Read Online The Lady and the Knight (Highland Brides) by Lois Greiman - Free Book Online

worried him, scratching at his soul. The feeling was uncomfortable, so he pushed it aside, concentrating on what he knew. Survival.
    "What woke you?" he asked.
    "I was dreaming," she whispered.
    Her answer seemed nonsensical, and he saw now that she was struggling to keep her gaze from straying onto the field of battle. He'd seen young squires look the same. Boys who had thought war would be bold and glorious had found the ravaged, horrifying truth far different from their expectations. Many emptied their stomachs after the sight of their first skirmish. But only a weak-kneed few were nauseated after every battle. Boden tried to ignore his queasiness.
    "A soldier sleeps lightly by necessity, lest he sleep forever," Boden said, holding her gaze with his own and willing hers not to stray to the gore beyond the fire's brightest glow. "I heard nothing to wake me. What alerted you?"
    She lifted her gaze, looking dazed, but now he found the strength to grip her arm and hold her attention with his eyes.
    "How did you know they had come?" he asked again.
    "Twas the dream," she said, clutching the silver dragon in her fist.
    Premonition laid its cold hand on Boden's shoulder. "What dream?"
    She didn't answer immediately, but stared at him as if she were entranced. "Of two boys by a river. One was stout, the other small with dark hair and a crooked smile."
    His own dream! "What woke you?" he asked again, his tone raspy, his heart racing.
    Still she stared at him. "I dreamed he was in danger."
    St. Adrian's arse! What was she doing dreaming his dream? Boden wondered. But he gave himself a mental shake. It was purely coincidental that their dreams were similar. Nothing but coincidence. He pressed his mind on to other matters. "What did they want?" he asked, turning toward the, dead bodies.
    She tried to pull from his grasp, but he had found a modicum of his strength and held her steady.
    "I dunna know," she said.
    The fire sparked once, then fell silent.
    "I think you lie," he said.
    "Nay. I dunna know what they wanted. Coin, I suspect. Plunder."
    He watched her face. He'd learned long ago that if one was openly trusting, he was likely to find himself parted from his head at a tender age. And he'd grown rather attached to his head.
    So it seemed worth his while to try to sort the truth from fantasy, especially since the truth had brought on a half dozen men with big, nasty weapons. What had they been after?
    "I dunna," she repeated, then drew a deep, shuddering breath. Her eyes, wide and haunted, shifted sideways. "They're dead," she whispered, and a tear, bright as citrine in the firelight, slid down her cheek.
    Dear Lord! He scowled as he watched the tear glide along the curve of her delicate jaw. He might hurl on the enemy, but he never cried over them.
    "Get the child," he said, stuffing his emotions quickly away. "We leave this place."
    They rode for several hours, moving quietly through the darkness.
    "You were singing in French."
    Sara started from her reverie, but God knew it was foolish to jump from this man, for she was, once again, cradled in his arms like a lover as they rode along.
    Tilly was tethered behind them. Perhaps it was the smell of blood at their campsite that had made her decide to follow docilely behind.
    "Lady," Boden said, interrupting her thoughts with his low voice.
    "Ye are mistaken. I dunna speak French," she said. Despite the darkness that still surrounded them, she could sense his gaze on her face, could feel the tautness of his chest against her back.
    "It seems unlikely you could sing in French when you do not speak it. And singing you were.
    Twas the words from my youth that brought me to consciousness."
    Sara felt her heart thumping in her chest. She had sung in French. But how? She did not know that language. Where had the words come from? Why did she dream such frightening dreams? Why did Dragonheart seem so warm against her flesh at times? Was she going mad?
    He was staring at her.
    She didn't turn