Two

Lindsay Lennox crouched behind a stack of baskets. Through the spaces between them, she kept watch for the brawny man’s frame to reappear. He didn’t look like the kind of man who would give up that easily. She doubted her kick to his shin could have injured him that badly. A few years ago, she had wrestled with her brother and even some of his friends, and they stopped only when she bested them. No way could she have bested the handsome man just now. Yet, why wasn’t he crashing through the marketplace searching for her? Holding her breath, she prayed he wouldn’t discover her hiding place.

She’d come too close to getting caught, and there was no way she could allow him to catch her and take her to her master. Especially not dressed as a servant…and that her so-called master was really her father. Her parent would imprison her in her bed chambers for the rest of her life if he discovered her little escapade today.

It had been a waste of time talking to her father about wanting more freedom. He had tried to convince her that she was too special to be amongst the real people of Turkey. Her mother, Mary, had been a princess—of sorts—and so they needed to act like royalty. She never understood why her father was like this. Was he trying to punish her for something? She was the youngest out of eight children, and yet she had more restrictions than her others siblings.

A large shadow moved in front of her. Her heart pounded in fear and she squeezed her eyes closed, wishing her body to become smaller than she was. Unfortunately she couldn’t predict the future or she wouldn’t have ventured out into the marketplace at all this afternoon.

She concentrated on the footsteps, but they weren’t heavy. Instead, they were softer than she figured that handsome man’s to be—and with no limp. Perhaps this wasn’t her injured Englishman after all. She peeked through one eye. As the shadow passed, she blew out a gush of air from between her lips, relief washing over her.

Too close. Maybe the marketplace shouldn’t have been the location to venture on her first escapade outside the palace.

With shaky hands, she moved the baskets away, and crawled out of her corner. Her head bumped into a pair of legs, and she snapped her attention up. The angry eyes of her personal maid stared back. As always, the lower half of Tanya’s face was covered with a veil, as well as most of her hair. Lindsay didn’t have to know what the woman’s mouth looked like because her gaze was so livid, it could have shot out streaks of fire.

“Mistress Lindsay? What do you think you are doing?”

“Oh, Tanya, it’s you.” Releasing a relieved breath, Lindsay placed her hand on her chest to keep her heart from jumping out. “You scared me nearly to death.”

“And what do you think the governor is going to do when he discovers you were in the marketplace looking like a servant?”

Lindsay sprang to her feet and grabbed Tanya’s hands. “No, you cannot tell Father. I beg you.”

Tanya’s scowl relaxed. “I shall keep your secret this time. The governor will not hear it from my lips.”

“I thank you.” She wrapped her arms around the maid to give her a hug.

“Be thankful I’m the one who discovered you and not that ship’s captain.”

Lindsay pulled back. “Are you talking about that man who was chasing me?”

“Yes. He owns a ship.”

“He does?”

“He’s from England.”

“He is?”

Tanya huffed and folded her arms. “I don’t have all evening to play this game of questions with you. We must get you home before your family realizes you are gone.”

Lindsay nodded. “Then let us be off.”

Sneaking back into the palace was more difficult than escaping. Thankfully, Tanya knew the way to get inside better than Lindsay. Once they were in Lindsay’s room, she hurried and stripped off the slave’s garments and climbed into the tub already filled with warm water.

“Must I remind you again how dangerous that was for you to go into the marketplace?” Tanya moved around the room picking up Lindsay’s clothes. “Do you not know what kind of people go there? If they knew your true identity...” She shook her head.

Lindsay relaxed her head against the back of the tub. Closing her eyes, she pictured only one person. The captain. A tall, strong man he was, and so handsome. He had the greenest eyes imaginable, even when angered. His long brown hair had been pulled away from his face and tied with a leather strap, showing the muscles in his neck. He wore a white shirt with billowy sleeves, yet snug enough to emphasize his broad chest.

She grinned. It’d be nice to run into him again.

“Mistress? Are you listening to me?”

