Linda Barlow

Fires of Destiny

by

Linda Barlow

Award-winning Author

ISBN: 978-0-98930-700-0

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Copyright © 2013 by Linda Barlow. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

Cover by Kim Killion
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eBook design by eBook Prep
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Dear Reader,

Welcome to the new, revised edition of my classic historical romance,
Fires of Destiny
. In 1986, when the novel was originally published, I was thrilled to win the
Romantic Times
award as New Historical Romance Author of the Year. The novel was also a finalist for the Rita Award.

Although the text has been extensively re-edited and polished, the story and characters remain essentially the same. If you have read this novel before, I'm delighted that you've returned for a re-read; if this is your first time, I welcome you to the book of my heart. For information on my other books, please join me at
www.lindabarlow.com/new

Happy Reading!

Linda Barlow

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For Curt and Dilek

Prologue

The Mediterranean

September 1555

Two men stood side by side, staring down at the narrow berth in the ship's tiny surgery. The younger man felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Roger," the physician said. "There was nothing more I could do for the lass."

Roger Trevor wondered why he felt so little emotion as he looked upon the pale, still face of the woman lying there. Celestine. Her flaxen hair was fluffed on the pillow, glimmering and shining as it had in life. Her expression was more serene than he had ever seen it. Her eyes, mercifully, were closed, but he remembered the way they had gazed at him last night—full of pain, fear, and what he imagined to be silent accusation. He would remember those iridescent blue eyes until he, too, lay as stiff and cold as she.