Free Aurelia by Anne Osterlund Page A

referring to the white cap, baggy shirt, and worn trousers adorning her body.
    robert stared at her as if in shock. No doubt he was. but his shock paled in comparison to hers. she had tried to convince herself that his lie about Chris was not important; but now she saw it for what it really was, a small slip in an attempt to hide a larger truth that the accident had been no accident. Her instincts were correct. The horses had charged. And those horses belonged to the queen. Aurelia could not deal with the implications, not while robert was staring at her. she whirled and fled.
    "Aurelia, wait!" she could hear robert coming after her. "Wait!"
    Her lithe body slipped into the crowd, and she took advantage of the chaos filling the path. dodging water troughs, bales of fresh hay, and picnic supplies, she zigzagged through the fairgrounds. Twice she thought she had lost him only to have his dark head flash into view.
    perhaps he would give up in the tangle of side streets. she burst from the crowd, ducked under the rope barrier, and darted into an alley, where her strategy unraveled. Once he was free of the throng, robert's speed and stamina became a factor. The thudding of his footsteps sped up and, less than five buildings down, a strong hand closed around her upper left arm and swung her to a halt. she fought for a second, gave up, and rested her hands on her hips.
    For minutes they just breathed, measuring each other with their eyes. she struggled to gain a grasp on her senses. "All right, you stopped me. Now talk." He was the one who should have something to say. Not only had he lied to her, but judging from what she had overheard, he had lied to drew as well.
    robert glanced down the empty street as if searching for an answer, then stated the obvious in a controlled voice. "I want to know why you ran away just now." still avoiding the truth. Well, he should not have bothered to come after her, then.
    "And you thought chasing me down and restraining me would explain that for you?" she snarled.
    kicking a piece of broken glass, he met her gaze. "I am more patient than you, Aurelia. I can wait here all day."
    The comment needled her. He would wait there, pretending to be the one who did not know what was going on. she paced back and forth on the cobblestones, emotions warring in her chest. Fine, then. If he insisted on stating the obvious, she could as well. "I ran because I was angry."
    He waited.
    she took a rattling breath. "With you."
    "Only with me?"
    Another breath. The coolness of his question was maddening. "I don't know. maybe someday you'll decide to tell me." The accusation sliced into the tight air.
    For a moment his face flickered as if he was losing his sense of control, but the words coming from his mouth remained infuriatingly calm. "Let's retrace our day. I saw you this morning. We talked. you told me to ask drew Fielding about horses. I looked up mr. Fielding. you arrived, heard a few comments, and hurtled your way off the fairgrounds into an alley." He waited again.
    How dare he patronize her? "Why don't you try that again? maybe you'll achieve your goal of making me sound like the problem." still he said nothing. she turned and began walking away. "Let me know when you feel like telling the truth. Otherwise enjoy your stay in the capital."
    she walked slowly at first, trying her best to maintain an aura of calm, hoping deep down that he would stop her and admit he had lied. That he would apologize and tell her what he really knew about last night.
    but he did not. And the disappointment and her anger at herself for feeling that disappointment were too much. she lurched into motion, pounding around dim corners and down musty streets. Taverns and boardinghouses ranged beside her, the sharp smell of alcohol emanating from their connected facades. The uneven surface of the streets challenged the strength of her ankles, and rough edges of broken cobblestones dug into her leather shoe bottoms.
    A jagged pain in her