He strode out of the chamber without replying, fury twisting his stomach. It was madness to be angry with her, but he couldn't help it. He had this crazy fantasy that she'd have been grateful for what he'd done. He'd imagined her throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. For what? Killing a man, even if the man had murdered her sister?

Outside, Sea Storm awaited them. They had ridden the horse to the ring that morning, and Namir had graciously volunteered to care for him during the games.

The slender slave smiled, his eyes gleaming, when he saw Lock.

I bet he'd have been appreciative, Lock thought. Too bad he ain't Sparrow.

"You won!" Namir said. "I knew you would."

"Yeah," Lock muttered, his voice tinged with sarcasm. His ribs smarted, arms and scalp stung, and the rest of him felt like one big ache. "I won."

"Thank you, Namir." Sparrow took Sea-Storm's reins and mounted.

"I'll look forward to your next visit to the city," Namir said to the couple, though his gaze remained fixed on Lock.

Lock mounted behind Sparrow and they turned towards home.

Chapter Nineteen.

By the time they reached the farm several hours later, Lock's ribs hurt so much he could scarcely wait to dismount and fall into bed. When Sea-Storm moved any faster than a walk, every strike of his hooves on dirt jarred Lock to the bone. His head hurt from the repeated slamming against the wall as well as the missing chunk of his scalp. And worst of all, during the entire ride, Sparrow had said no more than five words.

They stopped in front of the house, and Sparrow dismounted first, Lock moving slowly, careful not to show any sign of discomfort.

"I'll see to the horse." Sparrow glanced at him. "You look awful."

"I feel great." He flung her a mocking smile and stepped into the house while she walked Sea-Storm to the barn.

"By the G.o.ddess, what happened?" Shea-Ann's brow furrowed as Lock entered the house. She left the table where she'd been preparing herbs and approached him. "Where's Sparrow? Were you attacked?"

"Sparrow's fine. We weren't attacked, and it's a long story."

"I want to hear everything. Come sit down. What's wrong with your side?"

"Broken ribs."

"You rode all the way from the city with broken ribs? Are you crazy?"

Lock lowered himself to the bed, resting his head against the pillow and closing his eyes. "Don't you start shouting at me, too. Sparrow's done enough of that to last me the next ten years."

"Did you win your freedom?"

"If I tell you will you spare me the reprimand?"

Shea-Ann approached with salve for his cuts. "I can't make any promises, but you better start talking, yak."

Lock wasn't sure why, but he was actually grateful to tell someone his side of the story-even if that someone was Shea-Ann.

By the time he finished speaking, Shea-Ann had applied the salve as well as checked his ribs. She stood beside the bed, her hands folded beneath her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and said, "Just like a man."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You thought by killing Miska-and I'm glad you did, the brutal b.a.s.t.a.r.d-it would please Sparrow. You thought she wanted revenge more than she wanted you."

"It seemed that way. If I'd been in her place-"

"You'd like to see Sparrow risk her life?"

"That's different."

"No, it's not." Shea-Ann placed a hand on his knee. "Lock, a woman prefers a live lover over a dead enemy."

"I wish..."

"What?"

He shook his head, closing his eyes. "Doesn't matter."

No matter what he thought or what he wanted, Sparrow was still furious. At that moment, he was too tired to care.

After Sparrow settled Sea-Storm in the barn, she hauled a bucket of water from the well and headed for the house. Shea-Ann met her halfway.

"Good. I was going to get some water," the old nanny said. "Are you all right? Lock told me everything."

"I don't know what I feel," Sparrow murmured. "I thought he was going to ask for his freedom. I thought he wanted to marry me, that he loved me."

Shea-Ann placed her hands on her hips. "You don't honestly expect me to believe that you don't think he loves you?"

"I don't understand him."

"He wanted to kill that b.a.s.t.a.r.d because he loves you. Yes, he made a stupid decision. Yes, he was trying to flaunt his masculinity, but underneath it all, he did it for you."

"I know. Shea-Ann, when he fought, if anything had happened to him, I don't know what I'd have done."

"You should have made him stay in the city at least another day. The ride home with those broken ribs wasn't a good idea. He could have pierced a lung."

"Broken ribs?" Sparrow's eyes widened. "He didn't say anything about broken ribs."

"Broken ribs, half his scalp torn out, all those gashes." Shea-Ann shook her head. "Such stupidity, and all for a woman who doesn't care in the first place."

"Of course I care! If I didn't care, I wouldn't be so angry!"

"Life is so strange," Shea-Ann observed. "When he first came here, I remember you trying to offer him comfort he refused. Now he looks to me like a man in need of a gentle touch and you're in no mind to give it. Oh well. I always said a pirate doesn't deserve kindness."

Shea-Ann walked toward the barn. Sparrow glanced over her shoulder at her friend. She knew what Shea-Ann was trying to do, and it worked. She was right. Though Lock hadn't expressed his love for her in the manner she'd expected, he loved her nonetheless.

In the house, Sparrow filled a wooden bowl with water. She took a soft cloth and moistened it then sat on the edge of the bed. Lock's eyes were closed, his breathing even. She noticed some of his color had returned. When he'd dismounted earlier, his face had been pale as wax. Mine probably would have been, too, if I'd ridden that far with broken ribs.

