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Lucivar started to turn ahen he noticed the youngon a narrow mattress near the door Under nor’ ht have assumed the man was another landen, but he’d seen too nize a weak psychic scent

Dropping to one knee, Lucivar carefully lifted the side of the doubled-over sheet that covered the body from neck to feet His eyes shifted froain He swore silently The gut wounds were bad Men had died fro skill, but he wondered if she could rebuild the parts that were no longer there

Lowering the sheet, Lucivar left the roo louder and more vicious as he searched for so out of control

Randahl hadn’t said any of his men had been wounded And as the boy--no, man; anyone with those kinds of battle wounds didn’t deserve to be called a boy--kept apart froht easily go unnoticed?

Catching the warmth of a feminine psychic scent, Lucivar threw open a door and stepped inside the kitchen before he realized, too late, the wo to pump water one-handed wasn’t Jaenelle

She spun around when the door crashed against the wall, throwing her left arm up as if to stop an attacker

Lucivar hated her Hated her for not being Jaenelle Hated her for the fear in her eyes that was pushing hi and pretty And most of all, hated her because he knew that, at any second now, she would bolt and he would be on her, hurting her, even killing her before he could stop himself

Then she sed hard, and said in a quiet, quivering voice, "I’ to boil some water to make teas for the wounded, but the pump’s stiff and I can’t work it with one hand Would you help me?"

A knot of tension eased inside him Here, at least, was a landen fe for help was always the easiest way to redirect one of them toward service

As Lucivar ca His teht arm she held over her stomach, her hand tucked between her dress and apron

Not fear then, but fatigue and blood loss

He placed a chair close enough for her to supervise, but far enough away so that he wouldn’t keep brushing against her "Sit down"

Once she was seated, he pu stove He noticed the bags of herbs laid out on the wooden table next to the double sink and looked at her curiously "Lord Randahl said the o with your two physicians"

Her eyes filled with tears as she nodded "My grand ainst the table, puzzled Landen ive off a psychic scent, but hers did "Where did you learn how to handle Bloodto control you!"

"I said handle, not control There’s a difference"

"I--I just did what the Lady said to do"

The tension inside him loosened another notch "What’s your name?"

"Mari" She hesitated "You’re Prince Yaslana, aren’t you?"

"Does that bother you?" Lucivar asked in a colorless voice To his surprise, Mari smiled shyly

"Oh, no The Lady said we could trust you"

The words warht emphasis in her tone, he wondered whoold eyes narrowed as he studied her "You have soround, don’t you?"

Mari paled a little and wouldn’t look at hirandmother was half-Blood S-some people say I’m a throwback to her"