Read Dream of Me/Believe in Me for Free Online

writes?” Wolf was surprised. Few men did, even those of noble birth. He had learned himself because he saw no reason to trust others with essential information.
    Cymbra nodded. “It isn't widely known but Hawk actually considered becoming a monk when he was younger.”
    “What stopped him?”
    “Something about women.” She went back to her study of the document. “He writes his own letters to me but he does use scribes for some correspondence. It's possible that I wouldn't know all their hands.”
    She was honest in that at least. Pleased, Wolf pointed a finger at the seal on the bottom of the parchment. “Is that his?”
    Cymbra stared at it long and hard. Slowly, with the utmost reluctance, she nodded. “It does appear to be.”
    Wolf took the parchment from her, folded it again, and slipped it back into his tunic. “Then these are his words.”
    “No, they are not! I can't explain how his seal comes to be on this parchment, but I know beyond any doubt that Hawk would never have done something like this.” Again, she said, “My brother wants peace.” By the light of the small lamp, her eyes looked shadowed with dread. “But what you have done will bring war.”
    “Perhaps.” He gave no hint that he felt the slightest regret. Rising, he snuffed out the flame between his fingers, plunging the hold back into darkness. “We'll see. For now, you should get some sleep.”
    “Sleep?” She sounded incredulous.
    He couldn't keep the amusement from his tone. “Yes, sleep. You lie down, relax, close your eyes.”
    “I can't possibly sleep.”
    “Then perhaps we can find some better use for this pallet.”
    “I'm almost asleep now.”
    He laughed, unable to stop himself. The lovely Lady Cymbra had more courage and nerve than he had ever thought possible. She was a fascinating, enticing bundle of contradictions. He would relish the taming of her. Indeed, he couldn't remember when he'd looked forward to anything more.
    In high good humor, he left her and returned to the deck, where he stretched out beneath the stars. Shortly after that, the Wolf, too, slept.
    C YMBRA GAZ ED OUT OVER THE EXPANSE OF GRAY -blue water, tugged the ermine cloak more closely around herself, and sighed. Wind filled the sails, but the men were not relaxing. They strained at the oars until the dragon ship seemed to fly across the sea.
    During the night, the world had narrowed to the vessel alone amid the seemingly endless expanse of sea. From where she sat in the bow, the iron-riveted deck stretched at least fifty feet to the fearsome dragon prow. A single mast rose from the massive oak block fixed at the center of the keel, rigged with the square sail emblazoned with the emblem of the wolf.
    The men sat two to an oar on benches on either side of raised planking laid down the middle of the deck. Most had stripped off their shirts and rowed bare-chested beneath a pale sun wreathed in clouds. The only sounds were the creak of the rigging, the occasional grunts of the men, and the slap of water against the sides of the vessel where the shields were hung.
    How many miles were they from Holyhood? Certainly more than she had ever been before, for she had never even been out of sight of land. Amid the vastness of sea and sky, Cymbra felt lost and insignificant. The wound of worry for all those left behind throbbed incessantly.Again and again her thoughts returned to her brother and the survivors of the Viking attack. With every breath she drew, she felt their pain. After a lifetime of training herself to stand apart from her emotions, the conflagration within her was like staring into the sun.
    And yet, for all that, she could not deny a strange, unsettling sense of… what? Surely not excitement? Even less exhilaration? She could not possibly be taking pleasure in the sudden shattering of her well-ordered life, could she? Beneath the veil of her lashes, she glanced at the man responsible at once for her peril and for the only possible hope of