“Don’t be stubborn about this, Lia,” Jared growled.
Her gray eyes darkened. “You’re a fine one to accuse anyone else of being stubborn.”
Jared gritted his teeth. “You’ll be safe.”
“I knew the risks when I agreed—”
“You knew nothing!” Jared shouted. “You were supposed to meet an escort at a Coach station who would get you safely home. You, Lia. Despite what you may want to believe, those men weren’t there to make sure the rest of us got to Dena Nehele. So get it into your stubborn little head that you’re going home tomorrow.”
“I’m going to Ranon’s Wood—”
Jared spewed every obscenity he could think of.
“Those people are my responsibility, Lord Jared. Mine.”
Jared bared his teeth. “My Jewels are darker than yours, which makes me stronger. If I have to, I’ll truss you up in enough psychic restraints it’ll take your granny half a day to undo them all and dump you on your father’s doorstep. He may have yielded about letting you go in the first place, but if his balls still work, he won’t let you go again no matter what your grandmother says!”
“How dare you say that about my father! What right do you have to make demands of me?”
“I serve you.”
Lia shook her head. “No, you don’t. The others, yes, until the journey ends. But not you.”
It felt like a large fist had just punched him under the heart. Jared stared at her, trying to get his breath. “I serve you,” he said hoarsely. “I wear the Invisible Ring.” The Silver Ring.
“There is no Ring!” Lia raked her fingers through her hair. “There never was a Ring! It was only a bit of Craft my mother calls lightning and smoke to fool them so they wouldn’t question my not using the Ring of Obedience.”
“I wear your Ring,” Jared insisted.
“Listen to me, you feather-brained mule. There is no Ring. I made it up. All of it. Whoever heard of an Invisible Ring?”
Daemon Sadi.
But he didn’t say that. He took the verbal blows, unwilling to consider why they hurt so much. “Why?”
Lia took a couple of wobbly steps and made it to the chair before she fell down. “You’re a good man, Jared. And you’re a strong Warlord.”
“You couldn’t have known that about me.”
“I’m a Queen,” she said wearily. “I knew. But as you just pointed out, your Jewels outrank mine, and there was a lot of hate in you that day. I couldn’t leave you there, and I couldn’t control you.”
“You could have used the Ring of Obedience.”
Lia paled. “Do you—” She swallowed hard. “Do you think I could have used that—”
Either she couldn’t think of a word obscene enough or couldn’t bring herself to say it.
No, Jared thought as he carefully sat on the edge of the bed. She couldn’t have used the Ring of Obedience.
“I knew I couldn’t control you,” Lia said. “And I couldn’t afford to fight you. I thought you’d escape as soon as your body healed. Then you folded up inside yourself and I didn’t know what to do. I kept thinking you’d go. As soon as you realized there was nothing holding you, you’d go.”
But something had held him back.
Jared rubbed the back of his neck as he stared at his feet. Had she really counted on him going at the beginning of the journey? Had she counted on one less male to feed? Or . . .
He looked up. She watched him so carefully, as if she were trying to gauge the impact of her words.
“I wear no Ring,” Jared said, watching her with equal care as he remembered how well she could put on an act when she felt it was necessary.
“You wear no Ring,” Lia agreed. She looked away.
“You have no claim on me.”
“None.”
“If I walk out of this room, what will you do?”
“Meet the others in Ranon’s Wood and take them to Dena Nehele.”
“Why?”
When she looked at him again, he saw a Queen with shadows in her eyes.
“I took them out of Raej. I hold their lives in my hands because of that choice. So until we stand within the borders of Dena Nehele, they’re my people, Lord Jared.”
And he wasn’t? Oh, no, she wasn’t getting away with that.
Smiling, Jared walked up to her and held out his hands. “Time for bed. We need a good night’s sleep if we’re heading for Ranon’s Wood at first light.”
She looked wary, but she slipped her hands into his.
“You know,” he said pleasantly as he helped her to her feet, “I’m going to have to remember how good a liar you are when your back’s against the wall.”
“What?” Lia said weakly.
He kept a firm grip on her hands. “I’ve spent this entire journey chasing my own tail because I couldn’t sense the Ring in order to confirm that it existed. If you’d told me a couple of days ago that you had made it all up, I would have believed you.”
“Why won’t you believe me now?” Lia wailed.
Jared gave her a sharp smile. “Because we had help last night. A Warlord Prince I know did the healing. Just before he left, he confirmed that I wear the Invisible Ring. The Silver Ring.”
Lia tried to tug her hands free. “Why would you believe him?”
“He had no reason to lie. You, on the other hand, didn’t mention it until I threatened to drag you back to Dena Nehele. If you were in my place, what would you think?”
“That you’re an idiot.”
Slipping an arm around her waist, Jared led her to the bed. “I don’t think you’re an idiot. It was just bad timing on your part.”
She muttered something that sounded nasty.
“Come on, Lady Grumpy. Put your nightgown on, and I’ll tell you a bedtime story. Unless, of course, you’re like me and prefer to sleep in nothing but your skin.”
Her face had a lot of color now.
“Maybe you could sleep somewhere—”
“Not a chance.”
“Oh. I . . . I’ll change in the bathroom.”
“You do that.” He waited until she was at the bathroom door. “Oh, Lia. Just in case you get any ideas about slipping out of here without me, you should know that I’ve put a Red shield around the bathroom as well as this room and a Red lock on the door that leads to the adjoining bedroom.”
The mutter that got cut off by the bathroom door closing was definitely nasty.
Her brains were still as wobbly as her legs, Jared decided as he undressed. Why bother to tell him now, even if it was true? He’d just go to Ranon’s Wood, and she was going to Ranon’s Wood, may the Darkness protect the stubborn little idiot. She thought she could push him out of her life before he was ready to go? Well, she could think again.
And he would go as soon as he got her safely to Dena Nehele. He’d said nothing less than the truth when he’d told her all male slaves carried scars. Nine years as a pleasure slave had carved some deep ones into his soul.
He had no future in Dena Nehele. Or maybe it was more honest to say that he wouldn’t allow his heart to show him something that could never be more than a wistful dream.
Jared settled into bed and waited for Lia.
But he’d keep her safe until then. Safe so that, someday, a man without scars on his soul would be able to love her the way she deserved to be loved.
Chapter Twenty
Krelis pressed his palms against the desk to keep his hands from curling into fists.
Don’t believe too quickly, he reminded himself as he stared at the Second Circle guard standing in front of him. Don’t hope at all.