Chapter Seventy-Three - Genevieve

It took a few more days of waiting before Xander left his betrothed’s bedside and came to her.

“You look ill,” Genevieve told him.

“Sorting out what is to happen with those girls we left behind is making me want to fall on the point of my sword,” he groaned.

“Don’t do that. I need you, and so does whichever realm you decide to conquer next,” she said.

His grin was brief and, just for a moment, she saw the Xander of old.

His face sobered. “She’s so wan.”

“Can I help?”

“You’ve been through your own ordeal.”

“All the more reason to show compassion. Tora and Nell are going to be under the protection of the Danes. I understand someone called Rowanne is Nell’s elder sister and in love with Tora’s brother, Ulf. Is it true she was acquired by Eithne’s mother as a female gladiator?”

“I wasn’t here at the time, but that’s my understanding, yes.”

“Incredible. What I wouldn’t give to have been born a boy.”

“Did de Mornay – ?”

She cut him off before he tripped over the euphemisms so beloved of the