The Storyteller's Dragon by Kimberly A Rogers

Author:Kimberly A Rogers [Rogers, Kimberly A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2018-09-17T04:00:00+00:00

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Chapter Seven

Alastair rubbed at his right arm as he paced around the chamber. Marissa had finally fallen asleep. There had been fear and wariness in her gaze the entire time she was awake. He had erred. Shaddai forgive him, he had erred badly and now . . .

He suppressed a sigh when his gaze once more fell on the satchel that Marissa had gripped as though it were a shield. Roul had been right. She had packed, was prepared to run away, and it was his fault.

He sat on the edge of the bed and covered his face with his hand. Shaddai forgive him, his attempts to prevent such a disaster had only ensured it. Running his hand over his face, Alastair groaned. What had he been thinking? He hadn’t. Not truly. Marissa and her sweet letters had been such a balm to his loneliness that he had charged ahead instead of considering everything.

He looked over his shoulder at his wife. She had curled into a ball hiding her face in her arms. He didn’t touch her despite the yearning. He merely whispered, “I am so sorry. It was never my intent to hurt you. Please believe me, Marissa.”

She didn’t respond, perhaps that was a good thing. Remembering suddenly his promise to keep his distance, Alastair lurched back to his feet. The sudden movement jostled his bad arm and he grimaced at the pain.

If Roul had been away hunting, the presence of the dragon hunt leader would have been even more troubling since Alastair was forced to admit he could not do much to defend himself or Marissa. The storm still raged outside. He wondered what sort of man would be so determined to risk this weather in an attempt to search out a keep that should have been far enough out of the way to prevent strangers from stumbling across it. A dangerous man.

Alastair glanced at Marissa once more. There had been a moment when he wondered if she would reveal him to Commander Gerard. All it would take was a whisper to bring the dragon hunt down on them. That was why he was willing to host the dragon hunt leader. Forcing him out or an outright attempt to slay him would do nothing to protect them. Their current inability to run meant he had no choice but to present a firm guise of an innocent human nobleman.

The news from Hafren had confirmed his fears. The Queen was permitting the dragon hunts to linger in part because she feared Taliesin’s bubbling threat of civil war would spill across the border to infect her own people . . . especially given the lack of a daughter to assure the line of succession. Alastair tugged the blankets and furs up to better cover Marissa as she slept before he retreated to one of the chairs in front of the fireplace. He dropped into the chair and sighed. He would need to stay in this form until the threat was gone.

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