PROLOGUE
Ride! Ride!”
Ambeal screamed it back to Alf as they stormed over the moors together, their horses keeping pace as they crossed the hard-packed ground. As she looked over her shoulder, she could see him, just behind her, his ox-blood hair tousled by the fitful breeze.
She leaned forward, twisting in the Spanish saddle – made for side-saddle – and drew in her breath as they raced across the barren landscape. It was almost nightfall, and the last light lingered in the mist, a reddish haze over the purple-darkened moorlands.
If they catch us now, we're finished.
She leaned forward and breathed, holding in the first waves of panic.
They flashed from the moorlands into the trees. Here, the hunters were less likely to find them. She twisted round again, searching behind her for Alf. There!
At her side, he had just entered the trees a few moments before.
Now we have a chance of being safe.
She noticed he had slowed and slowed her own pace. The woods were dangerous. Going too fast here could mean death from a sudden collision with a bough.
“Are we still ahead?” Alf asked. He hung his handsome head, his hair on his brow wet with perspiration despite the cool of night.
“Yes.” She nodded. She was breathless and drained, the tension draining out of her now that they were safe – or safer – leaving her limp and relaxed.
“Good.”
She shook her head. “I can't believe he'd do this.”
“Well, he did,” Alf sighed. “I hope...I hope he'll receive us well.”
“So do I.”
Ambeal sighed. The person in question – the reason for the guardsmen who scoured the forest with verderers and dogs to help them track – was her own father, The McDonnell, Lord of Bronley.
Alf sighed. “I suppose I did wrong, by coming here.”
“No,” Ambeal corrected him. “I would never regret it.”
He smiled warmly. “Nor do I.”
They rode together through the forest in silence. The place was quiet now, disturbed only by the distant rise of a hunting-horn somewhere far off to her left. If the hunters were out there, they were not anywhere close to them.
Somewhere nearby, she heard the cool sound of water, running in darkness. Somewhere closer, something rustled in the scrub. All else was silent. She looked at Alf where he rode beside her in the dark.
He is so stunning.
She could just make out his profile, outlined against the black of night behind. He had a high forehead, a straight nose and a blunt jaw, with a thin, rugged mouth.
The cloak he wore hid most of his body, but she had noticed, on other occasions, that it was lean, hard and well-muscled from the hours on the practice-ground or riding in joust.
I am married to Alf. But as yet, I have not found out more of him.
She bit back her smile, wondering what it would be like, their wedding night. They had been married in secret at Dunkeld, the home of his father. Now, they were returning to her own home, to confront her father with the truth.
She was no longer a tool to be wielded for his ambitions. She was a married woman. She had chosen Alf.
“Ambeal?” he said. His voice was raw.
“Yes?”
“I don't regret it.”
Ambeal chuckled. “Well, nor do I.”
He smiled. “Good.”
“Alf McNeil,” she said with a voice low with feeling, “how can you even think I would?”
He chuckled. “When we return, remind me never to cross you. You have a fire inside you, Ambeal.”
She giggled. “I should hope so. And you only fan the flames of it.”
Alf grinned and she shivered, looking into those dark eyes. They rode close now, so close her legs could almost brush with his.
“Come on,” he said with a voice rough with emotion. “Let's go.”
She nodded. “It'll be too dark to ride soon.”
“Yes.”
They went slowly, for the trees were close and any false step could kill them or their favorite horses, but they went steadily on into the darkness.
Heading for Bronley castle, the home of Ambeal and of her father, the enemy of Alf.
As she thought it, Ambeal felt herself shiver.
What have I done? What will happen?
She could not know. All she could know, as she rode on beside Alf, was that she was in love with him. She could not have chosen any other way, because of her passion and wonder.
Somehow, in her heart, she knew that would be enough. They were in love. That would carry them out of this darkness and into a new adventure.