The Most Loved of All

by Tinnean

  “What? What are you talking about? You can’t leave. I won’t let you.”

  “But…It’s my fault. I hurt you, and I never meant to do that.”

  “Roddy, I didn’t say my arse hurt—I said I was sore—my whole bloody body. An entirely different connotation, don’t you know? I understand what you were trying to do, and hurting me was not a part of it. What happened in the temple was…extremely unusual.” He peered at me over his shoulder, and I knew he could see I had trouble accepting his casual attitude toward what I had done to him. He sighed. “Very well, love, if you’re going to carry on so…will you just promise never to bugger me in front of a mob of crazed Egyptians, ever again?”

  “Of course!” I was insulted that he even thought it necessary to make such a request. And then I realised he was teasing me. “Oh.”

  He leaned his head back and pressed a kiss that wound up at the corner of my mouth. “I forgive you, love.” He gave a tired laugh. “Just don’t let me hear anything more about you leaving me.”

  “Very well.” The tension that had tied my gut in knots eased, and I drew him deeper into my arms.

  * * * *

  We were halfway back to Greenbriers when the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost came bursting forth out of the mist that concealed the road. The vehicle skidded to a halt, and Lady Genie flung open the passenger door, not waiting for the chauffeur to come around and open it for her.

  I stared at her stupidly. She wore a dressing gown, her hair hung down her back in a single long, pale braid, and she was carrying a hunting rifle that looked all business.

  And coming up the road hard behind her seemed to be all the men of the household, mounted on horses or riding in carts.

  “Good God, what are you wearing?” And then her lips parted in shock as the early dawn revealed her son’s bruised face and blood-soaked hair. “Thomas!” Her attitude became brisk. “Get him into the Rolls, Roddy. I’ll have Ware drive us directly to Dr Cliffe.”

  “Don’t fuss, Mother,” Tommy said wearily. “I’m a bit battered, but I’ve been in worse shape. I just want to get home, all right?”

  Tears welled in his mother’s cerulean blue eyes, but she refused to let a single drop fall as she looked up at me for assurance.

  “He’ll be fine given a bit of time,” I murmured. “Hold tight, Tommy.” I shifted my weight and cautiously dismounted, taking care not to jostle him. I just barely stopped myself from grimacing at the protests my own muscles were giving. Mindful of the men surrounding us, I bit back the endearment I would have used—could have used, since my lover had given me permission to stay. “All right, come to me now.”

  He freed his feet from the stirrups and looked down at me, his smile telling of his trust in my care. He closed his eye and slid out of the saddle and into my arms.

  “Roddy, I want you in the back seat, keeping Thomas steady.”

  “Yes, milady.” I would have protested, but the thought of being with Tommy in that enclosed space was too great a lure to resist. “Behave, Anubis,” I ordered sternly as I handed the reins to a groom. And then I didn’t give the gelding another thought as the men helped me ease my lover into the roomy back seat of the luxurious vehicle and make sure he was comfortable.

  Just before Lady Eugenia got into the front seat, she turned to another of the grooms. “Merriott, ride to Dr Cliffe’s and make sure he comes to Greenbriers as soon as he can.”

  “Yes, milady.” The young man hurried to his mount and galloped off into the mist that still lingered over the road.

  “Roddy?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” I climbed in beside Tommy, and the groom who had shut Lady Genie’s door shut mine. “How did you know we needed help?” I asked once she settled herself in the front seat and after Ware set the vehicle in motion.

  “One of the grooms found George outside Hubini’s stall, pacing restlessly. At first he thought it was because he’d somehow managed to get free, but when he saw Anubis nowhere in sight, he woke the household. Foster alerted me that something was amiss, and I went in search of you and Thomas. When neither of you could be found, I knew something dreadful had happened.”

  “Woman’s intuition, Mother?”

  “Of course. Especially given last night’s disastrous dinner party. I sent out the staff to search the area, then got your father’s hunting rifle and came out to search for you myself. Never underestimate a mother’s love for her son.”

  “I love you, too, Mother.”

  “He has to be all right, Lady Genie.” I cradled my lover against my chest, trying to absorb the worst of the bumps the car drove over.

