When Passion Rules

  “Yes, we were reunited just yes—”

  “This ends right now if you don’t move away from that knife, Alana,” Christoph cut her off in a furious undertone.

  She glanced back at him. “He won’t hurt me.”

  “Not intentionally. I won’t accept accidents either. Sit back down. Now!”

  Leonard dropped the knife on the floor next to him, apparently agreeing with Christoph. Alana picked it up just to get it out of Christoph’s sight before she quickly climbed back on the seat and sat on the edge of it. She knew Poppie would have at least a half dozen more daggers hidden on him, but as long as they weren’t visible, Christoph might be able to relax enough so the two men could come to an agreement to work together instead of against each other.

  She slipped the dagger in her boot before she held out her hand to Leonard so they could still convey their feelings through touch. The last thing she wanted was for Christoph to deal with Poppie angrily, but he was denying her a proper reunion with the man who’d raised her, just as he’d done with her father.

  Christoph still sounded angry when he asked Leonard, “Why did you steal Helga Engel from my protection?”

  Leonard snorted. “Admit it, she wasn’t under your protection, you were bringing her in to interrogate her. That was obvious.”

  Christoph didn’t try to deny it. “She has a lot to answer for. But how did you find her on this road yesterday?”

  “I had been looking for her. I didn’t know where to find her until you took Alana to visit her and made sure I learned of it. I was on my way to talk to her at the chalet, to find out why.”

  “You’ll have to turn her over to me. The king and I need to speak with her. She told us lies. I need to find out what she really did and why.”

  Leonard shook his head. “No, you don’t. She told me, I can tell you. She is under my protection now. I won’t allow her to be hurt.”

  Christoph was silent for a moment. He’d just been told no! Alana held her breath to see if he’d insist on having it his way. But he finally said, “Then tell me.”

  Leonard did, and Alana’s eyes got wider and wider the longer she listened. A romance between him and Helga? And while it wasn’t supposed to mean anything to him, because he’d just been using her as a tool for his job, it had turned out to mean more to him than he could have thought possible. It had changed how he had dealt with the nasty job of killing a princess. It had softened his heart before the fateful moment arrived.

  It all came out, how Helga had made up the tale of switching the babies that very night when she woke up and found the princess gone. She did it out of fear for her and her daughter’s lives. And she got the other nursemaid to go along with her by convincing her she’d be blamed, too. Helga never dreamed the king would end up separating her from her daughter.

  Alana squeezed Poppie’s hand, letting him know she didn’t blame the woman. She might have been separated from her real parent, but she’d had Poppie instead. How different she might be today if she’d grown up a spoiled princess. Impossible to know.

  “I bear no grudge,” she said when he finished. “You can let her know that.”

  Poppie smiled at her. Christoph wasn’t smiling and pointed out, “The woman deceived the king of Lubinia. She let him love the wrong child. She let him mourn that child when it died. All these years, he’s mourned her loss when she wasn’t even his.”

  “He mourned the loss of a loved one, as you say, he loved the girl. Now he loves the right child. I kept his real daughter from him, Helga didn’t. And I did that because he and whoever your predecessor was, and you, never resolved the threat to her life.”

  “I wasn’t here then.”

  “You’ve been at your post long enough to have tried,” Leonard reasoned.

  “He has tried,” Alana found herself saying in Christoph’s defense. “The one difficulty in all this time was the suspects are such a huge family, but more to the point, they are the king’s own relatives. And despite how many spies were sent into their stronghold, they never found out who was pulling the strings. That secret was too closely guarded. It obviously wasn’t the head of the family.”

  Christoph added, “Nothing could be done back then anyway, it was too soon after the civil war to arrest any Bruslan. It would have led to another war.”

  “I thought of that,” Leonard agreed. “And loving Alana as I do, I didn’t mind waiting. But I didn’t know it was presumed that Helga’s daughter was taken, that it became a royal secret that the presumed princess was safe. I knew none of that until Helga told me. If I had known, I might have brought Alana back sooner—or not. Who is to say in hindsight?” He ended with a shrug.

