“Hello, Etan.”
“Hello, Amory. Tristan.”
Amory didn’t think he imagined Etan’s eyes lingering on Tristan for a moment too long. He fought back a smirk.
“Where are you two off to today?” Etan asked them.
“Tristan thought it would be a good day for a ride,” Amory told him.
Etan flashed a smile at Tristan. “It is that. Best to get as many in as you can now. The weather-workers are saying the rains will be starting soon.”
The late autumn and winter rains made for dreary, chilly days, and a miserable time to be outdoors, but at least they seldom had snow as the lands farther north did. Amory offered, “If you aren’t busy, you could come with us.”
Etan looked startled at the invitation. They were friends, but he and Etan seldom did anything without Philip or some of Philip’s other cousins present. Amory wasn’t sure why not. Perhaps the opportunity had never presented itself. He enjoyed Etan’s company, so it wouldn’t be a hardship to spend time with him, even if he really invited Etan because of strange, never-before-realized matchmaking tendencies.
Tristan spoke when Etan hesitated. “Yes, please do join us.”
Etan looked at Tristan, perhaps more startled than he had been at Amory’s original invitation. But Amory thought he looked pleased too. “All right. I’d love to. Thank you.”
They waited while Etan’s horse was saddled, and then set out from the palace, the three of them with two guards trailing at a discreet but not too great distance behind. Amory couldn’t imagine needing the guards, but Philip insisted, and he wouldn’t worry Philip. Tristan headed for a popular trail to the north of the city that followed the river and then looped inland and back to Jumelle, making for a picturesque and convenient ride. They used to ride this trail often, so Amory wasn’t surprised by Tristan’s choice of direction.
Amory let Tristan lead them, grinning when Tristan let his horse have his head. Etan glanced at Amory with a grin of his own, and they both hurried to catch up. For a time they rode like that, enjoying the speed and the freedom, but after a while, they slowed and rode at a more leisurely pace, talking easily. But Amory’s mind kept drifting, and Tristan and Etan became involved in a conversation of their own. When Amory noticed, he laughed to himself and dropped back to let them talk.
Soon, they approached the bend in the trail that would take them away from the river. He shivered as they took the turn and rode into the cool shade under the trees. There had been other riders on the trail along the river, but no one in the woods. Perhaps most people preferred the portion of the trail near the river on a late autumn day. It certainly was prettier, and warmer from being in the sun. The dense trees in the woods blocked most of the sunlight, leaving the trail in shade and noticeably chillier than the stretch along the river. The trail would eventually lead them back into the warmth of sunlight—out of the woods and to the city through some fields. In the spring and summer, the fields were filled with flowers and made for as pretty a ride as the river portion of the trail, but in the fall they were fairly barren. Etan and Tristan didn’t seem to notice the change. They continued to talk as they rode ahead on the empty trail. Amory let his mind wander again and enjoyed the quiet in the small woods.
A rider on a large black horse seemed to explode out of the trees at the side of the trail, rushing at Amory, swerving only at the last second to avoid colliding with him. Amory’s horse went crazy. He didn’t see where the other horse and rider went as he tried to control Star and keep his seat. He managed to keep Star from bolting, but that didn’t stop her from prancing and rearing and trying to toss him from her back.
He struggled with horse and reins, but he couldn’t calm her, no matter what he did, and finally, he gave up the fight. What he managed was more of a controlled fall than an actual dismount, but it did the trick. He rolled when he hit the ground, coming to rest off the trail in a pile of leaves and twigs. He lay there, stunned and breathing hard, grateful Star hadn’t trampled him and he hadn’t rolled into a tree. Still, he would be bruised later.
He began paying attention to what was going on around him again when Tristan fell to his knees beside him. “Amory! Are you all right?”
“Fine. I’m fine.” He struggled up to a sitting position, both Tristan and one of the guards, kneeling on his other side, putting hands out to help him. Etan was calming Star a little ways down the path. The other guard was missing. “What happened?”
“Did you hit your head? Do you not remember?” Tristan’s voice whipped out, almost frantic with concern.
