"As you wish." Erik sighed, feeling he'd just taken two giant steps backward.
As they continued on the path through the woods, he knew he could not leave things as they were, with words unspoken between them.
"Iliana, I did not mean to interfere."
"Then do not."
"Nor was my caution to you random."
"It matters not," she said quickly, her voice dismissive.
"It does matter. There were some in that group who may have itched for a fight, or a confrontation."
"You feared you might have to fight for us?" she asked indignantly.
"Not that. I would fight for you without question."
She stopped and looked at him, her surprise clear. "Then what?"
Patiently, he said, "I would not want you or the child caught in the middle of any fighting."
She stopped. "Most men would not worry over such a thing."
"Some men," he corrected gently.
She looked ready to argue, but then she suddenly blurted. "I have seen too much of men who ride roughly over a woman. And the law will uphold the man's right to do so."
He nodded agreement. "Whether a man has the right or not under the eyes of the law, it is another thing when his behavior goes against what he knows in his heart is right."
She stared at him, her eyes wide, then shook her head. "Men do as they will and expect to be obeyed."
"That is not how I wish to treat a woman." He regarded her seriously. "That is not how I wish to treat you."
They had reached the postern door, but now she hesitated.
"I have told you that we have met before," he said.
Her expression became guarded. She pushed open the postern door and looked up at him.
"Did you give Agnes the carved animals to hurt my son?"
"No."
"Did you kill Agnes?"
"No."
She took a deep breath, shook her head. "I want -- how can I believe you?" She appeared to struggle a moment, her mouth in a straight, determined line. "You speak of a ship -- but I remember no ship," she said.
"And I would help you remember," he said urgently.
She looked around, hesitated. "Meet me later tonight after the house has quieted."
"Shall I come to your chamber?"
"No," she said quickly, "There are always ears to hear. Meet me at the far edge of the courtyard by the twisted trees. The trees create a natural arbor. Do you know of where I speak?"
"Yes."
"I warn you, if your news is not of my liking, I will not stay overlong."
Erik grinned. "Well, it is my guess you may be intrigued by what I have to say. Good day, Iliana. Until later."
Eric closed the door behind them and leaned against the sturdy wood. "My Lady Iliana?" he called.
She turned back.
"Thank you for the day." He smiled and saluted her. Quickly, she turned and hurried from him, but not before he had seen her fleeting smile.
¤¤
Iliana paced the floor in the great hall, then began to help clear the tables for the next day's meal. Her mind was heavy, her thoughts racing.
She planned to meet Erik despite her fear and the warnings inside her head. There were too many things which did not make sense to her. The late afternoon and evening had been long and filled with arduous tasks. Despite her reservations about the man, she had enjoyed the festival. For a few short moments, she had forgotten her worries and she had forgotten why he was here.
The afternoon had turned sour when she had lost sight of William for those tense moments. She had suffered a terrible panic, feared him taken, even though she had always trusted Rowenna. Rowenna, after all, was the daughter of Thomas the carpenter, a family long associated with the keep.
Iliana worried about the men-at-arms encamped in the courtyard and outside the walls. Only this evening she had learned of the death of another young girl in the village. Only fifteen, she had been the oldest daughter of a family that had lost a mother only last spring. The girl had been found drowned in a swamp on the edge of the village. It may have been a terrible accident, but she feared it was not.
Iliana walked up the stairs, down the darkened corridor and made her way to her chamber. William had been put down to sleep over an hour ago and she needed to see him undisturbed before going to meet Erik. In truth, she was feeling bone tired tonight, but knew she dare not put this off for the morrow.
She opened the door and quietly entered her chamber. The young girl Matilde lay next to her son on a pallet on the floor. She lifted her head when Iliana leaned over William's cradle.
"He sleeps my lady."
"Where is Rowenna?"
"She will return in the morning, my lady."
"Rest. I will return within the hour."
The girl lay back upon her pallet. Iliana lifted the candle on the dressing table and moved closer to her life tapestry. Not unexpectedly, the tapestry showed in vivid detail the festivities of the day, little William in her arms, and Erik with his double shadow. But something else she noted deeply disturbed her. There was a dark shadow lurking in the forest beyond the festivities. She moved her hand over the silken threads, and an area further beyond the festivities came into focus.
She put a hand to her mouth to stifle her gasp of shock. Beyond the trees lay swampland, sprawled at the edge of the green abyss. A trail of blood led back to the forest shadow. Gently, Iliana touched the woven threads, watched the colors rearrange and swirl into a new placement.
A cloud surrounded the shadow, its texture dense and dark. Leaning in for a closer inspection, Iliana began to see faces take shape in the dark cloud; faces expressing anguish and terror. Quickly, she stepped back, waving her hand over the cloth to wash away the faces of the poor souls.
Greatly disturbed, she retraced her steps to the great hall below, moved quietly through the thick wooden door and made her way across the courtyard. None would follow her to the trees, mainly due to superstition and fear over their strange and twisted shapes. She knew the circle held vast amounts of energy, and that energy could be harnessed so that one might see worlds beyond the present. For Iliana, it represented a gateway. She had visited the circle as long as she had been in this time, but even she did not know its full power.
