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providing a comfortable respite for the night. Cate unsaddled the horse and checked its wounds before hobbling it and allowing it to graze nearby. There would be no fire during the night; the smoke and flame could give way to their position if someone were to be searching for them. There would also be no food. She was too tired, and the woods around them were now too dark to hunt. Cate would have to wait until morning to find something to fill their bellies. What little water they had would have to make do.
    Crawling beneath the pine, Cate settled in next to Owen, placing her hands under her head for a makeshift pillow. “You aren’t so virtuous as to not share a bed of earth, are you?” she asked him.
    “I would never deny a woman who willingly asks to sleep in my bed.”
    Cate laughed quietly, happy the tone between them was of light jesting and not of murderous plots. “Surely a man of your stature would stay virtuous to his wife?”
    “I’m not married, if that’s what you’re asking.”
    His voice was calm and smooth — gentle, and reminded her of the brook she used to play near as a child. It tickled her insides just as the rippling water had — the sudden shock of the cold against her skin took her breath away for but a moment, just as looking upon Owen’s features did.
    “Does this surprise you?” he asked.
    Cate paused, muddling over the question. As a matter of fact, it had. He was a handsome man, strong and fit for battle. A son of noble birth, she’d assumed he would have a wife along with a substantial amount of land and wealth. Children, servants, the whole lot.
    “And what of you, Cate? Are you married? Is there a man waiting by the threshold for your return?” Owen kept his gaze on the sky, the waning daylight streaking the summer sky with shades of golden amber. Darkness would creep across the land within moments, taking the beauteous pigments with it.
    A sadness spread through her. “No.” Life spat a harsh reality. They rested in silence, breathing in steady tandem as the sun sank below the horizon. Cate contemplated sneaking away in the dead of darkness, cutting all ties with the nobleman, but something tugged on her heartstrings. She couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but something was keeping her thoughts tethered to him.
    Crickets chirped a playful melody with pond frogs nearby, their nighttime symphony enveloping the land as darkness fell among the trees. Cate let out a long sigh and stretched. Her eyelids grew heavy from the soothing sounds of nature. Dinner snorted, and Owen remained silent. The space between them seemed like an eternity, leaving Cate to ponder whether or not she should insist on checking Owen’s wound again, just so she could have the opportunity to touch him. All thoughts of inappropriate touching halted when Owen spoke.
    “Cate, might I ask you something?”
    “I suppose so.”
    “You seem to be a woman of honor and morality, although I find that line a bit wavering perhaps, but you returned to see to my safety when you needn’t have. Might I ask you, who has wronged you so deeply that you felt compelled to commit such crimes against the Crown?”
    “Did your father not tell you?”
    “To speak the truth, I was on my way to my estates in the north when my father summoned me to London. I follow orders, I do not ask questions. My father is… a complicated man.”
    “I loved my father with every fiber of my being, so when he was brutally and unjustly murdered, I took it upon myself to avenge his death. My father, a reasonable and just man, traveled to Mile End to help further negotiate fair rents and taxes for our village. King Richard promised rent reductions and the end of the poll tax in exchange for the cease of protests. We were being drained dry by the tax collectors.” Cate sucked in a weary breath. “They took everything from us. My village was starving. He wanted to help.” Visions of the last time she’d seen her father floated through her