  “Of course, Roddy. He wouldn’t dare be anything else.”

  “I’m not dead, Mother,” Tommy complained. “You needn’t speak as if I weren’t here.”

  “My precious boy. Of course you aren’t dead. I’d kill you if you were, frightening me like this.”

  He gave a sputter of laughter and sank into my embrace, closing his eye with a sigh.

  Merriott must have broken all kinds of speed records, and so must have Dr Cliffe, because by the time we came to a stop in the drive, the doctor was waiting for us, standing next to a sporty little vehicle. One encompassing glance after I got Tommy out must have told the physician most of what he needed to know.

  “I want him in his own bed. From the look in his eye, he may be concussed, and if you don’t want him tossing up his accounts, you’ll be careful how you carry him,” he said to me.

  “I’m not a child,” Tommy asserted petulantly. “I don’t need to be carried.”

  “Have it your own way, but Mr Sayer, I advise you to mind where you place your feet, lest he vomit on your boots.”

  “Yes, sir.” I slid an arm around my lover’s waist and helped him up the stairs to the room we shared. I steered him toward the bed and urged him to lie down. Because of the upset to the household, none of the normal tasks had been accomplished, and the bed still looked as if it had been a battlefield.

  “Thomas always was a restless sleeper, Dr Cliffe,” Lady Eugenia offered coolly.

  The doctor cocked an eyebrow at her and simply said, “Mmm hmm.” He curled his lip at the clothes Tommy wore. “Strip him out of those, if you please.”

  I removed the shirt and trousers and left them lying on the floor. I’d already seen the livid marks that covered my lover’s ribs, but the doctor’s lips tightened at the sight of them, and Lady Genie made a distressed sound.

  “You really shouldn’t be here, my lady,” the doctor said, and she turned pale.

  “What do you think you’re going to find?”

  He must have known she wouldn’t leave until he told her. His mouth became a grim line. “These bruises on his hips worry me.”

  I felt a blush ride up my cheeks, and cleared my throat. “I’m afraid those were my fault.”

  “Yes,” Tommy said. “Roddy had to manhandle me a bit to get me out of that cellar. Were you ever down there, Mother?”

  “No. Unlike my son, I never had reason to be.”

  “Mother?”

  “Warrick’s mother was quite vocal about how often the two of you were either up in the attics or down in the cellars.” She sighed. “Lady Helena detested the cellars.”

  “You weren’t missing anything. It’s a cramped, confined space—”

  I stared at him. What was he talking about? The cellar was huge.

  “—and the staircase resembles something out of The Count of Monte Cristo. Roddy?” Tommy saw my confusion, and that seemed to fuel his own confusion.

  Dr Cliffe accepted his explanation. He carefully ran his fingertips over Tommy’s sides, and finally gave a relieved exhalation. “Nothing seems to be broken. Let me see to this scalp wound, now.” He parted the tangled locks, peered intently at the injury, then straightened with a wry grin. “I always said Thomas was the hardest headed of your children, Eugenia. He has a lump the size of a turnip, but it’s already stopped bleeding. He doesn’t even need stitches this time.”
r />   A single tear finally overflowed, but that was all Lady Genie permitted herself. “Thank you, Freddie. I was so worried.” She stood tall.

  The doctor smiled at her, and I wondered about their relationship. But then he said, “Thomas will need to rest for a day or so. A hot bath should soak away most of his aches.”

  “I’ll run one right away.” As I hurried into the bathroom, I noticed the odd glance the doctor sent my way. I could hear them talking as I inserted the plug, turned on the taps, and adjusted the water temperature. Then I returned to the bedroom.

  “Freddie, we must have taken you away from your breakfast,” Lady Genie was saying. “Let me get you some tea.”

  He gave me another look, and then followed her out the door.

  “All right, Thomas.” I removed his eyepatch and placed it on the bedside table. “Into the bath with you.”

  With a groan, Tommy let me help him into the bath. He eased down, and for the first time I saw his back. I began to swear.

  Tommy listened in amazement at what came out of my mouth.

  “Roddy! Oh, I say, love. I didn’t even know you knew words like that.”

