title: Lion's Bride
author:  Iris Johansen 
description: Johansen (Dark Rider) writes to her strength in a medieval romance filled with action, sex and the lively working-out of 12th-century gender differences. Indentured to a silk merchant, Thea of Dimas steals a basket of wriggling worms and sets out for Damascus to start her own embroidery-design studio and then effect the escape of her little sister, Selene. After her caravan is destroyed, Thea is rescued by blustery knight Lord Ware and carried (pressed up against his hard, unyielding armor) to his desert fortress, Dundragon. Ware, hunted by the Knights Templar because he's discovered the secret of their Lion Throne, must protect Thea from the deadly consequences to anyone who gets close to him. Thea, an ambitious career woman, must stop Ware from running roughshod over her big plans. Together the feisty lovers battle crusaders, Muslims and their own misguided agendas before settling down in the Scottish Highlands to breed lusty little bairns. <BR>Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  Lion's Bride  
  Iris Johansen
  
  To L.H.-  
  thanks for the memories.
  
  Prologue  
    
  
  December 3, 1188  
  Gates of Constantinople
  
  "I have it!"
  
  Thea whirled to see Selene running through the city gates toward her. The
  child's red hair had come loose from her braid and was flowing wildly down her
  back, and her narrow chest was lifting and falling as she tried to catch her
  breath. She must have run all the way from the House of Nicholas.
  
  Selene thrust the large straw basket at Thea. "I told you they wouldn't see me
  do it." She glanced at the long line of camels and wagons that had already
  begun moving down the road. "I couldn't get away earlier. I think Maya was
  watching me."
  
  "You shouldn't have taken the risk." Thea set the basket on the ground and
  knelt to hug Selene. "I would have found a way to do without it."
  
  "But it will be easier now." Selene's thin arms tightened around Thea's neck.
  "You're taking so many risks. I had to do something