Untouchable Read Online Free PDF Page B

midnight.”
    “A part of you, the part you have chosen to embrace, slept,” she said. “The other part, the dark side you seek to hide, was not.”
    “Impossible,” he muttered.
    “Apparently not,” she answered just as softly.
    He decided to change the subject. “Where are your guards?”
    “I told those who have my keeping that I needed a moment alone to see to private matters.” She nodded her head and that long, black pigtail swayed. Jewels sang, and he heard the music at his very core. “I thank you, Prince Alixandyr, for ordering that I not be treated as a prisoner during the journey. It has made my days most pleasant.”
    “We have no prisoners here.”
    “What of my life at our destination? Will your brother accommodate me as King Bhaltair did? Will he lock me away and keep me in chains in a small room where the sun never shines?”
    “No,” Alix responded quickly. “My brother does not believe in slavery of any kind. I’m quite sure he will free you.” Sooner or later. Jahn was sure to be intrigued by Sanura; what man would not be? Would he be intrigued enough to keep her around when he was surrounded by potential brides? Was Jahn brave enough to sleep with a woman who could see into the pit of his soul?
    “I am not meant to be free,” Sanura said without rancor. “The emperor may give me to another, but he may not release me. It is not the way.” She took a deep breath that did interesting things to her bosom.
    “Surely you desire freedom.”
    “The women of the Agnese were not created to have desires of their own. We hear the desires of others, and when it is acceptable, when those desires emanate from those who possess us, we fulfill them.”
    “Everyone has desires of their own,” Alix insisted.
    Sanura smiled, her wide mouth twisting into a seductive grin. “I came to speak of your lot in life, not my own. Your darker side intrigues me. I have never seen anything like it.”
    His inner battle was a subject he would rather not explore, but Alix found himself drawn into this conversation he could never have with any other. Only Sanura saw. “If I have, as you say, a dark side, then why do you speak to me of it? Aren’t you afraid?”
    “No,” she whispered.
    “Why not?”
    “I’m not sure. You are different,” she said, as if she did not entirely understand. “I see the struggle inside you, but I cannot be afraid.” She looked at him intensely for a moment, and then she glanced away as if embarrassed. “Perhaps I am unafraid because you saved me. The queen we left behind would’ve gladly taken my life.”
    “Surely not . . .”
    “Yes. She dreamed of the ways in which she might end my life. In the moment when you were undecided about escorting me to your brother, she thought of how the deed might be done. She relished the thought of seeing me dead, so you see, you did save me.” Her fingers clenched and unclenched.
    “You are not obligated to me in any way,” Alix said, calling upon his most distant tone of voice. How would a woman like Sanura repay such a debt? He could only imagine... and he should not imagine . . .
    “I have another reason for speaking to you privately,” she said, putting a hint of false bravery into her slightly accented voice as she deftly changed the subject. “One among us is planning aggression. I see no specific plans, no hatred of a person among us, but I sense that the violent thoughts grow stronger each day. There will be death before our journey is done, I fear.”
    “I was told you do not see the future.”
    “That is true, but I do see what is in men’s hearts and souls. With that knowledge, certain behavior can be predicted. Your sentinel, the one with the fair hair and brown eyes, he hides feelings of hostility.”
    “Vyrn is a warrior,” Alix responded. “Hostility is his livelihood.”
    Sanura nodded. “I do not believe that is true, but it is possible that the violence he conceals may sleep within him for the rest of his