Lost Princess by Sandy Holden Page B

ask what you will.”
    “My cousin here was not raised as most women were. Her father raised her alone, and she was taught as if a boy and treated with the freedom that boys enjoy. Now she is a wife, and I fear she has angered your brother.” She lifted luminous eyes to him. “I am afraid he will seriously harm her. I beg you to help her. Could you intercede with your brother to reduce her punishment to something she can tolerate?”
    Devlin looked at me with a shadow of surprise in his face. “What happened?”
    Callista said, “She challenged him. She as much as called him a fool, and he says he will punish her this eve.”
    Devlin said to me, “Are you afraid of my brother?”
    Callista said, “Of course she is. Who wouldn’t be?“Devlin gave her an annoyed look, and Callista seemed to melt in front of it. “I’m sorry, my lord. I am overwrought.”
    “Katrina,” he said, emphasizing that he was speaking to me and not Callista. “Do you fear he will hurt you more than you can bear?”
    I considered his question. I thought of how Max hadn’t hurt me at all so far, save for the deflowering. He’d been kindly, overall, and had seemed almost to try to provoke me into anger today. Perhaps he was really upset by my question of my own worth. In any case, I just didn’t believe he’d truly harm me permanently. “No,” I said, looking at him straightly.
    Devlin turned to Callista. “Callista, please allow me to speak privately with your cousin for a moment. I promise to return her to you soon.”
    Callista, looking mystified, nodded and took herself some distance away where she wouldn’t hear what transpired between us.
    Devlin said, “Katrina, my brother is what life has made him, as I suppose we all are. As you truly do not believe he will hurt you excessively, I will not interfere. But if you are amenable, I will give you some advice.”
    I said, “Please do, lord Devlin. I will listen and take your words to heart.”
    He thought a moment. “You speak of hearts. Maximus has a heart, believe it or not, but it is buried so very deeply under all the armor he has built around it that many doubt its existence. His first wife was the result of an arranged marriage, and she was gentle and mild. Max tried to be a good husband to her, but he frequently scared her to the point that she became sickly and weak. It didn’t take much for the birth of his first child to take them both.
    “Max was deeply saddened that he had not been able to keep his wife alive and happy, and tried to choose better the next time around.  His second wife was from an excellent family and seemed the model woman. She pleased him from the start, and he would hear no word against her. Unfortunately she was not as she seemed and had the heart of an unfaithful snake. She cheated on him more than once, and the baby that took her with it during an early birth might or might not have been Max’s.
    “Now he has you. I look at you and think perhaps this time Max has truly chosen well. But his past mistakes bedevil him, and he fears you will either play him false and defy his authority, or that he will frighten you beyond your ability to bear.” Devlin gave me an encouraging smile. “My advice is to let him work out his demons, even if that means enduring his often angry decisions. Be strong and show him that you will not fade away in fear, but neither will you make him look weak.” Devlin sighed. “I know what I ask is not easy, but you are the only one who can help him recover from what his first two wives have done to him.”
    I smiled at Devlin with real gratitude. “Thank you, my lord. I will do my best.”
    He reached out and took my hand in his strong one. I’d noticed he was leery of touching anyone with his weaker left hand, as if he feared they would be offended or sickened. It seemed ridiculous to me, but what did I know of how it felt to be a cripple? “Katrina, you are as my sister now, please call me Devlin.” He favored me