The Forgiven Duke Part 6

Here, she was no longer Alexandria Featherstone. Here, she could be some otherworldly creature with kohl around her eyes and a strange headdress that reached toward the sky. She closed her eyes as the horse sailed across the choppy ground and imagined herself an Egyptian warrior queen, come to conquer an alien race.

"Are you sleeping?" John's voice was low and quiet with humor.

Alex's eyelids fluttered open. "No. But if we keep going much longer, I might fall asleep."

"I think I could sleep while riding these magnificent animals. I wonder if we shouldn't take them with us when we leave."

"If you take them with you, they will never be able to return," Svein informed from in front of them. The man had good ears. "Icelandic breeds are protected by law. No horse can be brought here. It might taint the line. And if an Icelandic horse leaves, it can never return."

"Is that why they have special gaits and look so different?"

"Yes. And we plan to keep it that way." The usually smiling Svein sounded more serious than he ever had.

The sudden sounds of pounding hooves from behind them caused Alex to spin around. A crack of sound exploded from behind them with shouts. Good heavens, they were being shot at!

The three of them hauled to a stop. John reached over and grasped the reins of Alex's jumpy horse. "What's happening?" she shouted. "Who are they?"

"Whoever they are, they will be upon us in moments." John looked over at Svein. "We need to take cover."

"There. Those stones in the distance." Svein pointed toward the only possible place in the area. "Hurry!"

John let go of Alex's reins and nodded that she go before him. Alex kicked the sides of Baen's belly and yelled for her to go as another shot whizzed through the air. Had the Spaniards caught up with her?

The pile of stones off to one side of the path were hardly large enough for the three of them to crouch behind. Alex worried for the horses, who stood taller than their cover. If only there was something she could do. She really did need to learn how to shoot a pistol.

John had one that he pulled out and loaded with powder and shot. Svein pulled out a long, gleaming knife and a short sword. Alex grasped a large rock that was lying on the ground beside her. It was better than nothing.

Her heart thudded as the men drew closer. They reined in their horses and pointed their pistols toward the rocks where they crouched.

"Alexandria Featherstone," one of them shouted. "It is she that we want. No harm will come to you if she comes willingly with us."

"Over my dead body," John murmured, leaning around the stone to aim at the men.

Svein slanted a look at Alex. "Do you know these men?"

Alex peeked over the stone and studied their faces. They were dark skinned and had dark hair-good-looking men. Possibly Spanish but she didn't think so. The man's accent sounded different. She sank back down. "I've never seen them before."

"What do you want with Lady Featherstone?" John shouted.

The sound of a pistol going off answered.

John growled low in his throat, leaned around the side, and shot back at them. Alex heard one man howl and the sound of the horses' panicked whinnies. She peeked over the top again and saw that one man was down, still moving but injured. The other man was trying to keep his horse under control while keeping his pistol aimed at them.

"You should not have done that," he shouted with a heavy accent. "Now, you must die."

"John, shoot the man on the horse. I will charge them."

John nodded, aimed, and shot while Svein waited for the retuning fire and then ran from around their stone cover so fast that it took Alex's breath away. She peered out again, seeing Svein charge the man on the horse. John reloaded and ran from the other side, toward the man on the ground.

Alex watched in awe as Svein tore the man from his horse. He had pulled out a sword, though, and looked to be quite good at wielding it. She bit down on her bottom lip, her gaze darting from John, who was holding his pistol on the man on the ground and seemed to have him under control, to Svein, who was not faring well at all against the darker man.

A sound escaped her throat when Svein's foe backed him toward her, the tip of his blade at Svein's throat. He seemed about to run him through! They turned, the man now with his back to her and getting closer.

Without thinking, she rose up as tall as she could and flung the large rock in her hand at the man's back. It hit him in the head, made him totter and grip at the sword. Alex screamed as the sword slashed down across Svein's chest, leaving a well of red.

