Sunset Rubies

Secrets

Claire was awoken by the sweet sound of birds chirping in the early morning. She stretched the stiffness from her limbs and pushed away the covers. She tiptoed around her small room, dressing and gathering her things for another day of vigorous training. She softly kissed both the sleeping girls then moved the makeshift wall to kiss Jamerico as well. She didn’t bother to announce herself because Cal was always up and gone before her, so she was startled to see him standing before her, shirtless.

Claire stood for several moments staring at him. He gave her a crooked smile then casually lifted the shirt he held in his hand, slipped it over his head, and pulled it into place. He c****d a brow and gave Claire the relaxed smile that made her heart flutter.

“What are you doing here?” She blurted. She hadn’t thought his brow could arch any farther, but it did so.

“I mean, you’re always gone before I get out of bed. Is everything okay?” He placed his finger on his lips and pointedly looked at the cloth separating their room. On the other side of the curtain she could hear one of the girls shifting on their small cot. She held her breath for a moment until the child settled and resumed to soft even breathing.

“I thought we could walk together this morning,” he whispered. “Just let me grab my boots.” She stood, rooted to the floor watching him bend over. She had to physically pinch herself to snap out of the trance his back side imposed….it didn’t work.

Because she was still staring at him like a love sick knuckle head, he had to take her hand and lead her from the room. He only dropped it for a few moments in the kitchen to pull on his boots and grab a few biscuits before he retook her hand to tow her out of the cottage. She still felt dazed when he handed her the bread and ordered her to eat.

Did he really just wait to walk with her? Was she really walking hand in hand with him? Did he just give her one of his most charming smiles? Wait. She hit the brakes forcing Cal to stop with her. In a panic she pulled her hand free from his and began searching the area around her.

“They are gone,” Cal reassured. She almost asked how he knew she’d been searching for her brothers, but then decided it was his uncanny talent in reading her mind.

“So why are you walking with me today?” Claire asked suspiciously.

“Because I thought it was time I introduced you to the real me. I want you to know Cal. Not the deceiving Mike, the warrior, or the hated son of Leishmann; just me, Cal. Is that okay with you?” She stood looking at him for a long moment.

“Is Cal so different from Mike or Leishmann’s son?” He laughed.

“I guess I am who I am,” he shrugged then after a moment added, “Sometimes I feel like you are looking at me as being Mike the deceiver or my father’s son and forgetting that I am just me, just Cal. I guess I can’t blame you for that though. I hurt you and so did my father.” He ran his hand through his hair with a frustrated sigh.

“Cal.” She stopped once more forcing him to stop with her. When she looked up at him she recognized the guilt in his eyes and realized that she had done him an injustice by hiding her feelings from him. She took a deep breath before trying to explain to him how she truly saw him.

“Cal, I won’t lie to you and say that you did not hurt me when I learned you had lied to me, but I will say that I understand why you did it. Cal, I have distanced myself from you because I have to fight your father.” She paused, thinking that was not entirely true. She knew that if their relationship were to change he needed to know the whole truth.

“Honestly, I feared falling in love with you. It scares me to lose my heart to someone and I know I am very much in danger of that with you. I have been keeping my distance in hopes that I could protect my heart.” He nodded and motioned to continue their trek to the warrior camp again. She could tell by his silence he was thinking about what she had just revealed. Claire bit her lip. Had she been too honest? She had just put her heart on the line and prayed that he would accept it.

“Claire, I am so sorry that I hurt you and I promise I will do everything in my power to protect your heart from this moment on.” His thumb traced a tender circle over their entwined fingers. “Because we are being honest, I think you should know that my intentions for us are completely honorable and all encompassing. I am yours and I pray that you will decide that you want to be mine.” He lifted her hand and placed a gentle kiss on her fingers.

“Can we take this slow?” Claire asked.

“A day at a time,” he smiled. They walked the rest of the way to the warriors camp hand in hand. Upon reaching the outskirts she felt a slight tension from Cal and simultaneously noticed Mark striding towards them. His gaze momentarily landed on their entwined fingers before meeting Cal’s gaze.

“Beat it, Claire,” Mark said firmly. Claire opened her mouth to argue, but was cut off by Cal.

“I think Keith needs your help over by the archery section. If you’d please let him know that I will join him momentarily, I would appreciate it.” She wanted to stay, but the determination in both Cal and Mark had her making her way to Keith who did not look as though he needed any assistance.

***

“Intentions?” Mark asked simply when his sister was out of earshot.

“Marriage.” Cal responded. Surprisingly, Mark only nodded.

“What are we going to do about Teisha?” Cal smiled. He appreciated that Mark was a no nonsense man. He did not have to explain his feelings for Claire nor fill their conversation with the details of courting, proposing, and planning weddings. The simple one-word answer was all Mark needed.

