Iliana sighed. "And this time I will recall each touch, each breath, each moment we spend together." She helped Erik as his fingers worked at the tie around her waist, and she wriggled her hips, pulling the linen shift up. She sat up, allowed him to pull it over her head and drop it at the bottom of the bed.
She shivered in the chill air, and he pulled aside the bed furs and nestled her down under their warmth. Quickly, he divested himself of his leggings and she opened the furs and he moved in beside her, pulling her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her.
He looked down at her. "Why do you frown?"
Iliana concentrated on the connection of their skin from breast to toes. "It is the first time I have remembered a man's strength enfolding me. It feels so right, so much a part of me, I want to never forget this moment. My soul sings for my own strength, but also rejoices in yours."
"We are well matched," he said.
She studied his face so close to her own, the green eyes intense as he brought her closer, and she pressed up tightly against him, winding her legs around his longer legs, heat rising unbearably inside. He rubbed his hard body against her softer one, and the friction made it difficult for her to breath. She wanted to feel all of him right now, without delay, but he took his time, his warm calloused hands tenderly tracing her body, making her shiver and jump as one hand moved up the tender skin of her inner thigh.
"Erik," she muttered, lost in a deep, heated sensation.
She clenched her legs tightly around his hand, then relaxed, lifting her head so that she might kiss his mouth. He dropped his mouth to her, lightly playing with her lips, tracing the contour of her mouth, and then Erik plunged his tongue into her mouth, again and again, his lower body likewise thrusting against her.
Iliana rode the sensation of heat and desire, craving his body inside hers until neither one of them knew where his hard body ended and her softer body began.
"Iliana," he murmured, kissing down over her neck, kissing her breasts, gently shaping them in his large hands. "So perfect," he murmured, "so perfect for me."
His lips moved down her body, and Iliana shivered at his teeth nipped ever so gently at her skin. She traced the contours of his skull, her fingers beneath his long blond hair, moving down to his shoulders, feeling the flex of his well muscled neck and shoulders.
"Erik, I want you inside me now," she whispered, and opened herself to him. She caught a quick indrawn breath, her eyes locked with his as he thrust inside her deeply. Iliana gripped him tightly with her arms, felt his big hands at the top of her hips, guiding her, thrusting inside again. A deep spiral began inside, a physical sensation that ran like wild fire all the way to her fingertips and the tips of her toes. Like a lightning shock, she felt the thrust of his body, touching a place inside so deeply and tenderly she began to shake. Sensation took over so that she was out of control.
Deeply emotional and trusting, they joined their bodies again and again. Iliana felt herself tense as sensation took over. Erik's arms, body... his scent wound evocatively around her, capturing her in body and heart.
"Erik."
His kisses fell upon her throat and she drew her head back, the tension unbearable and yet so ecstatic. When had making love ever been so wondrous and full of joyous delight?
"Iliana," he said, "come to me. Be mine, Iliana."
She squeezed him tightly as he came back inside her, and he groaned deeply. An incredible wave took her to new heights, her tension flowing into him, overtaking him also.
Iliana did not contain the cry that escaped, and suddenly as if separated from her body in a moment of true ecstatic coupling, everything came pouring back into her, as if the sea flowed into the beach, it all rushed into her mind, her memory. She saw his face, their time together aboard the sea vessel, standing together looking out over the sea.
It hit her with such incredible force, the joining of his body with hers, the flesh of one love calling to another, a final wild crest before they both fell back to the bed. Erik gave a muffled shout, his lips taking her once more as his body gave one final thrust. They both lay, barely able to move. The air grew even more chill on her damp skin.
Erik stirred himself, pulled the bed furs back over them because somehow they were now on top of the furs.
"Dearest Iliana," he said, tenderly brushing the hair back from her damp brow. Iliana felt as if she could not move, as if every bit of strength had left her body.
"I feel gloriously alive," she said.
She touched her palm to his shoulder and then down over his muscled chest. She shook her head in wonder and she smiled at him. "Erik, Erik."
She tried to hold back the flow of tears, but they erupted, and then came the deep sobs. For him, for herself, for everything she had forgotten or hidden even from herself.
Erik pulled her close, held her, comforted her with soft murmured words.
Finally, she looked up from his shoulder, which was now wet with her salty tears. But she smiled at him. "Erik, I remember. I remember it all." She shook her head and she gave a soft laugh, staring directly into his eyes. "How could I have forgotten our time together? How could I have forgotten you?"
"By all the saints, you have remembered," he said.
¤¤
Erik did not try to contain his grin. Against all odds he had found Iliana, and now she had remembered their time together, the short time that had been imprinted upon his mind and heart. She lay curled against him, her legs entwined with his, her soft skin responsive to his touch. Even now, he longed for her again.
"Erik," she said, sleepily. "I must return to my chamber. I must return to William."
"Lie still," he said. "I will bring William to you."
Erik rooted around on the floor and pulled his leggings back on and walked across the cold stone in bare feet. Even though it was the spring season, the nights were still cold and bitter. He left the chamber and Iliana, closing the door, her sleepy eyes watching him as he left.
