Free Secret Heart by Flora Speer

occasionally
catch my breath.
    “ I
honestly don’t know how I survived,” she said, seeing doubt on
Roarke’s face and amazement on Garit’s more kindly features. “I
cannot remember much except that I fought the waves for what seemed
like hours, though it may not have been very long at all. When at
last I felt sand beneath my knees and hands, I started to crawl. I
wasn’t thinking; I just wanted to get away from the waves that kept
dragging me back to the sea. I kept crawling until I could go no
farther. I slept then, or lost consciousness. When I woke up, I saw
that I was on a beach and I began walking. That’s when you found
me,” she finished, looking at Roarke.
    She
couldn’t tell if he believed her, or not. She hadn’t told them the
entire story, of course. She would save the worst part, the dungeon
and near starvation and bloody death to recount during her audience
with the king.
    “ And
that’s it?” Roarke asked. “That’s all you can remember?”
    “ Roarke,
have a heart!” Garit cried. “Hasn’t she told us enough?”
    “ Not by
half. We still don’t know why she was abducted, or who ordered her
murdered,” Roarke said. “Or, who she is.”
    “ I’m so
sorry that I cannot recall anything more,” Jenia whispered, keeping
her face lowered, so he wouldn’t look too closely at her and guess
at the lies and half truths. She longed to tell him everything, to
bare her soul to him and to Garit and be done with it. But she
dared not trust them completely. Her quest was too important for
her to take such a risk. She had to reach King Henryk before she
revealed all she knew.
    “ It’s a
very strange story,” Roarke said.
    “ I know
it is.” Jenia sighed, feeling limp after telling it and wishing she
could cry, but refusing to give way to tears. After she had spoken
to King Henryk in the presence of his nobles, then she’d be free to
weep. Or not. She rather thought she’d choose to hold her head high
instead, to face down the villain who had caused so much pain and
death to innocent souls. Yes, defiance was preferable to weak
tears.
    “ My dear
lady,” Garit said, “I cannot begin to describe how greatly I admire
your courage, your fortitude in the face of danger and dishonor.
Your story is worthy of a noble martyr.”
    “ Leave
off, Garit,” Roarke exclaimed with a sound of disgust. “We have
only Jenia’s word for it that the tale she tells is the truth. Now,
don’t reach for your sword and make a great fuss.
    “ Jenia,”
he said, turning to her, “you admit your wits are scrambled, rather
like a broken egg. May we rely on that much, at least?”
    “ I have
told you the truth as I see it,” Jenia said. Noting the look of
fury on Garit’s face, she attempted to calm the rising dispute
between the men. “However, you are correct to say that I may be
mistaken in some details. What I do not mistake is my fear of being
violated by force and the fact that I leapt from a ship into the
sea. If you can think of some other reason why I would have taken
such a desperate action, I wish you would tell me what that reason
is.”
    Her eyes
blazed at him like golden flames and Roarke knew with desolate
certainty that every word she had spoken was true. The problem was,
she hadn’t revealed everything she knew about her peculiar
abduction onto a ship, or the reason why anyone would want her
dead, or, most important of all, who she was. So long as she
insisted that she couldn’t remember, he didn’t see much he could do
to force the truth from her. He decided a diversion was needed
before Garit lost his temper entirely.
    “ We still
have a long ride ahead of us if we are to reach Nozay by this
evening,” he said, looking from Jenia’s fiery eyes to Garit’s
frowning face. “I suggest that we set aside our questions for the
moment and continue on our way.”

Chapter 4
     
     
    Nozay was even more secluded than Roarke and
Garit had promised. The manor lay at the end of an ill-defined