Angie Arms - Flames series 04 Read Online Free PDF Page A

Bruce?
    “I thought perhaps it was best not to ask, because of your ties to Hawknest.”  A long silence spread discomfort in Halvor.  He stepped forward with his hands spread open at his sides in a placating manner.  “Please say something.”
    “I often thought of running away , but I knew I never could.  I let my people suffer while Bruce and his men did what they wanted, I couldn’t abandon them all together.”
    “I know, that’s why I did not ask.  To be honest I don’t know a lot more about you,” he said, taking his seat again.
    “I know nothing of you.”
    “I am the son of Sir Roger Blakemore and I fostered with Lord William Sudbury and served him during Henry’s Crusade.  I earned my spurs and was honored to become commander of Lord Garrick’s army.” 
    "You went on the Crusade with Richard?"
    "Yes."
    "Did you do it for glory?" she asked.
    He remembered his earlier statement.  "No, I did it for Lord Garrick."
    "How did you come to serve a man such as the Fenton Bastard?"
    "Sir Marcus Kinsey was fostered with Sudbury, along with me and Bruce.  When Lord Garrick needed a commander, Marcus talked Lord Garrick into choosing me, and the rest, as they say, is history,” Halvor said with a smile.
    "Did Garrick find his glory?"
    "No, he found his title and gained a wife for his service."
    "What did you gain?"
    "Knowledge," Halvor replied after some thought.
    "Knowledge is a very powerful thing.  What knowledge did you gain?"
    Halvor had the sudden urge not to share with her where his mind went, but his wife was no fragile flower that could never take the truth of his life.  "The knowledge of war, and death."
    "A powerful thing indeed , for a powerful knight such as you."
    Halvor could not help the crooked smile that came to his face.  "What makes you think I am a powerful knight?"
    "You are here, and not buried deep within the ground somewhere else."
    Halvor tilted his head in acknowledgement of her reasoning as Tate arrived with their trenchers piled high with the food of the evening meal.

Chapter 2
    Cairo, Egypt
     
    Anger twisted the man’s face, his hatred was mirrored in his eyes, and terror filled Alena’s body.  She was exhausted after her weeks of travel.  Most of it she spent bound, to insure she did not escape before fate saw her back here, facing the man who held her prisoner for four years.  The men carried her into the opulent room, with its rich fabrics and lush furnishings.  They roughly threw her onto the floor, cut the rope that bound her feet, but left her hands bound in front of her.  When the door in the back of the room opened, the men bowed and quickly left the room, and she was left alone to face Ghalib.
    The fist slammed into the side of her head , and her ear immediately began to ring.  The pain in her jaw made her afraid he broke it.  She staggered under the blow, but kept her feet.  She could not let him see her fear.  Alena wanted to tell herself she never let him see her fear, but she knew she was never that strong.  This time would be different.  She straightened, raised her hands, and moved her black hair from her face with her bound hands. 
    “Who did this?” he demanded , grabbing her face and turning it toward him, so he could see the scarred side.  His fingers bit into her chin, and she saw the anger was directed at her for the burn scars, and the deeper scars from cuts she received in a fall from a horse.  “You had no right!” he yelled at her, turning her face back so she was forced to look at him.  His grip was like iron, and her chin felt as if he could rip it off if she dared moved the slightest.  He was asking as if she had a choice in either.  She had the choice that led up to them, and that was likely what angered him the most.  With him, she never had a choice about anything.
    She forced her fear down and called forth her disdain for this man.  This time would be different.  This time she was not a kid to be ruled by her