Mary Reed McCall by The Maiden Warrior Read Free Book Online

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    Because he swore that he could already feel the first tiny flames rising up to lick at the tender scars of his heart.
     
    Gwynne scowled at Marrok as she stepped away from him to check her mount’s girth strap. It was clear that he was worried about her—more so than she’d ever seen him, even counting the times she’d ridden into what promised to be a vicious battle.
    “’Tis the perfect opportunity to see their defenses up close, without risking anything,” she said to him over her shoulder. “I’ll be led straight to the heart of de Brice’s lands, inside his castle. Once there, I can gather information to plan our next attack after I return home.”
    “’Tis the returning part that I’m worried about,” Marrok said.
    “Why? Do you doubt me?” Gwynne stopped what she was doing and fixed her attention on him. “I need no memory of my childhood to have listened well wheneveryou told the tale of rescuing me from the English. I go back now to learn their weaknesses. To use the knowledge I gain against them.”
    “’Twill be a great risk,” her mentor argued. “We cannot know what kind of treachery awaits you.”
    “I will be careful. The months it takes to dissolve this supposed betrothal will afford me an opportunity to learn de Brice’s habits and routines, so that we may strike at him more surely once I lead our people in battle again.”
    Marrok was silent for a moment before finally murmuring, “You cannot trust him, Chwedl —or believe him. Never forget that. Once he has you in his keeping, he will try to delve beneath your defenses. I see it in his eyes.”
    “There’s naught to fear, Marrok. You trained me well. I can outfight any man who tries to harm me, including de Brice.” She forced herself to grin, hoping to ease his mind.
    “None can pose a threat to my safety, old friend, thanks to you.”
    He shook his head. “’Tis not only your physical well-being that concerns me. You must promise me to be more careful than usual and keep all of your skills at their peak while you stay with the English.”
    “Aye, Marrok. I promise.”
    After another moment he nodded once, his face resigned. “Go, then. But keep Dafydd and Owin near to you. They will serve to carry messages back and forth between us. I’ll not have you in that nest of snakes for three months with no word.”
    “Agreed,” Gwynne said, clasping his hand in hers. Marrok squeezed back in affection, and a final look of understanding passed between them before he moved off to give his parting advice to Owin and Dafydd.
    Gwynne watched him go, trying to quell the uneasy feeling that prickled deep in her gut. Finally she just shook her head, rubbing the back of her neck as she turnedto ready herself for her departure. But at that moment, the English leader turned around as well, apparently finished with a conversation he’d been having with one of his men near the edge of the clearing; his gaze locked with hers, and it sent a jolt of some strange emotion through her, unsettling her as it had before.
    “There’s naught to fear,” she murmured to herself, when she was able to pull her stare from the man who both enraged her and set her blood racing every time she looked at him.
    But the words rang false in her heart—for she felt, suddenly, that there might be something to fear after all. Something she could not explain or grasp.
    ’Twas foolish, she knew. She was the Dark Legend. A fierce warrior, destined to lead her people to freedom.
    And yet she couldn’t suppress the tingle of apprehension every time she felt the heat of Aidan de Brice’s gaze on her—for the way he looked at her belied that knowledge, telling her in no uncertain terms that she was a woman first in his eyes.
    A woman who had once belonged to him.

Chapter 5
    G wynne hunched over the fire, blowing on her fingers to ease the sting of the sizzling grease. The spitted pheasant had already begun to crisp on the edges; ’twould be ready soon.