The Hawk: A Highland Guard Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

mourn them forever.”
    Matty pushed back, a wide smile spread across her face, all vestiges of her tears gone. “Then does that mean you’ll come?”
    Ellie’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. Minx . She was as unrelenting as her godfather, King Edward.
    “At least say you’ll think about it,” Matty interjected before Ellie could object.
    Ellie had no intention of thinking about it at all, but Matty wasn’t the only one who knew how to get what she wanted. With five master manipulators still in her charge who didn’t like being told “no,” she’d had to adapt to survive. “Very well, I’ll think about it.”
    Matty’s eyes widened. “You will?” She clapped her hands together excitedly. “It will be so much fun—”
    “I’ll think about it,” Ellie stressed. “ If you will help me pick out which of these should be made into gowns.”
    She couldn’t seem to muster any enthusiasm for the task. Matty had an eye for color, which Ellie certainly did not. But there was more to it than that, and she knew it. Something was wrong with her. What else could explain the sickly feeling that washed over her every time she thought of her marriage? A marriage that by all objective measures she should be grateful for.
    Despite a less than promising start, her betrothed was one of Edward’s most valued magnates, as well as his former son-in-law. Ralph had fallen in love with Edward’s daughter, Joan of Acre. They’d married clandestinely, and when the marriage was discovered, Edward had thrown Ralph—then only a simple knight—into the tower, relenting from executing him only after the intercession of the Bishop of Durham.
    Eventually Ralph and his virulent father-in-law had reconciled, and he’d even taken the titles of Earl of Gloucester and Hereford while Joan was alive. Now, with Bruce on the run, Edward wanted to make sure he held her father’s support, so he’d proposed an alliance with his former son-in-law to show his gratitude.
    Ralph was handsome and kind, cutting an impressive figure with his tall, broad-shouldered physique, and considered a great knight. He was a man who should be easy to admire.
    Then why did her stomach turn, her heart flutter wildly, and her skin dampen in a cold sweat whenever she was in the same room with him?
    And why, as the days to the wedding drew near, did she feel this strange restlessness growing inside her? Restlessness that made her want to do something crazy, like run through the sand in bare feet or pull off her veil and hairpins and feel the wind blowing through her hair.
    Or plunge into the icy sea.
    But her irrational feelings made no difference. She would marry the man her father chose for her, just as Matty would eventually have to do. They were Ulster’s daughters; choice did not figure in their decisions of marriage.
    For the next few minutes, Matty ruthlessly rejected, and much less frequently accepted, swathes from among the large pile of luxurious wools, damasks, and velvets. When she’d finished, what remained was a much smaller stack of dark browns, greens, russets, and deep golds. Not a bold color or pastel among them.
    Ellie sighed, looking longingly at the stack of pink, blues, yellows, and reds. “I’ll be the most somber lady at court,” she said glumly.
    Matty frowned. “You’ll look beautiful. The autumnal shades bring out the golden undertones of your skin and the green flecks in your eyes.”
    One corner of her mouth lifted. Green flecks? “My eyes are brown.”
    Matty’s mouth pursed mutinously. “Your eyes are a beautiful, vibrant hazel.”
    Brown, Ellie thought, which was perfectly fine with her. But she knew better than to argue. Her siblings always tried to make her feel special, and they took it as a personal affront if anyone alluded to Ellie’s lack of the family’s dazzling good looks. She might be considered passably pretty in a normal family, but her family wasn’t normal. It never ceased to amaze her—and apparently