He hurried down the hall and into her chamber, lifting a sleeping William with his covering from his warm little nest. The girl beside him stirred and he put a finger to his lips.
"Go back to sleep. William safely comes with me." And he left the room, carrying William in his arms.
He looked down at the child, his dark curls and long eyelashes so like his mother's. The baby stirred, opened his eyes for a moment, and forever caught Erik's heart when he gave a drowsy smile and said, "Da." And still with that smile he closed those green eyes and fell back asleep.
Erik entered his chamber and opened the bed furs to place William beside his mother. She smiled and snuggled the child next to her, then Erik lay down, pulling the furs around them in a warm cocoon.
"Now you may sleep," he said.
"Yes." Iliana, rising on an elbow, pressed her mouth to his warm lips in a lingering kiss. "Here I have all I need."
¤¤
John the storyteller had not come to the keep to tell his tales for a month or more and the children were excited to learn he would arrive to tell stories after the noontide meal. Iliana noticed even the men at arms stood idle after the meal, instead of returning to their warfare practice or sentry duty, as if they too were interested in hearing his tales. Iliana still thought it a good idea to employ a storyteller, but some of the stories she did find rather gruesome. The children, however, appeared to appreciate every gory detail with which they were regaled.
Early morn, Ulrich and Erik rode out with fifteen men to check word of suspicious camps in the forest to their south. Upon hearing that news, Iliana had been filled with fear. To the south were the three shadows her tapestry had shown. Such was the distance, she knew he would not return before nightfall.
Shortly after the noon meal, John arrived quietly and entered the hall, standing before the dragon tapestry, waiting for the children to gather in the hall. Before long the hall was filled, wide-eyed children sitting on the floors, men standing in the corners and even the cook and the girls clearing aw
ay the meal stopped in their duties to listen as he began his stories.
Iliana went about cleaning up the tables, listening as she came back and forth between the kitchen fire pit and great hall. The children sat in rapt awe, but again she did not care for the stories about dragons carrying children off to their caverns, where they let their young play with the children. It was left for the children listening to wonder if the dragons ate the children at story's end.
For Iliana, it felt too close to what could actually happen. And yet, watching John tell the tale, she could see he was a good storyteller and he enjoyed keeping the children guessing and listening intently.
After many stories, when it was time for him to go, he did not linger, for he had places to travel before nightfall. Iliana was not sorry to see him go. She noted he looked as if he might have been in another fight, for his left ear was bloody and bruised.
"Rowenna, you will care for William until I complete my tasks?" she asked the young girl as she re-pinned William's small brooch to his tunic.
"Yes, my lady. We will be in the garden with the other children."
Iliana kissed William's forehead before Rowenna took him outside. "Try to keep his dirty fists from his mouth," she called out, and Rowenna nodded. Poor William had a tooth just breaking through in his mouth and it appeared to be causing him much distress.
After completing her clean up chores, Iliana changed her linen tunic for a fresh one, this one in a deep blue the color of the sky over the hills.
As she left her bedchamber, out of the corner of her eye, a shadow seemed to move. She turned her head quickly, but all she saw was her life tapestry. She had not studied it for many days. The scenes quickly took shape, creating the story, and she smiled, seeing herself and Erik, then she noted the forest to the south where an attack was occurring, men clashing, falling off their horses. Distressed, she put a hand to her mouth. Erik. Quickly, she moved her hand up and then gently to the side of the tapestry, and the scene changed. William. A man carried William from the garden and traveled to where the red soil began.
With a scream, Iliana ran from the room. Frantically she ran down the stairs, almost falling on the stone steps. "Rowenna!"
The servants came running, and she cried, "Where is Rowenna? Where is William? Someone has taken him."
She ran outside into the garden. The children were gone. She ran toward the stone wall and climbed over it to get more quickly to the center of the garden. She found Edward lying on the ground, and Rowenna lying beside him, a deep purpling bruise on her forehead.
Iliana knelt down, felt others around her. "Rowenna, Rowenna."
The girl opened her eyes and looked around. "William?" she asked weakly. "He took William."
"Who?" She touched the girl's cheek, trying to contain the terror in her chest.
"The storyteller."
"Where?"
"Out the gate. Edward tried to stop him, but he was too strong."
Quickly, Iliana rose, turned to the women who had now gathered. "Please see to Edward and Rowenna." Iliana bit her fist. She ran out the postern door and outside the keep, her chest hurting, the sobs welling up inside. It had been mere moments in time. How far could one get in that time? "William! William!"
All the fields lay empty before her. Even the dry grass appeared undisturbed.
She ran back inside the keep, seeing the people gathered around, the worry on their faces, but they just stood there. "I need your help. You must help me find William!"
"Rowenna said he's been taken, my lady," whispered a young girl behind her. "The storyteller is bewitched."
"Mandrak." She heard that whisper too.
She looked around at the men and women. They were as helpless in their fear of what the sorcerer might do, as she now felt helpless with her child taken away.
Iliana turned in a circle. She felt dizzy. She had to get her child back.
"My lady Iliana, you should have listened to our counsel."
She whipped around and stared at the old witches who stood to her right in their tattered black robes.
