Lord of a Thousand Nights by Madeline Hunter Page A

to drift away while the women undressed.
    She had walked a good ways upriver before she noticed Ian, but now her progress slowed because sheneeded to stay hidden in the growth. Sticking her head out a bit, she looked back and saw that he followed in her direction.
    The sound of horse hooves became audible. She looked at the river. It was now or never. She would never get another chance.
    She picked her way to the water's edge. She quickly stuck her shoes into her hemp sack and hid it beneath a fallen tree. She removed her kerchief and laid it open on the ground, then slipped off her gown, folded it, and tied it and the kerchief into a little bundle. Dressed only in her shift, she waded into the cold water. She would cross to the other side, and later she could retrieve the other things in the hemp sack.
    A few yards from shore the water got much deeper. She took the kerchief bundle between her teeth so both arms would be free. It wasn't a wide river this close to its source, and she began swimming across.
    “Damnation, woman, you are going to drown yourself.”
    She had reached the middle of the river when the furious voice boomed. She turned to see Ian glaring at her. His horse stood in the water's edge, the flow halfway up its legs.
    She took the bundle from her mouth and treaded a moment. Ian stretched, looking in both directions.
    “The only bridge is downriver, past the keep,” she called.
    “Get back here
now
.”
    “I would be a fool to do so, and you know it.”
    “I am going to kill you.”
    “In that case, let me drown. No blood on your soul, then.”
    Ian swung off the horse and walked forward until the water was up to his hips. He went no farther.
    Reyna grinned. “You can not swim, can you? I thoughtnot. Most English can't. You should have read the ancient Romans on warfare, Sir Ian. All of their soldiers could swim.”
    His pose and expression were a picture of fury. Reyna laughed and his eyes only grew darker. Grabbing his horse's reins, he swung into his saddle and began sloshing away through the shallow pools near the bank, twisting to keep an eye on her.
    She bit her bundle again and swam. It would take him at least half an hour to gallop down to the bridge and back up the other side. Much longer if he stayed alongside the river itself. By then she could make it to the ruins, or find a place to hide along the way.
    A strong current grabbed her. She fought hard to escape it. She gasped for breath from the effort, and the bundle slipped from her teeth. The current bore it away.
    She noticed to her horror that Ian had found a spot where the water ran shallow. He was already halfway across, pushing his mount through the chest-high flow. Her gown and kerchief floated right to him. He pulled an arrow from a quiver on the saddle, leaned over, and plucked it up.
    They faced each other over the expanse of water. She turned to the eastern bank, but swam backward. Ian fell for the ruse. He kicked his horse forward and disappeared up the bank and into its thick growth.
    Desperately, Reyna struck out for the side from which she had started. As she dragged herself out of the water, she could hear the loud curses that said Ian had discovered her deception.
    Heaving from her exertions, she sought a place to hide. The brush and reeds looked very thin to her all of a sudden. Close to despair, she leaned against a tree. She looked up.
    It was not very thick, but it appeared strong enough. Some of its branches were low, and perhaps the leaves would help hide her. Mumbling profanities at Ian of Guilford for forcing her to go to all of this trouble, she managed to lever herself up to the lowest branch. She climbed until the slender arms looked too weak to hold her weight. Straddling a branch where it met the trunk, she tried to get comfortable.
    Her bottom rebelled against sitting with only a wet shift between it and the rough bark. She looked down at her almost naked condition. The shift reached only to mid-thigh. She