Free Seize The Dawn by Shannon Drake Page B

her gloves from her hands as she did so. "Miles!" I have come miles, and there is no one to greet me!" she said, striding across the room to him. Corbin leaned back, but didn't rise. He folded his arms over his chest.
    "Had we but known, my dear, we could have thrown flowers before your feet! Alas, you sent no word of your arrival." Flowers? Had he known, he would surely have found some business to be about elsewhere. God knew, Edward nominally held Scotland now, but the whole of the country lay in Scottish hands, few of the southern castles were even under his control, and the unruly barons were always attacking somewhere, begging the king's pardon, running back with their tails between their legs, and failing to support one another in their fear that they should support the wrong man to take the crown—if Edward should ever tire of his subjugation.
    Ah, yes! There were always Scots to fight somewhere! She tossed her gloves on the table and stared at him with sharp dark eyes. "I should like some wine after my long journey. I am parched." He rose, bowing to her with mockery, and approached the sideboard to supply her with a silvered glass of the requested beverage. He mused over the wine service as he poured. Venetian glass, beautiful. She had brought it to Clarin, part of her dowry.
    He handed her the wine. She nodded her head in acknowledgment, her fingers brushing his in a way that was oddly suggestive for Isobel. They had married at a time when Clarin had still been great, when his uncle Leo still lived, and when the lands were not just vast, but rich. He and Alfred had expected to reap the rewards of titles stripped from defeated rebels and lands generously bestowed upon them by the uncle who had raised them, a just and giving man. She had brought wealth; he had brought valor. They should have been a beautiful couple.
    The Scots had changed all that.
    He poured himself wine and lifted his cup to his wife.
    "To Wallace," he said with dry humor.
    "One day that monster will justly burn!" she said. "He will suffer the greatest penalty that the law will allow, and when that day comes—"
    "You will be there, watching, enjoying every bloodthirsty moment!"
    She arched a brow, then pouted slightly. "You would call me bloodthirsty, when your beloved little cousin led more men into battle than you did yourself?"
    "Not by choice."
    Isobel turned away from him, looking about the room. "Fine tapestries."
    "A gift from the Flemish villagers."
    "Ah, for Santa Lenora!"
    "Isobel, is there a point to this conversation?"
    "Just that saints are better off dead."
    "So are rabid bitches," he remarked smoothly.
    She didn't take offense. "Where is Alfred?" she inquired, looking about. "Poor, dear, long-suffering Alfred. Riding expanses of land that will never be his!"
    He stared at her without replying.

"Well, where is he?"
    "Riding expanses of land that will never be his," Corbin answered.
    She smiled. "And Eleanor has been packed off to France, there to meet her aged betrothed!"
    "Aye," he murmured carefully.
    "Well, then I shall stay awhile."
    He arched a brow sharply. "Whatever for?"
    "To spend time with my husband, of course."
    "Why?" he demanded flatly.
    "Eleanor is crossing the Irish Sea ... my lord, you fool! Have you no idea of the dangers? The king has offered large sums to any seaman who brings in rebel Scots seeking aid in other countries, and dozens of pirates and misfits, murderers and thieves have joined in the quest!" Isobel took a seat at the table, loosening the tie of her traveling cloak. ' 'Poor dear, she may not come back. And then, of course, should she reach France, she will wed Alain, is that correct? And there, I've no doubt, go her chances of creating the required male heir for the property."
    Corbin walked over to her, planting his hands on the table before her. "You'd best pray that she does reach Alain; his fortune is necessary if we are ever to regain the riches of Castle Clarin, and turn the land back into a