Page 77 of On a Barbarian World

His heart started to beat heavily. He walked toward it.

Another light clicked on, his breath caught in his chest.

Durendal.

The sword lay on a stand and its long, elegant blade gleamed in the light. It had a simple hilt, fitting for a warrior’s weapon.

The sword of his ancestors. So perhaps his ancestors weren’t quite what he’d believed them to be his entire life, but…they were still the honorable men who’d helped his world evolve. This sword was a symbol of them and their beliefs.

Aurina picked up some pages sitting beside the sword. “This is the history of the sword. One of the survivors purchased the sword at auction on Earth. It was old even then, and he paid a lot of e-creds for it.”

“He didn’t win it in battle?” Darroch asked.

She smiled. “No. It hadn’t been used in battle for a very, very long time. It’s an artifact.” She shuffled the pages.

Kavon could see they were coated in some shiny substance that had obviously preserved them.

“Durendal was said to have belonged to Hector of Troy—” she looked at them “—he was a great warrior—before passing to a knight of another great warrior king called Charlemagne, a knight named Roland. The blade was forged by a legendary master blacksmith, Wayland the Smith, supposedly with the blood of saints, and was said to have the sharpest blade in the world.”

“It is a weapon used by warriors of the past and revered by warriors of the future,” Kavon stopped directly in front of the stand. He slid his hand around the hilt, his pulse racing, then he lifted the sword.

It wasn’t as heavy as he’d imagined, but he felt a sense of history from it.

When he turned, Aurina was there, holding out a cloth. Together they wrapped it securely.

He pressed a hand over hers. “Thank you. I will present this to our king in my father’s name.”

“All warlords and warriors in the land will know your name, Kavon,” Colm said. “This will only add to the legend of the Mal Dor name.”

“And the rest of the treasures?” she asked.

“I will send scholars back to pack them securely and transport them to the estate.”

She nodded. “A great idea.”

He exhaled loudly. “Now, I would like to head out of this forsaken place and be back in the fresh air.” His men rumbled their agreement. He leaned close to Aurina, his mouth to her ear. “And I very much want you laid out on my bed, waiting for my tongue and cock.”

Her cheeks went a little pink. “Well, let’s get out of here, then.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Aurina was buzzing with adrenaline as they headed back through the tunnels. The fact that it was hot and dark, and she was sweaty and exhausted, didn’t bother her a bit.

They’d found the sword.

And she was in love with Kavon.

Her heart clenched. She was in love with an alien warlord, and she didn’t want to leave him.

She’d never really belonged anywhere. The crummy place she’d shared with her mother on Vashon V had never been home. Her mother had been home, and now she was gone. Aurina had made a place with her brothers, learned new things and had the most amazing experiences…but while she loved being a scout and traveling, a part of her had always wanted to stop. To find a place where she could grow flowers, dig up rocks, and be needed.

She understood what had driven the soldiers who’d become Markaria’s First Warriors to head off into the unknown. They’d wanted something better, to be somewhere where they could make a difference.

Most of all, she’d always wanted someone who could be hers. Someone to love, someone who loved her as she was and made her feel cherished. She glanced at Kavon.

Stars, and she’d found that all in one big hunk of a warrior male.

They entered the large glowing cavern. “We’ll have to work out how to get the lift to take us up.”