“I didn’t hit my head. I remember what happened. I just don’t understand what happened. Where is that rider?”
The guard answered. “He rode back into the woods. It looks like there’s a smaller path that intersects this one here. Benno went after him.”
“Crazy person,” he muttered and moved to stand up. Tristan and the guard scrambled to help. Once he was on his feet, he took stock again. Yes, he was going hurt later. For the moment, he made sure he was steady and then brushed himself off. Tristan helped, pulling leaves from his hair. “Who rides so recklessly through a forest near a well-used trail where there are sure to be other people? Lunatic could get someone killed.”
He looked up when the silence stretched too long. The three others exchanged speaking looks. Amory looked between the three of them. “What is it? Someone tell me what you all know that I don’t.”
“It’s not that we know anything, Amory,” Etan said. He had gotten Amory’s horse calmed and stood near them, stroking Star’s neck and watching Amory.
“Well, then, what do you think?”
“Sir, I saw the rider come out of the trees. He rode directly for you. He only turned away at the very last instant,” the guard said.
For a moment, Amory didn’t understand what the guard was trying to tell him. When it occurred to him, he wanted to laugh because the idea was so ridiculous. “You can’t be serious. You can’t possibly think he did it on purpose.”
From the serious looks on the faces of all three men, they did indeed believe it. “Why would someone do that? It’s stupid and too dangerous for a joke.”
“We don’t think it was a joke, Amory,” Etan said.
“Then what….” He stared at Etan. “You think someone did this deliberately to try to hurt me.”
“It looked deliberate,” Tristan said, his musical voice more serious, and almost scared, than Amory had ever heard it. “You could have been killed.”
Etan broke in while Amory was still shaking his head and preparing to speak. “You could have, Amory. If you hadn’t managed to control your horse, you could have been thrown and killed or seriously injured.”
The look in Etan’s eyes, the tone of his voice, made Amory feel cold down to his bones. Was it possible Etan and Tristan were right? Had someone done it on purpose, to try to hurt him? “But why?”
Tristan shrugged helplessly, but Etan spoke. “I don’t know for sure, Amory, but you’re marrying the prince, and he has enemies. Whatever the reason, it happened, and now we need to be very careful.”
“What we need to do is get you back to the palace,” Tristan said, as Amory’s mind reeled. Could someone really hate him or Philip enough to want to kill Amory?
“Yes, sir, it would be best if we returned to the palace now.” The guard was focused on the woods around them, his gaze constantly moving. Looking for another threat.
Amory couldn’t quite believe what had happened, but he nodded. The palace was where he wanted to be at that moment—the palace and Philip. “Yes, let’s go home.”
Chapter 11
AMORY BARELY remembered the trip home. Everything jumbled together in a blur of images and anxious thoughts. Etan, Tristan, and the guard surrounded him as closely as they could on the ride back. It was no leisurely ride this time, nor was it the carefree gallop that took them out of the city and along the river. Amory felt the contrast keenly. Just as he felt the worry and fear of his
friends at his sides.
They thought someone had tried to kill him. He couldn’t believe it, but at the same time, the idea was absolutely terrifying. Someone might have tried to kill him. His mind kept coming back to that one thought, and then shying away from it with an immediate denial. Because it couldn’t be true. Why would anyone want to kill him?
Because he was the prince’s lover, and someone wanted to hurt Philip. Because he was marrying the prince, and someone didn’t want the marriage to take place.
He didn’t want to think about those kinds of things either. Because what happened couldn’t have been deliberate. He forced himself to hold on to that belief as he was hurried back to the palace. The guard pulled Amory from his horse and hustled him inside as soon as they pounded into the palace courtyard. The man didn’t stop once they were indoors either. He kept moving, hurrying Amory along until they reached his and Philip’s suite. The guard ushered him inside, Tristan followed, and then the guard closed the door behind them with himself in the corridor.
Moments passed in silence as he and Tristan stared at each other. Finally, Amory asked, “Where did Etan go?”
