Warrior Rising - By Pamela Palmer Page 0,18

to keep us safe in case we get into an accident."

"No accident could harm me." Her own voice was soft with breathlessness.

"Nevertheless, it's the law." Tearing his gaze away, he glanced down, fastening the belt with a metallic click. Pulling away, he straightened and closed her door, then went around the car to get in the other side. The other two Sitheen had apparently left, for only the Marceil sat in the backseat - directly behind Harrison, where Ilaria couldn't possibly touch her.

Harrison steered the vehicle into the heavy traffic, silent for a time before he glanced into the mirror, a pensive expression on his face. "Charlie tells me you're a priestess, Tarrys."

Ilaria glanced at the Marceil, watching a soft confidence fill the slave's expression. "I am, though it matters little anymore."

"You and Charlie are really getting married?"

A smile bloomed on the other woman's face with a depth of joy Ilaria had rarely seen. "He asked me to be his wife, Harrison, and there's nothing I want more."

Harrison frowned. "Why would you tie yourself to him? You're immortal. He's only got fifty or sixty years at most."

The Marceil's smile dimmed. "I'm aware of that, but I love him and will stay by his side for as long as Charlie and your God allow."

Ilaria couldn't imagine feeling that deeply for someone. For anyone. She'd had friends and companions aplenty through the years, though most she'd not seen in centuries. The men incarcerated with her within the forest for three hundred years had become closer to her than family, almost extensions of herself. Once she returned to Esria, she'd find a way to free them. But though she loved them like brothers, not a man among them had ever broken through the walls of her heart. Not a one had ever made her feel, even for a moment, a shadow of the joy she saw in the Marceil's face.

What would it be like to love another so deeply? So completely? What would it be like to be loved like that in return? Men aplenty had professed love for her over the years. Yet not a one had ever looked at her with the devotion she saw in Charlie's eyes every single time he gazed at Tarrys. In her experience, few Esri ever loved like that.

As they drove in silence, Ilaria watched out the window, fascinated and not a little awed by the sheer magnitude of the humans' dominance over their world. As in Reykjavik, buildings rose high above her head, flowing in every direction, as far as her eyes could see. There were subtle differences between the two cities - Reykjavik's buildings appeared more colorful to her untrained eye, Washington's more artistically decorative. But both were so far beyond anything she'd ever seen, as to be nearly indistinguishable.

Beside the buildings, the few people that walked were bundled beneath so many layers of hats and coats that she could barely see them. Most traveled in conveyances such as the one they rode in now. Her hand caressed the soft leather seat. A place of surprising warmth and comfort.

As Harrison stopped at an intersection, Ilaria glanced out her window to find the male in the vehicle next to them staring at her. As she met his curious gaze, he turned away.

"Do you ever use glamour?" Harrison asked.

She turned to meet his own curious gaze. "No."

"Most of your kind do."

"I'm the princess."

"What difference does that make? You're used to people staring?"

She glanced forward as the car started moving again. "In the old days, the only Esri who used glamour on the humans were those who meant them harm."

"And you didn't."

"No."

Harrison was quiet for a couple of minutes as he drove. When he once more came to a stop at a light, he glanced at her. "At one time, I assumed the Esri always meant humans harm, but I guess I know better than that. Kade's parents apparently lived in a village where Esri and humans lived together. Mostly mated pairs and families, from what we've gathered."

She glanced at him. "Those Esri who see humans as little more than animals either have had no contact with your kind except for the enchanted unfortunates brought into Esria as slaves, or they've never taken the time to speak to humans without enchanting them. That's not to say the other Esri treated your people well. Most still took advantage of our ability to enchant your race. But not all. There were always Esri who took it upon themselves to