Description
Shadows in the Moonlight
1
A swift crashing of horses through the tall reeds; a heavy fall, a
despairing cry. From the dying steed there staggered up its rider, a
slender girl in sandals and girdled tunic. Her dark hair fell over her
white shoulders, her eyes were those of a trapped animal. She did not
look at the jungle of reeds that hemmed in the little clearing, nor at
the blue waters that lapped the low shore behind her. Her wide-eyed gaze
was fixed in agonized intensity on the horseman who pushed through the
reedy screen and dismounted before her.
He was a tall man, slender, but hard as steel. From head to heel he was
clad in light silvered mesh-mail that fitted his supple form like a
glove. From under the dome-shaped, gold-chased helmet his brown eyes
regarded her mockingly.
‘Stand back!’ her voice shrilled with terror. ‘Touch me not, Shah
Amurath, or I will throw myself into the water and drown!’
He laughed, and his laughter was like the purr of a sword sliding from a
silken sheath.
‘No, you will not drown, Olivia, daughter of confusion, for the marge is
too shallow, and I can catch you before you can reach the deeps. You
gave me a merry chase, by the gods, and all my men are far behind us.
But there is no horse west of Vilayet that can distance Irem for long.’
He nodded at the tall, slender-legged desert stallion behind him.
Product ID: 9781776775910
Sku: 9781776775910
