Part 27
"Are we just going to give up then?" Michael demanded, jumping to his feet and pacing the length of the clearing. "There is no way to get her safely so we give up?"
"Of course not." Max snapped. He rubbed his hand across his face wearily. Elizabeth watched him with concern. She could tell that he was holding in his own frustration, but just barely.
They had been trying to devise a plan to rescue Tess for almost a full day now. It did seem virtually impossible.
It had been confirmed that Tess was being held in Nottingham Castle. Alex had returned only an hour before, having ridden hard to his estate just north of Sherwood. He had sent one of his retainers to Nottingham to listen in the taverns and on the streets and word had already leaked out to the public that Sir Kyle had brought a blonde girl in chains to the stronghold the day before. The story had been well into circulation because it was a rare enough thing in these times to see a woman bound hand and foot and under heavy guard, so even those who had not seen Tess themselves had heard of it.
The fact that Tess had been so heavily guarded only confirmed Elizabeth's fear that Sir Kyle no longer underestimated Max. Having his bride stolen right from the altar had not only humiliated him, it had made him more careful and less cocky.
And so, it seemed hopeless. There was no way the six of them could sneak unimpeded into a stronghold of the magnitude of Nottingham Castle. Elizabeth knew that the way Max had infiltrated several nights before was most likely completely shut off now.
Because there was no doubt Sir Kyle expected them. What Michael had overheard guaranteed it.
There was also no doubt that the Sheriff had his guards out in full-force as well. They were still combing the Forest in search of the outlawed Max and Michael. Alex had not yet been outlawed because of his close ties with the Queen, but he had still feared for his life when had almost run head-first into a contingent of them on his way back to their hiding spot. The Forest was becoming increasingly unsafe for them now because they had to stay close to the city for Tess's sake.
Elizabeth suspected that Max and Michael had spent the time Alex was gone plotting ways to get them all to France once Tess was back. Fleeing meant that Alexander and Mary were going to lose everything. Alex would lose his lands and his title unless he found some way to appeal to King Richard directly. The King's no-good brother Prince John was presently the regent of the country, but he would support the Sheriff in this. He needed all the allies he could muster because rumours were circulating in the city too that Prince John was about to try and usurp in absent brother's throne. The King was completely out of reach and unavailable since he had been captured by the German Emperor on his way home from the Holy Land. His ransom had yet to be set and it was possible that he might not have a throne to return to when he was released.
She felt guilty about Alex and Mary. It was she who had placed them in this position after all, having asked them to accompany Isabel and Tess into the Forest. Elizabeth knew that Alexander would have the King's ear upon his return, but if the King didn't return...But she knew her friends did not blame her. Seeing the way Mary acted around Michael and the way Alexander looked at Isabel, the DeLucies were not sorry and had not regrets.
"There is one piece of good news." Alex spoke into the tense silence that had fallen, snapping Elizabeth back to attention. "Although I am unsure if it will help our cause or not."
"What is it Alex?" Isabel asked. She had gone to stand with Michael, her hand on his arm in an attempt to calm him down. Elizabeth frowned slightly when she saw Alex's eyes planted firmly on that hand.
"The King is to be ransomed. The Emperor has finally set the price." Alex tore his gaze away from Isabel and Michael looked directly at Elizabeth. "The Queen will return to Nottingham to collect the taxes to use in that effort."
Elizabeth jumped to her feet from boulder on which she had been perched. "This is wonderful news!" She looked at Max, who was staring at her, his eyes shadowed.
"And this helps us how exactly?" Michael inquired. Elizabeth was still looking at Max, slightly disconcerted by the strange expression on his face. She forced herself to look at Michael. She could from the tone of her brother-in-law's voice that he was doing his best not to make a snide comment, although he desperately wanted to. He was keeping his pledge of treating her like his queen, even though Liz suspected that he still was not completely comfortable with the idea, despite his graceful apology of the day before.
Elizabeth could understand his wariness. None of their new friends understood her relationship to the Queen.
"She will help us! I know she will." Elizabeth explained quickly, willing Max to see that all their troubles were over. "I will go to her and I will explain what Kyle has done and she will order him to release Tess."
"Liz..." Max began, clearly not believing it could be as simple as that. She had to convince him.
"I know her Max. She loves me! She will do this for me."
"After you defied her will by not only refusing to marry Sir Kyle, but by then eloping with a known outlaw?" Max asked gently.
Elizabeth looked at Mary and Alexander for confirmation. "Explain it to them. They don't understand. If there is anyone who understands following your heart, its Queen Eleanor. She divorced the King of France of love of the King of England after all!"
Mary was leaning against a tree, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Alexander did not look convince either. "Mary! Alex! It is the Queen!"