  I wet a flannel and carefully began to wash the blood that had dripped down onto his face and neck and dried. “I lived for over eight years with a man who was not only in the British army, but who ran a riverboat on the Ruzizi from Limbasi to Udjidji. Of course my vocabulary expanded.” My hands were gentle, but I had to struggle to keep them that way. “My poor Tommy. For what he had his men do to you, he should have died harder,” I added softly.

  “Ammon Runihura? Well, he was not pleased with me, if you’ll recall. By the by, how did he die?

  “With his plans turned to ash.” I had no intention of telling him the high priest had been split in two from the crown of his head to the empty space where his prick and testicles had been. “Lean forward. I want to wash your hair.”

  The bath water had turned pink by the time I was done, but his hair was once again clean. I drained the water, then dried his hair as we waited for the bath to refill.

  “All right, sweetheart. Kneel up for me, now, and let me ease your…er…” I stroked the flannel between his buttocks.

  Tommy leaned against the rim of the bathtub, and gazed at me over his shoulder. “At least you spared me the embarrassment of getting my arse buggered by a statue. Mmm,” he hummed. “I could think of another way for you to ease my…er…” He cocked an eyebrow at me.

  “No, that’s the last thing you need right now.” I moved the soapy cloth away from that tempting area and to his hips, where I saw the deep purple prints my fingers had left. I winced.

  “I’m getting you all wet.” Tommy rested his cheek on his forearm, his weariness obvious.

  “Doesn’t matter. I intend to have these clothes burned, and the ones you were wearing as well.” I rinsed him off, and then, finally done, I assisted him out of the bath and wrapped him in a fluffy towel. “Bed now, and I’ll make sure Mrs Rivers has something tasty for when you wake up.”

  “You’re all the something tasty I’ll want.”

  “You sweet-talker, you.”

  The bed had been straightened while we were in the bathroom, and I saw him settled into it before I stripped out of the guard’s clothing.

  “Roddy? Don’t you think you need to rest, too?” His eyelid was already growing heavy, and when he tried to pat the space beside him, he missed and wound up pawing the empty air.

  “In a bit, sweetheart.” I stooped to kiss his cheek, then hurried into the bathroom for a quick wash.

  * * * *

  I stepped out of the bath and used Tommy’s towel to dry myself off. I’d also brushed my teeth and used the toothbrush to scrub my tongue and mouth. That felt so much better—I felt so much better. I loathed the memory of the Egyptian’s hands on me, of his tongue in my mouth and the copper taste of his blood after I’d bit off a good portion of his tongue.

  I’d had to bite down on my back teeth to keep from vomiting.

  I returned to the bedroom and pulled on a pair of my own trousers and a shirt of Tommy’s.

  He rolled onto his side, and I brought the covers up over his shoulder. “Love you, y’know, Roddy,” he murmured softly.

  I froze, but his breathing had evened out into sleep. I lifted that soft, white-blond hair off his neck and pressed a gentle, open-mouthed kiss to the sensitive skin. “I love you, too, Tommy.”

  Lady Genie was just coming up the stairs when I stepped out of our bedroom and closed the door behind me, the used clothing in my arms. She raised an eyebrow.

  “He’s sleeping.”

  “And why aren’t you, may I ask?”

  “I need to speak with the doctor. I think your son’s head wound is worse than we thought.”

  She paled. “What’s happened?”

  I ran a distracted hand through my hair. “He said he loves me.”

  “Dear boy, is that all? Of course he loves you. I’ve known almost from the first time he mentioned the young man he’d pulled out of Lake Tanganyika how highly he thought of you, and when he finally brought you here, it became obvious to me how much than that it was.”

  “Sorry?” How could she have known such a thing?

  “Ah, Roddy, you made quite an impression on my son when he first met you. And when he returned to complete his recuperation after he lost his eye, all he spoke about was the lad who had sunk the Marie Christine.”

  I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks. “Charlie Pearson did that, milady. I just went along for the ride.”

  She patted my cheek. “Of course. And then, after that silly twit with whom I tried to pair Thomas proved to be such a disappointment, he asked me not to try my hand at matchmaking anymore, because he rather fancied he had left his heart in Africa. At first I feared it was with that poor sergeant of his.”

