Prince of Love by Donna Grant Read Free Book Online Page A

where he had fought the Tnarg the day before.  
    When he came to the spot, he glared at the tree where his sword was embedded nearly to the hilt. Sorin touched the leather wrapped pommel. At least the beast hadn’t broken it. His hand gripped the weapon and tugged.  
    Just as he feared. The oak was thick, and the sword deep inside it.  
    A twig snapped behind him. Sorin didn’t need to turn to see the Tnarg behind him. Lightning suddenly split the sky a heartbeat before the rain began.  
    “You’ll never get the sword out in time,” the beast hissed behind him.
     

 
     
    Chapter Six
     
     
    Katrina blew out a breath and rose to her feet. She’d been on edge and frantic ever since she had woken to find Sorin gone.   He’d left so he wouldn’t be discovered in her room, but now she was growing concerned that he hadn’t come to see her since.
    Where are you, Sorin?  
    “Katrina, you’re making me nervous with your pacing. The storm won’t last long,” Aunt Beatrice murmured over her needlepoint.  
    Katrina ran to the window and looked at the dark clouds racing toward them. As her gaze scanned the city, a lone rider traveling to the woods caught her eye. She knew instantly it was Sorin.  
    “Nay,” she whispered as fear took her heart in a tight grip.
    Without a word to her aunt, she raced from the solar to the crossed swords hung in the hall. Katrina gripped the pommel of the sword and tugged.  
    “Lass, what are you doing?” her aunt asked from the doorway.  
    “I don’t have time to explain. Trust me. I need this sword.” Just then a servant rounded the corner. “I need a horse. Now!” she shouted when the servant didn’t move.  
    Aunt Beatrice stepped to her side after the servant went running to do as she commanded. “Katrina, you’re worrying me. Come sit down until your father arrives.”  
    Katrina’s head swiveled to her aunt. “Father is coming?”  
    “Aye, my darling girl. I sent word to him yesterday after the attack. He’s come to take you home.”  
    Katrina felt as if someone had yanked the earth from beneath her feet. “I’d love to explain everything, and I know it appears as though I’ve gone daft, but I need this weapon.”  
    “Why?”  
    “Sorin lost his yesterday battling the beast.”  
    Aunt Beatrice’s eyes narrowed. “You mean the men who attacked you.”  
    Katrina shook her head. “Nay. Aunt, forgive me for lying to you. It was a beast, a beast come to kill me. Sorin saved my life, and he’s gone to kill it. He needs this weapon.”  
    She waited one heartbeat, two as her aunt debated her words. Finally, Aunt Beatrice nodded and reached up to grip the sword.  
    “We’ll pull together,” she said.  
    It took three tugs, but they finally got the sword free. Katrina could barely lift it, but she would do what she needed to get to Sorin.   She walked to the door when her aunt’s voice stopped her.  
    “What do I tell your father?”  
    Katrina looked back at her aunt as an unusual calm overtook her. “Tell him I love him, and if I haven’t returned, send an army to the grove.”  
    “Katrina,” her aunt murmured as she covered her mouth with her hand.  
    But Katrina couldn’t wait a moment longer. She had to get to Sorin. With the help of a servant, she mounted the mare and settled the sword across her lap.   She didn’t glance back at the door as she nudged the horse into a run.  
    The rain came before she made it out of the city.   In a matter of moments her clothes were plastered to her skin. The howling wind made hearing anything difficult, and the lightning spooked the mare each time it forked across the sky.  
    Katrina blinked against the blinding rain and saw a shape come at her. Her heart jumped into her throat as she thought it might be the Tnarg until she saw it was a horse. A riderless horse.  
    “Sorin,” she whispered, urgency making her blood pump quicker.  
    She tried to nudge her horse faster, but the