I'd hoped to meet them there when... when—" "When?" "When you had gone. That's why Pacheco wanted me to hurt Ada, so that you would leave the Order." Gavriel restrained the need to use his fists. He relinquished his grip and stepped away. Blood flooded back to Fernan's face and he gasped, massaging his throat. "I speak the truth," he said. "Why? What does Pacheco want?" "I have no notion." Gavriel watched his wide eyes, reading both fear and resolution. The man who had defied the law to fall in love with a Moorish woman pressed against the back wall of a confessional in the midst of a mob scene, but he did not cower. "Come away with us," Gavriel said at last. "Ada and Blanca are securing horses. We can get you to safety outside of Ucles." "As long as you keep various body parts to yourself. Even if I don't see Abez again, I'd rather do without your knee between my legs." "Abez?" Fernan inhaled, standing straighter. "Yes. I'll make her my wife if I can." Knocked aback by the unexpected strength in Fernan's posture, in his voice, Gavriel merely nodded.