“She seems to be gaining power. Although she appears to have disappeared since my return to Danyon, the reports say that her influence has flourished. She’s become one of Leishmann’s most vital resources. I fear she is holed up somewhere, developing some witchery that will bring everyone who opposes Leishmann to a very definite end.”

“Do you think she can do it?”

“I think that there is an evil inside her that equals if not exceeds Leishmann. She has lived her life mastering all sorts of horrendous spells and developing the fine art of torture under his guidance. I feel she has a quality about her that makes her an even greater foe than my father. Unless she is stopped I fear -that with her at his side- there is no stopping them.”

“Sounds like you might have an idea or two already,” Mark smirked. They began walking around the outskirts of the camp, slowly making their way towards the archery pit.

“One, but I fear your sister is not going to like it...and I’m afraid I have one more thing I must confess about Teisha.” Mark paused, raising a quizzical brow. For a moment Cal just stared across the camp where Claire was helping a soldier adjust his hold on a bow. “I have no idea how I’m going to tell her this.”

“Tell her what?” Mark asked. Cal sighed and tore his gaze from her.

“I have to go after Teisha. I have to return to Leishmann’s army and discover her whereabouts and destroy her before she unleashes whatever evil she is planning against Claire and her armies. It’s the only way.”

“But you have been with us for too long. Surely by now your father and his witch must know that you’ve betrayed them?” Mark protested.

“That may be so, but I have to try and the only way we will get close to Teisha is through me.” Cal ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “I will find a way to excuse my absence and get my father to tell me where Teisha is.”

“What makes you think he’d tell you where the witch is?”

“Because she is my sister.” Cal watched the emotions flicker across Marks face; first shock, then anger, followed by a very profound understanding.

“Damn!” He finally said. Cal nodded in agreement. “You are going to need a surefire plan to get into your father’s good graces.” Again Cal nodded. “To do that you’ll need to take me prisoner.” Cal’s eyes widened at the suggestion.

“That is out of the question,” Cal stated firmly.

“Think about it Cal. It will provide the reason you were absent. You can claim you were tracking Keith and me and were able to take me captive, but Keith escaped. He would then stay behind to protect Claire and you and I would spy behind enemy lines.”

“Leishmann would have you killed on sight.” They both grew silent and thought for a long moment. Then an idea took place. “Unless...If I send you to my father’s castle with strict instructions that I have my own plans for you...it might work. My father enjoys the maltreatment of others. If I imply that my intentions are to use his favorite types of torture on you he would not be able to resist allowing me my game.” Mark smiled.

“It might help if I’m a little roughed up beforehand. The time it would take me to heal up for play time would give us a little more wiggle room to collect information,” Mark grinned.

“It might work. It would reinforce my loyalties to my father. He cannot believe that I am loyal to your sister and yet be willing to capture and harm her brother. I will take some of the loyal men of our army and plot how to convince my father that they are faithful to his cause. I’ll then learn where Teisha is hiding and seek her out and kill her.” They both smiled in agreement at their new plan, but then Mark sobered.

“I am sorry that our plans include killing your sister and father,” Mark stated, looking towards Claire. Cal could tell he was thinking of the pain he would feel if something were to happen to her.

“Teisha was sweet and gentle when we were young. We were close, but we thought we were only cousins at the time. Shortly before I learned the truth, Teisha had begun to change. On one of her visits to the castle she had gone into the forest and came back looking scared and pale. I watched as servants attempted to console her, but nothing they did to assure her safety comforted her. She began to change after that. She became hard and calloused. She began hating everything around her.

“As she grew she became obsessive in her search for revenge. Against whom, I have no idea. There is no longer any resemblance to the sister I once knew. Now, she is a dark and sinister woman that will stop at nothing to destroy everything within her reach. I fear she would even kill our father if it brought her closer to her own success.

“She must be destroyed and I have to do it. There’s no other way. I can only hope that by destroying her and my father it will be enough to redeem my soul for the evils they have caused and my part in it.” Mark placed a comforting hand on Cal’s shoulder and found himself, not for the first time, impressed that such a sensitive man could come from a family so embroiled in evil. Perhaps that’s why he no longer felt surges of outrage when he saw him next to Claire?

“Don’t tell her unless it is absolutely necessary,” Mark said, gesturing to his sister. “Once this is all over, then we will tell her the truth of what you’ve sacrificed for her safety and the freedom of Danyon and its people.”

“I can’t lie to her again,” Cal responded. “But in this, I admit, I must find the right way to tell her.”

“You’re a good man, Cal. It will be an honor to call you brother.” With that Mark turned and strode away, leaving Cal to watch Claire and contemplate how he was going to tell her everything.