Free His Conquest by Diana Cosby

Seathan would have battled for what he believed in.
    She understood why King Edward wanted Lord Grey dead. The Scot’s spirit inspired the rebels, like that of William Wallace, the nobleman the earl served. Both were warriors who refused to yield or give up what they believed was right.
    Humbled, she drew in a slow breath. After King Edward’s resounding defeat of the Scots this summer past, she’d believed the English king would easily smother further rebellion, that the infrequent clashes with the English were little more than pockets of resistance.
    After meeting Seathan, she realized King Edward’s claim that he’d subdued the Scots was more wishful than fact. To focus his efforts on Flanders, the English king had too quickly dismissed the Scottish rebels’ intent to reclaim their kingdom.
    “And the reason you freed me?” Seathan asked into the silence.
    She looked away. “Never mind.”
    “Now who is it who evades the question?”
    Linet met his gaze, wanting him to see the sincerity in her eyes. “There is life beyond war.”
    “Mayhap, for those absorbed in nobility’s games, those safe within castles filled with knights for protection, stocked with food and weapons to withhold an attack for weeks.”
    “I am far from a witless woman ignorant of the strife of our times.”
    “On that I agree. You are far from witless.”
    She arched a brow. “But I am a woman ignorant of the strife of our times, correct?”
    He watched her. “Are you not?”
    “Would it matter either way?”
    “You again evade my question.”
    “This is not a game.”
    “Nay,” he said, his voice hard. “I have buried too many friends to ever think that.”
    She swallowed hard. “As have I,” she said, thinking of her father, friends, many who had mattered to her. “It is a waste of time to battle with words. In truth, King Edward’s desire for power has affected us all, but we do not have to allow it to guide us.”
    “Only the innocent, or those protected within castle walls, would believe so, my lady.”
    So he’d deduced her noble status. She wasn’t surprised. Neither would she confirm his claim or lead him to any path that might unveil her link to Fulke. “Mayhap I am but an optimist.”
    “From the short time that I have known you, your strength is in dealing with facts, not clinging to hopeful beliefs.”
    “And my weakness?”
    “Your empathy.”
    For an unexplainable reason, his comment left her on guard. “You care for your people as well. There is no weakness in helping others.”
    He arched a doubtful brow. “Even your enemy? Even rescuing a condemned Scot from an English dungeon?”
    “No, you are not my enemy. You are…” Sweet Mary, what was she thinking? She’d almost admitted he was a man she was coming to care for, a man she wanted with each breath. She dropped her gaze. A fact she could never share.
    “I am what?” he prodded.
    She looked up to find him watching her, his gaze intent, as if he could strip away her shield and read the secrets of her soul.
    A distant yell shattered the silence.
    Seathan caught her hand. “Hurry. We must reach the cave before the knights arrive.”
    Face pale, Linet nodded.
    “This way,” a distant guard yelled.
    He started to run by her side, faltered.
    “Seathan?”

Chapter 5
     
    Seathan gritted his teeth and hauled Linet toward the steep incline leading to the falls.
    Another guard yelled, this time closer.
    Bedamned! Plantain flew from her hands as he tugged her with him over the steep ledge of thick grass. The mist of the falls below swirled around them.
    Through the billows of fluid white, men riding out of the forest appeared.
    “God’s teeth,” he whispered. “If the knights ride closer, they will see us.” Before Linet could reply, he pulled her with him as he shoved back.
    Long, mist-fed grass slapped his face. The raging water of the falls below pulsed in a wild mangle as they half slid, half fell down the steep, slippery slope.
    An arm’s