Read Online The Dark Lady by Máire Claremont - Free Book Online Page B

to slip away, moving toward the manor in chatty groups, eager to partake in the cake andcider provided. Only a few curious bystanders remained to watch the scene unfolding between the lord, his son, and his ward.
    Dragon shifted nervously and Ian stroked the stallion’s neck.
    Hamilton’s throat worked, apparently to hold back his emotions, but the beginnings of tears glazed his eyes. “I tried, Father.”
    Lord Carin looked away. “ ’Course you did. You always do.”
    “And I always fail,” Hamilton said bitterly.
    “Don’t,” Ian said, his gloved hands tightening on the reins. “You know—”
    “What?” Hamilton snapped. His russet horse danced at Hamilton’s agitation and he gave a sharp yank to his bridle. “That you will always best me? In everything?”
    “That’s enough now,” Lord Carin said darkly. “Apologize to Ian.”
    Hamilton’s eyes flared. “Apologize?”
    Lord Carin drew in a long breath before he said, “It’s not Ian’s fault you’re not as skilled.”
    “Father—”
    “Enough now. You lost.” Lord Carin’s eyes turned steely. “Don’t disgrace yourself. And wipe those damn tears out of your eyes. To think you’re nearly a man grown.”
    “But, Father—”
    “I do not wish to hear your excuses. I sometimes wish—”
    Hamilton’s lips went white. “Wish what?” His focus whipped to Ian. “That he was your son?”
    Lord Carin looked away, the lack of contradiction a powerful reply.
    It was what Ian had always longed for. Strove for. He’d sweated blood and tears over the years to prove himselfworthy to be the old man’s son, a real part of the family, but he never thought it would be at the expense of Hamilton’s place.
    Hamilton nodded. “I understand.”
    Lord Carin’s silence stretched out.
    Ian started to speak, but Hamilton swung his horse around, riding back over the small hill in the distance.
    Ian looked down at the man he’d respected for so long. “Why?”
    Lord Carin shook his head. “There’s something weak in him. Something dangerous. He needs to understand that.”
    “But he desperately wants your respect.”
    “Then he must earn it. If—”
    A pistol shot cracked through the air. Dragon reared, his ears snapping in the direction of the hill.
    Ian’s guts twisted. Hamilton. He squeezed his calves against Dragon’s barrel and the animal sped forward. With every beat of his stallion’s hooves, panic thundered through Ian’s veins. Lord Carin had driven his friend too far. He’d known. He’d known how important it was to Hamilton to appear strong in his father’s eyes.
    As he mounted the hill, he braced himself, but what he saw seized his breath and burned his eyes despite his resolve.
    Hamilton stood sobbing, his arm outstretched and a pistol in his hand, and his own steed lay prone upon the earth. Blood stained the bright green grass about the stallion’s dark mane.
    Dragon let out a fierce whinny, his eyes rolling wildly.
    “What have you done?” Ian yelled, swinging down off Dragon. He ran to the animal on the ground.
    “He failed me.” Hamilton sobbed.
    Ian’s hands hovered above the once vibrant, beautiful creature that had graced God’s land with pride. Now itsgaze, framed by soft lashes, was void of life and its sleek body seemed dull of the magic that had warmed its blood. “Failed you?” Ian whispered, a raging ache growing inside him. Why did the innocent always have to pay?
    “I needed to win, Ian.”
    Ian closed his eyes, feeling the stallion’s flesh cool beneath his palms. It took every bit of strength he had to reply calmly, “I know.”
    “But you won.”
    The earth seemed to slip beneath him and his stomach lurched. “Yes.”
    “You always have to win.”
    When Ian looked up, he longed to see the friend who had eased him through his childhood griefs, the third member of the Merry Band. But he saw only a stranger. A man willing to kill an innocent animal to ease his pain. “How could you?” he asked, his