought she’d make friends with a Vampire, let alone feel some sympathy for him.
Elias opened a side door that led directly into the king’s private inner chambers and nodded at the solitary guard. “Please tell His Majesty that Lady Verity Llewellyn wishes to speak with him on a matter of some urgency.”
He bowed to Verity. “Remember, if you feel any sense that the king is being influenced by Vampire magic, I suggest you withdraw your suggestions and leave quietly.”
“I will, Master Warner.” Verity curtsied. “Thank you for your help.”
“You are more than welcome, my lady.” Elias bowed once more and left Verity alone in the dark paneled entrance hall.
It took but a moment for one of the king’s gentlemen of the bedchamber to appear and smile at her appreciatively. “My lady? The king will see you in his bedchamber.”
“Thank you.”
Verity ignored the suggestive leer on the man’s face, pulled her cloak more tightly around herself, and followed him through a succession of deserted anterooms. She guessed the king’s gentleman assumed she was here for more lascivious purposes than warning the king about Vampires and could only hope he was discreet.