WINDKEEPER

by Charlotte Boyett-Compo

  "For the love of the gods, Conar! The girl probably has to pee!" Teal laughed. "Why don’t you go and hold her hand?"

  "It’s not her hand he wants to hold!" Rayle teased.

  "You watch your mouth, too, Loure!" Conar hissed, sending Rayle a heated look.

  "For the love of Alel, Conar. What’s gotten into you tonight? Leave off!" Legion warned. "Liza knows we are only jesting. We share all the respect in the world for our lady. Your churlishness gets bothersome at times." There was a hint of steel in Legion’s deep voice as he glared at his brother.

  Conar turned his head from Legion’s probing stare. What was wrong with him tonight? He felt a chill that could not be accounted for by the crisp weather. It was as though his soul was locked in the dreariest part of winter, bereft of warmth and companionship. He could almost feel the icy fingers of fate clawing down his spine and he shivered. His nerves felt on edge and his heart was heavy, although he knew not why. His thoughts went to Liza as he heard her scrambling among the bushes.

  She has a way of never answering my questions, he thought. Liza was infamous for her secrets. Even after a full year of acquaintance, he still did not know either her surname or her homeland. She came and went when she pleased with no regard to how he felt or how he worried about her. She came back to him like the first rays of sunshine after a drenching storm, all soft and warm. And when she left him, his days became dark and chilled until she returned.

  He tuned out his friend’s low voices. He wiped all thought from his mind until his breathing was slow and deep, rhythmic. His concentration leapt to a bright point of light he could see behind his closed lids. Not even realizing he was utilizing a concept he had been taught as a very small child at the Abbey, he let himself drift into a light sleep.

  She was there beside him in his slumber, curled lightly to his body like the other half of a matched bookend. He could smell her sweet scent of lavender, feel her hair tickling his nose. His arms closed around her, held her to him and he nuzzled her neck. Smiling in his sleep, he could feel her rump pressed against his manhood, inviting, offering, needing. He wiggled closer to her and sighed. If nothing else in his lifetime matched his moments with Liza, he would nevertheless be content.

  A stinging blow to his arm brought him instantly awake. He looked down in his lap and saw a small stick lying there. He looked up into three inquisitive faces staring at him from across the campfire. He didn’t see Liza and her absence put him immediately on guard. He glowered at the three men. "What?" he growled, anger heavy in his tone.

  "Is our companionship so dull that we put you to sleep, Milord?" Teal inquired.

  Conar ground his teeth. "You might say that."

  "He’s such a bear when he doesn’t get his beauty rest," Legion quipped.

  "We wanted to know if you would like to stay here near Iomal for awhile longer or head to Corinth and maybe see your little brother, Coron." Rayle wiped his nose on the edge of his blanket.

  "Where’s Liza?" Conar wanted to know.

  "Or we could go up to Ledo, although at this time of year the snows will have arrived," Teal reminded them.

  "I asked you where Liza is." Conar stood.

  "I give up!" Legion snapped, throwing his hands into the air. "Have you no thought beyond that woman?"

  "Where is she?" He took a step toward the blackened trees.

  "She hasn’t left, if that’s what you’re worried about," Legion snarled, turning away from the anxious look on Conar’s face.

  "Then where the hell is she?" He didn’t see the looks his friends turned to one another.

  A soft rustling from behind them made all four men turn in unison, their hands going to the daggers strapped to their thighs.

  When Liza’s soft murmur of aggravation came from the moving bushes, the men relaxed their guard, three sets of eyes going to Conar’s relieved face.

  As she emerged from the forest, Liza glanced at the men hovering over the fire, staring at her. "What’s wrong?"

  "Where were you?" Conar asked, his voice tight.

  "I went for a walk."

  "In the dark?" Conar snapped. "Alone?"

  "No," she quipped, putting her hands on her slim hips. "I had half the Elite Guard dancing attendance on me in the bushes!" She flashed a warning at him, for his jealousy always tended to infuriate her.

  "If I find any man dancing attendance on you, Lady…"

  Teal shot to his feet, intent on stopping the ugly scene he felt coming. He reached for Liza’s hand and pulled her close to his side, never realizing his actions only made Conar madder. "I have a request, Your Grace." He turned a bright, eager face to his Overlord.

