Read Online The Gladiator Prince by Minnette Meador - Free Book Online Page A

broke down, raised his voice in despair, or any of the dozen other things he controlled with practiced discipline.
    “What is it? What has happened?”
    It took her a long time to get him to calm down enough to understand him. He finally bit down on his lip hard, sending small trails of blood down his chin. When he opened his eyes to her, Phaedra saw real terror, and it stunned her.
    “Father called me into his room…” he started in a shaking whisper. “He said he and Hasani had come to an agreement about marriage.”
    “Yes,” Phaedra said, “we knew he was here to marry me, little brother. It is why…”
    “No,” he snapped back at her taking his hand away. “Another marriage.” Swallowing, he turned his eyes to the darkened forest. They glistened in the sparse light. “My marriage to his cousin. Father told me it had all been arranged; that I was to be formally presented to Salihah in the morning.” He turned to her abruptly and clawed at the sleeve of her nightgown. “I am to report to Hasani’s tailor tonight to be fitted for the proper costume.”
    Phaedra backed away from him and slid down to the ground in front of him. “No,” she whispered.
    “Yes,” he hissed back at her then buried his face in his hands. “What am I going to do, Phae? If father finds out… if they discover…”
    “I know, Bahar!” she said harshly, unable to get the trembling to stop. “I know what they will do to both of us if they find out.” She jumped to her feet and paced over the dead leaves and duff. They smelled of mushrooms and that was somehow comforting.
    “We have to do something…” Bahar bellowed.
    “I know!” Seeing the horror in his eyes, Phaedra knelt down to him and touched his cheek. “Let me think,” she said softly.
    There really was only one solution, and the thought of it made her heart quake and her arms go numb. In a disjointed way, she kept hearing the same question inside her head. Are you brave enough? She did not like the answer.
    Sitting next to Bahar in the damp debris, Phaedra wrapped her arms around him and rocked for a long time, afraid to even broach the subject. Finally, she kissed him gently on the forehead and whispered in his ear. “We must run away, Bahar.”
    He lifted his head and pulled away from her. “What do you mean we? ”
    Phaedra shook her head and touched his chin with the fingers of her right hand. “Do you honestly think I would leave you alone to face this?”
    Cocking his head to the side, Bahar furrowed his brow and glared at his sister. “I will not ask you to go with me, sister. This is my burden to bear.”
    “Oh, what a little brave soul you are,” Phaedra replied, standing up and pulling Bahar with her then laughing at the frown on his face. “How far do you think you could get without me?”
    “Phae, I…”
    She pushed a finger to his lips and smiled. “If father does find out, what do you think my life would be worth? He knows there are no secrets between us.” Taking his hand, she led him further into the forest.
    “Where are you going?”
    “To think,” she said simply.
    “We will need a place to go,” Bahar said at her back, but Phaedra ignored him, trying to locate something in the dark.
    In twenty steps, she saw it and hauled him running.
    The cave had seemed a lot larger when they were children: larger, warmer, and by all means a lot less gloomy. Now it was just a hole out of the rain.
    Bahar moved to the back while Phaedra sat on the thinking rock they had spent hours of childhood bliss exposing to their imaginations. How she missed those days long ago. Putting that aside she turned just as Bahar was striking tinder against a stone. At first, the sparks were listless, but soon the dried material caught and the torch sputtered in the wind blowing in from the outside night.
    Phaedra was not having problems coming up with a solution; that had presented itself immediately. She just could not think of the words to explain the