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Page 366
Chapter Twenty
The first man to leap aboard when the King's ship was brought alongside was Richard himself. One step behind was Simon. Shaken out of his normal attitude, Richard crushed his sister to him with one arm and his future wife with the other. Simon had both arms for Alinor. It was just as well her frame was sturdy or he would have mashed her to a pulp.
Horribly aware of the King's broad back only a few feet away, Alinor pushed ineffectually at Simon. "Stop," she whispered urgently, "the King will see."
Simon lifted his face from Alinor's headdress. "He knows," he said softly. "When we heard your ship was missing, I was beside myself. And I am afraid I was not overcareful before that either."
Alinor's eyes glowed in her tired face. "Will he give me to you, Simon?"
A shadow clouded Simon's joy. "Perhaps. I cannot ask him now, Alinor. I cannot tell you why, but I cannot ask him for anything."
"My God, is the King angry with you, Simon?"
"No, no. Not at all." He glanced over his shoulder at Richard, who was still engaged in listening to the tale Joanna and Berengaria were eagerly telling. "Something happened that has, in a sense, put him into my power. I could not"
Alinor caught her breath with fear. There was nothing more dangerous than a king who felt himself bound to a subject's caprice. "Simon" she faltered.
He read her expression and smiled. "Do not fear him. He is the kind that trusts until reason is given

 
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