Mary moved forward, put her arm around Elizabeth. "Lizzy, she was going to marry you to Sir Kyle against your will." She frowned slightly, glanced quickly at Michael before continuing, "She was going to marry ME to some old baron next. The Queen does what she believes to be right for her wards. She is Eleanor of Aquitaine, the greatest heiress in Europe. What she does is not necessarily suitable for every girl. If it were, our society would be in anarchy!" Liz's mouth dropped open. "I'm not saying that I am agreeing with it Liz. Of course I don't. But the Queen will be angry. You must see that!" She paused. "She is also preoccupied with ransoming the King. She will not look kindly on being asked to deal with what she will consider something insignificant."
"Marrying Kyle was NOT against my will!" Liz returned sharply, upset by what Mary was saying because she knew it might be true. There was dead silence following that statement. She could have kicked herself. "At least not at first." She amended hastily, not daring to glance at her husband. "I didn't know I could ever have anything more," she continued passionately. "None of us did until three days ago! The Queen will help us when I explain it to her! I know she will. I just need to go to her."
"No." Max's voice was harden than Elizabeth had ever heard it, at least directed at her. "It will not work Liz. Mary has given a valid argument. You will not put yourself in danger like that." Elizabeth still did not look at him. She was scared of what she might see on his face. That comment about Kyle had hurt him - she knew it had.
"I don't know Maxwell." Michael said, sounding interested. "I don't see that we have many other options."
"At least it will get one of us into the Castle." Isabel added. Elizabeth smiled at her friend, thanking her silently for her support. She didn't know why it was so important that she be able to do this for them, but it was.
She needed to get Tess back for them. For him.
"No." Max repeated. "Even Mary and Alexander see it for foolishness. I will not allow it."
Elizabeth's head snapped around. "Foolishness?" She asked dumbly.
Max's expression softened. "I know that you want to help Liz, but putting yourself anywhere near Sir Kyle again is just that - foolishness."
Elizabeth just stared at him. She could feel tears beginning to well up. He thought she was a fool. Actually he thought she was worse than a fool. He thought she was a weakling who needed protecting.
It was why he had married her after all. To protect her from Kyle, because she was too foolish to do it herself.
She thought she heard Alex muttering under his breath. "Uh oh..." But she couldn't be sure. The blood was rushing in her head, causing her hearing to be slightly off.
She wanted to protect HIM. It was all she had ever wanted to do. And he thought she was a fool.
"Lizzy." Mary spoke directly into her ear. "Don't. Don't freeze up. He didn't mean it the way it sounded."
Elizabeth drew herself up to her full height, which, annoyingly, was very little and spoke to Max coldly. "I apologize your highness if my foolishness has wasted your time. I also apologize that it has put you all in this position in the first place, because I couldn't save myself from Kyle. If it wasn't for me, Tess would not have been taken. If I am a fool because I want to make amends for that fact, well, then, so be it."
She grasped her cloak tightly, meeting Max's eyes squarely. He was staring at her in shock, clearly unused to seeing a less than pliable side to her.
But, then, why should he not be? She had been nothing but pliable since she had first met him and had fallen head over heels in love with him.
And yet, he didn't really know her at all, did he?
Elizabeth whirled, stormed off into the bush. She heard Alex calling after her, heard Isabel tell Max to follow her, heard Mary tell him not to, to let her cool off.
He better not follow me, Elizabeth reflected venomously. I will toss him into the waterfall if he tries to follow me.
The thought of Max dripping wet in the stream was enough to make her anger fade. She could just imagine the look on his face.
It would be horribly similar to the one he had just displayed - shock, but with an underlying affection and love that would result in her throwing herself into his arms.
He might think she was foolish, but she did not doubt that he loved her.
Elizabeth sighed heavily, leaned against a tree and slid until her bottom hit the forest floor.
What kind of witch was she anyway? She reflected guiltily now that her icy rage had melted. Max was only concerned for Tess's safety, concerned for HER safety. He certainly didn't need her throwing temper tantrums at the moment. He had enough to deal with.
She wondered momentarily how Tess would have behaved in similar circumstances - if she was Max's wife as she had been meant to be.
Probably like the queen she was born to be. Instead he has me. She felt her tears welling up again. She swiped at them angrily.
But its you he loves another voice, deep in her heart, argued. He would give up his planet for you.
Which only makes it worse, Elizabeth reflected glumly. She now understood why she was being so unreasonable, why she had taken offense where Max had intended none, why she so desperately wanted to be the deciding factor in liberating Tess.
It was good old-fashioned guilt. It was guilt that she, Elizabeth, had stolen the other girl's place. A girl she disliked, yes, but Liz could not blame Tess for fighting tooth and nail for Max. He was a king. He was her intended mate. He was MAX.
