Hinovel
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Summary
Amelia’s home had been ravaged by disease and death. She had lost so much, and it was only getting worse when the dark stranger arrived at their door with the body of her brother. The mysterious knight fascinates her. But when the last male heir in her bloodline passed on, her dark hero pledges his life and sword to defend Amelia’s claim to her land. Her gratitude is tarnished only by her sense that the florigen knight is not what he claims to be.
PROLOGUE
Acre, Israel, 1147...
Deon Dabell’s long legs hung between the bars of the iron canary cage that had been his prison for the last three or four days, and it had become difficult to tell. His lips were dry and cracked, parched from the sun and the lack of water. His flesh was burnt as he had been forced into his cage, stripped to this under britches and left exposed to the desert elements.
There were five other cages hanging around him, men he had once called friends. Men he had fought beside in the name of France and Christianity. Twenty feet from the cages were the ash remains of those who had taken pity on the soldiers and had tried to help them flee Acre. As punishment for siding with the accused, they were denounced as traders. The men were caged and forced to watch their families burn. Deon had been helpless as he watched men, women, and children scream until the very end on his account.
It had been days since then, and all but Deon had died. The buzzards were pecking at the rotting flesh that surrounded him. The stench of death was thick in the air. Deon could feel the life slipping away as his heavy lids rose and fell. It was night now — a reprieve from the scorching sun.
His lids lifted for but a moment when, in the distance, Deon saw a cloaked figure walking toward him. Deon tried his best to call out, but his voice was lost, and his mouth and throat were dry and sore. He could not even move to flag the stranger down. The only word in his mind was “water.”
It was forever before the cloaked figure reached him, having first checked the others for any signs of life. The cage swung slightly as the stranger touched Deon’s prison. The man’s face was shadowed by the night and the hood of his cloak, but even in all the shadows, Deon could see his bright blue eyes. Unable to speak, Deon lifted his gaze and stared pleadingly into the man’s eyes.
Somehow the stranger broke the lock confining Deon. He was fading in and out of consciousness by this point and noticed very little than the fact that the cage door was opened now, and he was being dragged out. Deon dropped onto his back on the dirt below. He was so far gone the pain barely even resonated.
The man spoke to him, but Deon could not understand a word. “Parlez-vous le français?” The man repeated in French. Deon could do nothing but nod ever so slightly. “Vous êtes un soldat?”
“Oui,” Deon barely managed.
“Maintenant vous êtes les miens.”
The stranger pulled Deon into his arms and sunk his teeth into Deon’s throat. He had never felt such pain. His eyes flew open, and his body tensed and seized up. As the life drained from his body, the stranger’s last words repeated in his mind… now you are mine.