My Valiant Knight Read Online Free PDF

guiltily beneath the sardonic look he cast her way.
    “You could have sewn together a full court gown by now, m’lady.” He grasped her by the arm and tugged her over to the fire. “You must warm yourself and partake of some of our food and wine.”
    “I should look to see how Ronald fares,” she protested, pulling lightly against his grip.
    “The man fares no worse than he did when you last crouched by his side. Sit,” he ordered, nudging her down by the fire.
    Ainslee sat, but rebelled enough to glare at the chuckling men who also shared the fire’s warmth. It annoyed her when her anger only amused them more. She said nothing as she accepted, with ill grace, the bread and cheese offered to her. The cautioning voice in her head, which warned her against scorning her good luck in being captured by such apparently kind and good-humored men, was one she easily ignored. If these men were so kind and honorable, they would release her and Ronald.
    “The fare is not to your liking?” Gabel smiled faintly when she glowered at him even as she accepted a second thick slice of bread.
    “ ’Tis rather fine food to take upon a raid,” she said between bites.
    “This was no raid, but a righteous vengeance sought by an angry king.” When she simply continued to stare at him with open anger, he continued, “I always carry good food and drink with me when I begin a foray. It does not last long, of a certain, but I see no need to waste time foraging, simply because I do not carry adequate or palatable supplies. Foraging, taking whatever is at hand to feed my men, troubles me some as well, for ’tis too often the poor who suffer.”
    “A laudable sentiment, m’laird, but it doesna stop you, does it?”
    “Nay, my ill-tempered lady, it does not. My men must eat.”
    She took a long drink from the wineskin he held out to her, then made a soft scornful noise as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Your men could eat well, aye, better and more often, if ye stayed at home.”
    Since he could understand the testiness she revealed, Gabel found it an easy thing to ignore. “That is impossible, and I believe you may have the wit to realize that.”
    “How kind of ye to say so,” she muttered, and fought to ignore the charm of his brief smile.
    “I am a knight who has pledged himself and his sword to the king. I do not believe the king asked for my pledge so that I could skulk inside of my castle walls and do naught.”
    It did not improve Ainslee’s mood at all to find herself agreeing with him. If she was to hold onto her anger, he had to be boorish, irritating, even dimwitted. Instead, he spoke calmly and with a quiet reason she could not fault. He answered her sullen remarks with an almost friendly courtesy. Protecting herself against that somber, subtle charm was not going to be easy. In fact, when she met his dark gaze and realized that he was speaking to her in a way few men would speak to a woman, nearly as an equal and as if she actually had some wits, she knew he could easily prove to be impossible to resist. Ainslee struggled to hide the alarm which suddenly swamped her.
    “Ainslee has the ring of an English name,” Gabel said, breaking into her thoughts.
    “Nay, it doesna,” she snapped.
    “Aye, it does, and I now recall it being said that MacNairn’s wife had some English blood.”
    “If she did, ’twas swiftly subdued by her good, hale Scots blood.”
    “Of course.”
    “The food and wine were good,” she said, as she cautiously rose to her feet, tensed to resist any attempt to restrain her. “And I thank ye kindly for it. I am weary and will bed down next to Ronald now.”
    “I noticed that you had spread a blanket at his side.”
    “He may have need of me in the night.”
    Gabel briefly scowled toward the mouth of the cave. “Do you expect this storm to last throughout the night?”
    “Aye, if ’tis a small one. Good sleep, sirs.” She bowed slightly to the men and went to curl up