She also felt guilt that he might not be the king he was supposed to be because of her. He had already put his own life in danger several times in his quest to keep her safe.
She was beginning to understand how her husband saw her - as something pure and priceless, to be admired and protected.
While that was romantic and gratifying, it wasn't really her. She had many flaws.
She had a tendency to freeze people out when she was angry at them as Mary had just warned her against doing. She could be stubborn and headstrong when she felt that she was right. Her behavior over the last three days had more than shown this. She had believed Max and so had pulled her two best friends away from their comfortable lives to help him.
She could be selfish. She had married Max on a romantic whim, not knowing beforehand that he was a king with responsibilities to an entire planet. But she HAD known that he was betrothed and she had married him anyway. She had done it because she loved him and wanted him for herself.
And now Tess was paying the price for her faults - and Elizabeth was beginning to wonder if Max would still love her when he found out about them.
When she fell off the pedestal upon which he had placed her, would their marriage become a disaster in his eyes. Would he regret it? Would he wish that he had married the one who was meant for him all along?
The fact that she was worried about his during the current crisis was just more evidence of her selfishness. Poor Tess. Who knew how Sir Kyle was torturing the poor girl because he could not get his hand on the true object of his wrath - Elizabeth herself.
All of this was why she wanted to go to the Queen, wanted to fix some of the disaster for which she had been responsible.
"Liz?" She had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts, she had not even heard him approach until he was directly behind her. "It is not safe for you to be out here alone sweeting."
She felt him ease tentatively to the ground beside her, could sense his unease, his concern that she would send him away.
Elizabeth felt a lump rise in her throat. She was responsible for that too. When he should be worrying about Tess, instead he was being forced to deal with a difficult wife.
"Liz, I am sorry. Sometimes I say things before I think how they might sound. You might ask Michael about that," he added wryly. "He surely has much to say on the matter." He paused, waiting to see if she might say something. If she spoke she would start to cry, so she remained silent. Max continued. "You know that I don't think that you're foolish."
The end of the comment was raised like a question, as though he was unsure that she actually knew this, and that if she didn't, he felt awful.
"Please don't apologize to me." She managed to whisper back, through the lump that wouldn't go away.
"Liz?" He sounded truly confused now. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He had plucked a blade of grass and was twisting it nervously.
She realized that he had never apologized to anyone before. Of course he hadn't. In his small society he had always been acknowledged leader. Even when Michael had been angry about their marriage, Max had never apologized. He had been sorry that his brother was upset, but he had not felt the need to be sorry.
He was a king. Kings did not apologize.
Liz realized that if he didn't know her, she still had much to learn about HIM as well.
"Tell me the worst thing you ever did to another person." She blurted abruptly.
"What? Why?" He sounded completely dumbfounded.
"I want to know everything about you." Elizabeth insisted, finally looking right at him. His face was shadowed in the twilight, but she could still see the wariness and uncertainty. "The good AND the bad. You've already seen MY bad side tonight." She added guiltily.
"Well, I once locked Isabel in the privy overnight." He looked embarrassed. "Is that what you mean? And I beg to differ about seeing your bad side," he continued. "You don't have one."
Elizabeth sighed, let herself lean back against him. She felt him relax, breathe a sigh of relief. His arms came around her, holding her tightly against him.
"Max, everyone has a bad side." She told him. "We need to acknowledge each other's faults if this is ever going to work."
"Are you saying I have faults?" He demanded in mock outrage. He squeezed her lightly to let her know that he was not serious.
Liz rolled her eyes, held up her hand and began to list them on her fingers. "Impatience? Stubbornness?" She asked sweetly. "Overprotectiveness? The complete inability to take anything I say seriously?" Her tone was light, but she could feel him tense. She knew that he was NOW taking her seriously.
"Is that what you really think?" He inquired quietly. "That I don't take you seriously?"
"Well, I don't blame you." Liz replied quickly. "I have been a tad impulsive over the span of our acquaintance."
"Are you telling me that you don't jump on the Bishop every week? That you don't wed complete strangers after three days acquaintance all the time?" He asked teasingly. "I may have to rethink this whole marriage thing." He said, pretending to be disconcerted. "I was very much looking forward to the weekly bishop thrashing."
Liz elbowed him soundly in the ribs. He kissed her lightly on the temple in response, but only after giving a satisfying grunt. "I'm serious Max! This is not ME. I am usually very steady in temperament." She twisted around so that she could see his face. "It was why I did not protest my betrothal to Sir Kyle overmuch at first. I am steady, predictable and boring." She paused. "My guess is that the Queen will not even believe that I have eloped. She would believe it of Mary, but never of me."
