Sin of Fury Read Online Free Page B

them. It
had torn his heart when he realized that Amena was only a whore,
using him for his power and position.
    He laughed bitterly, hands tightening
around the picture frame. How would she feel now, knowing that he
had been so lowered in status, no one knew who he was? Before,
grown, battle-scarred men had turned their head away with fear for
meeting his soulless gaze. That had been his one pride, and he had
not known that Amena called to the dark like he called to
death.
    Darkness had taken her. Death kept him
alive.
    Lyne stared down at the faded picture,
knowing that the time for him to rid himself of her was growing
closer.
    He had promised himself that when they
finally got Talon, he would give her up, forget her. By then, his
revenge would have been exacted. It had taken longer than Auro had
thought to find the man, and Lyne had only grown more attached.
Even through death she held his heart in her grasp.
    The last time they had been too late.
A raid from France had been Talon’s downfall. A reputable baron
with a beautiful wife, he had been the envy of many and, as Lyne
was later told by his serfs, kept a strict hand and was horridly
loyal to the king.
    That loyalty had been his downfall.
Lyne could remember running through his manor, praying that they
weren’t too late. When he had barged into the room, he had known
immediately that he hadn’t made it.
    Talon hadn’t known about his powers,
his ability to take over legions, hundreds, even thousands of men.
The woman that he had died with had not been his real love, but
some woman that his parents had arranged for him. The sex had not
unleashed his powers, and before the raid. Auro had been ecstatic.
The turn of fate had been in their favor, he had boasted as they
made the long travel to Talon’s hold.
    Auro had been wrong.
    The flames had eaten the two alive.
Lyne had stared in despair, in fury... They had been too late, once
again. His chest tightened with remembered pain. His mind turned
back to Amena, their last failure, a shame.
    “ I’m such a fool,” he
whispered. His anguished whisper turned into an angry roar. The
picture hit the wall with a bang. Glass flew at him, the explosion
not bringing relief as he had hoped, but pain. He was truly done
with her. No longer would his thoughts dwell on Amena.
    Dropping his eyes to the picture, he
stayed still. The silence within the room was deafening after the
shattering glass. The faded piece of paper floated to the ground,
the frayed edges brushing the wall delicately. He had held it
softly for so long, had taken care of the picture as if it were the
real woman. Now it was time to forget. To move on. To conquer and
kill Talon.
    It was the time to forget about the
whore who had ruined him and sent him into his endless
life.
     
    ~*~
    “ Are you as happy as I,
brother?” Lyne asked over his shoulder.
    His tunic was stained with
blood, his dark brown hair matted with dust and other
unmentionables. The two braids on either side of his face were
longer than the rest,
just as Lyne’s were.
    Auro nodded shortly,
looking up at Lyne’s hut. He shared it with his wife, Amena, while
Auro had the one adjacent to them. The separation had been painful
for them both, but Auro had refused to be around them on their
wedding night and every night after that.
    “ Come now,” Lyne teased, a
lilt in his voice. “We shall have a feast! A feast greater than the
Gods could hope for!”
    His boast went unheard,
for Auro was staring around them with a new look.
    Suspicion.
    “ Did you tell Amena that
we would be back today? Alix said his squire was taking missives
for the families back with him. Surely you sent her a
letter?”
    Lyne shook his head. “I
was hoping to surprise her,” he said, starting to frown. The house
was too quiet, he thought absently. The normal laughing voice was
not accompanied by her maids, nor was anyone walking
about.
    He frowned at his brother.
“Should I have?” he asked tentatively. Surely she