Page 1 of Winter’s Heat (The Seasons #1)

The convent's high stone walls, walls stained pink by dawn's rosy glow, echoed with the plainsong of the nuns. The simple harmony floated up into the frigid February air to twine like sweet smoke around all it touched. It soothed and calmed the armed men and warhorses waiting in the courtyard.

"Nay, you cannot!" The woman's shriek pierced the quiet. "Help me, come help your abbess!"

The church doors fell open. The horses danced nervously, their masters cursing and struggling for control. Shocked nuns and muttering servants seethed into the courtyard only to freeze in terror of an attack.

A mailed knight pushed through their ranks, dragging with him a small, habit-clad woman who kicked and clawed against his unbreakable hold. Their lady abbess came chasing after him. "You cannot do this to her. Don't take her from me, not now. I beg you."

Undaunted, the knight dragged his prisoner toward his waiting men. The convent dwellers shuffled uneasily into a semicircle behind their lady. The man's captive fought on despite the hopelessness of her position, her eyes wide and her face ashen.

"You must stop him, my lady," she begged at last. "Do something."

The knight hit her. She dropped limp into his arms, and he turned back to the abbess. "Have my daughter's belongings sent to me at Benfield before this day is through. I'll not wait for them."

Tears stained the churchwoman's cheeks. "Someone help me. We can't let him take her," she urged of those who stood behind her.

Several serving men dared a half step forward only to halt when the knight put his hand to his sword hilt. This was a convent, not a keep. There was no one here to challenge a battle-ready warrior.

The girl moaned when the knight handed her up to one of his mounted men. She kicked weakly at him, but he ignored her. "You'll pay with your life if you release her," the knight warned his man. A moment later he mounted his own steed.

The abbess sank to her knees in the frigid mud. "May God go with you, my little Wren. Don't let them defeat you. Never forget..."

Whatever else she said was lost as the knight set spurs to his steed and called forward those who followed him. Their horses' huge hooves dug deeply into the ground, leaving the earth torn and broken behind them.