Ginny Hartman Read Online Free Page A

immediately the crowd began gathering around her, anxious to offer her their congratulations. Terric rose swiftly, making his way out onto the balcony that wasn't far from where he was sitting. His body needed a dose of coldness that only the night's brisk air could provide.
    Looking up at the full moon above, Terric ran one hand through his thick, dark locks as he exhaled slowly. He wasn't sure what had come over him as he watched the princess dance, but now was not the time to be distracted by a woman's beauty, the High King's niece no less. Propping one booted foot up on the stone balustrade in front of him, he leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees and closed his eyes. He tried thinking about the latest attack on Brantonwall Castle that had occurred only four days prior to the High King and his party traveling south for Princess Rosalind's entrance, in hopes that it would take his mind off of the princess herself.
    It seemed that the formerly infrequent attacks on the High King were becoming increasingly frequent as of late. He had to defend the king’s very life more times in the past several months than he'd had to in the last three years spent as lead defender. This last attack had been the worst yet. Even thinking about the occurrence now caused him to mutter a prayer of gratitude that he had been in the right place at the right time to save the king's life, despite the loss of two of their best defenders. He shuddered to think about what King Cedric's death could have meant for the Kingdom of Darth.
    And still the mystery remained. Who was behind these attacks, and would they not cease until King Cedric was dead? Terric knew that the only person who wanted answers more than him was the king himself, for it maddened him enormously to know that there was somebody out there intent on ruining the peace that Darth had fought so hard to gain over the last several decades of ongoing strife with the neighboring kingdom of Moar.
    For the second time that night, Terric felt his blood begin to boil, but this time with barely suppressed anger instead of lust. That is, until his thoughts were interrupted by the delicate clearing of an undoubtedly feminine throat. In a casual manner that betrayed his inner feelings, Terric glanced over his shoulder to see who had intruded on his privacy.
    Standing several short feet from him was Princess Rosalind. Bathed in the silvery light of the full moon, she was even more beautiful up close than she had been in the dreary cavern of the castle walls. If he had thought her beautiful before, she was absolutely exquisite now. His mouth went dry, and all coherent thought fled from his mind as he stared into her face, trying to memorize every line, every curve of her perfectly formed features.
    With careful skill, he was able to compose himself enough to ask casually, “Is King Cedric looking for me?”
    “Nay.”
    “Then perhaps you are looking for me?” he inquired lightly, his voice laced with the faintest trace of hope. When she didn't answer him right away he asked, “How did you manage to slip away?”
    Princess Rosalind shrugged as she closed the gap between them. “It's easy to escape when nobody is paying you any attention.”
    Terric smiled. “I don't know how you failed to notice, but everybody in that room was very aware of you while you danced.”
    “That's the fickle nature of humans; they only remain interested in something until the next greatest thing comes along. As soon as the food began to arrive I was all but forgotten.”
    Terric lowered his foot to the ground, straightening before the princess. “I haven't forgotten you,” he whispered huskily.
    For a moment they stood in silence, her violet eyes boring into his own. The combination of moonlight, the sweet scent of jasmine drifting up from her hair, and the after effects of her dance, combined to make his skin tingle in awareness. He lowered his gaze from her eyes, focusing on her soft, red lips as he