My Rebellious Heart Read Free Page A

mercy!"
    It was a solemn party indeed that forged a path toward Castle Langley. Late in the day, they crested a smal rise. Below them, the land was smothered in thick green forest.
    Shana could not appreciate the beauty set out before her. Her gaze was bound by the massive gray structure that dominated the horizon. She scarce noticed the tiny vil age huddled in its shadow.
    Sir Gryffen came up alongside her mount. "Castle Langley," he said quietly. It was truly a sight to behold, with towers and turrets that swept high into the sky and crowned the treetops.
    To Shana, it was naught but a jutting pile of cold gray stone, a loathsome symbol of the English stranglehold upon Wales.
    No one spoke a word as they forged onward.
     
    They had nearly breached the edge of the forest when Shana cal ed a halt in the midst of a smal clearing. She turned to the group and bid them listen.
    "Mark this spot well, for 'tis here I will return come nightfal ."
    A low murmur went up. "Milady, you cannot think to enter Langley alone!"
    "I must," was all she said.
    "Milady, 'tis too dangerous! At least take one of us!"
    Shana was adamant. "With two there is twice the risk. We've lost enough lives as it is. I'll not chance any more. Should trouble befall me ..."
    " 'Tis exactly what we fear!" Sir Gryffen's countenance was like a thundercloud. He dismounted and stood at her side, glowering up at her beneath shaggy gray brows, much as he had when she'd misbehaved as a child.
    She sighed. "You, of al people, should know I'm hardly a meek and helpless maiden. You forget, Gryffen, that you yourself taught me to hunt and ride and shoot. And 'twas you who boasted to Father's knights that my aim with an arrow was as straight and true as any of theirs!"
    Gryffen muttered under his breath. Only now did he wish he'd kept such lofty pride to himself; never had he thought his young charge would toss his boast back at him so. For al that Shana played the role of great lady with dignity and aplomb, as a child she'd been a hel -
    raiser. Lord Kendal had not been pleased that Gryffen had so indulged his only daughter in such an unseemly sport. It wasn't that Shana had been so damnably insistent, though in truth she had ... nay, it was more that he'd never been able to resist a tearful plea from those huge silver eyes. Were he her father he'd have said her nay and that would be the end of
    this foolishness. But alas, he was only her servant and proud to be so honored.
    Stil , Gryffen could not keep his silence. "I wonder," he said slowly, "how wel milady has thought this through." He paused. "You may well gain entrance to Langley and find the man you seek. But what then, milady, what then?"
    A faint smile graced her lips. "I have a plan, Gryffen, a simple one, I admit, but one that should be most effective."
    'I'd be more heartened if I knew what this plan was."
    "Very wel then, I wil tell you. The English seek the man cal ed the Dragon—the vil agers we spoke with today confirmed this. And so," she said lightly, "I shal give them what they want."
    "What!" A cry went up among the men. "But you don't know who he is, nor do you know where he is!"
    "Nay," a laugh spilled out, as sweet and pure as the tinkling of a chime, "but they don't know that, do they?"
    A moment later, she bid them farewel . "Let us meet here again at nightfal . If I am to be delayed, I wil try to send word."
    "What if you've not returned by nightfal on the morrow?" someone asked worriedly.
    Shana hesitated. "Then you must return to Merwen." Her voice rang out low but clear.
    "Under no circumstances are you to storm Langley, either now or later. I'll have no more bloodshed."
    With that she touched her heels to her mount. Not a sound was heard as she disappeared from sight. Fear for their mistress thrust a weighty burden on their shoulders. It was madness to think that she, a princess of Wales, would seek entrance to Castle Langley without fear of discovery!
    That was exactly what she did.

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