Free A Warrior's Heart (Shields) by Donna Grant Page A

Gabriel.”
    “I’ll let Hugh know.”
    “If I’m able, I’ll return on the morrow.”
    And with that he was gone.  
    Gabriel slowly walked from the solar and up the stairs to his quiet, lonely chamber.
    It wasn’t until he undressed and crawled into bed that he found himself thinking of a certain golden-haired beauty with tempting hazel eyes.  
     
     

 
     
    Chapter Ten
     
     
    Jayna yawned as she stretched beneath the warmth of her covers. The coolness of the chamber moved over her skin as she raised her arms over her head. She slipped out of the covers and rose from the bed. Her feet meet the icy stones on the floor as she pulled a blanket around her shoulders and padded to the hearth to stroke the fire to life.
    Once that was done and heat once again began to fill her chamber, she turned to dress and found another gown hanging beside the one she wore the previous night. Someone must have come into her chamber during the night or early that morning.
    She glanced out the window to see light already brightening the sky. She never slept past dawn, and she never allowed anyone to sneak up on her. Yet both had occurred. Whoever had come into her chamber hadn’t wanted to hurt her, but what if they had? She’d be dead now instead of eyeing a new gown.
    What was wrong with her? Was she letting the supposed safeness of the castle, the warm, soft bed and the companionship of a few women yank down defenses that had pulled her through a catastrophe that would have killed most women?
    Jayna vowed not let herself get dragged into complacency while she was here, because it would end as soon as Gabriel was dead.
    She still couldn’t believe he didn’t have any memory of the past. He spoke of injuries, but the last time she had seen him, there were no injuries.
    Just thinking of that awful day left her sick to her stomach. She had pushed aside those hideous images long ago, yet she drudged them up now.
    Jayna didn’t like the direction of her thoughts. She quickly dressed in the dark blue gown left for her. Once she was clothed, she pulled the comb through her long tresses as she sat before the fire.
    She hadn’t wanted to face the truth last night, but she had learned a hard lesson during her life – it was better to face the truth at the beginning than at the end when mistakes were made.
    So, she admitted to herself that she had enjoyed Gabriel’s company yesterday. She hadn’t known what to expect when he had sat beside her, she most certainly expected him to recognize who she was. But once he hadn’t, she let herself go, let herself be something she hadn’t been in so very long.
    She flirted and talked, but it had been so she could seduce him to make him remember just what he had done.
    But...as they had walked among the dimly lit corridors of the castle she might have forgotten, just for a moment, who she was and why she was there.
    Her longing for her old life, the joy and happiness she had felt before Gabriel destroyed everything, was stronger than she ever knew. If she were a weaker woman, it might frighten her, but she had seen horrors people only dreamed about.   And that made her stronger than most. It also allowed her to face her fears and her wants head on.
    “Don’t go, Jayna. If you seek your revenge on Gabriel, you’ll only succeed in becoming what he is. Let it go. Live your life,” her mother said.
    “I cannot. He must pay for what he’s done.”
    “Oh, child. If you leave, you’re sentencing yourself to death.”
    Her mother had been right, but even now, she wouldn’t change things. Killing Gabriel, she would sentence herself to death, but she was ready for it, welcomed it actually.
    Hurt, long buried, rose up to choke her. Jayna blinked away the moisture that gathered in her eyes, making the fire swim before her. She concentrated on combing out the tangles in her hair to keep from thinking of her mother and the life she had left behind.
    Try as she might to ignore the memories, she could