She entered the trees where the limbs bowed and created a natural opening for her to slip through. In the moonlight the limbs seemed to welcome her. She stepped inside and sought the stone to sit upon. She was certain Erik would be occupied with his horse in the stable for a little while. Iliana took note of the softly pulsing white light all around her.
She closed her eyes, feeling the familiar sensation of lightness, her body as weightless as a feather as she slipped through the fabric of time and the constraints of gravity.
Chapter Eight
She lay so still, Erik feared she was dead. He hurried to Iliana, placed an arm under her shoulders and lifted her from the ground where she lay. Instantly, a jolt of heat coursed throughout his entire body, then a deep lancing pain traveled up the almost healed scar of his relatively new wound. The sensation was not pleasant, and he struggled not to drop her.
His mind was invaded by a barrage of images, people and places flashing across his eyes. He staggered, then sat on the natural stone bench, Iliana in his arms.
Her body jerked, and then she sat upright, pulling away from the shelter of his arms. She came to her feet, then at once sat back on the stone beside him. As soon as her body left contact with his, the images abruptly ceased. Erik shook his head, trying to rid himself of the unsettling whirl of images.
"What the devil was that?" he demanded, putting a hand to his forehead.
"My Lord Erik --" Shaky and uncertain, her voice was a mere thread of sound. "Surely the time is not right for us to meet." She rubbed her eyes. "Why have you come so early?"
"It was time, or so I thought." Erik brought his face closer to hers in concern. "I came here and thought you injured or ill."
Iliana
looked shaken and disoriented. "Never have I felt this way before." She looked around, her eyes wide in panic at the faint glow of pulsing light. "You are inside the sacred circle. H-how do you come to be in here?"
Erik watched the strange light begin to dim. "I don't know about a sacred circle. I came through the trees to find you lying on the ground. You were white and cold as ice."
"You touched me."
Erik surged to his feet. "I thought you were injured."
"Please forgive me. I am not quite myself."
"Something strange occurred when I touched you."
"What?"
"It was a jolt, a shock to my body, and I was suddenly overwhelmed with images, people's faces and places."
Carefully, Iliana said, "What kind of places?"
Erik shook his head. "It is difficult to comprehend, much less give an explanation. It happened so quickly. When my hands no longer touched you, the images ceased. There were battles, people crying out, babies being born."
Iliana stared at him in fascination. "This is strange," she muttered. "How could you possibly see these images?"
"One scene is clearer than the others. Many are fighting. Two men fall, a third hurries to their side and he too falls."
Unable to contain herself, Iliana gave an anguished cry. "Three years I have tried to see, three years I have sought the truth of that day. And now you see it. How can that be?" Clearly agitated, she moved away from him, toward the opening in the trees.
"Come, Iliana, be cautious. We might be easily seen from the castle walls. Tell me," he urged, daring to catch her hand and pull her back into the circle's center. "Tell me the significance of what I saw."
Iliana spoke in an anguished voice. "It was Sir Robert and his two trusted men, all fell during a skirmish."
"I am baffled and surely it was like a dream. How could I witness such an event?"
"Many things are possible in the sacred circle. It occurred a little over three years ago. Sir Robert was brought back home to Dutton Keep for burial."
"This is your family?"
She turned from him, bowed her head.
"I am lady here, am I not?" she replied evasively. "Sir Robert was once the greatest knight in this realm but he died during a battle where many lost their lives. The day Sir Robert died, many secrets died with him."
He nodded in somber reflection. "I understand how keenly such loss must ache."
"I am alone in this," she whispered. She put her arms around her waist. "How I have longed for comfort but dared not seek it."
Erik dropped to the ground, leaned his back against the stone bench and drew up one knee. "Tell me how this happened," he urged.
Iliana moved restlessly, pushed the hair behind her ears. "I cannot shake this uneasiness that dogs me most days." She stared at him piercingly. "Sorenta tells me I should not still think of it, yet I cannot seem to let the images go. There are also other memories that slip in and out. At times, I fear insanity. I feel as if I have lived another life." She looked at him sharply. "Many things are not as they seem in this world."
Erik grinned ruefully. "True. Dragons in the sky, wood carvings that come alive. The next thing," he said, humor creeping into his voice, "you will tell me there are unicorns throughout the forests."
Iliana stared at the tree limbs sheltering them. "Nay, only one grand unicorn."
Erik sat up straighter. "One?"
She looked at him, waving a hand as if unicorns were of no importance right now. "I am gifted with certain knowledge. I can see the future, sometimes I am permitted to shape it so lives are not lost, but there is no way to control what knowledge comes to me. Since my son William was born, I am almost afraid to come here. In this trance when I travel to other places I fear not being able to return. Should I be lost to my son, it would surely kill me."
"Make me understand what you do and what you see."
She stared at him for long moments. She bit her lip. "Time enough for that. Tell me again your name again."
"Erik Marcus Remington."
"Begin with the ship you sailed through time, and be exact in the telling -- this life you claim as Erik Remington."
