Master of Love (34 page)

“Long ago.” She'd mourned her throwing knives—fine old friends indeed—but Kurt even cut her meat at meals now and took care not to allow her anywhere near the dinner knives.

As a pair of maids scurried to lay down extra sheets and bring over a basin of water, the smith turned her in his arms toward the wall and pulled from his deep apron pocket a silver-handled dagger in a scrolled leather sheath. “Let this be your new friend. And may it provide you some protection.” He slid it surreptitiously behind a row of poetry volumes on her bookshelf.

She frowned, struggling to think past the pain. Who
was
this blacksmith who offered weaponry and took such liberties of address when no one else could hear?

Before she could form a question, he brought her to the bed the maids had ready and laid her gently on it.

“God keep you,
meine Dame
.” He did bow then, deeply, as he hadn't before to Kurt. “And may we meet again, under more pleasant circumstances.”

He turned and left. She felt a deep cold grip her again and realized it had been held at bay while she was in his arms.

Her lady's maid Frieda approached, the older one who spied for Kurt. Lenora had tried in vain for weeks to have her replaced. The woman bore scissors and a self-satisfied smirk. She lifted the blades. “To cut away the shift, Dame Lenora. I'll try not to cause you too much more distress.”

Hard shivers began to wrack Lenora's frame, ripping further trails of pain down her back. But the blood of a Prussian princess and a British duke ran in her veins. She would survive.

And, by God, she would find a way out of here, back home to England.

She closed her eyes and thought of bright blue summer skies.

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2012 by Catherine Roach

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First Pocket Star Books ebook edition December 2012

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ISBN 978–1–4767–0943–7