Max was listening to her seriously now. "I fear that you are beginning to regret your impulsiveness." He paused, causing her to open her mouth to protest. The last thing she regretted was marrying him! Her main concern was that he should regret marrying HER.
Max gently placed a finger on her lips to silence her, then looked away briefly. "Do you truly understand why I fear to send you to the Queen?" Liz shook her head, frowning. "I think I am afraid that if you go back to her, she will remind you of all you are giving up to be with me."
Elizabeth stared at him in astonishment. His shadowed gazes showed that he was really serious. "What I gave up?" She asked in amazement. "What about you?"
Max started. "What do you mean?"
"You gave up the queen you were meant to rule with! You gave up your secret and your freedom and you may have to give up your throne!" She shook her head at him when he scowled. "You cannot deny its true Max. Your people might not accept me. We know that your guardian would not have. You even lost HIM because of me. And Tess is in captivity because of me as well."
"Liz," Max interrupted firmly. "I would be rotting in the dungeons of Nottingham Castle or swinging from a rope right now if it wasn't for you."
Elizabeth smiled gently at him. "And I would be married to Sir Kyle, miserable and lonely and destined for a life without meaning if it wasn't for you." She shuddered at the thought.
Max's arms tightened around her. She buried her face in his neck, inhaled his scent, the combination of the forest and wool and just MAX. Her heart began to thump irregularly. "I would never have known what happiness was." She whispered.
"Well, we certainly are a pair." Max finally said after she had stopped shivering. "We are both so guilty about what we're making the other lose, we both forgot that all that matters to either of us is the other."
"Flaws and all?" She asked quietly.
"Flaws and all." Max acknowledged. "Not that you have any. And I am having a hard time remembering mine." He grinned at her teasingly.
"MAX!" Liz glared at him. "I want you to admit that I have flaws - that you love me in spite of them."
He continued to smile. "Well, you do have the extremely irritating tendency of talking when I want to kiss you. Will that do?" He asked innocently.
Liz rolled her eyes. "I will not allow you to kiss me until you accept that I am going to the Queen." He was trying to kiss her as she said it, but she had turned her head firmly aside and he ended up kissing her ear instead. She turned back to see his expression darkening as her comment penetrated though.
She refused to back off though. "Max. I am not some pretty flower that is to be protected. I am your wife - your queen. It's my fault that Tess is where she is. Let me do this one thing."
She saw him open his mouth to protest. She melded her lips to his instead, bringing her hands up to cup his face. "Say yes." She murmured several moments later when she had him breathing heavily. Her own breath was coming quickly, but she was not to sidetracked from her mission.
"No." Max gasped when she began to trail light kisses down his jaw. She was fumbling with the laces on his tunic.
"Say yes Max. You know I'm just going to go anyway." Liz helped him pull his shirt over his head. She swallowed, licked her lips at the sight of his muscular chest and abdomen.
All guilt about stealing him away from Tess fled her mind.
He was hers. She would feel no more shame for loving him so completely.
Elizabeth looked up at his face. His dark eyes were watching her, shadowed still, but with desire now rather than hurt. His hands were snaking through her braids, unwinding them mercilessly until her hair hung around them both.
"No." Max said quite clearly, considering the current expression on his face. "I will not risk you." It startled her. She had thought him well beyond their argument, had been sure that it would only be a matter of time before she convinced him. But he sounded just as adamant as he had at the beginning.
She frowned at him for a moment, then sighed. "Well, then, you leave me little choice." She told him, trying to sound grieved. "I'm just going to have to convince you."
"You can try." Max smirked, although his eyes were hot as he watched her begin to unlace the ties on her gown. His voice was a little raw, but he did manage to say, "You listed over-protectiveness as one of my flaws my queen. In my opinion it is not a flaw. It is a virtue." He grabbed her suddenly, burying his face in her long hair. "I cannot lose you Liz." His tone was now completely serious.
She pulled back gently. "And I cannot lose YOU Max. Can you tell me that you will be the same if we do not save Tess? The guilt will eat you alive. It will torment me. It will KILL us. Can you not admit that this is the only way?" She touched his face, pleaded. "Let me save her. To save us."
"Liz, I can't." She could hear the fear in his voice, underlined by a note of hard resolve. He was not going to budge on this, she realized.
Elizabeth sighed, brought her mouth up to meet his again, determined to erase his fears, willing to give in for the moment.
"It will be all right my love." She whispered. "We will find another way."
And as she let him make love to her, she could feel his relief and fear for her making him urgent. She gave herself over to him completely, as she had done since the first moment they had met.
But, as she lost herself in the love she felt for him, she reflected very briefly on one more flaw she possessed of which her beloved would soon be aware.
She was a liar.