  “About Helga,” Christoph said. “It’s unacceptable that you’ve hidden her. I must insist—”

  “Don’t,” Leonard cut in sharply. “I will repeat, Captain, you can’t have her. I don’t care what she’s done, what you think she needs to be charged with. She’s been hurt enough, losing her child because of the king’s enemies. She’s already paid a high price. While I breathe, I won’t let you hurt anyone I care about.”

  The two men stared at each other long enough that Alana became nervous and broke the silence herself, telling Poppie, “There’s something you should know, if you haven’t already heard. My father has chosen a husband for me.”

  Leonard glanced at her with a frown. “So soon?”

  “Yes, and the wedding is to take place soon, too.”

  “Who?”

  “Karsten Bruslan,” she said with a wince.

  “No!” Leonard said furiously. “Give you to the very people who—”

  “Frederick was already considering naming Karsten his successor before he knew Alana was alive,” Christoph cut in. “He may not have liked the prospect, but it would have been for the good of the country.”

  “In the meantime,” Alana added, “Christoph here is my protector. He’s the only man my father trusts enough to keep me safe.”

  Leonard looked at Christoph for another long moment, then nodded. “Yes, I see it in his eyes. He’ll protect you with his life. A much better recommendation for marriage, if you ask me, than a foolish effort to end a feud that many Bruslans don’t even remember.”

  Alana blinked. Poppie would rather she marry Christoph?

  “Did you beat Karsten?” Christoph asked.

  “If I did?”

  “I would have killed him.”

  Poppie actually laughed. “I thought about it, to do this country a service in assuring he’ll never wear the crown. All their schemes would fall apart without their golden-boy heir standing in line for the throne. But that choice isn’t mine to make.” And then to Christoph: “So, have I found out more since I’ve been back than the palace has found out in eighteen years?”

  “That depends what you’ve found out.”

  In answer, Leonard asked Alana, “Did you get Henry’s message today?”

  “Yes, but it was garbled, all he said was ‘Beware the queen.’ ”

  “Exactly. With those two spies that were in the palace out of the picture, the man carrying out the orders had to hire a new man, and I overheard him filling the new thug in. He made reference to the queen and her connection to some big conspiracy in the past, and passed the bracelet to the new man to deliver it to her. I know Nikola wasn’t old enough or tough enough to order an infant’s death, but her father wouldn’t have hesitated.”

  “You’re guessing now,” Christoph said angrily.

  “Guesses come first, facts often follow. And this is a logical conclusion based on past experience.”

  “No,” Christoph disagreed adamantly. “Nikola loves her husband. I have no doubt of this.”

  “I’m sure she does. But maybe you should ask the king when she was offered in marriage to him? I’ll wager Queen Avelina was barely in her grave when Nikola’s father approached him on the matter. He would have wanted his own blood relative on the throne, not the daughter of Avelina. It’s an old motive I
’ve run into before, when a second marriage occurs yet there are children from the first marriage.”

  “Who are we talking about?”

  “I don’t have his name yet, but I’ll find out and track him down.”

  “Speaking of names, you are Leonard Kastner, aren’t you?”

  Alana quickly shook her head the tiniest bit, to let Poppie know she hadn’t mentioned his name. Leonard raised a brow at Christoph. “Does it matter at this point? You and I have the same goal, Captain. To protect our princess. I am also following another lead right now that—”

  “And us,” Christoph said. “I didn’t expect you to—join us so soon.”

  “Join you? I was surprised to see you coming up this road yet again.”

  “You didn’t follow us?”

  “No, I was on my way back down the mountain. I followed someone else up here, the one I told you about who hands out the orders now. He killed the man who hired me so long ago.”

  “Aldo?”

