Free Highland Hawk: Highland Brides #7 by Lois Greiman Page A

to mend my old woolen one, but the king is coming, you know."
    "Indeed?" He grinned.
    "Indeed," she said, leaning closer. "And I've no wish to offend him. He is as shallow as a poor man's grave and might well take offense at my shabby appearance."
    For a moment James stared at her then he threw back his head and laughed.
    The tone of the day was set. Silly riddles, easy laughter, and foolish poems filled the morning, and if James noticed the retinue of guards that followed a quarter mile to the rear, he made no mention of it.
    Sometime before noon they came to a village, where they visited the market.
    Hungry and excited, James eyed a cart of fat mutton pies, but Hawk prodded him away.
    "I do not ask you to dine only twice a day as many do, lad," he said, draping an arm over his shoulder. "But your old uncle can afford neither the time nor the coin for the likes of these. Here." Prodding him toward another stand, he urged the boy to choose from an array of stinky bricks of cheese.
    Later, when the village was far behind them, they stopped their mounts on a lush hillock and spread their meal before them. They dined on nothing more than cheese and bread and a bottle of sweet wine, but the weather was fine and the laughter plentiful.
    Half a mile's distance, a dozen guards stopped too, but none of the trio spoke to them.
    "So your father was a merchant also, Aunt?" James asked, slurping the wine straight from the bottle.
    "Aye." Catriona glanced over to where her shaggy bay gelding grazed on the hillside. She had turned him loose, for he was not the sort to stray from the others. He was a powerful animal and well trained, but he was no more loyal than a hunk of brownstone. If the other steeds left, he would be gone like a loosed arrow. But the trio of horses was content to forage for now on the lush grasses.
    It was a fine spring day, with a smattering of puffy clouds that threatened nothing more dire than a stirring of imagination, if one should stare at them too long. Hawk had removed his gray plaid cloak, and now it laid spread upon the grass for them to dine on.
    "Aye, father was a merchant of sorts," Catriona said, "but he was more."
    "More?" James set aside the bottle to tear off another hunk of bread. It was dark and grainy and somewhat dry, nothing like the fine white loaves baked in Blackburn's vast stone ovens. Scowling at it for a moment, he set it aside.
    "Aye," Cat said. "He was a spy."
    "Nay."
    "Aye. He was a spy and thwarted an evil plot against the king."
    "Our king?" James asked, as if awed by the very thought of such royalty.
    "Of course our king," she said.
    "But you said the king was shallow and petty," James reminded her with a tilt of his head.
    She thought for a moment, then, "I but said shallow, lad. I believe petty is your own description."
    Hawk laughed. "Careful, Jock," he said, using that intriguing hint of French. "Lest you give away more than you mean to."
    James granted him the hint of a wry smile then turned it on Cat. "If you say the king is shallow, then why would your father spy for him? Surely 'twas dangerous. Why risk his life for a shallow man?"
    Catriona grinned. "Let me tell you a terrible truth, nephew," she said, leaning close as if she were about to share a forbidden secret. "All men are shallow."
    James drew back, looking uncertain and a bit peeved. "All men?"
    "And what of women?" Hawk asked.
    Catriona turned her gaze to his. His expression was unreadable, but there was something in his ice-blue eyes. Laughter, perhaps.
    He lay on his side, propped on an elbow. One huge thigh was bent upward, knee toward the heavens, while the other lay flat on his cloak beside his sword. Lying there, he reminded her of a huge wolfhound. Powerful, yes. Protective, yes. But completely tame? Never. And even if he were, it was not she he was bound to protect. Nay, it was the boy that sat beside them. It was the boy for whom he would gladly die—for whom he would gladly kill if there should be a