Smuggler's Glory Read Online Free

the
horizon, there was just be more of the same, empty road awaiting
him. He had no home; nowhere that he really needed to be. So what
was so bad about staying for a short time in a small village? It
was hardly occupied by the old hags in the village he had grown up
in, and if bringing the entire village to justice for treason
helped to protect his friends who were fighting for king and
country, then he owed it to the men from the Star Elite to just get
on with the task at hand. After all, he was a soldier. He had faced
worse enemies than the ghosts of his past, and survived. Besides
which, ghosts couldn’t hurt you – could they?
    “ So?” Hugo said, beginning to grow alarmed at just how still
and silent Simon had become.
    “ It looks like I don’t have a bloody choice, does it?” With
that, Simon reined his horse around and disappeared.
    Hugo
opened his mouth to speak, only to watch Simon vanish like a
spectre into the woods beside them. He sat and waited for several
minutes but could hear nothing. No hoof beats, no cracking of twigs
to indicate Simon’s horse was moving around in there. Nothing. It
was as though Simon had simply vanished.
    Simon
was tall, and powerfully built. He drew many a woman’s attention
wherever he went, which proved a boon on some occasions and a pain
in the arse on others. Tonight though, dressed entirely in black,
with his black, hooded cloak, sitting astride his black horse, he
looked like the grim reaper. Hugo could sympathise with the tavern
wench who had stumbled upon him outside, and the old man on his way
to the pub, who was probably a devout non-drinker by
now.
     
    Shaking
his head, he reined his horse around and headed toward home and his
beloved wife. Until now, Simon was the one member of the Star Elite
who had never argued against any order he had been given, no matter
how much personal sacrifice it caused him. The fact that the man
had argued and threatened to quit if forced to go, testified to a
deep-rooted problem Hugo had been forced to resurrect and he
bitterly regretted the discord that now lay between
them.
    “ Good luck,” Hugo murmured, nudging his horse into a steady
trot, his mind turning toward the delectable thought of his wife
and home.
     
    Simon
watched Hugo disappear down the lane. He studied the village for
several moments, assured that nobody was following before nudging
his horse into a steady walk. Keeping to the shadows, he slowly
followed his friend.
    Although
he would never admit it, he envied his boss. Not only did he have a
beautiful wife, but he had a home to go to, somewhere he could lay
down his cloak and declare his. In contrast, Simon had a small room
above a busy coaching inn in Launceston that was a bed for the
night, for this week at least. The meal he had consumed hours ago
had long since left him hungry, and his solitary bed held little
appeal. There was no warmth, no comfort, and meals were in scant
supply. With no prospect of securing either on a more permanent
basis in the near future, he faced a dismal few weeks anyway. What
did it matter if it was in Launceston, or Much Whatsit, or anywhere
else?
    He
wondered if spending his life in the shadows was now an ingrained
part of him. He couldn’t conceive of caring about anyone else
enough to spend the rest of his life with them. The warmth of
hearth and home was something out of a dream; something that
belonged to someone else. His life was darkness and shadow;
harshness and cruelty. He had no place in a life of home and
expectation – either his or a wife’s.
    Oh, he
was tall, and reasonably good looking. But with jet black hair and
piercing blue eyes, and a face that had grown more angular as he
matured, most people took a step back at first sight. Although he
drew women’s attention, and had used it to his own advantage on
more than one occasion, he had never found anyone who he considered
a ‘keeper’. As a result his association with women had been
confined to the bedroom. As