  “So the thief talked to you? The man who killed Aldo implied that the one he reported to, who had always given Aldo his orders, was just a lackey as well. The safeguards they’ve used to hide the true master—or mistress, as the case may be—are extreme. But I’ve been following this man for a couple days now. I’m beginning to wonder if he’s playing more than one side.”

  “Where did he go up here? There’s not much up here except the nobles’ estates on the eastern road. Even my family lives on that road.”

  “It sounds as if we are speaking of the same one. The estate he visited, the grounds were too open with too many retainers marching about like guards for me to stay there for long. I was able to reach a few windows undetected. One was the right one, his lover’s bedroom. It appeared he was going to spend the entire day in bed with her, so I left to pick up the trail on his return to the city.”

  “What do you expect to gain from him?”

  “I’m still hoping to find out who he reports to at the Stronghold. I thought it might be Karsten because they left at the same time, but Karsten knew nothing. The woman my target rendezvoused with up here, though, she obviously knows him well and should also be questioned. But I don’t like questioning women. I had hoped I could leave that to you. This was a safe way to tell you that.”

  Christoph raised a brow. “You call it safe, putting a knife to my throat?”

  Leonard chuckled with some genuine humor. “That was only to get your attention.”

  Chapter Fifty

  IT WENT AGAINST THE grain to work with an assassin, to accept any help from Leonard Kastner at all. Christoph had to keep it uppermost in his mind that Alana considered the man family. Yet, Leonard’s audacity did amuse him. A lot. He had to admire a man who would confidently put a blade to his throat.

  “That’s him!” Leonard said suddenly.

  Christoph had to stand up to see over the driver’s high perch, where Leonard had finally taken a seat for the rest of the ride up the hill. They were nearly to the turnoff and the long road east that accessed so many noble estates, including Christoph’s home. He had told Alana he would leave her briefly with his family while he went with Leo to be shown which estate was harboring Bruslan sympathizers. But he saw the man now himself, turning to come down the mountain road. And they were spotted as well.

  “Would he recognize you?” Christoph asked Leonard.

  “No, but it’s possible he doesn’t want anyone to see him up here—don’t shoot at him!” Leonard amended as Christoph raised his rifle.

  The man had left the road to find a different route to avoid getting close enough to them to be recognized, straight down into the wooded hillside. “I won’t kill him,” Christoph said, still taking aim.

  “Just let him go. Let him think his precaution just now succeeded, so he will be confident that he has nothing to worry about.”

  “Are you placing less importance on him now than you implied?”

  “No. I merely know where to find him. I can wait in the Bruslan Stronghold until he shows up. I have an easy access in and out of that place now. If you chase him now and he manages to escape, he’ll go into hiding and we will never find who he answers to.”

  Christoph swore under his breath, but sat back down. Then he noticed Alana’s cautionary look in his direction. He took a moment to lean over and kiss her hard on the lips. Not very satisfying for either of them, but then he was only trying to reassure her.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “I wasn’t going to invite bullets to fly your way again.”

  She started to raise a hand to her lips, but caught herself doing it and put her hand back under the blanket. “I wasn’t worried. But it would appear that your reason for leaving me with your parents just took off for the city, so the danger you mentioned is gone. And I already have a feeling I know who that fellow was visiting.”

  “Oh?”

  “Your lady friend who thinks you’ll marry her.”

  Christoph chuckled at the way she put that, but asked Leonard, “How far down the road is that estate you followed the Bruslan man to?”

  “Not far.”

  Christoph told Alana, “Perhaps you’re right.”

  “Then you’re not dropping me off first,” she said adamantly. “I want to be there when she squirms under your questioning.”

  He couldn’t help grinning. He was sure he knew why, from her disgruntled expression, but he still wanted to hear it. “Why?”

  “She was very nasty to me that day at your house. Very nasty.”

  “You think you can get answers out of her that I can’t?”

  Alana smiled. “No, I just want to sit back and watch. I know firsthand how . . . barbaric you can be when you set your mind to it.”

