“I can’t give up hoping—as well as dreading—they will.” He rose, offering her a chair, and set about making a cup of coffee for her. “Are you familiar with the legend of King Arthur?”
Alexis laughed. “Wot English lass ain’t, Oi’d loike ta know? Really, John. Is that where your mind was when I came in? Medieval fairy tales?” She paused, thinking over the legend. “Oh, I see. It’s an interesting comparison.”
“Then you know to what I refer.”
“I gather you mean the part of the tale when Lady Guinevere was sentenced to death by King Arthur. He hoped her lover, Sir Lancelot, would rescue her even though he knew he would have to do battle with his finest liege afterward.”
“Yes, that’s it.”
“I wish you wouldn’t make comparisons with myths that have such horrible endings,” she said, frowning. “Arthur and Lancelot were both killed on a battlefield outside of Camelot. That is not what I want for theConcordand my ship, which is precisely why I ordered my crew to stay away. And as for me being Lady Guinevere—well, the idea does not set well with me.”
“Why not? You could join a convent, as she did, when everything was lost to her.”
They both laughed at their foolishness.
“That would indeed be a prison for me, John.” She fell silent, reflecting she might have no choice but to accept prison. She would not cooperate with the demands placed on her. “There is a way out of the legend,” she said, peering over the rim of her mug. “You could always give me a plan for escape.” She leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes when he just stared at her blankly. “It’s all right, John. I didn’t expect an answer. I keep forgetting you are one of Arthur’s men.”
“To the last,” he said quietly, solemnly.
Alexis stood over him and dropped a light kiss on his forehead. “I’m glad.”
Discussion ended, she prepared herself a light breakfast while Landis amused her with stories bearing no relationship to their present problem.
After the meal she retired to the study. It was some hours later that Cloud found her curled on the window seat, face pressed against a pane of glass, looking at some vision only she could see.
He stared at her for several minutes, etching this particular moment deep within him. He memorized the tilt of her head, the lift of her shoulders, her slim fingers as they drummed lightly on the sill, providing the only sound in the room. That sound seemed to pound mercilessly in his head until he realized it was not her fingers he heard, but the beat of his heart, in perfect time to the rhythm she created. He knew a moment of some fear, thinking if she ceased her gentle tapping his heart would also stop. He spoke to break the power she held over him in that moment.
“Good afternoon, Alex.”
“Oh!” Her fingers stopped and she drew away from the window. “I didn’t know you had returned. Good afternoon.”
He walked toward her and kissed the top of her head. He sat down on the seat beside her. “I didn’t expect to find you here.”
“I said I would stay.”
“I meant I did not expect to find you in this room. I thought you would be in your room, preparing for this evening.”
“There’s time,” she said carelessly. “I am not especially anxious for the day to hurry on.”
“Have you thought of what you would wear tonight?” He knew her answer but he wanted to hear her say it. He enjoyed hearing words from her lips that would come from no other woman.
“I haven’t thought about it at all. But now that you bring it up, I don’t give a damn what I wear.”
Cloud laughed amiably at her fierceness. “That is why I have taken care of the details for you, unless you prefer to attend in your trousers and boots.”
“Would that be so terrible? To give them the hardened Captain Danty they expect?”
“No, but you would be giving them something that doesn’t really exist. Captain Danty is not a woman taking refuge in men’s clothing. She is a woman using them to merely suit her goals, isn’t she?”
“You know that better than anyone,” she said quietly. She lowered her eyes to hide the longing she felt for him. She spoke then, not to him, but to herself. “And my goal tonight?” Neither answered, both knowing her intention: escape. She looked up to see a small smile forming on his lips. His smile offered a partial reality to her hope. It said she could try to do it. “May I see what manner of clothing you think will serve me this evening?”
“Later. Don’t worry, it’s not sackcloth and ashes. I won’t have them feeling sorry for you.” His green eyes hardened for an instant. When the hardness vanished, Alexis felt the skin of her wrists tightening around her bones. She looked down and saw his hands gripping her firmly. “Alex, whatever use you put the gown to tonight, you must remember I will be the one to recognize it. I will be the one to stop you.”
“Who are you trying to convince, Cloud?”
He dropped his hold abruptly, realizing he was speaking aloud the doubts he had from the beginning concerning his ability to keep her.
Alexis slid closer to him. “Hold me now. Yes, your arms around me. I want to feel your strength.” She pressed her mouth to his neck. And no matter what happens, I will still love you. It was sometime later when she realized she had not actually said those last words, that they were only a thought as she held her lips against his warm flesh. But he responded to the thought as if he had heard it. He gathered her close, eyes closed, mouth buried in soft strands of yellow hair, silently acknowledging himself as both her jailer and prisoner.