To be continued...
"Are we just going to give up then?" Michael demanded, jumping to his feet and pacing the length of the clearing. "There is no way to get her safely so we give up?"
"Of course not." Max snapped. He rubbed his hand across his face wearily. Elizabeth watched him with concern. She could tell that he was holding in his own frustration, but just barely.
They had been trying to devise a plan to rescue Tess for almost a full day now. It did seem virtually impossible.
It had been confirmed that Tess was being held in Nottingham Castle. Alex had returned only an hour before, having ridden hard to his estate just north of Sherwood. He had sent one of his retainers to Nottingham to listen in the taverns and on the streets and word had already leaked out to the public that Sir Kyle had brought a blonde girl in chains to the stronghold the day before. The story had been well into circulation because it was a rare enough thing in these times to see a woman bound hand and foot and under heavy guard, so even those who had not seen Tess themselves had heard of it.
The fact that Tess had been so heavily guarded only confirmed Elizabeth's fear that Sir Kyle no longer underestimated Max. Having his bride stolen right from the altar had not only humiliated him, it had made him more careful and less cocky.
And so, it seemed hopeless. There was no way the six of them could sneak unimpeded into a stronghold of the magnitude of Nottingham Castle. Elizabeth knew that the way Max had infiltrated several nights before was most likely completely shut off now.
Because there was no doubt Sir Kyle expected them. What Michael had overheard guaranteed it.
There was also no doubt that the Sheriff had his guards out in full-force as well. They were still combing the Forest in search of the outlawed Max and Michael. Alex had not yet been outlawed because of his close ties with the Queen, but he had still feared for his life when had almost run head-first into a contingent of them on his way back to their hiding spot. The Forest was becoming increasingly unsafe for them now because they had to stay close to the city for Tess's sake.
Elizabeth suspected that Max and Michael had spent the time Alex was gone plotting ways to get them all to France once Tess was back. Fleeing meant that Alexander and Mary were going to lose everything. Alex would lose his lands and his title unless he found some way to appeal to King Richard directly. The King's no-good brother Prince John was presently the regent of the country, but he would support the Sheriff in this. He needed all the allies he could muster because rumours were circulating in the city too that Prince John was about to try and usurp in absent brother's throne. The King was completely out of reach and unavailable since he had been captured by the German Emperor on his way home from the Holy Land. His ransom had yet to be set and it was possible that he might not have a throne to return to when he was released.
She felt guilty about Alex and Mary. It was she who had placed them in this position after all, having asked them to accompany Isabel and Tess into the Forest. Elizabeth knew that Alexander would have the King's ear upon his return, but if the King didn't return...But she knew her friends did not blame her. Seeing the way Mary acted around Michael and the way Alexander looked at Isabel, the DeLucies were not sorry and had not regrets.
"There is one piece of good news." Alex spoke into the tense silence that had fallen, snapping Elizabeth back to attention. "Although I am unsure if it will help our cause or not."
"What is it Alex?" Isabel asked. She had gone to stand with Michael, her hand on his arm in an attempt to calm him down. Elizabeth frowned slightly when she saw Alex's eyes planted firmly on that hand.
"The King is to be ransomed. The Emperor has finally set the price." Alex tore his gaze away from Isabel and Michael looked directly at Elizabeth. "The Queen will return to Nottingham to collect the taxes to use in that effort."
Elizabeth jumped to her feet from boulder on which she had been perched. "This is wonderful news!" She looked at Max, who was staring at her, his eyes shadowed.
"And this helps us how exactly?" Michael inquired. Elizabeth was still looking at Max, slightly disconcerted by the strange expression on his face. She forced herself to look at Michael. She could from the tone of her brother-in-law's voice that he was doing his best not to make a snide comment, although he desperately wanted to. He was keeping his pledge of treating her like his queen, even though Liz suspected that he still was not completely comfortable with the idea, despite his graceful apology of the day before.
Elizabeth could understand his wariness. None of their new friends understood her relationship to the Queen.
"She will help us! I know she will." Elizabeth explained quickly, willing Max to see that all their troubles were over. "I will go to her and I will explain what Kyle has done and she will order him to release Tess."
"Liz..." Max began, clearly not believing it could be as simple as that. She had to convince him.
"I know her Max. She loves me! She will do this for me."
"After you defied her will by not only refusing to marry Sir Kyle, but by then eloping with a known outlaw?" Max asked gently.
Elizabeth looked at Mary and Alexander for confirmation. "Explain it to them. They don't understand. If there is anyone who understands following your heart, its Queen Eleanor. She divorced the King of France of love of the King of England after all!"
Mary was leaning against a tree, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Alexander did not look convince either. "Mary! Alex! It is the Queen!"
