Chapter Twenty-Nine

“If it please my lord, my sister is ill,” she blurted, without raising her head.

“Silence!” the guard roared.

“She will be punished, Your Highness,” Sayed said, saving his own skin.

“My men have gone without women for long days and nights. Perhaps she can entertain them.”

“No! If it please you, my lord, I will see to their easement.”

Miriam had to blink back tears. Astrid didn’t have to do that – unless it was as much for Ketil as it was for her?

“I will do it,” said a muffled voice from the corner. “After all, it is my duty.”

“You may rise,” the Emir said. His hand strayed to the curved scimitar in the hand of his bodyguard. Was he going to give the order for a beheading? If so, who? All three of them had spoken out of turn.

“Please, do not punish others for my error,” she begged.

“Look at me, girl.”

Miriam forced herself to meet his gaze. His eyes were blue, like the ocean beyond the far mountains. She used to ride there from the age of eleven until she was deprived of that pleasure