Her Rebel Heart (33 page)
Authors: Alison Stuart
Tags: #Military, #Historical Romance, #Historical, #Romance, #England, #Medieval
The boy hesitated, turning frightened eyes on the tall figure of his captain beside him. Jonathan looked up at Stephen Prescott, disbelief in his eyes.
“Surely not the boy?” he said.
Prescott stared back at him, his face inscrutable.
“Draw,” he commanded the trembling boy.
Jonathan stepped in front of his cornet.
“Not the boy!”
Two burly troopers moved forward and seized Jonathan, roughly pulling him away.
Prescott’s cold blue eyes fixed on the boy.
“Draw!”
Cornet Williams stared in vacant disbelief, first at Stephen Prescott and then at Jonathan. With a shaking hand he reached out, knowing even before he drew it that it would be his death. He stared at the fragile piece of straw in his fingers and began to weep, not out loud but silent tears that ran down his face, leaving tracks in the dirt.
The drum began its pitiless beat again.
“Thrrm, thrrm…”
The onlookers expected the five chosen men to go to the gibbet, screaming and protesting, but the absolute silence was more chilling. The men stood quietly while their hands were bound and they were forced up onto the stools, brought out from the inn, to serve this grim purpose. The lips of a couple of the condemned men moved in silent prayer as the ropes were placed around their necks.
Cornet Williams turned one last despairing glance towards Jonathan, who stood, firmly held in the grip of two troopers. Jonathan met his eyes and held them. To turn away would have been cowardice. The Cornet’s gaze did not flinch as one by one his companions’ stools were kicked away from underneath them. He was the last.
As the five innocent men danced their last, macabre dance of death, Jonathan Thornton stood motionless forcing himself to take in every last dreadful detail, fixing it in his memory forever.
Only when it was over, did he turn again to look at Stephen Prescott whose eyes had not left him through the whole ordeal. The Roundhead officer smiled a grim humorless smile of triumph. Prescott gave a nod and the troopers released their grip. Jonathan dropped to his knees in the mud and wept for the five innocent lives that his own actions had bought so dearly.
About the Author
Alison Stuart
is an award winning Australian writer of cross genre historicals with heart. Whether dueling with dashing cavaliers or wayward ghosts, her books provide a reader with a meaty plot and characters who have to strive against adversity, always with the promise of happiness together. Alison is a lapsed lawyer who has worked in the military and fire service, which may explain a predisposition to soldier heroes. She lives with her own personal hero and two needy cats and likes nothing more than a stiff gin and tonic and a walk along the sea front of her home town.
Connect with Alison online at:
OTHER TITLES by Alison Stuart
Historical Romance
By The Sword
(Book 1)
The King’s Man
(Book 2)
Paranormal Historical Romance
Her Rebel Heart (previously published as Claiming The Rebel’s Heart)
by
Alison Stuart
Published by: Oportet Publishing
Copyright © 2013 Alison Stuart
Editor:
Annie Seaton
Cover Design:
Fiona Jayde Media
Formatting:
Anessa Books
Cover Photographs: Reproduced under license from Hot Damn Stock and Barry Wilson
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Discover other titles by Alison Stuart at
Author website:
http://www.alisonstuart.com