Loving Lies. Tina Donahue

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      “You just asked another.”

      “Forgive me.”

      “All will be well if you simply match my pace.”

      She suppressed a sigh. “How can I? My legs are shorter than yours and my feet are unshod. I keep stepping on what feels like dead animals.”

      “And you wait until now to tell me?” He frowned. “Dead animals mean food.”

      She curled her upper lip at the thought of eating a creature she’d stepped on.

      He smiled. “You have been far too pampered.”

      She bowed her head in mock acquiescence. “How true, my lord. What a relief only one of us deserves to wear high boots.”

      “Being a clumsy man I need such things. You, señorita, are as graceful as a gazelle.”

      She bumped against him with increasing frequency in her struggle to keep up. “A what?”

      “Gazelle. One of the many animals the Sultan has trapped in his palace.”

      “You have been inside.”

      “I overheard others discussing the animals he keeps.”

      “As you eavesdropped? What did you learn of the harem women as you listened in?”

      “Spied.”

      “As you wish. What did you learn of the harem women?”

      “Why do you need to know? Do you still feel in harm’s way?”

      “Only when it comes to your brutal pace. Give me a moment to catch my breath.”

      At last, he stopped and faced her. “You want a moment that may risk our safety?” He released her hand and advanced.

      Breathing hard, she stepped back. “We stopped at the stream.”

      “No one was about.”

      She looked right, left, even behind herself at the endless wheat, the distant trees, and the blue-tinged mountains on the horizon. “I see no one here.”

      “For the moment.”

      “Have I asked for so much?”

      He scowled. “First, you accused me of drugging the orange, forcing me to eat a slice. Then, you demanded I prove my claim on you. Next, you secured my oath to wait for our coupling. And now you insist on knowing what might have happened in Granada when I wanted to spare you the horror.”

      “I only asked—”

      “And I mean to tell you. If you had been purchased for Boabdil’s harem, your status would have been no more than a slave to be used as he willed. He might have kept you as a gedikli, a girl forced to bathe and dress him, to serve his food, and perhaps if he was desirous of you, to share his bed. One of his subjects would have recorded, in detail, Boabdil’s couching of you, each intimacy, to assure the legitimacy of his heirs.

      “After a time, you might have become his ikbal, or favorite. He has many favorites. His wives are known as kadins. The first is the hatun, the great lady, one who shares his attentions with the second wife known as durrah, or parrot. By custom, the Sultan’s allowed only four kadins. Oftentimes he takes many, many more, while the number of concubines he owns is endless. You would have been in that class, no more than his property to give away as he saw fit. Perhaps to another man for political purposes with the man forcing you to lie with him and bear his children, until he tired of you and sent you to the slave market for purchase by another man.”

      Fernando grabbed Isabella’s arm and pulled her close. “Even if you had remained in the harem, your life would have been worth nothing before you were with child. If you were unfortunate enough to bear the Sultan’s son, you and the infant would have been at great risk. There are many other women in the harem, like those known as kumas, or rivals, who intend to ascend to power through their male heirs. On an order from any of them, you and the child might have been drowned or poisoned and the crime would have remained unknown to the outside world, because no one, not even a magistrate, can breach the sanctity of harem. The Moors believe in qisma, a fate determined before any of us are born and out of our hands, whether it be good fate or bad. No, my queen, what I demand of you on this journey is hardly brutal. Even though you continue to deny what is rightfully mine, you will never come to harm under my protection. You will never be shamed. I give you my pledge. Tanto monta, monta tanto Isabella como Fernando.”

      As much as one is worth so much is the other, Isabella as Fernando.

      The same pledge the sovereigns had given to each other, telling all of Spain the Queen was on equal footing with the King. She was no less than he was.

      Fernando was now vowing the same to Isabella despite the trouble she’d caused him.

      Rarely had she regretted her behavior as she did now. “Forgive my ignorance and impertinence. I had no idea the perils and political intrigues the harem women endure.”

      “Nor should you.” He released her arm and touched her cheek. “Danger is for a man to face in order to protect his woman.”

      Or die trying as he guarded her on this journey, unless they succeeded in reaching the castle and Don Rodrigo murdered Fernando before he could claim Sancha. Horrified, Isabella covered her eyes with her hand.

      He sighed. “Why worry about what might have been? It changes nothing.”

      It changed everything. If not for her abduction, he wouldn’t be courting disaster at her father’s castle. He’d be risking his life fighting the Moors. In either case, he was pursuing death. “Is there nowhere in this world where one can hide from danger?”

      “Danger has always been a part of life, though you face less here than you did in Granada.”

      “I was abducted here, Fernando.”

      “You were without my protection then. Now you have it.”

      Until he learned the truth or was killed. “One needs more than a sword and dagger to assure their safety.” One needed cunning and the element of surprise, especially when dealing with Don Rodrigo. She dropped her hand and looked at Fernando. The wind ruffled his silky hair. Sunlight caressed his broad shoulders and muscular chest. How splendid he was. How she needed to protect him. Without the truth, she had only one way. “You must tell me about the magic you used in Granada.”

      His eyebrows shot up first then he narrowed his eyes. “We need to continue our journey.”

      “Tell me as we do.” She took his hand and pulled him forward as he was wont to do with her. Since he was taller, heavier, and not of a mind to cooperate, she was soon breathless.

      He sighed loudly. “Do you need another moment?”

      “I need to know how you perform the tricks.”

      He slipped his arm around her waist and swung her to the left. The moment her feet were back on the ground, he grabbed her hand and towed her through the wheat in the new СКАЧАТЬ