Heart Thief Read Free Page B

smiled.
    â€œMerry meet,” she offered the formal greeting.
    The man’s red-brown head jerked up, and Ailim realized he hadn’t heard her approach. She smiled again, in apology for startling him. “I see we are the two matters that the FirstFamilies Council will consider tonight. I’m to be seen after you, I believe. I am here to beg.” She felt a dull horror at such revealing words. She’d just opened her mouth and they’d emerged, without thought. But then she wasn’t thinking much, with her brain clouded by fatigue. And there was something about him that innately appealed to her.
    She lifted heavy eyelids to study him. His aristocratic features showed generations of noble breeding. His body was strong and well-formed, his chestnut hair wavy, and his deep brown eyes attractive. Yet it wasn’t his appearance that so drew her.
    Nor was it his casual manner that she sensed overlaid a naturally energetic individual. It was something else.
    She couldn’t quite determine the quality that pleased her.
    He stood with a small clinking sound and she glanced at his boots, but no spurs gleamed in the dim light. His bow was graceful and elegant. He smiled, and a deep dimple showed in his left cheek. His brown eyes sparkled.
    She felt her heart pick up pace. The sensations were new and unusual. And enjoyable enough to be dangerous to her peace of mind.
    Peace of mind. That was what he gave her. Just being in his presence was soothing. No intrusion of his thoughts or his emotions impinged on her awareness.
    A staggering thought.
    Ailim faltered to the bench, sat, and slipped, prevented from falling off the polished wood by one strong, calloused hand.
    â€œThank you,” she whispered, knowing she flushed.
    He gave another half-bow and sat beside her. Again a metallic chinking came. She looked around, but saw nothing to explain the sound.
    â€œBegging is wretched,” he said, finally responding to her earlier comment. “I grew out of begging early. I’ll never beg for anything from anyone again.”
    Her lips compressed. She hardly believed she’d told him. But she hated what she’d have to do for her Family. “Unfortunately this is my first experience. At least it’s just the FirstFamilies Council and not the whole NobleCouncil.”
    He shrugged. “I don’t care who hears my story.”
    She sighed. “Family business?”
    The bitterness of his expression outdid her own. “Oh, yes.”
    Interested and curious, she moved closer to him, closer than she meant to when she realized their thighs touched. She started to shift away when his hand grasped her arm.
    â€œPlease. Stay,” he said.
    The stillness of the building and of the man himself lulled her. She fought to keep her eyes open. She would be able to sleep after the meeting, she told herself. Her gaze stopped on his fine hand that rested on her arm. She could sense his vitality, and wondered why she kept thinking of him as peaceful.
    She dragged her thoughts back to the topic. “Families.” She sighed again. “There are no more troublesome problems than those of Family. They made me come. To beg.” She didn’t like the petulance in her voice, but she couldn’t seem to hide her emotions from this man.
    â€œOh, did they?” He glanced at the bright gold embroidery around her sleeves. “D’SilverFir,” he mocked gently.
    And it was that tone that won her. A sympathetic note in his voice that still poked fun at both her status and his own. She looked to his cuffs, but couldn’t make out his embroidered rank and name in the low light.
    â€œYou’re the Judge, aren’t you? Why aren’t you in the CouncilChamber with them?” He nodded to the ornate doors.
    She managed to sit up straight but it took most of her energy. “I’ve only been D’SilverFir a month and a half. I haven’t gone through the Loyalty Ritual