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She didn’t want Theran angry with her For a little while she’d flirted with the possibility of falling in love with hian Still, shedid like the man, and she didn’t want him so upset that he would tell her to leave After all, she needed his support to become Queen of Dena Nehele
EBON ASKAVI
The Keep The Black Mountain A place where a man was surrounded by stone and dark power
But a strangely comfortable place, for all that A place where athere was so else here that atchful—and aware
Ranon prowled around the sitting roo female, had put him to wait A human shape, but she wasn’t human—not with that face or the sibilant way she spoke He’d bet his life on it
The door opened, and he turned
The woolden hair, was a little too thin, but still beautiful in a way that tugged at his male interest—especially because she seemed unaware of the streak of dirt that accented one sharp cheekbone
Then he looked into those sapphire eyes and felt his heart skip a beat He was totally co that was in hih fire or over knives—and never ask why she required it of him
He needed no introduction to knoas looking at Jaenelle Angelline, the Queen as Witch, the living myth
Now he understood what kind of woman could hold the hearts of men like Lucivar Yaslana and Daemon Sadi
I belong to her in the sa to CassidyAnd if Jaenelle de else he held dear in order to serve her
“Lady”
“Prince Ranon?”
“Yes” He’d been nervous abouther, but he hadn’t expected to respond to her likethisAs he continued to look into those sapphire eyes, he realized she felt that bond too
“I’m theformer Queen of Ebon Askavi, Prince Ranon” Her voice held both a
Former?A word said for the Queen’s pleasure—and believed by no one except, perhaps, the Queen herself But he understood that she neither wanted nor expected him to turn away from Cassidy and the loyalty he felt for Shalador’s Lady
“I brought the reports and letters” He called in the e sack and set it on a nearby chair “Reports are probably a bit lean Cassidy has been working hard But not too hard We’ve insisted she take rest days, but there’s no point having a rest day if it’s going to be spent writing reports, is there?”
Hell’s fire, he was babbling