Julian’s face was a mask as he helped Aria mount then mounted himself. The three of them started down the mountainside.
“Was it something I said?” J.T. asked, eyes bright as he reined his horse next to Aria’s.
She kicked her horse forward and reached for Julian’s hand. “Tonight I will meet you alone, at nine-thirty in the Queen’s Garden under the gingko tree,” she whispered.
He gave a curt nod but kept looking straight ahead.
They rode halfway down the mountain without speaking, J.T. staying just inches away from the back of Aria’s horse. She glanced back a few times but he was always looking at the scenery with an intent expression. When they were back at the palace, she meant to talk to him about what she would and would not tolerate. And interfering with her growing relationship with Count Julian was one thing she would not abide. Another was his seeming interest in Gena. Gena was very young and frivolous and Aria could not allow her to spend time with an older, experienced man like Lieutenant Montgomery.
J.T. made no sound before he leaped. One second he was on his horse and the next he was sailing through the air, leaping toward Aria. She heard a sound behind her and saw this enormous man flying toward her. Only half of her scream escaped.
The shot missed her by inches. She was tumbling down the side of the horse, J.T. clutching her when the bullet whizzed over their heads.
Julian’s horse reared, he lost the reins, and the horse tore down the mountainside, Julian barely hanging on. The other two horses, now riderless, followed Julian’s.
J.T. twisted his body so that he landed first on the rocky ground, Aria on top, then he moved so that they rolled off the path and into a little gully hidden by bushes and tall undergrowth. He covered her body with his, completely protecting her as he lifted his head slightly to look at the steep mountainside facing them.
“Was it a shot?” Aria whispered, looking up at his face.
“Something big, is my guess, maybe a sporting rifle because it had a shiny barrel. I saw it glint in the sun.”
“Perhaps it was a hunter.”
He looked down at her. “And they thought our horses were bighorn sheep?” He looked back at the mountainside. “They were shooting at you, Princess.”
“Oh,” she said, and her arms came up to wrap around him. “You saved my life.”
“Again.” He looked back at her. “I think I like this time better.”
He looked as if he were going to kiss her but he pulled away. “We have to get you home. We can’t take the path, we’d be too exposed. We’re going through the forest and we’re going to stop and listen often. No talking. Where’s the nearest point of civilization? I guess it would be too much to hope for a car, but maybe there’s a telephone. We need to call your army and get some protection on the trip down.”
“There is a hunting lodge up the mountain,” she said. “There are caretakers there who can take a message down but there are no telephone lines on the mountain. The nearest telephone is at the bottom. But Julian will bring help.”
“Don’t count on it, baby. He didn’t look like he’d stop running for miles, and if he gets back to the palace, he’ll probably hide under the covers.”
“I resent your saying that. Julian is not a coward.”
“There was a rifle shot and all I’ve seen is the back of him. He should have returned with the horses by now. How far is this lodge?”
“It’s not far if we don’t use the road, but it’s straight up.”
J.T. groaned.
“It is a difficult climb, I admit, but—”
“We’ll be exposed on the side of the mountain. Stay down and keep in the scrub oak as much as possible. Try to keep something between you and the sight of the rifleman.”
“Perhaps he has gone.”
“And miss an opportunity to pick you off? Come on, get up and let’s go.”
Aria had never made the climb before and she only knew about it because the son of one of her ladies-in-waiting had been lost from the lodge. During the three-day search she had heard much about the surrounding terrain.
The climb was strenuous and made worse because J.T. insisted they take the most difficult way. But he helped her over rocks, through groves of five-foot-tall oak trees struggling to survive, and under brush too thick to navigate except at a crawl.
It was noon when they reached the hunting lodge. J.T. pushed Aria into some shrubbery then began pounding on the door. A frightened-looking older woman opened it.
“Sir, you cannot—”