  “Well…well, he did care for Sergeant Cutter quite a bit.”

  “Yes, he did. But I believe he cares for you even more. Now, why don’t you give me those horrid clothes and get some rest. Mrs Rivers has promised all Thomas’s favourite foods, and if there’s anything in particular you would like, dear boy?”

  I was totally dazed. “Oh, no, thank you very much. I’ll have whatever Tommy has. I just…I think I will take a nap.”

  She beamed at me, stood up on tiptoe, and kissed my cheek. Then she went back down the stairs, holding the clothes away from her. I stifled a laugh. I couldn’t blame her—whoever they’d belonged to apparently hadn’t believed in bathing. The clothes were…odoriferous.

  I went back into the bedroom, stripped off the clothes I’d just put on, and climbed into bed with…with the man who had just said he loved me. I didn’t need to sleep, however. I would just lie there next to him, breathing in his scent, and marvel at my great good fortune at finding in my life two such wonderful men to love.

  I wasn’t going to fall asleep at all…

  Chapter 26

  “Teremun.”

  “Yes, Lord Anubis?” I turned to face the dark god of the underworld. This was the moment for which I had been waiting…dreading. I owed the god even more than I had first realised, for not only had he spared my other self’s love, but he had managed to keep that love from being damaged when the three of them—us—them—made love in the high priest’s temple.

  “I granted your request—the life of the man your other self loves. And in exchange you will willingly surrender to my desires?”

  I bowed my head toward him. “Yes, my lord.”

  He tipped up my chin, and I met his black, fathomless gaze. “You will take me into your body?”

  In response, my hands went to my kilt. Hadn’t I given my word? I unfastened the silver cloth, letting it drop to the cool stone floor of the temple of Anubis. “Whatever is your wish, my lord.”

  Long-clawed fingers rested on my arm and stopped me as I was about to turn and prostrate myself for him.

  “Teremun.” The god stroked my hair back from my face. “Becaus
e you are willing to bend to my will, and because of all that you suffered at the hands of Khentemsemet—I will not deign to call him my high priest—I release you from your pledge.”

  “Thank you, my lord.” I could understand him wanting to send me away. I had failed him so egregiously.

  “You did not fail me.” Of course the god would know my thoughts.

  “But I allowed the—” I recalled the god did not wish to claim Khentemsemet as one of his. “I allowed he who must not be named to possess me.”

  The god smiled at me indulgently. “You may speak Khentemsemet’s name. In that, he was aided by a priest of Thoth.”

  “The god of magic? But why, my lord?”

  “Khentemsemet was power hungry. However, he overstepped the boundaries when he slew the priest of Thoth.” Anubis saw my confusion. “Amenhotep was the sorcerer who fashioned the pearls. He also created the ointment Khentemsemet used to first ensnare your interest.”

  “If you and Lord Thoth were aware of all this, why did you not put a stop to it?”

  “There is much we can do to keep our children on the true path, but as with all children, we must give them the opportunity to make their own way.” He saw my confusion. “However, when they wander so far off the path, then we must step in.”

  “As you did now?”

  The god nodded.

  “But why?” I asked once again.

  Anubis ran a clawed finger over my cheek. “Not all Khentemsemet’s followers were destroyed by your brother, the pharaoh. As a result, Khentemsemet lurked on the fringes of your many lives. However, with the Scroll of Thoth hidden in your tomb, he was unable to be revived. I would not have interfered, but then the passage way from your brother’s tomb to yours was found, along with the Scroll of Thoth. The words of the incantation were spoken, reviving Khentemsemet and alerting his followers. With the most loved one of all in danger—”

  “Who, my lord?” I couldn’t help the jealousy that ate through me.

  “Who else?” He smiled indulgently. “You, my own prince.”

  “Oh!” That pleased me very much.

  “Knowing you were in danger, I turned my attention to the actions of Khentemsemet. And after all these wide centuries, you prayed to me for deliverance, not for yourself but for the man your other self loved beyond his own life. How could I fail to answer that prayer?”