Page 81 of Second Chance Prince
“There are riders up ahead!” One of the bodyguards had doubled back and now pointed up one of the tracks through the talltrees. “Three men,” he added, looking from Niki to Freddie.
“Where does that lead?” Freddie asked.
Niki heard himself speak but was barely aware of what he said. “To the lookout. There is only one way back from there.” Unless…had they thrown her off the bluff? Francis might be capable of anything now he was thwarted, and he would want to punish Niki. And what better way than to destroy the person he loved?
“There’s the High Wire.” Tomas broke the uncomfortable silence.
Niki frowned at him. “That ledge is so narrow, it is barely passable. Karl and I dared each other to ride over it when we were young and stupid. If my grandfather had known, he would have killed us himself.” His frown deepened. “How do you know about it?”
Tomas shrugged self-consciously. “My mother told me. When she and your father were young, they also dared each other to ride along it. She said she had never been so terrified as she was on the High Wire.”
Ahead, they heard the riders approaching, and Freddie reached for his pistol. Out of the forest came the chamberlain, his robes flapping behind him. He hadn’t expected to see Niki and the others, and he looked at first shocked and then chagrined. Niki almost expected him to make up some plausible story, to try to wriggle out of the situation, but then he remembered this was Francis. He drew his horse to a halt and stared at them coldly, making sure to make eye contact with every one of them.
Niki felt the chamberlain’s stare drilling into him, and he was sure some of the other Holtswiggers did too.
“I have always done what I thought right for my country,”Francis said, when he had everyone’s attention. “You are not the leader we need, Niki. I tried to steer you in the right direction, but you would not listen. I am truly sorry it has come to this.”
“What have you done with Roberta? If you are truly sorry, then you will answer me.”
Francis shrugged. “Nothing. She did it to herself. Perhaps she thinks she is a bird and can fly.”
Niki knew then. Roberta was on the High Wire. He would have taken the old man by the throat, but Freddie held him back. “Don’t soil your hands, sir. Let his peers judge him.”
But Niki was already riding, not taking any care, the branches striking against him. He tasted blood from a cut on his cheek and yet he did not feel its sting. He had not been to this particular spot for many years, but he remembered it well. The place where the terrifyingly narrow High Wire finished at the edge of the forest. And the gap one had to jump if one wanted to be safe.
Ah, here it was! The track he was on ended abruptly before a dizzying drop. To his right rose the bluff, on the top of which was the lookout he had shown Roberta, and winding its way against the cliff face was the ledge. It had hardly changed since he was last here, fearing that at any moment he might fall. Shrubs had spread out from where he now stood, somehow finding a hold in the rocky cliff and making a dense shield, but other than that…
He drew his horse up, leaping from its back, and stepped forward to peer ahead.
Nothing. The ledge was empty.
He felt sick. Had she fallen? His brave, beautiful Roberta.
And then, movement. The jingle of a harness, and the glint of metal in the moonlight. A horse and rider appeared from behindthe screen of vegetation. For a moment, he couldn’t believe she was there, alive, but then she looked up, her face white beneath the heavy fall of her hair.
“Niki,” she gasped. “Oh, Niki, I did not think I would ever see you again.”
He wanted to rush forward and make the leap over the gap himself, but he stopped himself. He knew that might distract her, and then they both might fall. “You need to jump,” he said, his voice low and serious. “I know you can. It is not far. A foot or two. Ready yourself, Roberta. Please…” He bit his lip. He had meant to give her confidence, and instead, he was begging her to succeed.
She was already taking in the empty space between the ledge and the safety he offered. “It is further than that,” she said, and she did not seem to be afraid, but then when was she ever? She looked behind her, easing her mount back a step, and then she dug her heels into the horse’s sides, and it sprang forward. And over.
Niki cried out, pulling her from the sweating animal, holding her in his arms. He buried his face in her hair, he kissed her face, and he could feel the wetness of his tears and hers.
“My love,” he said. “My dear love.”
Roberta was shaking, and then she was laughing. “I am alive,” she declared, as if surprised it was so. “I thought on that ledge I would surely die, but here I am. And you are here, Niki. I knew you would be. I wanted to stay alive because I couldn’t bear not to see you again.”
“Never again,” he groaned. “I will never be parted from you again.”
Roberta leaned back and looked at him. Something shifted in her face, a gentleness softening her features. “I love you, Niki. Iknow that sometimes I do not behave as I should, and that will probably always be a problem, but…”
He scolded her. “You are being ridiculous. You are perfect. And I love you too. I wish to God I had told you that months ago. The first evening when I saw you at that ball. I think I loved you even then.”
She gave a shaky smile. “Did you?” And then, remembering something, “When the plan was put to you by Freddie, the pretend engagement. Did you really ask for me?”
“Of course,” Niki said, as if surprised she should think otherwise. “Only you, my dearest love.”
Behind them, someone cleared their throat.
