Angelina Evans Paladin's Pr

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Paladin, about a sexual relationship with him. It had been
wrong even though it didn't feel like it. Healing Genae had
been absolutely right.
This time when she went to stand Paladin let her. She
stepped away from him but he caught her arm and pulled her
back.
"Let me go." She raked her fingernails down his forearm.
"I'm Mriln. I belong with my people."
Paladin spun her around to face him. "You belong with
me."
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Pain ripped through her. "No." It was a cry from her heart.
"I'm Mriln, not VanDai. I'm a healer. I can help them." She
couldn't breathe. Tears stung her eyes. "Why don't you
understand? I have to go with Rhonon. Whatever the fate of
my people, it's my fate as well." She tried to pull away.
Paladin wouldn't release her.
"Please," she pleaded. "Let me go."
"No." His expression was implacable, his hold on her
unbreakable.
She closed her eyes and bowed her head. "You have to let
me go." She didn't know what was real. Everything was
spinning out of control. Upside down. Inside out. "I'm a
healer. I don't cause death. How could healing Genae be
wrong? How could what I feel for you be wrong?"
His strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her tight
against him. She buried her face against his neck, her head
under his chin. He was warm and real and solid in a fluid
reality that was drowning her.
"You weren't wrong to heal Genae." His tone was fierce.
"What she did was heroic. Healing her was the only thing you
could do." He lifted her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his. His
own eyes were hard and bright, his expression grim.
"What you feel for me, what we experience together, isn't
wrong. Secrets are wrong. Hiding the ability to heal is wrong.
Not healing to the full extent of your ability, that's wrong.
How many lives have been lost because of Mriln law?"
Anger warring with sorrow, Llaryn frowned up at him and
clenched her jaw to hold back tears. "Our laws aren't wrong. I
broke them and look what happened. Our laws keep us safe."
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He grasped her arms and shook her once, hard. "Your laws
didn't keep you safe. They kept you in hiding, never able to
completely reveal yourself to anyone."
"Mriln have died because of what I did. They've been called
back to Mouvriln. More will die. Because of me." Her voice
broke and the tears started falling. She couldn't hold them
back, couldn't escape the crushing weight of betrayal. She'd
thought she would pay the price, no one else.
Paladin growled low in his throat and scooped her up in his
arms. He strode out of the room and down the corridor the
way they'd come. He barked orders at the warriors who
followed them.
Llaryn didn't care. The tears just kept falling. A silent rain
of sorrow she couldn't stop. No sobs shook her but it felt as if
the tears came from deep inside, scalding her inside, freezing
her outside.
Her people were dying because of her. Lives had been lost
because of her. She was a healer. She cheated death, she
didn't cause it.
"I'm not a killer." Hoarse and strangled, the words burst
from her.
Paladin entered his quarters, his pace fast, his arms tight
around her. He sat down on the bed with her seated on his
lap. Her legs draped over his thighs. His hold was fierce, his
heart beating strong and steady against her. "You're not a
killer and you're not responsible for anyone dying. There
won't be another Mriln death if I can help it."
She raised her face from his neck. She looked at him
through eyes blurred by tears. "How can you stop it?"
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His expression hardened, his eyes narrowed and death
stared out at her from them. "As of this moment the Mriln are
under VanDai protection. Any attack against the Mriln will be
an attack against the VanDai and will be treated as a
declaration of war."
She wiped at her face and shook her head. "No one will
believe you would do that."
"They will." His tone sent a shiver down her back. "A
declaration is being sent out now. The Mriln are under my
protection."
For a long moment she could only stare at him. "You mean
it, don't you?"
"I never say anything I don't mean. Not about this and not
about you."
She knew what he was saying was important but she
couldn't grasp exactly why. Her mind felt sluggish. Too many
shocks had hit her all at once. She let her head fall forward to
rest on his chest and closed her eyes. "Thank you."
If the Mriln had a hope of surviving it would be thanks to
Paladin.
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331
Paladin's Pride (Collection)
by Angelina Evans
Chapter Six
The tension left Llaryn's body, leaving her limp and
sleeping in Paladin's arms. He stared unseeing at the wall in
front of him. He wanted to kill Elder Rhonon for hurting her. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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