  “An interesting remark,” he said thoughtfully. “Does that mean you actually think these barbaric tendencies you’ve been assuring me I have are now deliberate rather than natural as you’ve been maintaining?”

  “No, I—” The blush came this time, a pretty pink. “Perhaps sometimes.”

  He laughed. “For the record, Princess, giving a prisoner a sense of helplessness is a very useful tool and is quickly accomplished by completely stripping them naked before questioning. Preventing myself from doing that to you was very—difficult. Not very barbaric, eh?”

  She sucked in her breath, then glanced worriedly at the driver’s perch, where Leonard was sitting with his back to them, to make sure he wasn’t listening before she leaned toward Christoph to scold in a whisper, “Hush. This isn’t an appropriate conversation to be having at any time, much less here.”

  “Why be embarrassed about what a man and woman do with each other, or feel for each other.”

  “I’m soon to be betrothed to another!”

  “Do you really want to hold that up as a means to silence me when you admitted you don’t want him? I’m happy to say that won’t work now.”

  “Ha!” she replied as indignantly as she could manage. “Besides, that wasn’t intimacy between two people you were talking about just now, but a grueling session of questioning.”

  He ran the back of his fingers along her cheek. “With you, I have to disagree. With you, all I wanted to do was sweep you up in my arms and take you to the nearest bed. So it will not come as a surprise if I tell you how much I enjoyed that interrogation, with you in your underclothes. I enjoyed it so much I was hoping we could do it again someday.”

  Her blush got brighter, yet she didn’t resist looking into his eyes just long enough to confuse him with what she was thinking. Until she laughed, then he was certain that she thought he was teasing, and she even teased back, “Perhaps we can switch places next time.”

  She wasn’t serious—or was she? No, of course not, yet her grin was fascinating. This intriguing suggestion had probably been prompted by her wish to see him on his knees for his treatment of her. He reminded himself she was a princess, after all, and well aware of it now. And soon she would be pledged to another man, he thought in disgust.
br />   This need to keep her at his side had nothing to do with his duty. The king had made it clear Christoph wasn’t to touch her again, and he wouldn’t have if she’d been pleased with the match being arranged for her. He’d actually thought she would be, as handsome and charming as Karsten was. But she wanted no part of that, and that quickly Christoph’s anger was gone.

  Now that the danger had just fled down the mountainside, he gave in to his need to have her within his reach and granted her request to be present at the interrogation. If Nadia really was involved, then her father, Everard Braune, wouldn’t be there to interfere because Nadia would never have dared to have a lovers’ tryst in her bed at home if he was.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  A FORMALLY DRESSED SERVANT SHOWED Alana, Christoph, and Leonard to the parlor in the large Braune manor. Alana hadn’t yet had an opportunity to talk to Poppie out of Christoph’s hearing, but as they were being shown to the parlor, she had a moment to quickly whisper to Poppie, “You’ve revealed your face to him. Was that wise?”

  “I have a good feeling about him,” Poppie said. “He won’t betray me.”

  She’d never really thought Christoph would do that either. He was too straightforward, too blunt, too honest by far—unless it pertained to royal secrets, of course.

  None of them sat while they waited for Nadia to join them. Alana kept herself out of the way because she was only there to observe. She shouldn’t even have asked to come. This was now royal business. Her brief moment of wanting to see Nadia get her comeuppance was gone. She realized now it had smacked of jealousy on her part. She hoped Christoph hadn’t noticed that.

  His childhood friend arrived in a flourish. Nadia wore a delighted expression that abruptly turned to mere curiosity when she saw that Christoph hadn’t come alone. She was dressed in dark, bold colors, burgundy mixed with black and a deeper purple, matron colors as they would say in England, where only pastels were appropriate for a young, unmarried woman. But Lubinia didn’t follow those customs, Alana reminded herself. She still felt invisible in comparison in her gray coat. The feeling wouldn’t have changed if she’d removed it because her dress was pale blue, elegant, yet still nearly colorless.