Beloved Protector (Heartsong Presents) Read Online Free

a lunatic, especially conversing with a lizard. She smiled wryly to herself. Loneliness could make a person do some strange things.
    She felt the loneliness more keenly now, knowing that her mother was no longer there to care for. She had no one now. Her father had died several years ago of fever. Strange that her mother had outlived the man who had been responsible for shunning them from the Jewish community. When Tapat learned of his death, she had felt nothing but pity.
    A noise outside the cave alerted her that someone or something was coming. Surely Andronicus couldn’t have made it to his camp and back in such a short time. She quickly rose, intent on seeking refuge behind the boulder, when a form blocked the light from the cave entrance.
    * * *
    Andronicus had scrambled down the hillside, his thoughts in chaos. How was he to make good on his promise and get Tapat to safety? Roman troops surrounded the countryside for miles around, and if that weren’t bad enough, beyond them were the mercenaries, paid killers, situated to effectively block the exit of anyone who managed to slip past the Roman forces.
    His mind tried and rejected several ideas.
    Why, oh why, hadn’t Tapat left the vicinity with the other Christians? Surely her mother would have understood. But then, no one he knew was as fiercely loyal as Tapat. She would gladly die for someone she loved.
    That thought brought him up short. Could that have been why she forewarned him of the ambush awaiting him and his men? She cared for him enough to ignore decorum and seek him out where she had no business being seen. He didn’t even want to think what she must have been doing to be privy to the information she had brought him.
    He made it back to camp and immediately searched out the men who had gone with him on his scouting expedition. They had become separated in the storm, and he wanted to make certain that they had returned safely before he made preparations to return to Tapat.
    One of his centurions was awaiting him at the entrance to his tent, his relief evident when he saw Andronicus.
    “Tribune! We were about to send out a search party.”
    The centurion followed Andronicus into his tent. Andronicus dropped his helmet, sword and gladius on the mat he used for his bed. He reached for the pitcher of water sitting on the table by his bed and poured some over his head, relieved by the cool moisture. Taking a cup, he splashed water into it and thirstily drank it down.
    “Have Arius and the others returned yet?”
    “Some have returned. A few are still missing.”
    Andronicus jerked around. Although he felt concern for his men, he was more concerned with their discovering Tapat. “How many?”
    “Five. Arius is one of them.”
    Andronicus felt a sinking sensation in his midsection. Arius was more than one of his soldiers; they had been friends for years.
    “Thank you, Nonius. I will see to gathering some men to search.”
    “General Titus wished to see you as soon as you returned.”
    Antonius nodded. After Nonius left his tent he blew out a breath. Now what? More than likely Titus had some job for him to do that, knowing the general, was going to take more time than he had originally anticipated.
    Tapat, please have patience and don’t try to leave.
    After washing the sand from his body, he picked up his helmet, sword and gladius and made his way to Titus’s tent. He found the young general surrounded by his other tribunes. They turned at his appearance.
    “Andronicus.” The general gave a brief jerk of the head in acknowledgment, his searching eyes going slowly over Andronicus. “We were beginning to worry.”
    Although younger than Andronicus by six years, Titus was a formidable presence at the age of thirty-one. Many a man had made the mistake of underestimating the general’s youth. He had proved himself campaign after campaign as more than a boy. He was a fierce, intelligent and deadly opponent. There wasn’t a man here who wouldn’t