"John, help him!" she shouted. Thinking to hold the pistol on the other man she ran over and ripped it from John's hands while the other man turned, rage in his dark eyes. Svein stumbled and dropped to one knee on the ground.

John let Alex take hold of the pistol and pulled out his sword, turned to the foe, and hissed out, "Don't get too close to him, Alexandria. Just hold it on him." She nodded, keeping her gaze trained on the man, who lay still looking at her with narrowed eyes. She could see John fighting the other one from the corner of her eyes.

John was good. She could see the difference between Svein's and his heavy movements. So, too, could his opponent, it would seem, since he started backing away. It wasn't long, a flash of quickly executed movements and then a sickening sound, the blade going through flesh and the groan of the man. He slumped to the ground.

The man lying at Alex's feet made a harsh sound in his throat and turned his face toward her. He spat at her, gasping out, "Stupid girl. You are undeserving of the Carbonari-" He paused, his breathing coming in short puffs, his face grimacing with pain. "You do not deserve . . . what your parents-"

Alex crouched beside him. "My parents? You know my parents?"

He turned his face away and breathed his last.

"No, wake up." Alex turned his face. "Who are you?"

Nothing. The man was dead. She turned to see John coming toward her. "They are both dead then." He held out his hand to help her up.

"Who were they? Oh, John, he mentioned my parents. What if they sent these men? What have we done?"

TWILIGHT DEEPENED INTO THE LONG darkness. The creak of the saddle leather, the whistle of the wind, and the crunch of loose earth under Baen's hooves made an oddly calm melody that fit so well here. Alex tilted her head back and breathed in the cold air, watching a million stars come dancing out, the edges of light still lingering around the circle of the earth.

A strange and fantastical beauty here, Father. Is this what my parents love so much? This . . . everlasting adventure? But what of the men they had recently buried? How could any adventure be worth the loss of lives?

She looked at Svein and took a breath of relief, glad his wound was only a long scratch down his chest that they had easily bandaged up. She didn't know how she would have gone on if he had been killed too.

She looked at John's moonlit silhouette and felt another twinge of doubt and fear. He always made her laugh, made her feel like they were on an adventure together, but now, things seemed so serious between them. He'd killed two men for her. And when she thought of the life marriage promised, she shrank inside. Everything in her strained for this . . . what they had now-adventure and danger and . . . meaning, but that seemed so wrong. Life lived in a house in Dublin, a normal life like the one John promised seemed the right path, the right choice, but then why did the thought of it smother her? What was wrong with her?

Svein held up his hand to stop them. "We're nearing Lake Mvatn. Stay close. Many hot springs are coming up."

The little path they were on meandered near the dark waters of Lake Mvatn. They wound around it for another hour, hearing bird call and the forever wind that pushed against their faces. As the trail dipped south, the wind turned sharper, moaning with an unease that made Alex shiver inside her furs. She nudged the mare closer to Svein and felt a tingling crawl of fear. "Will we stop for the night soon?" Her voice was quiet in the darkness, afraid to shout and wake up the ghosts that seemed to be hovering about.

"Yes." He grinned back at them, his white teeth lit by the moon, his eyes gleeful. "We are almost there. Just stay close. We must watch for fissures. Some are deep and could cause great injury to the horses and ourselves."

Alex looked back at John, her brows drawing together, and shot him an anxious glance. John just shrugged, motioning to keep up. They stepped around pools of dark water, some bubbling, some with steam coming from them, a sharp, sour smell in the air. Alex wrinkled her nose but said nothing. It was too otherworldly to speak aloud.

Sudden dark towers rose from the earth in front of them. Was it a castle? A fortress? Alex peered through the dim moonlight, leaning forward and breathing deeply in and out. Great towers rose into the night sky with oddly placed round windows. Closer and closer until Alex saw that they weren't buildings at all, but twisted, b.u.mpy lumps of gigantic pillars and arches-all black.

