“She closed her eyes. "What are you going to do with me now?""What do you suggest I do? What would you do with a tiresome, officious nuisance of a woman who is the first to question a man's word of honor, yet the last to keep her own?"Catherine started to turn, to challenge the accusation, but caught a glimpse of hard-thewed flesh and jerked back. "I hardly consider myself bound by honor to a murderer and a spy."He sighed and shook his head. "Then may I ask by what distorted logic you suppose a murderer and a spy would be expected to honor his gurantee?”

“Are you scared of me?" He asked her gently.Sally shook her head."Do you think I would ever hurt you intentionally?"Again she shook her head."Do you believe that I want what's best for you and will protect you with my life? Do you trust that I will hold you above all others and live to see that you have joy in your life? That I will hold you when you cry, that I will laugh with you when you laugh, that I will honor you as my mate? Do you believe these things?”

“Would you please do me the honor of telling me WHAT THE BLAZES IS GOING ON?”

“He put his arms around her. “Well, in my defense, then, whatever I did seemed to work, didn't it?”She sighed. “I suppose.”“You suppose?”“What do you want? A medal?”“For starters. A trophy would be nice, too.”She smiled. “What do you think you're holding right now?”

“What a woman you are,” he murmured, and she heard the emotion in it, theway the Irish thickened just a bit in his voice. And saw it in those vivid eyes when he drew back. “That you would think of this. That you would do this.”He shook his head, kissed her. Like the breath, long and quiet.“I can’t thank you enough. There isn’t enough thanks. I can’t say what this means to me, even to you. I don’t have the words for it.” He took her hands,brought them both to his lips. “A ghra. You stagger me.”He framed her face now, touched his lips to her brow. “You’re the beat of my heart, the breath in my body, the light in my soul.”

“For now, Lady Queen," he said, "allow us to continue to obey you. But give us honorable instructions, Lady Queen," he said, turning a flushed face to hers. "Ask us to do honorable things, so that we may have the honor of obeying you.”