Free Highland Hawk: Highland Brides #7 by Lois Greiman

she did the same.
    "Hawk!" The name sounded like a reprimand coming from the rumpled, frowning lad.
    "Aye." Hawk pushed himself from the wall where he had been resting. " 'Tis I. Were you expecting another?"
    "I was expecting no one!" James snapped, his mouth puckering in concert with his brow. "How did you know?"
    "I spied you in the hall and guessed your intent. When I saw that Courtier was saddled my suspicions were rewarded."
    "Well, it makes no difference," James said. "I will have no guards this day."
    The stable fell silent.
    "So you think so little of Scotland?" Sir Hawk's voice was deep and quiet.
    "This has naught to do with Scotland!"
    "You are Scotland, lad. What befalls you befalls her."
    The boy's scowl deepened, but he dropped his head and gazed at his scruffy, oversized shoes. "I but wanted some time alone."
    Hawk stepped closer. "With one companion," he reminded.
    "Aye," James admitted reluctantly.
    "I suppose it is but a coincidence that she is beautiful."
    The words were no more than a murmur, but Catriona heard them.
    The boy flushed, but a grin lifted one corner of his impish mouth. He turned shyly toward her then hurried his glance away.
    "I am on the threshold of manhood," he reminded Hawk quietly. "You said as much yourself."
    "Aye, you are that. But I want you to step over the threshold and live in that room for a hundred score days before you do something so rash as this," Hawk murmured.
    "Thirty score!"
    Looping an arm over the lad's shoulder, Hawk urged him out of the stall. "How long would that be?" he asked.
    "A long time!"
    "How long?"
    "Don't you know?"
    "Perhaps I do not."
    "Then why should I?"
    "Because you are the king."
    "Then I do not wish to be king."
    They stood in the wide aisle of the stable, James glaring up, Hawk staring down as they locked proverbial horns.
    "Then you shall not be," Hawk said with the slightest French accent. "For this day, you will be naught but Jock, a merchant's son who is assisting me in my duties."
    The boy's jaw dropped. "Jock? A merchant's son?" The boy's tone was awed.
    "Aye, Jock," Hawk said. "Who did you think you were? The king of England? Now quit your lollygagging, lad. Fetch the lady's mount and be quick about it, or I'll give you a beating you will not soon forget."
    "Aye." He bobbed an affirmation, trying to be solemn, though his grin threatened to peek through. "Aye," he said again and, spinning on his soiled shoes, thundered off down the hard-packed aisle.

Chapter 6
    They rode three abreast down the beaten road. Behind them lay the gates of Blackburn. Ahead lay freedom.
    James glanced up at Haydan on his mammoth gray stallion. The boy had many royal steeds, but Courtier, with his fine velvet blanket and smooth flowing stride, had been left behind with the others. Instead, the king was mounted on a spavined, flea-bitten roan with a lumpy head, a blanket made of twisted chaff, and a dried-out saddle. No trappings adorned his gear and nothing about his attire gave away his station. His homely bonnet jostled here and there, half hiding his face at any given moment, but never had a boy looked happier. "Where do we go this day..." He paused. "Uncle... Harry?"
    Hawk gave him a jaundiced glance, but was willing to play along with the part he had initiated. "I must speak to the Baron of Isthill," he said. "About some spices he requires."
    "Oh." The grin was turned on Catriona this time. "And you, Mistress..." He paused, searching for a name.
    "Catherine," she supplied.
    "Mistress Catherine," he said, giving her a wide smile for her quick answer. "Do you have plans of your own or do you come simply to accompany your husband?"
    She opened her mouth to object, but one glance at Hawk changed her mind. For in his expression she saw his willingness to walk through hell and back to give the lad this moment of unbridled happiness.
    She shifted her gaze back to the king. "I need a bolt of linen for a new gown," she said, falling easily into the part. "I had thought