  A momentary flare of red-hot rage flashed across Conar’s face, but he stamped it down, hiding it behind a grimacing smirk. "Your requests usually cost me dearly, du Mer!" he snorted and turned away from the sight of Liza in Teal’s arms.

  "You cut me to the quick, you do!" Teal pretended to pout. "And me about to solve all your problems for you."

  "Beware, Highness!" Rayle admonished. "When du Mer solves problems, he usually creates worse ones."

  "I know that well enough." Conar fixed Teal with a glare. "What is it you plan to do this time, gypsy? Lend me some more money to flee the country before I am shackled to Shaz’s Toad?"

  Liza laid her head on Teal’s shoulder. "I think he did that three months ago, Milord." She smiled as Teal placed a soft kiss on her brow. "Don’t you remember?"

  "How well I remember!" Conar snapped, his hands itching to tear Liza out of du Mer’s arms.

  "How was I to know the money was counterfeit?" Teal countered. "It looked real enough when I won it. How was I to know? I gave it all to you, didn’t I, Conar?" He pierced his Overlord with a hard look. "Well, didn’t I?" When Conar wouldn’t answer, he turned to Legion. "Didn’t I give your brother, my Prince and Rayle’s sovereign, my friend and yours, Liza, all the money I won that night?"

  Legion grinned despite his worry over the look in his brother’s eye. "You did give him the money."

  "Aye, he did," Liza confirmed.

  "He gave me the damn money all right, and when I went to use it to buy passage from Virago to Serenia, I was arrested quite promptly on the docks, as I seem to recall." Conar narrowed his eyes. "I did not like that gods-be-damned jail, du Mer."

  "We got you out, didn’t we?" Teal inquired.

  "After I had spent four hours in that rat cage!" Conar could not suppress the shudder that went through him. Confining places didn’t sit well with him any more than rodents did.

  "No harm was done," Liza said softly.

  "The only harm done was to his fierce McGregor pride." Legion scoffed.

  "Fine!" Teal snapped, drawing away from Liza and sitting morosely on the ground. "Curse me if you will. Defile me. Make me an object of your jest. I just won’t solve Conar’s problem then."

  "The best way you could solve my problem, du Mer, is to kidnap The Toad and wed her yourself to save me from her evil clutches."

  Liza laughed. "How about that, Teal? Can you do that for His Lordship, your Prince?"

  "Will you be serious?" Teal shouted, all his good humor erased.

  "I am being serious," Conar assured him. "That would be the biggest help any of you could give me." He glanced at Legion. "Or you could marry the bitch."

  "Hah!" Legion snorted. "Who do you think would look after Liza if I was shackled to some shrewish amphibian?"

  Conar blanched. He had tried hard not to think of what would happen after the marriage. It had been put off so many times over the months, he had ceased to think of it seriously. Now with the wedding rapidly approaching still once more, and no word of another postponement from Oceania this time, he found he was reluctant to deal with the problem of what to do about Liza. Giving her up was out of the question; keeping her with him would be difficult at best. "I’ll look to Liza," he mumbled.

  Legion groaned. This wasn’t going well. He glared at Teal. "What exactly is this plan of yours, du Me
r?"

  Clearing his throat, Teal bit his lip as Conar motioned for Liza to join him, reaching out his hand to pull her down beside him as he sat in front of the fire. Teal watched as the man nestled his lady in his arms and she turned an inquisitive face up to him.

  "Well, Teal?" Conar said. "Let’s hear your plan."

  Du Mer looked to Legion for guidance and it became apparent to Conar that the two men had already discussed what Teal was about to say. That in itself did not bode well.

  "Conar, you know well how much your brother and I love you, and you know there is not much we would not do for you."

  Conar swung his look to Legion. "Aye, I know." He returned his attention to Teal, his eyes narrowed at du Mer’s sudden nervousness. "Go on."

  Teal had the look of doom stamped on his dark face as he continued. "And you know we both love Liza. Only a blind man would not see how it is between the two of you."

