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Laila’s impatience to return
    home. It hadn’t been the attitude of one contemplating murder,
    but that of a person eager to rejoin a loved one.
    She started to protest her innocence once again, to reveal
    her identity, to speak for her father.
    “Pray you hold Aubin’s seed within you. Only the possibility
    of his child growing in your belly keeps you alive—at least until
    its birth.”
    The venom in Katya’s voice from behind her made Sianna
    cringe. If she told them of their mistake, would they kill her
    merely for being her father’s daughter? Most likely. And what
    of Laila? Where was she? Did she indeed carry a child? In an
    instant, Sianna decided to continue the charade and hope for a
    chance to escape.
    She drew herself up and stared at Katya. “Then until you
    are certain of my pregnancy, perhaps you should take better
    care of me. Being wet, cold and jostled about can’t be good for
    the child I might carry.”
    At Sianna’s boldness, surprise registered on Katya’s face.
    A smile softened the stern set of Kyne’s lips. The skin
    around his eyes crinkled and transformed his harsh features.
    “She’s correct. We must have a care for her well being. Provide
    her with warm clothing, a dry place to sleep and feed her well.”
    Color stained Katya’s fair skin. “See to it yourself.” With
    an angry snort, she spun around and stalked away.
    Kyne gave a bark of laughter and turned back to Sianna.
    “So the lambie has teeth.”
    “And claws as well.” Sianna chose her next words carefully.
    “I’ll no longer sit quietly while you accuse my father and me of
    crimes and manhandle me. I’ve done nothing to deserve such
     
    treatment. My only sin is being my father’s daughter. I bear no
    guilt for Aubin’s death.” Nor, I pray, does my father.
    At the mention of Aubin’s name, amusement faded from
    Kyne’s face. Sianna paused, regretting the disappearance of
    the briefly viewed gentler Kyne. Humor no longer lit his dark
    eyes, but neither did anger tighten his lips. Weariness lay on
    him like a heavy yoke, bowing his broad shoulders.
    He rose and looked down at her. “Spare me your protests
    of innocence. You bear the taint of DiSanti’s blood. Even
    without guilt of your own, that is enough to condemn you in my
    people’s eyes. Soon enough your fate will be decided.”
    She took faint hope in that he refrained from speaking his
    own condemnation of her, but discerned nothing from his distant
    expression.
    “Sleep now. We leave at first light.” For a moment their
    eyes met, then he strode away into the darkness, leaving her
    alone with her thoughts and fears.
    All that remained of her brief contact with him was a
    kaleidoscope of emotions chasing through her mind. Other
    people’s emotions flowed into her as easily as air into her lungs.
    Why was it different with Kyne? Without her inner sight, she
    felt blind. To understand Kyne, she must touch him. The thought
    made her tremble, whether in dread or anticipation, she couldn’t
    tell.
    ***
    At the edge of the clearing, a sentry greeted him, but Kyne
    didn’t linger. Though he no longer claimed the title, he knew the
    people still considered him their Rul and, as such, he held the
    woman’s fate in his hands. He found the weight a difficult one.
    His thoughts centered on the slim young woman now curled
    by the fire. In exile for the past eight annum, Kyne remembered
    little of DiSanti’s only daughter. As a young man at court Kyne
    had paid scant attention to the child. But he had thought her
    older than Aubin’s eight and ten annum. This woman was barely
    more than a girl. Could he sentence a mere child to death?
    He remembered the soft curves of her young body. No,
    she was not quite a child.
    And if she carried Aubin’s babe? What then?
     
    Though he stared into the darkness, he could still see her
    dirt-smudged face, a blood-crusted scrape on one cheek marring
    her smooth, porcelain complexion. Delicate brows arched over
    eyes