BOTS 07 - Return of the Warrior by Kinley MacGregor

Author:Kinley MacGregor [MacGregor, Kinley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Romance, Historical, Man-Woman Relationships, Knights and Knighthood, Imaginary Wars and Battles
ISBN: 9780060565435
Google: I8opoYWOJ9EC
Amazon: 0060565438
Publisher: Avon
Published: 2005-04-26T05:00:00+00:00

Bitterness glowed in his pale eyes. "Truthfully?"

"Aye."

When he answered she wasn't sure what chilled her more, his cold stare or his harsh words. "Because I was sent into that prison to kill him. I didn't think that knowledge would endear me to his good graces."

She was stunned by his confession. "What?"

Phantom leaned forward and spoke in a low, sinister tone. "You want my guilty secret, Adara? I traded my life for Christian's. After you and your father demanded a body and they couldn't find one, Selwyn learned that the Saracens he'd hired to destroy the monastery had taken a lone survivor into their prison. I was scheduled to be executed, so Selwyn offered me a bargain. He would send me into Christian's prison and if I killed Christian and survived, I could return home and my many crimes would be expunged."

"What crimes?"

He snorted at that. "Theft. Murder. General mayhem. They are too many to recount."

"Then why didn't you kill Christian and go home?"

He laughed. "I'm not stupid. Selwyn would never have suffered me to live. He would have killed me the instant I returned. As for Christian, I realized that he was what our people needed. A king who was compassionate. One who wouldn't turn his back on those who suffered, no matter how much it hurt him. I knew one day he would return and I pray only that I live long enough to see the look on Selwyn's face when his retribution comes calling."

Adara felt for the man. Who would have ever guessed that the little boy who used to play war with her and her brother would have come to this pass?

If she could, she would ease both him and Christian. They didn't deserve what life had given to them. She couldn't change what they'd been through, but she would make sure that both their futures were far kinder than their pasts.

"How do I reach my husband, Velizarii? Can I make him love me?"

He scoffed at that. "Love. Now, there's a word I despise with every part of me.

Love is a disease that gets inside you and poisons the heart and mind. Do yourself a favor, Adara, stay away from Christian. Have his children, rule his lands, but never, ever allow yourself to care for him."

"I'm sorry that you feel that way, Velizarii, but I don't want to be alone anymore. I thought I could be queen without emotion. But I can't. I want Christian's heart and I won't rest until I have it."

"Then you are even more damned than I am, Adara, and for that I am truly sorry."

Christian sat alone on his cot as he listened to the men outside who were still packing their wares to leave in the morning. He grimaced while he held a cloth to the wound on his rib, which was bleeding again.

Leaning his head back against the post that was behind him, he closed his eyes.

As his thoughts drifted, they focused on the face of his tormentor. Only this wasn't the tormentor from the past.

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