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to have him tortured by stripping the skin from his hide in little pieces, but she will have none of that
either. She made me promise that I would not do any such thing, but I can not bear to see her so
unhappy.
Daegon studied her thoughtfully.  Perhaps it is because she loves him?
 Pish! You would not think so if you had seen the way she carries on!
 It is precisely because of the way she is  carrying on that the thought occurs to me, Daegon said
dryly.  Drago did say that she had no interest in going with him until he had told her of the legend. Until
that moment, she seemed very determined that Morpheus would come for her and take her to his castle
and she did not seem to dislike the idea, my dear.
Cerise flopped onto a bench, sighing.  I hate to say it, but I fear you are right. How absolutely dreadful
for poor Adriana! What can we do?
Daegon shrugged.  There is nothing you or I can do, my love. Time heals all wounds.
For a week Cerise soothed and petted Adriana the best she could, trying to tempt her with every sort of
special treat that came to mind. Nothing helped. It seemed that almost everything she thought to offer
reminded Adriana in some way of Morpheus and she would burst into tears again. She refused to be
coaxed from her chamber, or even from her bed.
Cerise ran out of patience by the middle of the second week. Instead of trying to coax Adriana from her
room, she sent Daegon to carry her downstairs and settle her on one of the padded chairs in the main
hall.  I have a letter from father, she announced brightly when Adriana merely sat like a stone, staring
into space.
The comment pierced her self-absorption.  Father? she echoed, as if she had never heard the word
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before.
 Yes, Cerise said firmly.  He writes that he misses us both, but he is glad that you and I are having such
a nice visit, for he had grown worried about you.
Adriana looked conscience stricken.  Oh--oh my! I forgot that I had meant to send Father a letter once
I got here.
Cerise waved that away.  I had instructed Drago to leave a note for him so that he wouldn t worry when
you disappeared. I saw no reason to tell him you never made it until we were assured you were safe.
Adriana s chin wobbled.
 Don t youdarestart to weep again! Cerise snapped.
Adriana sniffed.  I am certain I have cried myself out.
 I wish I was as certain of it!
Adriana sent her sister a resentful glare.  I can not help that I am so miserable!
 You can. You have not tried, Cerise said bracingly.
 I love him so much! It s horrible to have no choice at all!
 You made your choice, Cerise said quietly, but more kindly.  You loved him enough to give him up so
that no harm would come to him. Now you must go on with your life.
Adriana stared at her sister, feeling anger slowly surge to the surface.  That is easy enough for you to
say! You have Daegon, who loves you as much as you love him.
 But I almost lost him. I do understand how you feel, whether you believe it or not.
Adriana lapsed into subdued silence. She knew Cerise was right. She had thought at first that she would
die of a broken heart. She had hoped for it, wicked as that might be, but it had not happened. She had
no choice but to pick herself up and go on, even if she didn t particularly want to.
It was still a daily struggle. Each morning when she woke, she expected to smell flowers and she would
lie in bed with her eyes closed for a long time, hoping the perfume would tickle at her nose. Misery would
descend when she at last opened her eyes and climbed from her bed to face another day, but each day it
became just a little easier.
* * * *
Resisting the urge to follow her, Morpheus fingers curled against the stone window embrasure as he
watched Adriana call to her mare, Misty. He had decided even before he gave her the mare that he must
know if she stayed because she wanted to or only because he held her captive. He must free her to make
the choice.
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As she climbed upon the mare s back and rode away, he remained where he was, reminding himself that
she had made love to him the day he had given her the mare. He had finally broken through the barrier
that she had erected between them. She had given herself to him with the same joy that she had in the
beginning, the spontaneity that had been missing since he had captured her and brought her to his castle
against her will.
She needed her freedom. She would come back.
As the hours ticked by in an agony of waiting, Morpheus told himself over and over again that shewould
come back. When she did not, anger began to grow inside of him. He tamped it with an effort, thinking.
When it occurred to him that she might have been injured and that was why she had not come back, he
berated himself for a fool.
Imagining her broken and bleeding, he tore from his castle, mounted his night-mare and searched far and
wide for her. There was no sign of either Adriana or her mare, however, and finally, weary, angry, but
still worried sick, he went to the castle of Daegon. There he saw the little winged mare contentedly
grazing in the pasture with Daegon s horses.
Relief suffered a quick death. Fury washed through him. He would take the castle apart stone by stone if
he had to to find her and when he had found her she would rue the day she had broken his trust! He
would take her back to his castle in chains! He would confine her to her chamber and use her lovely
body until she was old and gray and no man would look at her and then he would cast her out!
Seething, he glared down at the peacefully sleeping castle, as if he could penetrate the walls even from
so far away and watch her slumbering in her bed.  To hell with her! he growled finally, digging his heels
into his mare s sides and sending her racing through the night sky homeward.
It was his own castle that he took apart in his rage and pain, first destroying all the gifts that he had so
carefully selected for his beauty, Adriana, and when he had ground them to dust like the unwanted,
discarded nothings they were, he destroyed the chamber he had filled with beautiful things to comfort her. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]