Page 70 of The Warrior's Innocent Captive

‘How much do you know?’ He pulled her into a shadow as a group of drunken revellers staggered past.

‘The last I knew you were imprisoned in your chamber and then you weren’t. I don’t know anything in between.’

‘Ah, well...’ His chin dipped. ‘Quite a lot has happened since.’

‘Tell me,’ she said, nudging his side.

The drunken men stopped outside a house opposite and began a bawdy tune. Erik’s grip tightened on her arm, but Linota couldn’t stop the smile spreading across her face.

Linota couldn’t suppress her giggles as the men continued to sing about cocks and hens, the double meaning funny even in the unusual situation.

Next to her Erik’s body was still and tense.

He turned his glare from the men and looked down at her. Her breath caught in her throat; his eyes were nearly completely black. Her lips parted and his gaze dropped to them.

All her humour died. Everything centred on his mouth, so close to hers. She wanted to feel it move against hers once more. It would take only the smallest stretch to reach him. But they were outside, so close to Borwyn. Anyone could see them. Bad enough that she was out here with Erik, it would be so much worse if she was seen kissing him. Braedan would kill him on the spot.

Erik tore his gaze away from hers and back to the singing men. ‘Let’s keep going.’

He led her down the narrow street and into a smaller one where the walls of the opposite houses nearly touched.

‘This is where I saw Isabel,’ he said, stopping in front of a dilapidated building. The remains of a door hung open. Erik stepped through the gap and Linota followed.

‘I’ve been here many times. There is nothing to see.’ He strode to the centre of the room. ‘Please don’t let me stop you searching, though.’

She stepped a little further into the room. It was largely empty. She walked over to a stack of abandoned wood, which looked like it might once have been part of some sort of furniture. She turned over the top piece with her foot.

Erik folded his arms across his chest and watched.

‘You were going to tell me what happened between you and Borwyn.’ Linota turned over the next piece.

‘What do you want to know?’

‘I want to know why he forgave you for lying to him.’ Perhaps if she could understand this she could make sense of why he had lied to her also.

‘I explained everything to Jarin.’

Linota upturned the last of the pile. She shuddered as woodlice scuttled in every direction.

‘Find anything?’

She turned to Erik. A slight smile tugged at the corners of his lips. He was laughing at her.

Before she knew what she was doing, she strode across the room and prodded a finger in the centre of his chest. ‘Don’t you dare laugh at me! I want to know! I deserve to know. I trusted you with my...life. I believed you were a good man.’

His smile disappeared in an instant. ‘What is it you want toknow,Linota? Does it really make a difference? You’re safe, your sister is safe. Everyone lives happily ever after, don’t they?’ He swung away from her. ‘When I saw Isabel she was upstairs.’

Her heart pounding, Linota followed Erik as he raced up the creaking staircase, avoiding the steps that looked so worn they might fall through at a moment’s notice.

The solitary room upstairs was devoid of anything.

‘She was lying right here, my little niece.’ Erik’s eyes were wide, his jaw rigid. ‘She looked so like her mother, her brown eyes were wide with fear. Fear, Linota! Absolute total and utter terror.’ He shoved his hand through his hair, turning away from her to stare at a spot above her shoulder. ‘I could do nothing. I couldn’t get her away from the men who held her captive. You want the truth, I’ll tell you the truth. I failed that little girl, just like I failed her mother.’ His voice quietened. ‘So I’m sorry, Linota. Sorry if I hurt your feelings by keeping you hidden for a couple of days. I’m sorry that I made your sister suffer by your absence. But by doing that I was trying to keep my niece safe.’

Linota stepped closer to him. He was breathing heavily. She reached up and lightly touched his chest.

‘Maybe that was wrong of me.’ He was quieter now, almost whispering. ‘Maybe I could have trusted you with the truth and, if it had been just me, I would have risked it, Linota. But I couldn’t, not for Isabel. I’m the only person she has in the world.’

Linota dropped her hand and moved away. She believed him. Believed that Isabel existed and that Mary had been his sister; she believed it all. She wished he had trusted her with the truth, but she was beginning to understand why he hadn’t.

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