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Chapters (21)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Introduction
  5. CHAPTER ONE - “Princes met and talked against me.” PSALMS 119:23
  6. CHAPTER TWO - “Hell hath no fury like the woman scorned, Or the woman mourning.”
  7. CHAPTER THREE - “And I will give him the morning star.” REVELATIONS 2:28
  8. CHAPTER FOUR - “O God, with your judgement endow the King, and with your ...
  9. CHAPTER FIVE - “And a voice shall speak from legend.”
  10. CHAPTER SIX - “A Spokesman of the Infinite must guide. . . .”
  11. CHAPTER SEVEN - “Things are not what they seem.”
  12. CHAPTER EIGHT - “In the unknown lies terror, and in the night, deceit.”
  13. CHAPTER NINE - “Whence comes the wonder, whence the miracle?”
  14. CHAPTER TEN - “Even as Father, so the Son.”
  15. CHAPTER ELEVEN - “For surely laughter masks a nervous soul.”
  16. CHAPTER TWELVE - “A gilded silver crucifix—yours, Duncan!”
  17. CHAPTER THIRTEEN - “Who, then, is the Defender?”
  18. CHAPTER FOURTEEN - “Defender’s Sign shall seal . . .”
  19. CHAPTER FIFTEEN - “You placed on his head, O Lord, a crown of precious stones. ...
  20. INDEX OF CHARACTERS
  21. INDEX OF PLACE-NAMES

Morgan kept silent for a long moment as he glared at the incredibly beautiful and dangerous woman in gray. “We shall see,” he finally whispered. “We shall see.”

As he headed slowly for the door, watching her every flicker of an eyelash, every rustle of her gown, she smiled languidly. “Take me at my word, Morgan. No quarter. And that being the case, I suggest you look to your prince. He may need you very shortly.”

Very cautiously, Morgan opened the door and went through, never taking his eyes from her. When the door had finally closed behind him, Charissa walked slowly over to where Morgan had been sitting, then picked up the book he had been reading. Casually, she flipped through the pages.

Lives of the Saints.

Now, what possible interest could Morgan have had in a book like this? Nothing came to her, and she frowned. Morgan had been looking at this book for a reason. Of that, she was certain. But why?

The book didn’t fit the pattern. It wasn’t within the elements she’d predicted for Morgan’s actions, and that bothered her.

Charissa did not like it when things did not go exactly her way.

CHAPTER SIX - “A Spokesman of the Infinite must guide. . . .”

CHAPTER SIX

“A Spokesman of the Infinite must guide. . . .”

MORGAN felt a twinge of dread as he approached Kelson’s quarters. What if Charissa had been bluffing, had somehow found a way to get at Kelson through the wards? Suppose she had even killed him?

Derry had taken command of the guard as planned, and he glided up beside Morgan as the general reached Kelson’s door.

“Anything wrong, m’lord?”

“I don’t know yet,” Morgan said in a low voice, signalling the two regular guards to stand aside. “Did you see anyone while I was gone?”

“No, sir. I have this entire wing sealed off.” He watched as Morgan put his hand on the door latch. “Shall I come with you?”

Morgan shook his head. “That isn’t necessary.”

Stealthily, he eased the door open just enough to slip through, then closed it gently behind him. He stood with his back to the door while he slipped the bolt into place, trying at the same time to peer across the darkened room to see if Kelson was safe.

He need not have worried. For his wards were, as he had boasted, impervious to almost any power in the universe tonight. As he approached the royal bed, he was able to discern the faint protective aura still glowing around his young lord. And he could sense the boy’s undisturbed sleep patterns on the very surface of his awareness, if he concentrated.

But he did not. It was enough that the boy was safe. Wearily, he crouched down before the fireplace and shifted some of the logs with an ornate poker. When the blaze had been stabilized once more, he rose catlike and stretched.