A Highlander Never Surrenders Read Online Free PDF Page A

to do.”
    “We will come with ye,” he insisted.
    “You will be a hindrance to me.”
    Now Graham laughed. Damn, she was arrogant. Her confidence stirred his blood. The way she met his gaze head on without even a trace of blush made him more eager for her surrender. He was not about to let her go. “Come with us and we will discuss yer sister’s release civilly with the general. If she’s but a servant as ye say, my friend here can—”
    “Nae, I want no aid from a Roundhead.”
    “I am beginning to take offense at that word,” Robert muttered, then he shook his head, fearing he was going daft for even having this conversation. “You are no servant. My guess, from the way you continue to insult me, is that you are a Royalist. One with skill and more weapons on her body than any woman should know what to do with. Whatever you are planning, I ask you not to be a fool. You will die.”
    “So be it.” She shrugged. “I will save my sister first.”
    “Is she in Edinburgh against her will?” When she nodded, Robert raked his hand through his hair. “Why is she there?”
    The lines of her face grew rigid, bearing the evidence of belligerence no servant possessed. “She is there to face a fate worse than death.” Without another word, she turned her horse to leave them again.
    “You will fail her,” Robert called out. “Let me save her.”
    Graham turned to grin at him, and Robert ground his jaw before taking off after her. Aye, he was daft. He didn’t need to be reminded of it.
    “Why would you aid me, Campbell?” she called over her shoulder. “You do the Parliament’s bidding.”
    Catching up to her, Robert directed his steed in front of hers, cutting off her path. “My sister was once abducted by the MacGregors. Like you, I was ready to rescue her alone.”
    “From the MacGregors?” She sized him up with a flicker of new appreciation in her eyes. “That was brave, but foolish of you.”
    “Precisely,” he said, waiting for her to understand.
    When she did, her expression darkened. She snapped her reins, but he blocked her route again. “I do not serve the military, my lady. But I do serve Parliament, and though my head may be put to the chopping block for this when it is restored, I understand what you want to do, and why you want to do it, no matter what position you hold.”
    “Why should I trust you?” she threw back at him, misgivings clearly written on her face. “Campbells kiss the arse of whomever rules.” She turned on Graham next, her eyes lit with accusation. “And you, Highlander. The Grants have fought for years at the king’s side, and yet here you ride with a Roundhead.”
    “Think what you will of us,” Robert said, sharpening his tone to let her know arguing this point was useless. “Right now, honor dictates that I help save a maiden in distress.”
    She dipped her brow at him and then turned an incredulous look at Graham. “Does he jest?”
    “Nae,” Graham answered, coming up beside her. “I believe it has been his lifelong desire to surpass even Sir Galahad where honor is concerned.”
    “I see.” She cast a wry smirk back at Robert. “Are you pure of heart, then?”
    “You know of Pendragon’s knights?” Robert asked her, looking more doubtful than he had when she told them she had killed six men.
    “Not I, but my sister knows the tales well. Once, when she was a child, she pretended to be Guinevere and made everyone in the household call her by that name. She refused to answer to Anne for a full year.” The memory brought a delicacy to her smile as she angled her face to Graham. “And you, Commander? Are you pure of heart as well?”
    He could not lie to her. Not when her lips took on a challenging slant that told him she already knew the answer. “Alas,” he said, not sounding repentant at all. “I fear I am as depraved as Satan himself.”
    She stared at him long enough to make him doubt his declaration. “My thanks for the warning,” she