Silently they rode up a slight hill and under a ma.s.sive arch into what seemed to be a courtyard. Alex took a sudden inhale and stopped Baen. "Oh my," she whispered.

Not a courtyard and yet one. Tall, uneven pillars, like black sand castles, surrounded them. It was as if the earth had burned down and this was all that was left. h.e.l.l, fire, and brimstone. She could smell it and taste the sharp metal tang on the tip of her tongue. No wonder they said when Satan had been cast down from heaven after rebelling against G.o.d, he'd landed here and made it his home on earth. She could almost believe it.

Alex shivered, but from a deeper cold than any she'd known as they rode through the dark fortresses in utter silence. Even the wind had fallen off and quieted. No bird sound or animal sound, only the soft crunch of the horses' hoofs, and even those seemed too loud. It seemed as if eyes were watching them all around, making their presence known.

Her flesh p.r.i.c.kled with fear as they rode deeper into the maze of pillars. Would they ever come to an end? She bit her lip as her breath deepened. Yes, they would. She would not be overcome with wild and dark imaginings. She would be brave.

Svein slowed down to ride even with her. "We camp just on the other side. Come on."

Alex reached over and touched his arm, her eyes on the cloth tied around his chest. "Svein, I'm so sorry about those men. I never intended for you to have to fight for me. I feel so bad that you were hurt."

He shrugged. "'Tis nothing. I would have done anything to protect you."

Alex shook her head. "I would not ask that of you. Please know that."

A clearing throat from behind them made Alex look back at John. He was frowning at her and shaking his head. When she looked back at Svein, he winked at her, causing Alex's face to fill with heat. She shrank back from Svein and slowed her horse, putting an even distance between both men.

She was noticing that John's easy manner could turn demanding. More and more he seemed to feel like he had the right to order her about and it chafed. She supposed husbands held that right, but she was used to being independent and wasn't so sure she would ever come willingly under any man's thumb. One of many reasons never to marry.

They nudged their horses forward to a place where the ground was flat and the black towers of lava rock loomed behind them.

The sensation of watchful eyes still pressed against her back as they dismounted and set up camp. She doubted she would be able to sleep in such a place and wished they could ride on to an inn, but she knew better than to voice that aloud. John was always looking for a weakness in her, something to send her more thoroughly into his arms and marriage. She would have to pretend courage even if she didn't really feel it.

She huddled in her sleeping furs close to the fire Svein had built for warmth and prayed G.o.d would send angels to protect them from the eyes, the evil, the hovering doom that clung to the black lava and her heart.

ALEX WOKE TO THE SOUNDS of birds and ducks from the nearby lake. The dawn was creeping over the land, a light that felt different from the night before but appeared only a little brighter all morning. She stared over her shoulder at the Black Castles. In this light, in the daytime, they looked more like what they were: twisted shapes of hardened lava but still spooky enough to put a shiver down her spine.

John brought over a steaming cup of tea and held it out for her.

Svein joined them, pa.s.sing out dried salmon and some reindeer gra.s.s. Alex wrinkled her nose but took a bite, chewing and then spitting it back into her hand. "Oh, that's awful."

The men chuckled. John didn't even try it, only shook his head with his mouth pressed shut.

"Svein, I don't know where to begin our search. Should we go back into the Dimmu borgir and look for clues?"

Svein shook his head. "No one lives there, I am certain. My village is just north of here, called Reykjahl and I have explored all these places as a boy. There is one place I am thinking of that has been an odd home from time to time." His eyes lit up as he motioned them closer. "Long ago, Jon Markusson, an infamous outlaw, hid there for a time. It is a cave with a hot spring inside. Many have used it for bathing. Come, I will show you."

The sunlight strengthened as they wound their way northeast toward the cave. The land rose in elevation, the ground changing from orange dirt to black rock.

"Look!" Alex pointed ahead at a plume of exploding white smoke. "What is it?"