"I used to live in New York in America. Across the sea from England. I lived most of my early life at sea, save the years after I met my brother Darien. He persuaded me to try land living for a time. After Darien left, I went back to the sea. My crew and I do salvage diving. We dive to shipwrecks off shore in east coast waters."
"For treasure?" she asked, sounding intrigued.
He nodded. "Gems, coins, jewels and gold that went down with the ships. The coast is littered with such wrecks." Erik smiled. "I have quite a stash of gold buried, you know." He stared into her blue eyes. "If ever I make it back, I will go and dig it up."
"And this brother, Darien, you said he and his wife are gone?"
"It is an involved story. Suffice it to say I knew my brother a mere fifteen years. We found each other quite by accident. My father did not believe in wedding the women he loved, and he loved many. Darien was six months younger than I. We were half brothers."
"You speak in the past?"
"I think of it in the past, but I am no longer sure what is past and what is present. My brother has traveled far -- to another time and into the future." Erik watched for her reaction.
Iliana watch him as if transfixed, a strange half smile parting her lips. "It is a fantasy tale," she finally whispered.
"Perhaps." He sobered quickly. "Many times I have wondered did they reach their destination safely. I have shared with you something I expect never to tell another living soul."
"What is your time?"
"1844 is the time you came to me aboard the Merry Maiden."
Iliana frowned. "I have seen many places --" she hesitated, then shook her head.
"Do you recall anything of our time together?" he asked, unable to contain his eagerness.
To his disappointment, she shook her head.
"Near the end of a hot, blistering summer, I awoke one morning, and there you were."
"Someone who looked like me."
"You," he said. "I have no doubt it was you."
"Go on."
"You lay in my bed beside me." As he said the words he saw her again, naked in his bed, her arms beckoning him to come taste what she offered. "Needless to say I was intrigued. You were full of laughter and light, a beacon on my ship for those seven days and nights."
Iliana's shoulders slumped. "Nay, you have me confused with another. It is a long time since I have felt capable of carefree laughter."
"It was you." Erik insisted. He dared to reach out a hand and cup her cheek. "You alone -- with your long dark hair, lustrous upon your naked shoulders."
She caught her breath, her hand up to her throat.
"We made love." His voice dropped to husky remembrance. "We barely left the cabin for those seven days. I haven't been able to get you out of my mind."
Iliana stared at him, as if mesmerized by his words. "Erik Marcus Remington." She said his name as if trying it out on her tongue.
He held his breath, hoping something would suddenly come to her memory.
She shook her head, sadly it seemed. "There is no memory."
Erik looked up at the dark sky. "I know it was you. I have searched --"
She looked at him with wide eyes.
"Yea, I have searched the seas for three years, hoping to find you." He laughed, but there was little humor. "My dark-haired sea witch. I began to think I'd been enchanted by the sea sirens, endlessly searching for a woman who did not exist." His green eyes held hers. "But then I arrived here and I find you."
"Tell me of this vortex."
Erik sighed. "We sailed across the ocean through the Sargasso Sea. There were water spouts shooting from the sea up to the sky, and suddenly we were being drawn into a great whirling pool of water, a hole, if you will, that opened in the sea. We were sucked in fast and somehow came out on the other side, just off the coast of England.
It is not possible to cross an ocean so quickly -- except by some supernatural force. My ship the Merry Maiden has been a faithful, sturdy ship all these years, but she brought me to the coast and we were pulled into a sand bar, chained in the water, unable to sail away."
"And how do you come to be here? A band of rebels bent on taking land that does not belong to you?"
He hesitated and he felt her body tense. "As we sat there so helplessly, we were captured and forced to shore." How much could he safely tell her?
"By who?"
"Mandrak. He's the one who brought me here." At her outraged gasp, he said quickly, "Give me a moment to explain."
"There can be no explanation. You were brought here by the man who would see all of perish." Iliana stood and ran from the sacred circle.
¤¤
Ulrich watched Lady Iliana hurry across the moon-washed courtyard. He continued to sharpen his knife, and as she passed by him, her eyes met his for a fleeting moment. Even in the moonlight he could see the surprise and perhaps fear on her face. He wondered that she was about so late at night, but in truth he knew it was none of his business, though Mandrak would want to know.
They were all here at her continued patience. He saw the pretender follow behind her, and he frowned, pausing a moment with the sharpening stone. Aye, trouble brewing there if that one thought to trick Mandrak out of something he wanted.
Ulrich rose from his wood stump, putting aside his knife and sword, and stepped into the path of the pretender, causing him to stop.
"Ulrich?" the pretender said. "You are on watch. Good night to you." He went to hurry on his way but Ulrich put a hand on his chest.
"Maybe not so good a night. Why are you following the Lady Iliana?"
"None of your business," the other man said quite pleasantly.
Ulrich grinned, though not amused. "It is my business. I am here to make sure you remain out of trouble and do as you are bid."
"But I am doing exactly as he wanted me to do." The pretender scratched his head and looked at Ulrich. "And of late I ask myself, why would you throw your lot in with Mandrak? By all accounts he is a murderer fueled by greed who steps on all who get in his path."
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