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She shook her head "Just curious Maggie thought she had reat love in her life, or soo And she told me that Lucian was convinced, when he met Jade, that she had been soazine "I’ve known hout the years"

"Ah But there wasn’t a great love of your life?"

He stared at her again "I’ tio, it was Nari"

"Oh"

She turned away froht she felt his fingers, s her hair She did She heard his soft whisper "Sad, huh?"

"What?"

"That I once knew Nari so well"

"You still saw her in Venice"

He shook his head "Only to deht for sure that you?I don’t know That you were one of herkind Well, you are one of her kind That you ith her I " He had leaned toward her, but he didn’t press his point

"I will destroy her," he told her softly

"Can you, really?"

"Without blinking Soet any more out of hi to sleep

He pulled her little pillow against his shoulder

She slept until the cabin lights caht attendant offered breakfast before landing in Roht

And it was ain

They walked to the dock where the water taxis waited Jordan didn’t have to renor why they were back He asked the driver to take them to the hospital as quickly as possible

Seawater! She remembered

Seawater could destroy the beasts

CHAPTER 21

For years, Nari was the perfect coht; whether he had chosen to obey the ancient rules or not, Edgar had survived the carnage, and he would have gladly taken a sword to Nari’s throat But she had cried so pathetically, begged forgiveness, and pleaded in such a way that even Lucian and Wulfgar had shrugged, saying that by their law, they could not simply take her head, or throw her with premeditation into the flames, or cut out her heart

And so she had lived And spent the next weeks,to prove that she had learned loyalty, control, and nor preferred to spend his time in the very far north; she see more than to be with him

Wars came and wars ended The world was ruled by the sane and merciful, and by the cruel Every rebellion froht about another new lordPhilip of France sent out his call to arnor decided to leave the northern isle they had called hoed him and came with him on the Holy Crusade The journey fascinated him; he loved the different places they went?France, Spain, and Italy?on the way to meet the Infidels Italy especially fascinated hinificent masterpieces in sculpture and architecture It often amazed him that the ancient civilization had come so far, only to perish in the wealth of excess, with, of course, a little help from barbarian tribes Nari was a they saw She was familiar with Italy and the days of the Roman Empire It was as they traveled that she told hi for her, in a way, since she had come from the East as a child, and lived in Italy foras well; they were exceptionally learned, and as dedicated to their Allah as the Christians were to their one true God

But the desert sands were hot, the fighting was fierce, and in such a world, sides ains, and there were losses, and Ragnor fought with as great an ardor as any ht in battle A man such as he needed eneotiated, and he was often with the leaders of the great Crusade when they reat Arab leader Saladin The tents of the enemy were exotic and rich, the fabrics of the draperies were exceptionally fine During one such nized as one of his own kind When the talks had finished on a discordant note, he met with the swarthy fellow outside "Your Christians will perish here," he told Ragnor, as they stood by their horses, ready tolike the taste of a holy warrior who is in the midst of an effort to seize the ho like the taste of a od will honor hinor replied

The Arab shrugged, a grin on his strong, swarthy, face "Indeed, for the two of us, there is simply the love of the taste of battle, and what better excuse than a war for ideals?"

"There will always be wars over ideals"