Threads of Gold (Tales of the Latter Kingdoms Book 6) by Christine Pope

Author:Christine Pope
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Dark Valentine Press
Published: 2015-09-07T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

The next morning, I prepared myself as best I could for my meeting with Lord Edmar. I arose early, and chose the most becoming of the gowns the king had bestowed upon me, the rich crimson one with the golden embroidery. If it perfectly showcased the pendant Tobyn had created for me the night before, well, perhaps that was my way of sending a subtle message.

Not that the duke would recognize the pendant for what it was, of course. He would only think it yet another of the pieces the king had given me on loan. But I knew that Tobyn had given it to me, and I would wear it as my sigil of what had passed between us the previous evening. Perhaps some might think it no very great thing, to have simply held hands as we did, but I knew better. It had changed something between us. Before, he had made sure to keep his distance. Now, though, I had taken a step or two toward him. Not all the way, of course. That would take some doing on my part, for it was clear that he thought himself irretrievably damaged.

I would not lie to myself. Of course it would have been better if he was whole and unblemished. I had seen the scars the pox left behind, and they could be quite terrible. But my feelings for Tobyn had awakened without my ever seeing his face. I loved the sound of his voice, the subtle ironic edge to his laughter. And I loved even more the impulse that had driven him to give me succor. He had not known who I was. He only knew I was someone facing an unjust punishment, and so had come forward to bring his most unusual skills to my aid.

Indeed, it seemed that I loved him, strange as it felt when I admitted that truth to myself. Or rather, I thought I loved him. Having no experience of the emotion before — at least in terms of loving a man, rather than a member of my family — I could not say for certain if the way my heart beat a little faster when I thought of him, or how a delicious kind of heat passed through my body whenever I remembered how it felt to have his hands clasped around mine, meant that I was in love with him. But from everything I had heard and read, it did seem that somewhere over the past few days, I had given my heart to Tobyn Slade.

Which meant that of course I could not marry Lord Edmar. It would have been impossible before, and now, with this new realization dawning in me, I realized that it would be even more wrong.

I had arrayed myself this morning rather the way a knight might don his armor before he went into battle. The finery was not intended to make me more attractive to the duke, but rather to gird me with the

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