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37
With a roar like thunder, riders burst out of the gates to the left of Jayems’ pavilion, charging straight toward the black blocks of cadets. Jasmine barely had time to note Keilor and the commanders move to the far side of the field, leaving the sub-commanders to handle their units. A single shouted command from five different throats caused the ranks to whip out their knives and turn en masse to present a solid wall of resistance to the oncoming hoard. Jasmine barely had time to wonder at the folly of facing horsemen (or stagmen) with nothing but knives when with a zap!, a hundred blades suddenly elongated into three foot lengths of blue light.
“Light sabers!” Jasmine gasped, her eyes enormous.
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The Charmer 38
Keilor slammed his sheathed blade down on his scarred and slightly dusty table, scattering stray papers with the slight breeze. “Bath!” he snarled, unbuckling his belt. The sound of splashing water immediately filled the room. He stalked towards the enormous tub, leaving a trail of clothes in his wake, and sank deeply into the steaming water.Little witch! Custom of her country or not, there had been no call to show such favoritism to a mere cadet. Now the fool was in love with her, and all the true suitors for her hand seethed with jealousy. Tomorrow might well degenerate into a blood bath, with all the warriors expecting to receive the prize of her lips.
The Charmer 39
Upset in more ways than one, she roughly scrubbed his neck, or tried to. It was difficult to do much damage with a slippery bar of soap. “You don’t want a wife,” she told him with bitter certainty. She twisted a little to wash his left arm, trying to block out its solid strength, and the hard muscles under his smooth, warm skin. She couldn’t hide her fine trembling. He was so beautiful!Unfortunately, his beauty was not for her. “What you want would burn out in a couple of days, maybe a couple of weeks. Then what? Divorce?”She had reached his chest. Against her will, her hands were getting slower. It was all
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The warrior’s brows shot up. “The untamable Master of the Hunt, captured at last by a woman?” Mathin studied him. “You have no desire for children?”Keilor rubbed his thumb over the rim of his cup. “I accept that I won’t have them.” He could have explained he planned on adopting a child, but the sudden tightness in his throat prevented it. A forceful swallow of mead cleared it enough for him to ask, “What of you? I had always assumed you liked children. Why would you court a human?”A humorless
The Charmer 41
“Please,” she answered, mentally swearing at herself as his large, warm hands closed over her shoulders, making her nerves jump with awareness. She closed her eyes, shutting herself in solitary darkness as the blessing was said.It’s just a side affect of last night, she assured herself. The more she thought, the angrier became. So I feel a little thrill when a handsome man touches me. I’m young, and healthy, and it’s not as if... She broke into a cold sweat. Even in her mind, her heart wouldn’t let her complete the sentence. Panicked, she thought with desperation, I don’t belong to him! He doesn’t have any claim on me! Her eyes opened. She saw Keilor looking straight at her,
The Charmer 42
A blazing wall of fire flared up directly in front of the gates, and eleven riders charged out, up the ramp, and through the flames. Jasmine glowered at them. She was determined not to be impressed no matter what antics they pulled.That idea lasted all of three minutes.When the first stag beast sailed over Keilor, he raked its belly with the tip of his sword, just cutting through its rider’s girth. Jasmine thought she would have heart failure. When the rider managed to shed his saddle in mid-air, and regain his seat on his stag, she knew this was
The Charmer 43
Keilor and Mathin didn’t waste time. At the signal, they unsheathed their swords with lightning fast moves and attacked.The individual moves were a confusing blur. Both men fought as if they’d just came fresh from their beds, not spent the morning fighting off hoards of opponents. The men were nearly equal in size, strength and endurance. What would tip the scales of the fight?***Mathin on a normal day was difficult to defeat. Mathin with charmer scented
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“No! You know I’d never let that happen. They’d have to get through me first,” she vowed. “I know you’d do the same for me, too.”Jasmine smiled and looked down. “All right.” She took a deep breath. “I will try not to be so jumpy around the Haunt, but I can’t promise overnight results, ok?” She slanted a teasing look at her friend. “You could have warned me sooner, though.” She cupped her hands around her mouth and said, sotto voce, “Hey, Jasmine, watch out for these guys, because when the moons are full they turn into Wookies!”
The Charmer 45
This wasn’t at all what she’d expected.The hedge enclosed gardens smelled heavenly. Beautiful, exotic white birds with red, blue and green crests chattered in the trees, filling the air with their music. Every once and a while they would pass an exceptionally nice smelling flower or herb along the stone paths, and Keilor would stop and tell her its name and perhaps a little about it. Once he’d even picked a small spray of blossoms and tucked them in her hair.Jasmine couldn’t figure out what he was up to. She’d never seen h
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