Chapter 23

Gypsy awoke with a start.

She’d been dreaming she was still Kharon’s prisoner and the dream’s horrible panic still lingered even after taking in her surroundings. Nessa sat in a chair by her bedside. She offered Gypsy a mug of cool water. Sitting up, she took it and was surprised by how thirsty she was. All of her muscles ached but she felt better…much better.

“I know you’re still tired from your ordeal but there’s something very important I must discuss with you,” Nessa said, scooting to the edge of her seat.

Gypsy gave her a weak smile. This has got to be about their surprise wedding. How she wished Nessa would just drop it. Of course Caraculla’s betrayal still hurt but so much had happened it seemed silly to stay mad. At least Caraculla had never held her prisoner and broken her ankle. If this woman was what he wanted, then fine. She hoped they were happy together. “I’m not really in the mood and it doesn’t matter anymore. I wish you two a wonderful life together.”

“Please,” Nessa said. “There’s a lot you don’t know about why Caraculla married me.”

Gypsy flopped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. She was exhausted and knew no matter where she went in the villa, Nessa was sure to follow. “Okay, say what you want to say. I’ll listen and then I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“Of course,” Nessa said, smoothing out her dress. “First of all, I’m sorry Caraculla didn’t tell you about the wedding. I know how much it hurt you but please understand it wasn’t his fault. He was ordered not to tell anyone about marrying me.”

“So why all the secrecy?” Gypsy asked.

“Because the truth is very bad.”

Gypsy sat up and looked at her. Maybe this was more interesting than she originally thought.

Nessa got up and closed the door so the servants couldn’t hear what she was about to say. She resumed her seat. “I trust you, Gypsy. I know you won’t repeat what I’m about to tell you.”

“I won’t,” Gypsy promised, growing more curious.

“For the past few years my father had been…raping me,” Nessa confessed. Gypsy felt her mouth drop open. It was hard to keep a secret like that, especially with the amount of gossips around.

“The last time,” Nessa continued, “I got pregnant. Of course, my father threatened to kill the child so I went to the emperor for help. He dealt with my father immediately, dispatching some nobles to lynch him in the forest where his relatives couldn’t interfere. Then the emperor had a problem. He had a young pregnant noblewoman who everyone knew hadn’t been sleeping around. It was only a matter of time before everyone guessed who the real father was. My child would have been an outcast, always under threat of being murdered as an abomination. So Caraculla offered to marry me. It was early enough in my pregnancy that we could just claim the child was his and he agreed to treat it as his own.”

“So your father wasn’t killed by robbers as reported?” Gypsy asked, remembering the shock that had reverberated through the nobility. It was unthinkable that one of their own had been murdered by common thugs.

“That’s right. I was there and allowed my father to pursue me into a trap.”

Gypsy sat there stunned but everything fell into place. Caraculla would have been the best choice. He wasn’t married anymore and the emperor trusted him to keep a secret. Even one this juicy. Perhaps he would have told her eventually. Gypsy was sure he would have. “I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s a lot to take in,” Nessa agreed. “I just wanted you to know why he married me when he was still very much in love with you.”

“I appreciate you confiding in me. But none of this changes anything. I don’t want to sleep with him while he’s married to you.”

Nessa nodded. “You’re very kind but I was going to ask him to set our marriage aside. Now that we’ve been together for almost a month, my pregnancy looks legitimate. There’s no need to continue this deception.”

“Don’t you want to stay married to Caraculla?”

A big smile erupted on Nessa’s face. “Oh yes. He is a wonderful man and I would be the luckiest woman in the world to remain his wife but he has already sacrificed so much. Despite the pain in his heart, he has never once complained about our situation. But it’s obvious to all that he loves you, Gypsy. It would be wrong of me to expect him to stay with me indefinitely. The marriage has served its purpose and it is time for both of us to move on with our lives.”

“But aren’t you afraid the other nobles will gossip about you?”

Nessa laughed. “They gossip more about you and Caraculla. Rumor has it the two of you are sneaking around behind my back. Besides, the marriage appeared rushed to the outsider. We kept up the ruse that with my father’s death I would need protection. Now it will just look as though it didn’t work out. Unfortunately, you will probably be to blame in the gossip circles.”

Now it was Gypsy’s turn to laugh. “Trust me, I have grown quite accustomed to being the object of their disdain. Most of them have hated me since the day I dared pick up a sword.”

She shook her head. “If they only knew I wanted the two of you to be together. Caraculla has done so much for me. All I want is his happiness.”

“I’m sorry for ruining your wedding,” Gypsy said, feeling guilty.

Nessa got up and smiled. “Don’t be. It’s me who should be sorry we didn’t take your feelings into consideration.” She opened the bedroom door and the smell of fresh cut meat drifted in. “Why don’t we go and get something to eat?”

Groaning from the soreness that permeated through her muscles, Gypsy pushed herself forward and swung her legs around to sit on the edge of the bed. She would have loved to sleep a few more hours but she needed to talk to Gavin.

Gavin.

Then she glanced over at her sword that had been hung on the wall by her boots and frowned. It would take her father exactly one half second to know where that sword came from. “Will you do me a favor, Nessa?”

The young woman looked at her with shocked curiosity. “Anything, Gypsy. Anything at all.”

Gypsy painfully got off the bed and crossed the room to her belongings. She lifted Titan’s sword from the wall hook, sliding it into one of the scabbards that had been left with her belongings. Delicately running her hand up the blade of Titan’s gift she caressed the red ruby embedded on the hilt. “May I leave this sword here for a few days? I’ll be back to get it. I just don’t want to have to explain it to my father. Not right now, anyway.”