Chapter Three

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Percy knew that he could be called back from his leave any day now. War with France had been imminent since January, when the French had executed their king, Louis XVI.
"Anxious to return to your sweetheart in Portsmouth?" Dona Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, the Spanish noblewoman who was also staying at Skye Castle, often teased him.
The "sweetheart" Reyna referred to was the Argo II, the ship on which Percy served as a lieutenant.
"As ardently as a lover can," Percy would reply to her jibes.
He could tell that Reyna was flirting with him by her tone. Sitting upon her palomino stallion, she was an impressive creature: tall and lithe with strong, striking features, glossy dark hair and flashing dark eyes.

She was dressed in a fetching purple redingote and a black hat decorated with wine colored bows

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She was dressed in a fetching purple redingote and a black hat decorated with wine colored bows.

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

Reyna could ride faster and jump higher than anyone, male or female, Percy had ever met, a feat made more remarkable by the fact that she did it in a side saddle

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Reyna could ride faster and jump higher than anyone, male or female, Percy had ever met, a feat made more remarkable by the fact that she did it in a side saddle. With her two greyhounds running beside her, she was a regular amazon.
As magnificent as Reyna was, she did not interest him and besides, she had set her cap at Jason. Her flirtatious comments were simply a ploy to get Jason's attention by making him jealous.
The Honorable Jason Grace, Marquis of Skye had been Percy's closest friends since school. His good looks, title and wealth made him fair game for husband-hungry young ladies. From the moment she had seen him, Reyna the Huntress had set out to make him her prey, but ended up being wounded herself, poor girl.
Jason and Reyna had a good deal in common. They were both interested in dead languages and classical history and were often speaking Latin together and discussing Roman emperors like Diocletian. Reyna's family was one of the oldest and grandest in Spain and were wealthy from the profits of Puerto Rican coffee and sugarcane plantations, so she was a socially appropriate match for Jason. Though she was rich, handsome, and intelligent, he had yet to fall in love with her and likely never would.
Their conversations were ones that Percy could not join in. History and languages had been the bane of his school days and the academic part of his education had ended when he was twelve. It was then he had been sent off to serve in the navy as a midshipman for the six years necessary to be promoted to lieutenant. The life of a sailor suited him more than dusty old books about dusty old men; he had sailed to South America and the Barbary Coast and seen countless wonders. Jason and Reyna could have Cicero and Marcus Aurelius.
"Aurum, Argentum," Reyna called to her two greyhounds, "Vamonos!"
Aurum was a golden-brown female; Argentum, a grey male.

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