“To tell the prince what happened.”
He nodded, and sighed, dropping down to sit on the edge of a chair. “He’s going to be upset.”
“The prince is going to be terrified.”
Amory flinched at Tristan’s blunt words. They were true, of course. Philip would be terrified as soon as he heard what happened, what Etan thought happened. “What is going on? I mean, this can’t have been someone trying to kill me. It had to be some sort of crazy accident. No one would have tried to kill me.”
Tristan looked more sober and serious than Amory had ever seen him. He sat across from Amory and looked at him for a moment. “We can’t know that. It looked like he rode right for you. All four of us saw it. If he wasn’t trying to kill you, then he was definitely trying to hurt you.”
“I still can’t believe it.” Amory shook his head.
They fell silent. Amory leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees. Letting his head fall forward, he ran his hands through his disheveled curls. This could not be happening, and he could not be sitting there doing nothing. But he couldn’t figure out what else to do. He wanted Philip. He knew that much. Maybe they could make sense of it together, because he certainly couldn’t alone.
He jumped to his feet. He would go find Philip. He had only taken one step when the door flew open, and Philip strode inside. Fear gave way to utter relief on Philip’s face when his gaze landed on Amory. Philip crossed the room in a few long strides, pulled Amory into arms, against his chest, and held tight. Amory burrowed in, trying to get even closer.
“Amory,” Philip whispered into Amory’s hair, but said nothing more. Philip did keep holding him, which was all that was important to Amory. He was more shaken than he originally thought, which was disturbing in itself.
After a while, he realized the hands Philip ran over his back and arms and any other part of Amory he could reach weren’t only soothing him. They were checking him over for injuries, making sure he wasn’t hurt. And they were shaking.
“Pip,” he whispered. “I’m all right. I’m not hurt, I promise.”
“Etan said you were thrown.”
“I wasn’t thrown.”
Philip pulled back far enough to glare at him.
“I wasn’t exactly thrown. It was more a purposeful, not particularly graceful, fall.” He put a hand to Philip’s cheek. “The point is I’m not hurt. A few bruises maybe, but that’s all.”
“I want Jadis to have a look at you.” Philip shook his head when Amory opened his mouth to disagree. “It would make me feel better. Please.”
“What would make me feel better is a bath.” He grumbled, but he had already given in, and Philip knew it. He couldn’t refuse when Philip said please.
“I’ll draw you a bath as soon as Jadis checks you over. You can soak as long as you like, I promise.” Philip hugged him close again, and Amory winced. Philip’s arm had tightened against a sore spot on his back, but at least Philip hadn’t seen. He only would have worried.
A sharp rap on the door broke them apart but not by far. Amory didn’t let go of Philip, and Philip wasn’t letting go of him either. As Philip called out for whoever was at the door to enter, Amory looked around the room. Tristan was no longer on the couch, or anywhere else in the sitting room. He must have left while Amory and Philip were wrapped up in each other.
Jadis walked into the room with his bag in hand. Relief filled his eyes when his gaze fell on Amory. “Well, you don’t look badly off.”
“I’m not. But tell that to this one.” He smiled at Philip to take the sting out of his words, a soft smile he filled with all his affection.
“Perhaps the prince will believe you if I examine you.”
“Maybe then,” Philip said and caressed Amory’s cheek with gentle fingers.
“All right.” He gave in, knowing full well he had no choice if he didn’t want to make Philip worry more. Jadis was mercifully quick with his examination and gentle with the bruises and scratches decorating Amory’s skin.
“Well,” Jadis began, “just scratches and bruises. You’ll be sore, but nothing more serious. Your Talent has already started to speed up the healing process on its own, but you’ll heal faster if you use your Talent consciously as we practiced. I’ll leave you with some salve to apply as well. It will soothe the pain and help with the healing.”
“Thank you, Jadis,” Amory said and accepted the jar of salve.
“Yes, thank you,” Philip echoed. Amory stayed where he was while Philip walked Jadis to the door. Philip spoke with someone outside the suite before coming back in and closing the door.
