Page 12 of The Tempest
It was true that she’d been married at a young age to a very old duke in a political marriage of her father’s doing. Quite honestly, it hadn’t been a marriage, more simply a relationship between a young woman and an old man. She had been sixteen years of age when she married the Duc de Tarragona, a man who had been a political ally of her grandfather and a very powerful man indeed. He had one son and had wanted more children but the truth was that beyond the wedding night, which was the embarrassing and uncomfortable situation, he’d never touched her. There had been a slight possibility that the wedding night might have produced a pregnancy, but when her menses returned shortly thereafter, they knew there was no chance of a child and the duke didn’t seem interested in trying again.
Even though Astria had known her responsibilities going into that marriage, she’d been very glad when the duke decided that there would be no more intimacy between them. Given his performance on their wedding night, she wasn’t surprised—and, quite frankly, she was relieved. After that, he had treated her like a daughter. He was very generous, and he’d made sure that she always had the best of everything, but there was nothing more than polite interest on his part.
His only son, however, was another story.
Asteria knew something that Maude, in all of her seeming wisdom, did not know. She was quite certain that if the woman did know, she would have said something. What Maude didn’t seem to realize was that the Duc de Tarragona ruled the Balearic Sea. His family had made their money in shipping, but somewhere in that legitimate business, something more sinister rose.
Something dark.
Truthfully, Astria wasn’t even sure her own father had known about the dealings of the San Miguel family, but she couldn’t imagine that he didn’t. Her father, Sancho, seemed to know everything about everyone. As king, that was his right. But the reality that Astria discovered once she married into the family was murky, indeed. That was why Maude had found her on one of the ships that were bound for the Tarragona port.
But she didn’t capture all of the ships.
Maude had made a mistake when she attacked and confiscated the ships that were under Astria’s control. She hadn’t swept the area for every Tarragona ship, meaning one of them had been missed. The ship that hadn’t been captured was captained by none other than the new Duc de Tarragona, Arnaldo de Fernandez y de San Miguel. Astria’s stepson, her husband’s only son. Given that Maude had captured two of the Tarragona vessels, thePontusand theThalassa, the third one—theBrizo—was fully capable of pursuing, and Astria would stake her life on the fact that Arnaldo was doing just that.
Pursuing.
But that wasn’t a good thing, either.
All part of that little secret she’d been hiding.
Astria was lost in thought when she began to notice that men were scurrying to the front of the escort. Francis came rushing back as men were rushing forward, and he ordered some of them to bring the cannons forward. The wagon Astria was riding in lurched to a halt and she sat up a little taller, trying to get a look at what had everyone so agitated. It didn’t take long for her to overhear the men around her, speaking in rumbling tones.
Rider.
A rider was approaching.
CHAPTER FOUR
Was this sucha good idea? Payne still didn’t know.
But he was about to find out.
Less than an hour out of Blackchurch, he came across a small army heading in his direction. He’d come into a clearing and, as the road carved through the green landscape into the distance, could see a collection of men and wagons about a half-mile away. He didn’t usually make it over to this area, east of Blackchurch, and as he loped along the road astride his blonde beast with the black mane, he found himself looking at the heavy thicket of trees and smelling the wet grass in the meadows. Everything was lush, dense with forest, and he knew that outlaws tended to populate this area. But the only outlaw he was concerned with was a certain female pirate, and as he drew closer to the group in the distance, he could see that they had come to a halt.
Payne was alone at this point because the moment they’d spied the small gang of men in the distance, Cruz and Creston had ducked into the trees that surrounded the road. However, now Payne was in a clearing, with the trees off to the north and to the south, somewhat far away. He wouldn’t have immediate assistance if he needed it. However, that was probably for the better. He didn’t want his friends in the proverbial line offire and could see that the group in the distance were on the defensive. They’d even started bringing wagons that contained cannons forward.
That was when Payne moved swiftly.
He wanted to get close before they could line up those cannons. It was perhaps a bit silly to produce cannons at the sight of a lone rider, but he had to respect them for being unwilling to take any chances. He moved so fast that they didn’t have time to line anything up, but he could see a couple of the men producing crossbows. Not wanting to be pierced by a bolt, he quickly dismounted and used his horse as a shield.
“I mean ye no harm!” he bellowed. “Stow yer weapons!”
“Not likely, little man!” someone yelled in return. “What’s yer business?”
Payne was peering around the breast of his horse. “I’ve come tae discoveryerbusiness,” he said. “Tell me who ye are and what ye want.”
There was a pause. “That’s brave talk from a lone man,” the same voice called out to him. “I dunna see much tae back up those words.”
“They’re in the trees.”
“I dunna believe ye, little man.”
“Test me and find out.”
Payne could see the men looking around, into the trees. His threat was enough to delay them. But more than that, he was focused on the man he’d just had the conversation with.
That voice.
