So I Married a Sorcerer (The Embraced #2)(57)

Sister Fallyn slumped against the wall as if she was too weak from shock to support herself. “I woke up and ye were gone. Where were you?”

Brigitta glanced over the nun’s shoulder to see Rupert watching them. He was wearing a scarf on his head again, but no hat or mask. He now had boots on his feet, and somehow he’d managed to button his shirt. That was a shame.

What was she thinking? Her cheeks grew warm. “I was sleeping next door.”

“Ye should have woken me! I would have gladly given you the bed.” Sister Fallyn pressed a hand to her chest. “Dear goddesses, I thought someone had dragged ye off to ravish you!”

Brigitta’s face blazed with more heat. Should she tell the nun that a potential ravisher was standing right behind them? She glanced at him once again.

One side of his mouth had curled up in amusement. He tilted his head as his gaze slid down her. All hint of a smile disappeared. Her skin prickled as she recalled the emotions she’d felt from him last night. Yearning. Desire.

Good goddesses, she had nothing on but a sheer nightgown!

“Come.” She grabbed the nun and bustled her into their cabin. With the door shut, she quickly changed into her convent gown.

When they ventured into the passageway to go to the privy, she noted that Rupert was gone.

After returning to their room, she peered out the window. The rain had stopped, and a brilliant sun sparkled on blue water. The ship was moving, cutting smoothly through a calm ocean. None of the other ships were in sight. That seemed odd, since the fleet usually trailed behind the Golden Star.

Jeffrey knocked on the door with their breakfast.

“What happened to the other ships?” she asked as he set their tray on the table.

“Oh, they’re staying close to Danport,” Jeffrey explained. “In case some pirates come.”

Brigitta helped him unload the tray. “But they won’t have Rupert’s special powers to defeat the pirates.”

Jeffrey nodded. “They would have to fight the old-fashioned way. But that’s not a problem. Captain Ansel can handle it. He’ll be in charge while we’re away.”

Sister Fallyn frowned. “Then where are we going?”

Jeffrey scratched his head. “I’m not supposed to say. That’s another reason the other ships stayed behind. They have too many new crew members, and Rupert doesn’t trust them yet.” The boy gave them a sheepish look. “He doesn’t want you to know which way we’re headed, either, so you’re supposed to stay belowdecks.”

The nun’s eyes widened with shock. “What is he planning to do with us?”

“Don’t worry,” Brigitta assured her. “We’re just going to a secret place. Rupert told me about it last night.”

Sister Fallyn looked even more upset. “Ye talked to him alone?”

“I’ll explain after breakfast,” Brigitta said.

Sister Fallyn huffed as Jeffrey made a quick exit.

After a few bites of oatmeal, the nun set down her spoon. “I must know what’s happening.”

“Very well.” Brigitta fetched the paper from the next room. When she returned, the nun was nervously pacing about. “Here.”

Sister Fallyn quickly read the notice, then dropped it on the floor and backed away as if it were poisonous. Her hand fluttered to her chest, then her mouth. “I-I think I may be sick.”

“We’ll be all right.” Brigitta patted her shoulder. “Rupert has agreed to take us to a secret place where my brother will never find me.”

“But what about the gold he would make with yer ransom?”

“He’s willing to give it up, so we’ll be safe.”

“Oh, my.” Sister Fallyn collapsed in a chair. “These pirates are surprisingly … noble.”

“Aye,” Brigitta agreed. “I believe Rupert and the captain are honorable men.” She didn’t want to mention the revenge that Rupert might be planning. She’d tossed on the narrow bed half the night, trying to figure out why he would hate Gunther enough to kill him.

Was it somehow connected to the visions she’d seen? Rupert’s father had been murdered, then his mother had been driven off a cliff. Both of them had died, an eerie echo of the ill-fated deaths that had befallen the hero and heroine in the book Rupert had loaned her. Had the deaths of his parents inflicted a wound on him so severe that he was now drawn to tragic endings? Did a happy one seem impossible to him?

And why did Rupert want her brother dead? In her visions, Rupert had been a child when he’d lost his parents. So it seemed doubtful that Gunther had been responsible. He was only a few years older than Rupert.

Sister Fallyn suddenly rose to her feet. “I have made a momentous decision.”

Brigitta blinked. “Ye have?”

“Aye.” Sister Fallyn nodded. “Ye’re a princess, so ye must remain pure and untouched. And it is my sworn duty to protect you, no matter what.”

“I don’t think I’m in any danger—”

“And so—” Sister Fallyn clasped her hands together at her chest—“when the captain comes to ravish us, I will offer myself.”

Brigitta gasped. “Sister, I don’t think—”

“I will make the supreme sacrifice!” The nun’s eyes glimmered with tears. “It is my duty. Ye must allow me to do this for you.”