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.“I’d be delighted to teach you, Miss Samantha.My favorite gaming room is just four blocks up the hill.” He rose and offered her his arm, bowing just enough to be polite — and to inspect her cleavage.“Oh, that would be lovely!” She rose and accepted his support, stumbling in a way that pressed her breast against his shoulder.“Oh! Excuse me.I’m a bit dizzy with the heat.”“Perhaps I should summon a carriage.” He raised a hand and let out a piercing whistle, and a nearby hackney pulled over to them.“I’ll have you indoors with a cool beverage in your hand in a trice, lady.”“Thank you ever so much, Lord Garrett.You’re the perfect gentleman.” She let him help her board the carriage, forcing herself not to flinch when his hand brushed her flank.She turned and smiled at him as she took her seat.“Oh, come now, lady,” he said with a wry grin as he joined her.“Nobody’s perfect.”≈“His Grace, Count Emil Norris, Your Majesty,” the herald bowed.“Your Majesty.” The harried count bent to one knee, one hand clenched over his heart while the other clutched his satchel.“Thank you for granting me an audience at such short notice.”“Let’s dispense with the pleasantries, Emil.” Emperor Tynean Tsing III brushed away his tailor’s fussing hands and turned to examine his reflection in the mirror.“We have about a quarter hour before Our next appointment, so give Us the jist of your report and We will read the rest when We have a moment.” He turned to his tailor and nodded.“That will do nicely, Mikael.See that the princes’ dress uniforms are prepared for this evening.”The tailor collected his accoutrements, bowed and backed out of the royal presence as Count Norris rose.Two valets approached and removed the emperor’s altered dress coat while the sovereign stood with long-practiced patience.The ever-present royal bodyguard, Lady von Camwynn, stood silently nearby, her arms folded, one palm resting on the hilt of the katana that never left her side.Norris shuddered, remembering the story of that particular blade and its origin.“Your Majesty, the seamage was away from her stronghold on an excursion to Southaven, and I did not have the opportunity to speak with her personally.”“That is unfortunate, Emil.Did you get any information about those ships of hers?” The emperor’s brow wrinkled in thought.“Stronghold, did you say?”The count shrugged.“I know not what else to call a fortified and defensible keep surrounded by a cordon of dangerous coral and defended by a fanatic army of half-naked savages, Majesty.”“Well, it used to be a pirate stronghold, so We can imagine that it is formidable, but We had not heard that the seamage possessed an army.We know that a number of natives had followed her from their home to Plume Isle, but you say they were armed?”“A great number of natives, Majesty, and they are well armed, women and men alike.” He patted the thick satchel at his side.“And while I did not meet with the seamage and was unable to secure an agreement regarding the schooner designs, I did converse at length with her personal assistant, and made some discoveries that I think Your Majesty will find quite enlightening.” He delved into his satchel, but froze at the metallic hiss of a blade being drawn.“Have a care, Count Norris,” Lady von Camwynn warned.She had moved between him and the emperor with startling swiftness, the dark blade held before her in an easy two-handed grip.“I assure you, good paladin,” he said, his eyes drawn to the blade’s dark luster.He would be dead in an instant if he made a single threatening move.“There is naught but paper in this satchel.See for yourself.”He moved very slowly, holding it open for her to see.He understood her caution; her sole duty was to protect the emperor’s life, a duty about which she was deadly serious.The only attempt she had failed to intercept had taken the life of the empress, Clairissa, and though Lady von Camwynn was not responsible, that failure weighed heavy on her.The tip of the paladin’s blade explored the interior of the satchel, and then whispered back into its scabbard.She stepped aside and nodded to the emperor, who had stood motionless and emotionless throughout the exchange
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Tematy
IndexCidney Swanson [Saving Mars Saving Mars (epub)
Christine Wood [Life Plan 01] A Life Plan Without You (epub)
Cheryl McIntyre [Infinitely Infinitely (epub)
Clair Delaney [Coral 01] Coral (epub)
Christine Cody [Bloodlands 01 Bloodlands (epub)
Christina Ross [Unleash Me, A Unleash Me, Vol 3 (epub)
Christine Flynn [The Hunt for Once Upon a Christmas Eve (epub
Christian Fletcher [The Left Left on the Brink (epub)
Christopher G Nuttall [Royal The Royal Sorceress (epub)
Burrowes Grace Córki księcia Windham 05 Marzenie lady Jenny