Mary moved forward, put her arm around Elizabeth. "Lizzy, she was going to marry you to Sir Kyle against your will." She frowned slightly, glanced quickly at Michael before continuing, "She was going to marry ME to some old baron next. The Queen does what she believes to be right for her wards. She is Eleanor of Aquitaine, the greatest heiress in Europe. What she does is not necessarily suitable for every girl. If it were, our society would be in anarchy!" Liz's mouth dropped open. "I'm not saying that I am agreeing with it Liz. Of course I don't. But the Queen will be angry. You must see that!" She paused. "She is also preoccupied with ransoming the King. She will not look kindly on being asked to deal with what she will consider something insignificant."
"Marrying Kyle was NOT against my will!" Liz returned sharply, upset by what Mary was saying because she knew it might be true. There was dead silence following that statement. She could have kicked herself. "At least not at first." She amended hastily, not daring to glance at her husband. "I didn't know I could ever have anything more," she continued passionately. "None of us did until three days ago! The Queen will help us when I explain it to her! I know she will. I just need to go to her."
"No." Max's voice was harden than Elizabeth had ever heard it, at least directed at her. "It will not work Liz. Mary has given a valid argument. You will not put yourself in danger like that." Elizabeth still did not look at him. She was scared of what she might see on his face. That comment about Kyle had hurt him - she knew it had.
"I don't know Maxwell." Michael said, sounding interested. "I don't see that we have many other options."
"At least it will get one of us into the Castle." Isabel added. Elizabeth smiled at her friend, thanking her silently for her support. She didn't know why it was so important that she be able to do this for them, but it was.
She needed to get Tess back for them. For him.
"No." Max repeated. "Even Mary and Alexander see it for foolishness. I will not allow it."
Elizabeth's head snapped around. "Foolishness?" She asked dumbly.
Max's expression softened. "I know that you want to help Liz, but putting yourself anywhere near Sir Kyle again is just that - foolishness."
Elizabeth just stared at him. She could feel tears beginning to well up. He thought she was a fool. Actually he thought she was worse than a fool. He thought she was a weakling who needed protecting.
It was why he had married her after all. To protect her from Kyle, because she was too foolish to do it herself.
She thought she heard Alex muttering under his breath. "Uh oh..." But she couldn't be sure. The blood was rushing in her head, causing her hearing to be slightly off.
She wanted to protect HIM. It was all she had ever wanted to do. And he thought she was a fool.
"Lizzy." Mary spoke directly into her ear. "Don't. Don't freeze up. He didn't mean it the way it sounded."
Elizabeth drew herself up to her full height, which, annoyingly, was very little and spoke to Max coldly. "I apologize your highness if my foolishness has wasted your time. I also apologize that it has put you all in this position in the first place, because I couldn't save myself from Kyle. If it wasn't for me, Tess would not have been taken. If I am a fool because I want to make amends for that fact, well, then, so be it."
She grasped her cloak tightly, meeting Max's eyes squarely. He was staring at her in shock, clearly unused to seeing a less than pliable side to her.
But, then, why should he not be? She had been nothing but pliable since she had first met him and had fallen head over heels in love with him.
And yet, he didn't really know her at all, did he?
Elizabeth whirled, stormed off into the bush. She heard Alex calling after her, heard Isabel tell Max to follow her, heard Mary tell him not to, to let her cool off.
He better not follow me, Elizabeth reflected venomously. I will toss him into the waterfall if he tries to follow me.
The thought of Max dripping wet in the stream was enough to make her anger fade. She could just imagine the look on his face.
It would be horribly similar to the one he had just displayed - shock, but with an underlying affection and love that would result in her throwing herself into his arms.
He might think she was foolish, but she did not doubt that he loved her.
Elizabeth sighed heavily, leaned against a tree and slid until her bottom hit the forest floor.
What kind of witch was she anyway? She reflected guiltily now that her icy rage had melted. Max was only concerned for Tess's safety, concerned for HER safety. He certainly didn't need her throwing temper tantrums at the moment. He had enough to deal with.
She wondered momentarily how Tess would have behaved in similar circumstances - if she was Max's wife as she had been meant to be.
Probably like the queen she was born to be. Instead he has me. She felt her tears welling up again. She swiped at them angrily.
But its you he loves another voice, deep in her heart, argued. He would give up his planet for you.
Which only makes it worse, Elizabeth reflected glumly. She now understood why she was being so unreasonable, why she had taken offense where Max had intended none, why she so desperately wanted to be the deciding factor in liberating Tess.
It was good old-fashioned guilt. It was guilt that she, Elizabeth, had stolen the other girl's place. A girl she disliked, yes, but Liz could not blame Tess for fighting tooth and nail for Max. He was a king. He was her intended mate. He was MAX.
