The Runaway Princess Read online

  He understood immediately. She didn’t have to explain the fine art of negotiation. He was the prince; he knew what she was doing. “But Bamphina sounds better, and what we decide today will resound through the ages.”

  “Scepter?” She pointed to it. “Sereminia.”

  She watched him struggle with himself. The small scepter had a ring of diamonds, or maybe the same crystal as the crystal case. But the bigger scepter had a jewel she thought must be an opal, for it glowed with flames of red and a blue the same color as Danior’s eyes. He deserved to carry it, and truth to tell, she didn’t care. But she would force him to compromise now, or suffer his arrogance all her life.

  “Evangeline . . .” he groaned. Then rapidly, before he could change his mind, he said, “Sereminia.”

  She let go of the bigger scepter and watched him take it and cradle it in his arm. He handed her the other scepter and pulled back the velvet. The two seal rings rested there where Santa Leopolda had put them one thousand years before. Lifting the smallest, he slipped it on her finger. The larger fit him perfectly.

  “What a disappointment,” he said. “Now we have nothing to fight about.”

  “Don’t worry,” she assured him. “We’ll find something.”

  About the Author

  CHRISTINA DODD is the author of over twenty romances that have made regular appearances on the national bestseller lists, including the New York Times. She has won numerous awards, including Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart and RITA awards.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  Books by

  Christina Dodd

  Published by HarperCollinsPublishers

  CANDLE IN THE WINDOW

  CASTLES IN THE AIR

  THE GREATEST LOVER IN ALL ENGLAND

  A KNIGHT TO REMEMBER

  MOVE HEAVEN AND EARTH

  ONCE A KNIGHT

  OUTRAGEOUS

  TREASURE IN THE SUN

  Avon Books by

  Christina Dodd

  IN MY WILDEST DREAMS

  LOST IN YOUR ARMS

  RULES OF ATTRACTION

  RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

  RULES OF SURRENDER

  RUNAWAY PRINCESS

  SCOTTISH BRIDES

  (with Stephanie Laurens, Julia Quinn, and Karen Ranney)

  SOMEDAY MY PRINCE

  THAT SCANDALOUS EVENING

  A WELL FAVORED GENTLEMAN

  A WELL PLEASURED LADY

  Coming Soon

  MY FAVORITE BRIDE

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  THE RUNAWAY PRINCESS. Copyright © 1999 by Christina Dodd. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  EPub Edition © MARCH 2003 ISBN: 9780061794940

  Version 09282012

  First Avon Books printing: March 1999

  06 07 08 09 10

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