“Can I have that bath now?” Amory hoped he didn’t sound as pathetic as he thought. The bruises were already stiffening him up, and though the pain wasn’t bad, he wasn’t comfortable either.
Philip held a hand out to him. “Yes, you get your bath now.”
True to his word, Philip prepared a steaming hot bath for him in the large tub, adding chamomile bath oil to the water. The scent alone relaxed Amory, or maybe he relaxed because he was alone with Philip. He began to take his clothes off, but Philip pushed his hands away gently and removed Amory’s clothes piece by piece, every movement loving. Then Philip took his arm and helped him into the bath.
“Join me,” he offered, but Philip shook his head.
“Not this time.” Philip placed a soft kiss on his lips, and pulled a low stool over to the tub. Sitting, Philip took the soap and a cloth to wash Amory himself.
He wasn’t injured enough to need so much care, but that didn’t mean the care wasn’t nice. In fact, the tenderness of Philip’s actions was more than nice. It left Amory melting and warm inside. So he let Philip take care of him, reveled in it, allowing it to soothe both of them. Finally, he sank down into the water to his chin and closed his eyes. Philip’s fingers trailed in the water and tangled with his, keeping them connected. Amory sighed, content with that simple action.
“Who were you talking to when Jadis left?” he asked after a while.
“The guard captain. The guard who chased the man who tried to hurt you, he hasn’t been able to find him. The captain sent more guards to help.”
Amory opened his eyes and focused on Philip. “You think it was on purpose. That someone tried to hurt me on purpose? Couldn’t it have been an accident?”
He wanted it to be an accident because the alternative terrified him far too much to contemplate. That someone would try to kill him… no, it had to be an accident.
Philip’s expression was serious, grave almost, and Amory knew what he was going to say. “From what everyone saw, it wasn’t an accident.”
“They could be wrong. It happened so quickly.” Amory was grasping at possibilities, and he knew it. But he wasn’t sure he could handle the idea of someone trying to kill him.
Philip shook his head and cupped his h
and around Amory’s cheek. His eyes filled with understanding and sympathy. “They weren’t wrong. Etan, Tristan, and the guards all saw it. And the guard who went looking in the forest found what looks to be an area where the person may have waited until you were at the right part of the trail.”
“It really wasn’t an accident. He was trying to kill me.”
Philip’s hands tightened on him, an anchor as his world tilted and spun. “Yes, he was, but we’re going to find him.”
Amory stared at Philip for a long moment, and Philip held his gaze, confidence in what he said there for Amory to see. The thought of someone wanting to kill him gave him the chills. He shivered despite the warm water.
“Come on. Let’s get you out of there.” Philip retrieved a large, soft towel, and helped Amory out of the bath. Philip dried him and wrapped him in the warm velvet dressing gown Philip had given him months ago. He should feel pathetic about all the fuss Philip was taking with him. He hadn’t been injured. But he couldn’t stop shivering, and he knew he needed the care, the demonstration of how much Philip loved him.
Philip led him to their bed. Amory was grateful he’d moved into Philip’s bedchamber with him. Without protest, he let Philip bundle him under the blankets although it wasn’t even dinner time. Then he lay there and watched as Philip stripped off his own clothes, tossing each item haphazardly over a chair. Naked, he climbed into the bed beside Amory and pulled him close. Only then, with Philip’s arms around him, did the shaking begin to ease.
But he had to ask. “Don’t you have to go? I thought you had meetings this afternoon.”
“Meetings can be rescheduled. I’m not going anywhere,” Philip said.
“I’m fine. I wasn’t hurt. We’re making too much of this,” he said, but he curled closer and rested his head on Philip’s shoulder. “It was probably nothing.”
“We’re not, and it wasn’t nothing. The guards are trained, and I trust their judgment. Someone tried to kill you today.” Philip’s voice went rough at the end, and Amory stroked a hand along Philip’s side. Trying to soothe even though his own mind spun again.
The Prince's Consort (Chronicles of Tournai Book 1) Page 19