She also felt guilt that he might not be the king he was supposed to be because of her. He had already put his own life in danger several times in his quest to keep her safe.
She was beginning to understand how her husband saw her - as something pure and priceless, to be admired and protected.
While that was romantic and gratifying, it wasn't really her. She had many flaws.
She had a tendency to freeze people out when she was angry at them as Mary had just warned her against doing. She could be stubborn and headstrong when she felt that she was right. Her behavior over the last three days had more than shown this. She had believed Max and so had pulled her two best friends away from their comfortable lives to help him.
She could be selfish. She had married Max on a romantic whim, not knowing beforehand that he was a king with responsibilities to an entire planet. But she HAD known that he was betrothed and she had married him anyway. She had done it because she loved him and wanted him for herself.
And now Tess was paying the price for her faults - and Elizabeth was beginning to wonder if Max would still love her when he found out about them.
When she fell off the pedestal upon which he had placed her, would their marriage become a disaster in his eyes. Would he regret it? Would he wish that he had married the one who was meant for him all along?
The fact that she was worried about his during the current crisis was just more evidence of her selfishness. Poor Tess. Who knew how Sir Kyle was torturing the poor girl because he could not get his hand on the true object of his wrath - Elizabeth herself.
All of this was why she wanted to go to the Queen, wanted to fix some of the disaster for which she had been responsible.
"Liz?" She had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts, she had not even heard him approach until he was directly behind her. "It is not safe for you to be out here alone sweeting."
She felt him ease tentatively to the ground beside her, could sense his unease, his concern that she would send him away.
Elizabeth felt a lump rise in her throat. She was responsible for that too. When he should be worrying about Tess, instead he was being forced to deal with a difficult wife.
"Liz, I am sorry. Sometimes I say things before I think how they might sound. You might ask Michael about that," he added wryly. "He surely has much to say on the matter." He paused, waiting to see if she might say something. If she spoke she would start to cry, so she remained silent. Max continued. "You know that I don't think that you're foolish."
The end of the comment was raised like a question, as though he was unsure that she actually knew this, and that if she didn't, he felt awful.
"Please don't apologize to me." She managed to whisper back, through the lump that wouldn't go away.
"Liz?" He sounded truly confused now. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He had plucked a blade of grass and was twisting it nervously.
She realized that he had never apologized to anyone before. Of course he hadn't. In his small society he had always been acknowledged leader. Even when Michael had been angry about their marriage, Max had never apologized. He had been sorry that his brother was upset, but he had not felt the need to be sorry.
He was a king. Kings did not apologize.
Liz realized that if he didn't know her, she still had much to learn about HIM as well.
"Tell me the worst thing you ever did to another person." She blurted abruptly.
"What? Why?" He sounded completely dumbfounded.
"I want to know everything about you." Elizabeth insisted, finally looking right at him. His face was shadowed in the twilight, but she could still see the wariness and uncertainty. "The good AND the bad. You've already seen MY bad side tonight." She added guiltily.
"Well, I once locked Isabel in the privy overnight." He looked embarrassed. "Is that what you mean? And I beg to differ about seeing your bad side," he continued. "You don't have one."
Elizabeth sighed, let herself lean back against him. She felt him relax, breathe a sigh of relief. His arms came around her, holding her tightly against him.
"Max, everyone has a bad side." She told him. "We need to acknowledge each other's faults if this is ever going to work."
"Are you saying I have faults?" He demanded in mock outrage. He squeezed her lightly to let her know that he was not serious.
Liz rolled her eyes, held up her hand and began to list them on her fingers. "Impatience? Stubbornness?" She asked sweetly. "Overprotectiveness? The complete inability to take anything I say seriously?" Her tone was light, but she could feel him tense. She knew that he was NOW taking her seriously.
"Is that what you really think?" He inquired quietly. "That I don't take you seriously?"
"Well, I don't blame you." Liz replied quickly. "I have been a tad impulsive over the span of our acquaintance."
"Are you telling me that you don't jump on the Bishop every week? That you don't wed complete strangers after three days acquaintance all the time?" He asked teasingly. "I may have to rethink this whole marriage thing." He said, pretending to be disconcerted. "I was very much looking forward to the weekly bishop thrashing."
Liz elbowed him soundly in the ribs. He kissed her lightly on the temple in response, but only after giving a satisfying grunt. "I'm serious Max! This is not ME. I am usually very steady in temperament." She twisted around so that she could see his face. "It was why I did not protest my betrothal to Sir Kyle overmuch at first. I am steady, predictable and boring." She paused. "My guess is that the Queen will not even believe that I have eloped. She would believe it of Mary, but never of me."