Lindsay blinked open her eyes and looked across the room at her maid, who was now setting out Lindsay’s clothes for the evening. “Yes, I can hear you.”

“You must never do that again,” Tanya said sternly.

“I understand your worries, but I’m fed up with being locked behind doors. My twenty-fourth year quickly approaches, and I still feel as a child because of all the restrictions put upon me. I’ve never been outside the palace’s grounds without a member of my family to guard me, and even then, I’m not allowed to go far.”

Tanya faced her and folded her arms. “Your father must keep you protected. You are too special to be treated like the others.”

Lindsay balled her hands into fists and pounded them on the copper tub. “Oh, I’m so tired of hearing about how my mother is a princess and that’s why father, a foreigner to this country, was made governor because of her connections.” She glared at her maid who remained standing in the other room. “I don’t want to be the daughter of royalty, and I especially don’t want to be the youngest.”

Tanya gasped. “But Lindsay, being a royal is very important here. I cannot imagine one person who wouldn’t trade places with you in an instant.”

Lindsay rolled her eyes. “I would trade my position for theirs in a blink of an eye. I want to be treated like a normal woman.” She frowned. “I want to go to my father’s homeland and live like a regular, every day woman. I want friends, I want…” She bit her bottom lip, wondering if she should say everything on her mind. But she was certain her maid would understand. Tanya was old enough to be her mother, and sometimes the servant pretended to be her mother. Like now. “Don’t you see,” Lindsay continued, “I want a man to like me, not because of who my parents are, but because he wants me and only me.”

Tanya shook her head. “No matter how much you wish to be different, you will never be. You are special, just like the rest of your siblings.”

Lindsay flipped her hand, spraying water through the air. “I’m tired to death of being considered special.” Sighing heavy, Lindsay sank into the cooling tub of water until it reached her chin. “If only my father would not keep me living like a prisoner. I want to see what the world is like.” Tears pooled in her eyes. “I want to know what it’s like to kiss a man.”

Tanya gave her a weak smile. “Perhaps someday you will.”

Lindsay shrugged. “Not in this lifetime, especially when my father keeps me far away from men.” She sighed and reached for her towel. “Let us end this dull conversation. It depresses me. Besides, my skin looks like prunes. I need to get out of the bath water.”

After she climbed out, she patted her body dry with the towel. Tanya helped her dress for the evening, just as she’d done since Lindsay was seven years old. Compared to the drab woolen material Lindsay wore earlier as a servant, the silks and scarves she adorned herself in were much softer.

Her maid fixed Lindsay’s hair, winding it up lock by lock into a bun at the back of her head. String-pearls decorated her hair over the satin silver veil that also covered the lower half of her face. Long silky sleeves billowed away from Lindsay’s arms, and full silk skirts showed only a hint of her shape from underneath.

Using black kohl, Tanya highlighted Lindsay’s eyes—the same shape and blue color of her mother’s eyes. For some odd reason, they changed colors with Lindsay’s mood. Tonight they looked almost silver with her attire.

She frowned. Why she bothered to dress lovely and appear like the woman she should be, she didn’t know. The only people who would see her were those who worked in the palace. It didn’t matter because her father would never allow her to marry. Lindsay would never be held in an intimate embrace by a man or feel the softness of his mouth against hers in a passionate kiss. Maybe when she was old and gray and her father had passed on she’d finally experience that.

Reluctantly, she left her bedchambers and walked to the dining hall. The room was filled with her brother and sisters and some of the servants. Lindsay glanced into the entryway into the grand room and spotted her father. Beside him stood a man dressed differently than her country’s custom. She couldn’t see his face, but his body seemed oddly familiar.

Her father clapped his hand on the man’s shoulder as they both turned. When she could see his face, recognition struck and she gasped. It was him...the handsome captain of the ship.

A strange excitement shot through her body, making the rhythm of her heart speed up. Yet, at the same time, fear closed around her throat. Would he recognize her? And if he did, how could she get out of this mess?