Read Online Conquer the Night by Heather Graham - Free Book Online Page A

had known the castle, as he had known the old lord, because before Edward had decided that he would destroy Scotland as he had destroyed Wales, there had been a time of relative peace between the two countries. Edward was a strong and crafty king; none had actually realized his true intentions until he had put them into practice.
    Arryn walked the parapets and looked out over the large stretch of landscape visible from this height. They had begun their attack at midday; it seemed amazing that a full moon already rode high in the night sky, illuminating the countryside stretched before him.
    He studied the slow run of the river, crystallized beneath the falling sun, the rolling green, yellow, and lilac hills, the rich forests beyond. It all appeared so beautiful….
    And so peaceful.
    No … if Edward came with his army, they could not hold this place.
    He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. Arryn had come here to kill Kinsey Darrow, but Darrow had ridden away—at the summons of the Earl of Harringford. It was unsettling to know that Harringford and Lord Darrow were out there somewhere, attacking what village or manor he knew not. Perhaps, he reflected, they were trying to find William Wallace in the forest of Selkirk to destroy him and his men.
    He bowed his head, shuddering suddenly, wondering if their rebellion could ever win them freedom from English domination.
    He thought back to the night of Alexander’s death. God rot! If the king had known just what a hell he would create for his country, would he have risked his life so?
    There must always be a Scotland … Scotland wasn’t one man. So Alexander had told him that terrible snowy night, and God help him, he had remembered those words always, even as he had discovered along the way just what defying the English would mean to him.
    Ten years since the king’s death. Ten years of violence, anguish, defiance, and a fight that they could not relinquish, no matter what tragedy came their way. Ten years …
    Edward had to be defied. And men like Darrow had to be destroyed—along with all who supported them, even such loyal English women as the Lady of Seacairn.
    Whether they fought for the imprisoned king who had abdicated, or the lion triumphant of Scotland, did it matter, as long as they fought for their country? Though Edward had taken the king, he had not defeated the Scottish spirit. And rebellions arose: Andrew de Moray in the North, and William Wallace in the south.
    Arryn’s cousin, Sir John Graham, had, from the start, befriended William Wallace, a man who seemed to some—even among the Scots—to be a tremendous danger, while to others he represented the soul of freedom for their country. Wallace had been gaining more and more followers in his quest against the English here in the southern half of the country, while Andrew de Moray had been putting forth a fair fight to the north. Wallace fought for a country for Scotsmen, and for the Scottish king, John Balliol, in his captivity, no matter how weak Balliol had proven to be. Though Arryn thought little of the captive king, he had come to know Wallace through his cousin, and he admired the man very much, and had joined with his band on many an excursion against the English.
    Wallace continued to respect the imprisoned John Balliol as king, but he didn’t live under the assumption that the king would be released. He fought under the flag of the lion triumphant, the symbol of their country. Arryn led his own group of knights and freemen. He was respected as the leader of his group, and he led with his own stern set of ethics. Far too much that was true butchery had been done by both sides in this wretched war, and thus the way he fought, and the understanding among his men that they would not massacre their own people or the English peasantry in battles in which they had no voice. As Jay had said, he allowed no man to be put to torture, but fought fair battles. He