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She shivered It had been terrible, being tossed about like that, but at least now she knew Moonie was okay and that Marie obviously hadn’t waited too long before e And although Adrienne’s head still ached fro tossed back and forth, there was coe that her Moonshadoas not a little skeleton cat traipsing through a lonely house

"I a You will obey ht say I started this ga Finnbheara hesitated, and Ada, she rejects over and over again thepondered this a moment He claims a woman’s soul, his Queen had said dreamily He had never seen such a look on Aoibheal’s face in all their centuries together, unless he hi’s veins He didn’t want to withdraw froame any more than Adam did--he’d watched and savored every moment of the Hawk’s misery

Finnbheara studied the fool intently "Do you swear to honor the Coe," Ada brooded "She stays," he said decisively, and vanished

CHAPTER 22

"WELCOME, MILORD" RUSHKA’S GREETING SOUNDED PLEASANT enough, but Hawk felt a strange lack of wares of black marked the olive skin beneath the old man’s tired eyes and they were pink-ri too close to a s And Hawk knew Rushka didn’t weep

Hawk stood in silence while the h his black hair It was liberally streaked with gray and white, his craggy face handsoan to plait his long hair, staring into the dying e broke across the valley

Brahir Mount towered above this vale, its outline sainst the pale sky Hawk dropped to a seat atop one of the large stones near the circle-fire and sat in silence, a trait that had endeared him to this tribe of Gypsies

A wo the two men to sit in cohtfully, and only when it was gone did he ain

"You don’t like our coffee?" he asked, noticing the Hawk had left his drink untouched

Hawk blinked "Coffee?" He peered into his cup The liquid was rich, black and steaood," he declared thoughtfully With a hint of cinnamon, topped with clotted cream, the drink would be delicious No wonder she liked it

"A lass, is it?" The old h me, Rushka, my friend"

"I hear you’ve taken a wife"

The Hawk looked piercingly at his old friend "Why didn’t you come, Rushka? When she was ill, I sent for you"

"We were told ’twas Callabron We have no cure for such a poison," the old man said Rushka shifted his attention away froht you’d have come, if only to tell me that, Rushka"

The old man waved a hand dismissively "Would have been a wasted trip Besides, I was sure you had s to contend with All aside, she was healed, and all’s well that ends well, eh?"

The Hawk blinked He’d never seen his friend behave so oddly Usually Rushka was courteous and cheerful But today there was a heaviness in the air so tangible that even breathing see That in itself was an oddity

Hawk sipped the coffee, his eyes lingering on a procession of people at the far end of the vale If he wanted answers, he’d simply have to ask around his questions "Why did you move out here, Rushka? You’ve caaze followed the Hawk’s and a bitterness shadowed his brown eyes "Did you come for Zeldie?" Rushka asked abruptly

I can’t handfast Zeldie, Hawk had told thisThe Ro woman He’d explained that it simply wasn’t possible for him to take a wife, and while Rushka had understood, Esmerelda hadn’t Zeldie, as they called her, had been so infuriated by his refusal that she’d quickly lain witheven her own liberal people The Gypsies did not prize virginity--life was too short for abstinence of any sort, which was one of the reasons the people had see lad He’d been ten when he’d secretly watched a dusky Gypsy girl with budding breasts and rosy nipples make love with ait was his turn Ah, the things he’d learned from these people