Forbidden by Elizabeth Lowell Page A

went through the knights, followed by a flurry of movement as they crossed themselves.
    “He was sick unto death,” Erik continued. “I took him to Amber. She healed him, but not without cost. He remembers nothing of his life before he came to the Disputed Lands.”
    Erik paused, then said distinctly, “Not even his name.”
    Simon's eyes became measuring black slits as he looked from Erik to Duncan, and from there to Amber. Against the hundred shades of gray that were the mist and clouds, she burned like a shaft of sunlight.
    “Yet he had to answer to something,” Erik continued. “Amber saw the marks of battle on him, knew the shadows veiling his mind, and named him 'dark warrior'—Duncan.”
    A subtle tension went through Simon, a tightening of the body as though for battle or flight.
    None noticed but Duncan, who had been watching the fair-haired, dark-eyed stranger out of the corner of his eye. Yet Simon was looking not at him, but at Amber.
    “Are you especially skilled with herbs and potions?” Simon asked her.
    The question was polite and his tone was gentle, but the bleak midnight of his eyes was neither.
    “No,” Amber said.
    “Then why was he brought to you? Is there no wise woman to heal men in the Disputed Lands?”
    “Duncan wore an amber talisman,” Amber said, “and all things amber are mine.”
    Simon looked puzzled.
    So did Duncan.
    “I thought you gave the talisman to me while I lay senseless,” he said to Amber, frowning.
    “Not I,” she said. “Why do you think that?”
    Duncan shook his head, baffled. “I don't know.”
    Without hesitation. Amber lifted her hand to his cheek.
    “Try to remember when you first saw the pendant,” she whispered.
    Duncan went still. Pieces of memory tumbled in his mind, but they had no more form and substance than bright leaves torn from their moorings by a wild autumn wind.
    Concerned Glendruid eyes.
    A golden flash of amber.
    A kiss brushed against his cheek.
    God be with you.
    “I was so certain a lass gave me the talisman…”
    Duncan's voice trailed off into a muffled curse. His fist hit the pommel of the saddle with enough force to startle the horse.
    “To be so teased and taunted by shadows is worse than no memory at all!” he said savagely.
    Amber snatched her hand back from Duncan's skin. His rage was like a brand waved close to her flesh, hinting at the searing pain that waited for her if she continued touching him while he was so enraged.
    Erik looked sharply at Amber.
    “What is it?” he demanded.
    She simply shook her head.
    “Amber?” Duncan asked.
    “A woman gave you the talisman” Amber said unhappily. “A woman with eyes of Glendruid green.”
    The word went through the knights like a fitful breeze through the marsh.
    Glendruid.
    “He has been bewitched!” Alfred said fearfully, crossing himself.
    Amber opened her mouth to deny it, but Erik was faster.
    “Aye, like enough,” Erik said smoothly. “It would explain much. But Amber is certain that whatever spell Duncan was under in the past, he is free of compulsion now. Isn't he. Amber?”
    “Aye,” she said quickly. “He is not the devil's tool, or he couldn't wear the amber talisman at all.”
    “Show them,” Erik ordered.
    Without a word, Duncan unlaced his shirt and pulled out the amber pendant.
    “There is a cross on one side in the form of a knight's prayer to God for safekeeping,” Erik said. “Look at it, Alfred. Know that Duncan belongs to God rather than to Satan.”
    Alfred urged his horse forward until he could see the pendant dangling from Duncan's big fist. The incised letters of the prayer clearly formed a cross with a double bar. Slowly, painfully, Alfred spelled out the first words of the prayer.
    “As you say, lord. Tis a common prayer.”
    “The runes on the other side are also a prayer for protection,” Amber said.
    Alfred shrugged. “The Church didn't teach me runes, lass. But I know you. If you say there is no evil in the runes, I believe