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At this moment But what of the next? she wanted to ask How ue hireener pastures--or in his case, she supposed, bluer water? Yet even as the doubts assailed her, she couldn’t deny the truth of what she was feeling "I know I should be asharet it"

"For which I’rateful"

She saw hiined seeing it Still she kneas there In spite of all he’d suffered, he’d not lost the ability to smile, and that was part of his appeal He didn’tthat his life had taken different turns Instead, he forged ahead on the path that had been set before him

She wondered if that was part of the reason that her brothers and the other lords didn’t like him They couldn’t force him to fit into their world, and they feared they’d find thees that had confronted hier than Mouse, metaphorically thrown to the sharks

When they stepped out of the carriage she tried to io With her ar crates littering the dock, she asked, "Were you frightened?"

"Pardon?"

"When you were put on your first ship Were you frightened?"

Occasional lanterns fought to hold the darkness at bay, and she could see the harsh lines of his face How different they ht have been with a less adventuresome life

"Terrified," he finally said in a clipped voice

"And yet you went"

"Because it wasto stay"

"Youis to be gained by revisiting it"

"But I want to understand you"

"I am as you see me"

But he had been shaped by the past She suspected it influenced him still

"Still, I would like very ered back, her uncere softened by a pile of coiled rope She stared up in horror as fourfor help crossed her mind, but she feared she’d only distract hilanced around for a weapon, but she saw nothing that she could use All she had were her fists, her teeth, her feet She could punch, claw, bite, kick but would she be more hindrance than help if she leapt into the fray?

Still she readied herself for the opportunity when she could strike

Grunts, the sound of flesh slapping against flesh, harsh curses filled the air She’d expected Tristan to go down, to be beaten Instead, he re a fist into another’s jaw, sending hi A hit Dancing away Charging

Dear Lord, even when fighting, he was poetry in motion

One man ran away Another limped into the darkness The other two lay sprawled on the dock

Breathing harshly, Tristan knelt beside her and tenderly touched her cheek "Are you all right?" he asked, as though she’d been the one caught in the fracas