Royal Captive (21 page)

“Your Highness,” came an urgent call from outside, ruining his hopes.

“Go away.”

“We found a large stone chest.”

He exchanged a glance with Lauryn. They broke records getting dressed. They were back in the ditch within minutes, supervising as the lid was removed from the stone chest with the help of a pulley. Then the way was finally cleared and they could look inside.

Instead of jewels and gold coins, the chest was filled to the brim with brittle book pages, all handwritten.

“What’s this?” Lauryn was pulling on white gloves.

He’d already put his on and was taking one of the better preserved books gently into his hands, opening it to the first page, deciphering the code without trouble. “The real diary of the Brotherhood of the Crown.” He took another book and inspected it. “Along with crucial historical manuscripts that had been thought lost through wars and theft. Looks like at least some of the jewels the Brotherhood had received from their admirers had been used to pay for copying and saving our history. This is—”

“The history of the country,” she said misty-eyed.

“The find of a lifetime.”

“Real treasure.” They smiled in unison.

“We’re going to read and document all of this together. And be very careful to keep the pages out of little hands.” She patted her belly. “You realize this might take a lifetime?”

He pulled her into his arms and thought about spending the rest of his life with her, working side by side, loving her. “I couldn’t think of a life better spent.” He kissed her, his hand caressing her swollen belly where their babies were doing backflips.

“Probably impatient to get out of there and start digging. God help the royal gardens if they take after their daddy.” She was grinning.

“We’ll have to put a full platoon of royal guards into service around them if they take after their mother,” he murmured against her lips.

With many thanks to Allison Lyons

ISBN: 978-1-4268-5675-4

ROYAL CAPTIVE

Copyright © 2010 by Dana Marton

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

For questions and comments about the quality of this book please contact us at [email protected].

® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

www.eHarlequin.com