Far After Gold Read Online Free PDF

girl! Who brought you here?”
    “Flane.”
    “Flane!” A blast of foul air accompanied his snort of surprise. “What does he want with you?” As if guessing the answer, his evil grin appeared again.
    How could she answer such an impossible question? Emer shrugged delicately and made a gesture with her hands to indicate she had no idea.
    “Let’s have a look at you!” His finger and thumb pinched her chin.
    Emer jerked back and glared at him. “Please don’t touch me!”
    His grin widened. “Polite, too. You’re a pretty little thing. Flane has good taste.”
    “Glad you think so, Gamel. Let go of her.” The voice was cold, and came from behind the stranger. Gamel didn’t exactly jump, but his eyes lost focus as if every sense he owned concentrated on what was behind him.
    Flane stood there, arms away from his sides, hands already half-curled into fists.
    Emer sat back with a huge sigh of relief. How long had Flane been there? She had been aware of nothing but the leering, ugly face bearing down on her. What would Flane think? He looked calm, but there was an edginess to him she had not seen before. The two men took stock of each other, and around the hall there was a drop in the level of conversation as heads turned to watch the confrontation in the corner.
    Emer hugged herself. Her heart thudded in her chest, and she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as she stared up at the two men. Should she say something? Should she keep out of it and let Flane deal with it? Gamel continued to stare belligerently at the younger man.
    Flane stepped in close. His finger jabbed the other man’s chest. “Touch this girl again and I’ll beat you to death.”
    Emer’s mouth dropped open. He had spoken so quietly that no one in the hall would hear but for Gamel and herself. Gamel scowled. He held Flane’s steady, threatening gaze for several long moments, then grunted, turned and stalked off towards the fire pit.
    Flane stared after the lanky, untidy figure and then turned to her, and her stomach lurched at his stern expression. Her whole life depended on this man’s good will. Would he think she had invited attention? Would he punish her, beat her as the overseer in Dublin had done?
    With casual ease he threw himself onto the bed platform and surveyed her from the crown of her newly washed head to the clumsy dark leather sandals at her feet. ‘I knew it,’ he said in a satisfied tone.
    She stole a glance at him from beneath her lids. ‘Knew what?’ She pressed her palms together and slid them between her knees in an attempt to relieve the tension.
    He surveyed her from half-closed eyes. All his fury of a moment before had gone, and a lazy, cat-like smile crept across his face. “That you would be a beauty if you were clean.”
    She could not think of a single polite comment, yet she had greeted strangers in her father’s home with warm water in a silver bowl, a towel and an offer of food since she was ten years old. His presence unsettled her, and the familiar way his dense blue gaze ran over her made things worse. Emer pressed her palms harder together. Then she gathered her courage, lifted her head and looked straight at him.
    He smiled at once. “So, where is this island you come from?”
    Emer lifted one shoulder in an incomplete shrug. “I thought I told you — we called it Pabaigh. I cannot tell you how to reach it, for I do not know. All I remember is that we could see the mountains of Harris from the beach.”
    Flane watched her attentively.
    Emer ducked her head, and kept her gaze on her hands.
    “I can understand what brought Gamel to you. Your skin is smooth, and begs me to sweep my palm over the curve of your neck,” Flane murmured. “This is my sleeping space,” he said bluntly. “You will share it.”
    “Here?” Emer blurted. “Where everyone can see us?”
    The very real dangers of the ship and the slave market had taught her that most men behaved differently to the blood kin she knew on