Max was listening to her seriously now. "I fear that you are beginning to regret your impulsiveness." He paused, causing her to open her mouth to protest. The last thing she regretted was marrying him! Her main concern was that he should regret marrying HER.
Max gently placed a finger on her lips to silence her, then looked away briefly. "Do you truly understand why I fear to send you to the Queen?" Liz shook her head, frowning. "I think I am afraid that if you go back to her, she will remind you of all you are giving up to be with me."
Elizabeth stared at him in astonishment. His shadowed gazes showed that he was really serious. "What I gave up?" She asked in amazement. "What about you?"
Max started. "What do you mean?"
"You gave up the queen you were meant to rule with! You gave up your secret and your freedom and you may have to give up your throne!" She shook her head at him when he scowled. "You cannot deny its true Max. Your people might not accept me. We know that your guardian would not have. You even lost HIM because of me. And Tess is in captivity because of me as well."
"Liz," Max interrupted firmly. "I would be rotting in the dungeons of Nottingham Castle or swinging from a rope right now if it wasn't for you."
Elizabeth smiled gently at him. "And I would be married to Sir Kyle, miserable and lonely and destined for a life without meaning if it wasn't for you." She shuddered at the thought.
Max's arms tightened around her. She buried her face in his neck, inhaled his scent, the combination of the forest and wool and just MAX. Her heart began to thump irregularly. "I would never have known what happiness was." She whispered.
"Well, we certainly are a pair." Max finally said after she had stopped shivering. "We are both so guilty about what we're making the other lose, we both forgot that all that matters to either of us is the other."
"Flaws and all?" She asked quietly.
"Flaws and all." Max acknowledged. "Not that you have any. And I am having a hard time remembering mine." He grinned at her teasingly.
"MAX!" Liz glared at him. "I want you to admit that I have flaws - that you love me in spite of them."
He continued to smile. "Well, you do have the extremely irritating tendency of talking when I want to kiss you. Will that do?" He asked innocently.
Liz rolled her eyes. "I will not allow you to kiss me until you accept that I am going to the Queen." He was trying to kiss her as she said it, but she had turned her head firmly aside and he ended up kissing her ear instead. She turned back to see his expression darkening as her comment penetrated though.
She refused to back off though. "Max. I am not some pretty flower that is to be protected. I am your wife - your queen. It's my fault that Tess is where she is. Let me do this one thing."
She saw him open his mouth to protest. She melded her lips to his instead, bringing her hands up to cup his face. "Say yes." She murmured several moments later when she had him breathing heavily. Her own breath was coming quickly, but she was not to sidetracked from her mission.
"No." Max gasped when she began to trail light kisses down his jaw. She was fumbling with the laces on his tunic.
"Say yes Max. You know I'm just going to go anyway." Liz helped him pull his shirt over his head. She swallowed, licked her lips at the sight of his muscular chest and abdomen.
All guilt about stealing him away from Tess fled her mind.
He was hers. She would feel no more shame for loving him so completely.
Elizabeth looked up at his face. His dark eyes were watching her, shadowed still, but with desire now rather than hurt. His hands were snaking through her braids, unwinding them mercilessly until her hair hung around them both.
"No." Max said quite clearly, considering the current expression on his face. "I will not risk you." It startled her. She had thought him well beyond their argument, had been sure that it would only be a matter of time before she convinced him. But he sounded just as adamant as he had at the beginning.
She frowned at him for a moment, then sighed. "Well, then, you leave me little choice." She told him, trying to sound grieved. "I'm just going to have to convince you."
"You can try." Max smirked, although his eyes were hot as he watched her begin to unlace the ties on her gown. His voice was a little raw, but he did manage to say, "You listed over-protectiveness as one of my flaws my queen. In my opinion it is not a flaw. It is a virtue." He grabbed her suddenly, burying his face in her long hair. "I cannot lose you Liz." His tone was now completely serious.
She pulled back gently. "And I cannot lose YOU Max. Can you tell me that you will be the same if we do not save Tess? The guilt will eat you alive. It will torment me. It will KILL us. Can you not admit that this is the only way?" She touched his face, pleaded. "Let me save her. To save us."
"Liz, I can't." She could hear the fear in his voice, underlined by a note of hard resolve. He was not going to budge on this, she realized.
Elizabeth sighed, brought her mouth up to meet his again, determined to erase his fears, willing to give in for the moment.
"It will be all right my love." She whispered. "We will find another way."
And as she let him make love to her, she could feel his relief and fear for her making him urgent. She gave herself over to him completely, as she had done since the first moment they had met.
But, as she lost herself in the love she felt for him, she reflected very briefly on one more flaw she possessed of which her beloved would soon be aware.
She was a liar.
To be continued...