  "I think what I feel for Liza is more than obvious," Conar agreed and looked down at Liza as she glanced up at him, smiling.

  "We think you would marry her if you could. Are we wrong?" Legion asked.

  Intently looking at Liza’s sweet, upturned face, Conar agreed. "You’re not wrong."

  Liza stared at him, her heart trembling against his arms. "Truly?"

  Placing the backs of his fingers along her cheek, he smiled at her. "Truly," he whispered and bent to place a light kiss on her lips.

  "But since you can not marry Liza and that damnable contract prevents you from keeping a mistress under penalty of corporal punishment, we are offering you an alternate solution."

  Conar frowned. He felt a cold hand grip his heart. "And that alternative being what, Teal?"

  Seeing Teal had exhausted his courage, Legion cleared his throat and spoke. "That you allow one of us, either Teal or myself, to marry Liza."

  Rayle had known what was coming, but he wasn’t prepared for the sheer force of Conar’s reaction. He groaned and pulled the blanket over his large head, screwing up his rubbery face.

  "No!" Conar exploded. He abruptly pulled his arm from around Liza and stood. His entire body quaked. "Never! Is that your idea of helping me, A’Lex? Neither one of you has the right to make such a suggestion!"

  "Then who does?" Legion asked, also coming to his feet. "Would you rather a stranger, someone we don’t know, someone we might not trust, take her to wed?"

  "No man will take this woman, but me!"

  "Then will you have her locked away somewhere? Barren of husband or child? Caged in that vile nunnery? Or do you plan to hide her and visit her when The Toad isn’t looking?" Legion’s angry face was suffused with disgust. "Will you have Liza live like that?"

  "What I do with her is my concern, not yours!"

  "Then you had best make a decision concerning her, now, Conar, for the days grow short!" Legion yelled.

  "Your days are growing shorter by the moment!" Conar warned his brother.

  "Fool!" Legion snarled. "You have to deal with this, Conar! The problem won’t go away because you wish it to!"

  Conar turned from Legion’s angry glare and stalked away, calling for Liza to join him.

  She looked to her friends, wanting to say something, but Conar’s shout stopped her and she hurried after him.

  Teal blew out a long breath from his aching lungs, not even aware he had been holding it through the exchange between the brothers. "Well, I can see we didn’t handle that well."

  "What now, Legion?" Rayle asked, pulling the blanket from his head.

  Legion’s shoulders slumped. "I don’t have any idea. He’s not going to willingly give her up and if Papa finds out, or Shaz, there will be hell to pay."

  "We’ll pay, too," Teal said miserably.

  "I wish you hadn’t said that," Rayle moaned.

  Chapter 20

  * * *

  Liza nearly collided with Conar as he stopped in front of her. She gasped with shock as he spun around and grabbed her upper arms in his hard grip.

  "They had no right, Liza!" he shouted. "No gods-be-damned right at all!" His back was to the moonlight so she couldn’t see his face, but his voice was filled with a deep, quivering rage.

  "They meant well, Milord," she assured him. "Now is not the time to be angry with them. They have your best interests at heart."

  "My so-called friends would not be vying for the woman I love!" He let go of her and turned his back, but not before she caught a glimpse of his face in a stray beam of moonlight. His jaw was clenched tightly together, his lips a thin, straight line.

  "Conar," she tried in a reasonable voice, "would you rather it be an enemy who takes me?"

  She saw him stiffen, but he didn’t answer. His back was like a brick wall to her.

  "Listen to me, Beloved," she tried again. "You have responsibilities to your family; to your people. Your life will not include me when you marry. You have always known that."

  Abruptly he turned and grabbed her arms. "You belong to me!"

  He jerked her roughly to him, her body slamming into his with enough force to knock the wind from her. "I will never let you go, Liza. Never!"

  His head swooped down and he slanted his punishing lips searingly across hers. It was as though he were trying to suck the very soul from her. His teeth ground into her lips, forcing them apart so his tongue could plunge deeply within her mouth. She moaned at the pressure, for she could taste blood on her lips. She wasn’t sure if it was his or hers. A hot, wild streak of passion turned in her lower belly as his kiss deepened.