"Hverfell, a volcanic crater. Would you like to see it?"

"I would love to." She couldn't come so close to an actual volcano and not want to look inside.

The trail up the side of Hverfell became steep and rock covered. The horses were steady though, and she never feared they might lose their footing. At the top they stopped and dismounted. John took her hand. They crept together up to the edge and peered down into the vast, circular bottom, a nub of rock in the center. Austere and strangely beautiful. Alex couldn't fathom the power of its fiery underbelly.

Svein motioned for them to follow him around the upper edge, walking their horses toward the opposite side. He pointed to the north. "These areas can be very dangerous. There are boiling mud pots where the earth is soft and underneath the mud so hot it can scald your skin. And places like that mountain there, Krafla, do you see it?"

John and Alex stopped with him and nodded.

"In the early 1700s the fissures opened and lava flowed to the valley. Three farms near our village were destroyed and the village too, but none were killed. The story goes that as the lava was headed toward the village, the people gathered in the church and prayed. A miracle happened when the lava flow stopped right in front of the church and flowed to either side. The village was burned, but all the people survived and rebuilt it." He winked at Alex. "Another prayer story for you."

A chill raced down her spine. Was G.o.d trying to tell her something?

The descent on the other side was not so steep, and before long they were down on the flat ground and traveling at a faster pace.

"Here we are." Svein pulled on his reins and leaned over the pommel, pushing back his hat. The sun shined more brightly than Alex had seen it shine yet in Iceland, and the wind died down to a low breeze. She pushed off her fur hood and looked around. There was no cave that she could see.

Svein laughed. "Now you know why it makes such a good hiding place. Come." He dismounted and led the horse to a place where the ground looked to be solid rock in earth shades of brown and tan.

As they neared, Alex saw a great fissure that wound like a snake's back in the earth. "Look, John. It's down there, inside the ground."

They dropped the reins, allowing the horses to graze on the meager plants in the area while the three of them knelt at the widest edge of the crack. Alex peered down and gasped. Turquoise water shimmered from a great pool, steam lightly rising. "Is it very hot?"

"It is perfect for bathing."

"But how do we get down there?"

"Alex, I'm not so sure we should." John frowned at her.

"We have to. It's the only way to look for clues to see if someone is staying there. And besides, I want to bathe in it."

He gave her a little shake of the head and then seemed to reconsider. "All right. Svein, how do we get down there?"

Svein showed them the way to climb down, hanging on to crevices and ledges. It was a short drop, and then there were plenty of rock ledges along the pool to walk around it. Sunlight poured in from the hole brightening a streak of water and making it paler blue. Alex looked around, found a nice ledge to sit on, and took off her shoes and stockings.

With her dress hiked up to her calves, she dipped her toes into the water. "Heavenly," she murmured, shifting on the ledge until her legs dangled over the edge submersing them in the warm, bubbly water. "The water feels so light. My feet are floating."

John crept over to her side and did likewise, putting his bare feet in the pool and reaching over to kiss her temple. "I think I might like the idea of swimming."

What would they wear? It was too cold outside to get their clothes wet. But oh, how she longed to dip her whole body in the magical waters.

Svein crept over to the other side, poking around the nooks and crannies of the cave. After a little while he turned and grinned, his white smile lighting the dark recesses like a candle. He was holding something aloft. "I think I've found something."

Alex scrambled up. "What is it?"

"A blanket. And there are some clothes and other supplies stashed over here. Someone is indeed staying in this cave."

Alex looked around with some fear. "I wonder where he is."

"And when he might return," John added.

"We'll wait here and find out." Svein settled himself on a rock.

They didn't have long to wait, as a short time later a sound from overhead startled them. Alex craned her neck. An old, wizened face peered down at them. He grinned as his rheumy eyes settled on Alex.

"Might you be lookin' for me, perhaps?"

Chapter Ten.