Conquer the Night by Heather Graham Read Free Book Online Page B

people, rode south against the English in defiance of the king’s order that Scotland should raise men and arms to fight his wars! And the Scots raided and pillaged and did some damage, but there was nothing of a massacre in there.”
    â€œNae,” Ragnor chimed in fiercely, brushing back a long strand of his hair, “it was not a matter of merchants, men, women, and children perishing at the whim of a single man who seemed to think himself as powerful as the Almighty!”
    â€œNae, it was not murder, wicked, vicious, cold-blooded!” Jay provided.
    â€œDon’t you realize,” Kyra demanded, “that Scottish barons are on the side of the king? The Bruces, with the second most valid claim to the throne, give fealty to the king of England.”
    Ragnor made a snorting sound of disgust.
    â€œAye, for they would be kings! But they will learn in time that Edward means to have no true king here but himself,” Arryn told her quietly. “Scotland is made up of more than just the powerful who fear what they will lose if they incur the wrath of the English king. She consists of a people who hold freedom very dear, and no matter what devastation he attempts to wreak here, we will win in the end. It is our country.”
    â€œAye! It is your country, but there does not need to be this bloodshed!”
    â€œOh?” Arryn inquired. She didn’t hear the change in his voice.
    â€œYou and your misguided friends do not begin to understand. Edward is a great king—a great warrior. He possesses courage and strength. He intends to give that courage and strength to this country—”
    â€œOh, my lady! You are speaking such rubbish! If you’ll forgive me!” Jay interrupted, coming forward to face her where she stood at the table. He shook his head with passion and sorrow. “Edward may be a strong king, and a powerful man—but he is an English king, an English man.”
    â€œHe has practiced treachery against the Scots in the most heinous ways!” Patrick said, joining the group. “You must listen to me and think about what you have said yourself! Scotland has followed a hereditary line of kings for centuries—a bloodline longer and truer than that of the English. But when Alexander died, and the Maiden of Norway so soon after him, we needed to go back a few generations to determine the right man for king. The regency, the guardians of the realm, were afraid that we might have faced civil war.”
    Forgetting her rather precarious situation, Kyra felt her temper flare to meet the argument. “Oh, which you would have! Look at your own barons! They change sides with the fickle nature of the wind!”
    â€œLady Kyra.” Jay who seemed the most reasonable of the wild men, addressed her again. “Our king—crowned king, would-be king—sits in a London prison while Edward tries to fill Scotland with Englishmen governing the castles, with Englishmen given the ancient lands of different men who refuse to bow down to a would-be conqueror.”
    â€œWell-spoken!” Ragnor applauded.
    â€œAye, and we shall drink to that!” Patrick cried.
    They were a frightening enough assortment: young men, hardy, well muscled, with both strength and determination. Yet none seemed stronger or more determined than the one facing her.
    Arryn smiled, watching her, a smile with no humor. He stepped forward and picked up the tankard once again. Right before her, he pressed the tankard of ale into her hands. She felt the strange power of his eyes upon her, and knew the way that he studied her, with thought and purpose.
    â€œAh, but then, what does this conversation mean? None of this matters to you anymore, my lady, though we are always grateful for any comprehension of our cause. The castle is no longer yours; freedom is no longer yours. You still try to defend them, but you have cast your fate with devils, madam, and with them, I’m afraid, you