  His arms went around her, pulling her even closer. She could feel the erratic beat of his heart beneath his silken shirt. He ground the lower portion of his body against hers, one leg forcing itself between her thighs.

  Liza dragged her mouth from his and put up a restraining hand, but he ignored it. "Conar, don’t."

  He made a low animal growl deep in his throat and began to lower her to the ground. He did not hear her feeble protests of denial, ignored her weak hands on his chest. Every inch of him tingled at the thought of possessing her, of placing his own unique mark upon his woman. He ached to fall on her like a rutting beast, to mate with her in a frenzy of passion, to impregnate her with the very essence of him, to quell the hunger that ripped at his loins. His mouth found hers, silenced her pleas.

  Liza was entrapped by his passion. She felt as though her body was engulfed in a furnace blazing with Conar’s desire. Her head arched back and he found the sweet beat of her pulse at the base of her throat.

  Hungrily flicking his hot tongue at the erotic indention at the base of her lovely neck, he heard her gasp of pleasure and his lips closed over the spot to suck and draw at the sensitive flesh.

  "I need you, Liza," he begged, tears in his voice.

  In answer, Liza arched her lower body up to his. She saw his head come up from her shoulder. A thick lock of long blond hair fell over his eyes and she reached a hand up to push it away. Moonlight fell over his face and she could see the sheen of tears.

  "You know I am yours, Milord," she told him, answering the unspoken question. "I shall always be yours." Her voice caught in her throat.

  Liza suddenly looked off into the forest as though she’d heard her name called. Her face paled.

  "Look at me, Liza!" he demanded. "Liza. Look at me!"

  "Oh, Conar," she mourned. "I hear…"

  His eyes filled with a hardness she had never before seen, made even more effective by the tears now unheeded down his cheeks.

  "By all that is holy, Liza," he swore, "you will always be mine. It is my voice you will heed!"

  "Do you hear it?" she asked, listening intently for the softly sighed name wafting through the trees. "Do you hear Them calling?"

  "I hear me speaking to you," Conar snarled, his face screwed into a line of unforgivable pain. "I am here. Here with you. You need no other!"

  Liza’s lips trembled, her body shuddered beneath his, for the voice was closer now, more insistent. "Conar, I must—"


  "No man will ever take you from me. I’d butcher any man foolish enough to try." His hands came from around her to bury themselves in the thickness of her long, jet-black hair. He held her face and locked his gaze with hers. "Do you hear me, Liza? You will listen to my voice and no other!"

  She blocked out the calling; would not heed the summons. She gave herself up to this man’s passion, to his need, to his hunger. "I hear you, my love," she whispered as his body began to claim hers.

  When it was over, when his lust was spent inside her and her arms cradled him as he slept, Liza lay awake, listening to the faint call that was her name, over and over again. "Awhile longer," she whispered to the still night. "Only awhile longer."

  "Liza," came the call, intense and prolonged on the night wind.

  She lay with him in her arms, gazing down at the tousled blond hair. In sleep, he looked so vulnerable, so like a lost little boy. His long lashes fanned the blush of lovemaking still on his high cheekbones.

  Now and again, he would smile, making her wonder what dreams made him do so. She stroked his bright hair and placed a feather-soft kiss on the top of his head.

  "Forgive me, my love," she whispered. "Please, please forgive me."

  * * *

  Teal and Legion sat staring into the campfire Rayle was stoking. The men had not spoken to one another for well over two hours, lost in their private thoughts. It was close to dawn, and Conar and Liza had not returned. The men had kept vigil all night and were tired and bleary-eyed, cold from the damp, chill fall air. They huddled closer to the fire, warming their hands, and listened to the eerie trill of a mourning dove.

  "That damn bird’s been at it all night," Teal snapped, hating the sound even more than usual. It was a spine-tingling cry that set his teeth on edge.

  "Ignore it," Legion remarked. He hunched his shoulders inside his great cape and blew on his cupped hands. "By the gods, but it’s cold."

  "I’ve been thinking," Rayle told them. "I think we should leave them alone. The wedding is in a few weeks, and if no postponement comes, they’ll want all the time they have can together."