"Mandrak wants the green gem. In return, your child."
Behind her stood another witch. Iliana advanced on them, spun in a circle. "You! All of you --" she spat. "Mandrak's scourge. Get out!" She ran and grabbed an iron poker with a large knobbed handle from the blacksmith's forge. She advanced on them, waving it at them threateningly. "Get out, I say. All of you, Mandrak's evil spawn. Get out of my sight and forever from this keep. I shall kill you all if you return." They backed away as if she'd gone mad and indeed Iliana felt as if she had.
As they scurried away, Iliana looked at the people who stood so helplessly, those she had tried to protect. "I have devoted myself these three years for your lives and you in return have been sheep in a field, hiding from a man who threatens you from a distance. I will no longer sacrifice William's life or my own for yours."
Iliana swayed, feeling as if she would fall down. She clenched her fists, but she wanted to curl into a ball. She had to find her son.
"A horse." She ran into the stables, led the spirited mare she favored from her stall. Using the mounting block, she climbed on the mare's back and swiftly they flew from the stable, into the courtyard and out the gates. There was no time to be lost.
Iliana pushed the hair from a face wet with tears. She blinked hard, then wiped her eyes for she could not see. She had to use her wits.
As she rode across the meadow, Iliana tried not to think about Erik who might now be wounded or dead. She knew the path she must take -- the muddy rut that ran to where the red soil began. She must go to the fighter dragon territory.
¤¤
It was quite simple in his disguise to walk away with the child. After all this time as a beloved storyteller to the children, who would suspect such a harmless one as him? He laughed as he looked down into the sleeping boy's face. Aye, who would suspect him as a child snatcher? With a wave of his hand, they disappeared into the air.
Chapter Eleven
Erik saw the rider coming fast and he could see the long skirt billowing across the horse's hindquarters. His heart caught in his throat when the rider drew nearer and he realized it was Iliana.
"Iliana." She drew her mount to a halt. Iliana's eyes were wild, her dark hair around her in a tangle. She had been crying and he felt a deep fear in the pit of his stomach.
"Iliana. What has happened?"
She tried to speak, her chest heaving.
"Tell me," he said urgently, dropping to the ground and moving to her horse. She fell into his arms.
"William is gone."
"The child? Who?"
"John the storyteller. He came today as he has done times in the past. After, the children were out playing in the gardens. He knocked Edward out and then Rowenna and took William. He is in league with Mandrak. The witches -- they demanded the green gem in exchange for William. My tapestry --" she could not stem the choking tears, "-- he has taken William into the red soil with the fighter dragons."
Erik looked back at the men at arms who remained in his troupe. "Ride to the keep. Gather every available man and begin a search. In the forest, along the village and beyond. Do not neglect to search each dwelling for the child."
He lifted Iliana back onto her horse. "Go back with these men and help in the search."
She shook her head, gathered the reins. "No. I must go to where the red soil begins." She nudged her horse away and urged the animal into a run.
Erik bit off a curse, knowing time was of the essence. There was no time for argument.
"Men, do as instructed. I will go to the red soil hills."
"My Lord Camdork, with Ulrich gone, who do we appoint as commander?" asked one of the men.
Erik looked at the oldest young man, steady of hand and not a hot head. "Albert, you shall be next in command."
"Aye, my lord." Albert bowed his head. "Godspeed."
Erik rode after Iliana. She rode her horse hard, but as he reached her she
let the mare slow to a trot. He rode up beside her. "Iliana, your horse cannot take a full day run. She is already blowing quite badly."
"I know." She took a deep breath. "I know. I have had time to think."
He knew this was better than the blind flight she had been focused upon. "Tell me," he said gently.
"There is something I saw only briefly when I realized William had been taken. The life tapestry showed the storyteller taking William, and there was a dark cloud around him. The first time I saw such a dark cloud is when the sorcerer and his witches appear on my life tapestry. I believe John the storyteller to be Mandrak."
"Describe him for me."
"Strangely piercing eyes if you chance to see them. Normally, he appears shy and looks at the ground. His eyes are a strange mix of color. One brown, one having almost no color. And today I noticed his ears were all bloodied, as if he had been in a fight."
Erik felt an immense pressure drop on his chest. It could not be. It could not be so!
"His name?" he asked grimly.
"He goes only by John. He appeared one day many months ago. He called himself a traveling storyteller. He asked for food in return for spinning tales. The children were entertained by his stories of far off lands, as were the adults. Early this morn he sent word he would come to tell the children stories. He had not been about for some months, but he used to come each time when the moon was full in the sky." She frowned. "But I did find him hunting early one morning as I returned from the sacred circle." She put a hand to her chest. "What if Mandrak has found a way to invade the circle? He may have powers beyond our understanding or reach."
"And Ulrich has ridden off," Erik muttered. "Supposedly to check a wider perimeter. We came upon signs of bloodshed, slaughtered horses, but no bodies otherwise. Perhaps Ulrich knows more than he speaks."
Iliana looked at him with wide eyes. "Ulrich is involved?"
"It may be so."
"Where is Ulrich?"
Treasure So Rare (Women of Strength Time Travel Trilogy) Page 16