His shirt draped over a nearby chair, and she noted the bandages that swathed his middle. The broken skin on the corner of his mouth still oozed blood and had swelled slightly. Sparrow took the damp cloth and touched it to the swelling.

His eyes flickered open and stared into hers. "The horse all right?"

"He's fine," Sparrow said.

"Are you all right?"

She nodded, her free hand stroking his cheek. Beardless, his blue eyes calm from sleep, he looked uncharacteristically vulnerable. "Why didn't you tell me your ribs are broken? You shouldn't have ridden."

"I wanted to get out of that city. I never want to see it again."

"I love you." She touched her lips to his forehead. She kissed his eyelids then his mouth, gently, avoiding the cut.

He tugged her onto the bed beside him, one arm wrapped around her waist. She closed her eyes and rested her cheek against his bare chest, her fingers lightly tracing his bandaged ribs.

"Thank you for what you did today," she said. "But I'm no killer. Not even for Miska."

"I'm glad. My Sparrow isn't a killer, even for revenge." His voice was soft. "I thought it would make you happy. I was wrong, and I'm sorry."

"You thought you were giving me what I wanted most, but I only want you, Lock."

"Still?"

"Always." She kissed his cheek and took his hand, entwining her fingers with his as they drifted to sleep.

When Sparrow awoke, it was late afternoon. There was work to do, and she was sleeping in the middle of the day! She rubbed her eyes and slipped from Lock's arms, careful not to wake him, and splashed water on her face before stepping outside. Shea-Ann stood in front of the house, scattering seed to chickens.

"At least that d.a.m.n pirate ship will be setting sail today," Shea-Ann told her. "We're all sick of looking at that nasty ark in our waters."

"Rino's ship?" Sparrow curled her lip as she remembered the pirate. She knew Lock didn't like him at all, and she could understand why. He was sarcastic, obnoxious, and arrogant. She smiled. Funny Lock should hate a man so like himself. But at least Lock had a heart beneath all his rough edges.

"They haven't stolen anything and I'm surprised."

"What's to steal?" Sparrow glanced around. "The village is still undergoing repairs from the storm, and it's not as if we're wealthy. If they want to steal, they'd have to go to Begonia, and I don't think Rino is interested in fighting the Empress's army. I wouldn't mind fighting her myself."

"You should speak softly when voicing such thoughts," Shea-Ann warned.

"I'd say it about any woman who tried to bed Lock."

"Oh, yes. We both thought that might happen. He used the potion, did he?"

"Yes, but that doesn't make me feel much better. Shea-Ann, you should have seen how he danced."

"Magnificent, wasn't he?"

"Yes, but I wanted to kill everyone in the room. They way they looked at him, the way he enticed them-"

"All the wiles of a SothSea wh.o.r.e." Shea-Ann smiled. "As much as the yak can irritate me, he's stunning in a loincloth."

"Shea-Ann!"

"It's true. And as much as I know you hated seeing him in the ring, he did the world a favor by killing Miska."

"I know. I just don't like seeing him hurt."

"Truth be told, I'm not keen on it, either. There's something endearing about the yak."

"Lock will be glad to know Rino's ship is leaving. I guess there's rivalry between them."

"What do you want? The Archipelago is full of cutthroats and thieves. If it hadn't been for a whipping that nearly killed him, being taken into slavery and meeting you, he would have continued on as horrible as the rest of them."

"Maybe." Sparrow cast her eyes downward, thinking of the fight with Miska, of the way he'd debased himself for the Empress. "I don't know."

"Sparrow," Shea-Ann placed aside the feed bucket and touched her friend's shoulder, "I know by now the two of you have a unique relationship, but in spite of the affection you have for each other, he's still wild. You'll never completely tame him."

"I don't want to."

Shea-Ann raised an eyebrow.

"Well maybe I want to a little," Sparrow admitted. "I don't want him tame, I just want him safe. I want him to know an honest life can be even more rewarding than being a pirate. You know we met some Knights of the Ruby Order."

"Lock told me."

"It sounds crazy, but I could picture him in one of those tunics."

"The yak? A Knight?" Shea-Ann snorted with laughter then looked thoughtful. "He does have an interest in healing, if he has the stamina to truly study it. And he is a great fighter. If he could stay honest... Those Knights take serious vows. They also enter the front lines of battle to fight and heal. Theirs is not a life without danger."

"I didn't say he was going to become one. I just said he'd look good in the tunic." Sparrow glanced over her shoulder at the sound of thundering hooves and murmured, "By the G.o.ddess..."

Shea-Ann raised a hand against the sunlight, squinting at the approaching riders. "Palace guards, and they're coming this way."

Sparrow's stomach tightened with fear as she guessed what they wanted.

Six guards dressed in the red uniforms of Begonia, mounted on white mares, surrounded Sparrow and Shea-Ann.

"The Empress has sent us to retrieve your slave. She wants him at the palace to replace the gladiator he killed," said one of the guards, the leader according to the gold crescent embroidered on his chest.

"He's wounded and can't travel," Shea-Ann replied.

"He left the city fast enough."