Mistress Laver inhaled sharply. “Sir! Do not you ken—”
“I ken that this here lass is the most fetching little miss I’ve seen in half a year,” declared the brown-bearded knight, and before anyone knew what he was about, he had Finnula about the waist, which was still slender except where her belly swelled, and had placed a wet and bristly kiss upon her silken cheek.
Finnula’s reaction was instinctive. She seized the jeweled dagger she wore low upon her girdle and, quick as a cat, placed its point into the knight’s neck, exactly where his pulse beat.
The man froze, his arm still around her, and Finnula saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed.
“Try that again, sir,” Finnula said, in the same polite tone she’d employed before, “and you’ll be sucking down that cup from a hole in your neck.”
She broke off, as the familiar ring of Hugo’s boot heels filled the Great Hall.
“Finnula,” he bellowed, stamping his feet to rid them of snow. “What’s this I hear about visitors?” Striding into the Great Hall, a clean, well-dressed Jamie trotting behind him, Hugo was too busy drawing off his fur-lined gloves to notice the suddenly sobered group of men by the fire. “Your brother sends his regards, my love. If I’m not mistaken, you’ll see him wed come springtime. Rosamund came to call while we were there, ostensibly to see Mellana, but if I know women, she’ll have that betrothal ring back on her finger again before Easter—”
Hugo staggered to a halt when he saw the men before the fire. “Damn,” he swore softly. “If my eyes don’t deceive me…”
His voice trailed off as he noticed the highly suspect manner in which his wife was being held by one of those men. When he observed the knife glinting in her hand, a slow grin spread across his clean-shaven face.
“Well, gentlemen,” he said laughingly. “I see you’ve met my wife.”
About the Authors
Her Royal Highness, AMELIA MIGNONETTE GRIMALDI THERMOPOLIS RENALDO, Crown Princess of Genovia: MIA is a lapsed vegetarian and animal-rights activist who cares deeply about the environment. She often laments her looks, and often struggles to understand her new role in the world as princess of Genovia. She is known for biting her nails, being concerned about her life to an exaggerated degree, and writing in her diary whenever she can. Mia lives with her family and cat, Fat Louie, in New York City.
MEG CABOT was born in Bloomington, Indiana. In addition to her adult contemporary fiction she is the author of the bestselling young adult fiction series The Princess Diaries. She lives in Key West, Florida, with her husband and one-eyed cat, Henrietta.
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Also by By Meg Cabot
QUEEN OF BABBLE • QUEEN OF BABBLE IN THE BIG CITY
QUEEN OF BABBLEGETS HITCHED • SIZE 12 IS NOT FAT
SIZE 14 IS NOT FAT EITHER • BIG BONED
THE BOY NEXT DOOR • SHE WENT ALL THE WAY
BOY MEETS GIRL • EVERY BOY’S GOT ONE
JINX • PANTS ON FIRE • ALL-AMERICAN GIRL
READY OR NOT: AN ALL-AMERICAN GIRL NOVEL
The Princess Diaries
THE PRINCESS DIARIES
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME II: PRINCESS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME III: PRINCESS IN LOVE
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME IV: PRINCESS IN WAITING
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME IV AND A HALF: PROJECT PRINCESS
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME V: PRINCESS IN PINK
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME VI: PRINCESS IN TRAINING
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME VII: PARTY PRINCESS
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME VII AND A HALF: SWEET SIXTEEN PRINCESS
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME VIII: PRINCESS ON THE BRINK
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME IX: PRINCESS MIA
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME X: FOREVER PRINCESS
THE PRINCESS PRESENT: A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK
PRINCESS LESSONS: A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK
PERFECT PRINCESS: A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK
HOLIDAY PRINCESS: A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK
VALENTINE PRINCESS: A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK
THE MEDIATOR 1: SHADOWLAND • THE MEDIATOR 2: NINTH KEY
THE MEDIATOR 3: REUNION • THE MEDIATOR 4: DARKEST HOUR
THE MEDIATOR 5: HAUNTED • THE MEDIATOR 6: TWILIGHT
WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES • CODE NAME CASSANDRA
SAFE HOUSE • SANCTUARY
Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls
MOVING DAY • THE NEW GIRL
Credits
Cover design by Mumtaz Mustafa
Cover illustration by Ricky Mujica
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
RANSOM MY HEART. Copyright © 2009 by Meg Cabot, LLC. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub © Edition SEPTEMBER 2009 ISBN: 9780061984761
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