"But Benton-Lord Vladimir-misunderstood these private meetings, and incorrectly assumed King Dunford had changed his mind about whom he would choose to succeed him. Fearing he was about to lose his chance to become king, Lord Vladimir-" King Weston made a grimace of distaste and an abrupt dismissive gesture with his hand. "I dislike speaking of it, even now. Suffice to say, Lord Vladimir made an attempt to discredit me by framing me for acts of high treason. Reprehensible acts. Thankfully, his plan was discovered before it could be carried out. I was chosen by His Majesty, King Dunford, to succeed him as King of Silvershire, and the Duke of Perthegon, just as he was about to be imprisoned and prosecuted for his crimes, vanished into thin air. He has neither been seen nor heard from in the thirty years since. It has always been assumed he fled the country. Now…I am not so sure."
Rhia, who had been listening intently to the king's story, stiffened to attention. "Are you suggesting he-the exiled Lord Vladimir-is behind these recent acts of violence and sabotage? And that it was he who switched the babies- replaced Nikolas-uh, the prince with an impostor?"
Again the king rubbed a hand over tired eyes. "I can think of no one else who would do such a thing. And," he added with a wry smile, "he did vow to make me pay for robbing him of his 'birthright.'"
The smile vanished and he brought his closed fist down hard on the arm of his chair. "God help me, though-I am at a loss to see how he could have done it! If he did not leave this island, if in fact he's been living right here among us all this time, how in blazes has he managed to do it? How has he managed to come and go at will, even invade the heart of the palace itself, without being seen? Where is he? How has he hidden himself? Who is he now?"
King Weston clutched the chair's arms and pushed himself to his feet. Lady Zara went instantly to his side, but he shook off her help. Holding himself tall and erect, he lifted a hand that shook only slightly, and when he spoke his voice held the vibrant timbre Rhia remembered from his television appearances. "This, Nikolas-and you, my dear-this is the task with which I now charge the two of you. Find that blackguard Vladimir. Wherever he is, whoever he is pretending to be, the wretch…must…be…found!"
Chapter 10
"Nikolas…" Rhia halted in the middle of the path and touched his arm. "Hold up a minute."
The two of them were alone, for the moment, making their way unescorted through the sun-dappled forest to the meadow where the helicopter waited. Lady Zara had stayed behind to see her exhausted patient to his chambers, and the security guard who had accompanied them on their arrival had returned to his regular post. The hunting lodge had been swallowed by the woods behind them and up ahead the meadow was still only glimpses of gold between dark trunks of trees.
Nikolas paused and turned his head toward her. His eyes were crinkled in a questioning frown, but their focus was on something only he could see.
"We have to talk." She spoke in a low voice, though there was no one to hear her. Her heart had begun to beat hard and fast, and she didn't know why. only that something was dreadfully wrong. "Now. Here-before we get back to the chopper." She heard him exhale, and his gaze lifted and slid past her head. She could feel the tension vibrating through the muscles in his arm. radiating up through her fingers like a low-voltage current of electricity. She gripped his wrist harder, and the urgency she felt was in her voice, now. "What the hell happened back there? Something about that box-that chest-hit you like a ton of bricks. I saw it, so don't try and deny it. And unless I misunderstood him completely, His Majesty just asked me to work with you to find this guy, this… Vladimir. Look-if I'm going to do that. I'm going to have to know what's going on. Everything, Donovan. I don't go into a job blindfolded."
She was completely unprepared when he pulled her to him and wrapped her in a bone-crushing embrace. Unprepared…but her flesh responded to his like thirsty earth to a sudden shower of rain. She felt her blood rise beneath her skin, felt the heat of it and the pressure, and she thought she might burst from it. She gave a sharp gasp that turned into a whimper when his mouth covered hers.
His mouth was hard, the kiss deep, demanding; there was a kind of desperation in it. and an unfathomable hunger. Pressed tightly against his body, she could feel the rapid thud of his heart and the tension quivering in his muscles. Overwhelmed herself, she could only cling to him while her pulses rocketed into warp speed and the earth beneath her feet ceased to exist. She felt her legs buckle and might have fallen if she hadn't been wrapped so tightly in his arms.
He ended the kiss as abruptly as he'd begun it. tearing his mouth from hers with a gasp that was like a small explosion, an escape of passionate and powerful emotions held prisoner too long. Heedless of clips and fastenings, he clutched a handful of her hair in one big hand and buried his face in the curve of her neck. He groaned softly. "Ah…Rhee. You have no idea how much I've needed to do that."
"Yes…I do." Her lips felt numb; she could hardly get the words out. "Because I've needed it, too. Dammit." She could feel herself trembling. Furious with herself for her inability to stop it. she pounded the hard, ungiving muscle of his arm with her fist. "But don't think this is going to distract me, Donovan. I still want to know what it was about that box that upset you. Tell me, dammit. Or-"
He cut her off with another kiss, this one almost playful. "God, I love it when you're assertive." he said huskily against her mouth, sounding like the Nikolas she knew. "It's such a turn-on." He kissed her again, long and slow and deep. Her insides went liquid and warm and she could feel a moan rising dangerously in her throat.
Then he drew back and looked down at her. and his eyes were shadowed and grave. "I wish I could, but I can't. Not now. Not yet. I don't know myself… there's something I need-" He broke off. dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose and said firmly. "I need you to taist me. luv. okay? And…I need your chopper. D'you think Corbett Lazlo would mind if we kept it just a bit longer?"
"It's yours to command." Rhia said, but her voice was bumpy as he turned her and pulled her against his side. He held her close with one arm while they continued along the path.
"Good-let's go wake up our pilot, shall we?" His tone was light again, but his eyes were hard, and she could see the tiny muscle working in his jaw.
"The old Perthegon Estate? Sure, yeah. I know where it is. No problem." The helicopter pilot, whose name was Elliot, spoke with an American accent-from New York or thereabouts. Nikolas guessed. The pilot tucked the wrapper from a package of cream-filled cupcakes into the pocket of his uniform shirt and levered himself nimbly up from his lounging position in the doorway of the chopper. "Hop in and buckle up. I can have you there in a jiff."
Nikolas waited for Rhia to climb aboard, then followed.
She took the jump seat opposite the door, leaving the seat beside the pilot for him. The chopper's rotors began to spin while he was still strapping himself in.
"That old place is pretty much a ruin, now, but from what I hear it used to be somethin' else." Elliot shouted above the noise of the chopper's turbine engine. "Ever been there?"
Nikolas shook his head. "Seen pictures-that's about it."
"Real showplace. I guess it was like something out of Disneyland."
"Yeah." Nikolas said.
Disneyland…yeah, that's what this whole thing is like- some kind of fairy tale. Not the happy, chirpy, singing-mice kind, though. The scary kind with wicked stepparents and evil villains and all sorts of blood and gore.