Read Online Return to Caer Lon by Claude Dancourt - Free Book Online

h istory, and your library is so well known… We hoped we could use your extensive collection.”
    Derek recognized the suave inflection of her voice . She added just the right glint of innocence in her admiring stare . When did she begin to use charm to have her way with the male population around ? He repressed a smirk . Her feminine tricks might have worked on him - once - she could not think it was going to be effective here, could she?
    “Of course, my child, but only with my supervision.”
    The prince’s narrowing stare went unnoticed.
    “Oh thank you so much… You see, Derek and I had this little argument and maybe you can help me prove him wrong...”
    Baffled, the prince shot a deadly glance at her over the tonsured head , but Sacha was smiling at her new friend, ignoring him. The monk patted her arm gently.
    “I will do my best, of course. What is it about?”
    She blushed slightly. Derek growled internally. Blushing! As if this was going to win the day! Baiting him - only once ! - was one thing, but a monk !
    “Well, we disagree about Caer Lon. Derek ’s family originated from Camelot , so he thinks he knows all about it.”
    Another blazing glare got lost. Her tone was deceitfully soft.
    “He pretends the city is in the n orthern part of the k ingdom, but I always heard it was in the s outh…”
    He had never said north; he had said it did not exist! She would put the patience of a saint to the test!
    They had entered a large square room with small writing desks covered with scrolls, some rolled and others flattened under stones. Ink bottles and quills were dispatched on each table. Friar Johan motioned at the entire room.
    “This is the scriptorium. We copy our manuscripts here. You will wait for me here. Visitors are not allowed in the l ibrary itself .”
    Sacha looked at her new admirer with reproachful eyes. Her little moue was clearly designed to show her disappointment. Derek would have laughed, but he was too angry with her to do that. Oblivious of their respective turmoil, Friar Johan showed them to another larger table.
    “Please have a seat . We have several documents about the Old City, at least two treaties and some poetry book, I think. The hours of Caer Lon’s court, when the High Kings reigned over Camelot , were certainly a golden age.” He sighed heavily, as if remember ing times he was too young to have lived himself . “I think another book…”
    The rest of his sentence rebounded on the closing door when he disappeared into the l ibrary. The nice little man, engrossed in his lecture, had probably forgotten he had ordered them to stay put.
    Sacha sat and exhaled slowly, visibly annoyed not to be allowed to venture between the bookshelves herself. Derek ignored her arranging the folds of her skirt to check the documents spread on the table. The two bibles were uninteresting. There was a treaty of some sort. His mother would have loved it. The leaves of various plants were beautifully drawn.
    The young woman started playing her fingers on the hard surface, impatient. Derek jumped on the occasion for a little payback.
    “You should be ashamed of yourself, Sacha . Flirting with a monk, really…”
    “I was not flirting.”
    She frowned while his smile grew.
    “Oh no? What do you call the flutter ing of lashes and the simpering?”
    “I certainly did not simper!”
    Boy, he enjoyed seeing her temper rising. Her eyes shone like green gemstones when she was unable to control her emotions and passion overpowered her. Derek dismissed her protest with a flip of his hand.
    “Anything you say. Your little act is providing us the information to get back on the right tracks so I am not complaining.”
    Maybe he was a masochist; he suffered the tantrum, just for the pleasure of cracking that shell of perfection she erected around her like a shield.
    “I know I am right about this Derek ! Why do you refuse to believe me?”
    Her voice shattered slightly. That, and her forceful reaction