Free Allegra's Dream (Avador Book 4, a Books We Love Fantasy Romance) by Shirley Martin Page B

who meant so much to him and whom he must protect. Since the assassins remained in this area–and he had no doubt that they did–she couldn’t stay in the vacant apartment. For if she did, she would be a virtual prisoner, never able to go outside, to ride, or to visit the shops here in the capital. And the assassins might yet discover her location.
    “My lady, I’ve never been more serious. We may have lost these assassins for now–and I’m not even certain of that–but I’m afraid they will come again. They’ll keep coming ‘til they succeed.” He shook his head. “That mustn’t happen. I will keep you safe.”
    She frowned. “Elsa will worry so.”
    “And I’m sorry about that, but it can’t be helped. It would be far worse for her–and for you–if you came to any harm.”
    “That is so.” She drew herself up, as if sloughing off her worries. “When shall we leave?”
    “After dark. I’ll go downstairs shortly, ask the guard if he’s seen any strangers lurking. I assume these assassins are from Fomoria. Who but the war faction would want your. . . demise? And what about this prince you once spoke of?”
    “I know very little about him, only what my father told me years ago.” She drew a deep breath. “So much I don’t know.”
    “Nor I, except that you must not suffer peril.” He wanted to go to her, hold her close to his heart, tell her she had nothing to fear. But she had much to fear, no denying that.
    “One thing I wanted to ask you,” she said, “if something detained you in Fomoria when you went to deliver the letters. I expected you back sooner.”
    “Sick,” he said. “I, who have rarely been sick in my life, was struck with a lung illness that started as a cold. But I’m fine now.”
    “I’m so sorry you were sick.” She smiled then, a smile that went straight to his heart. “And very glad you are better now.”
    He looked out the wide window at the gathering darkness, aware they should leave soon. Turning from the window, he grabbed a tinder box and moved about the room, lighting the beeswax candles. That done, he clenched his hands, but quickly loosened them, hoping and praying to the Goddess that all would go well, that their journey to the Otherworld would keep her free from danger.
    He thought back over her arrival in Avador. In hindsight, he realized that she should have been taken to a nondescript abode, a place that no one would ever suspect of harboring a princess. Not a palace.
    He sighed. “My lady, I’ve considered all possibilities for keeping you safe. For now, I think the Otherworld is best.”
    “But what do you know about this. . .Otherworld?” she asked, her voice rising. “How long will we stay there?”
    “As long as we need.” But how long would that be? He didn’t know! What if they returned from the Otherworld, only to find that the princess was still in danger? Wanting to ease her mind, he related what he’d read in “Tales from the Otherworld.” He hoped that other place would prove to be as agreeable and pleasant as the library book had described it, that they would find abundant fruit and other foods, but most of all, that they would be free from danger.
    He brought his mind back to the here and now. “My lady, best that we eat a bite before we leave.”
    Lightly, she touched her stomach. “Don’t think I could eat anything.”
    “Please, you will need sustenance before we start out. It will take over an hour before we reach the entrance to our destination. Once there, we will find plenty to eat.”
    She sat upright. “How do you know this?”
    He shrugged. “I told you about the library book, remember?” He’d always heard that fruits, nuts, and all manner of food grew there in abundance. “Enough talk for now.” He stood and headed for the kitchen. There, he set a kettle over the fire to boil water for tea. He set out a loaf of oat bread and gathered cheese and ham from the cold box.
    A short while later, after they had