Page 2 of King's Man

“Storms pass,” Sam said, stubborn as a damned rock. “And this will pass, too. Things will go back to normal, you’ll see.”

“Normal? Sam we’re at war. Whether you like it or not, we’re at war with Great Britain.”

“I’mnot at war. With anyone.”

“But America is! You can’t pretend — Look, you don’t have to mean it. Cross your fingers if you must, but for God’s sake take the loyalty oath.” Cautiously, he touched Sam’s bare shoulder. “Keep your head down and your mouth shut, love. Keep yourself safe.”

But Sam shook him off, standing up. “Surrender to the mob, you mean.” He picked up his shirt from the chair where he’d flung it. “Tear up the law and let anarchy reign.”

Nate closed his eyes, searching for patience. “They’re not a mob, they represent the people of Rosemont —”

“By whose authority? Nobody elected them. Holden made himself judge, jury and executioner. And I’ll be damned before I swear loyalty to him or any other self-appointed despot.”

“Yes, you’ve made that clear. To the whole damn town!” Nate scrambled out of bed and began to dress, buttoning his breeches with irritable swiftness. They’d been over this a thousand times. Sam was determined to cling to the life he’d always known, even if it killed him — which it might. And Nate was determined to fight for a radical new world, even if it killed him. Which it might. They should be enemies. Yet Nate still loved him as deeply as he had these last four years. Loved him with a fierce, angry passion that he couldn’t quell. “Damn it, Sam. Why can’t you just… justbenda little?”

“Why can’t you?” Sam fixed him with a heated look. “You didn’t have to join the committee. You didn’t have to be part of this. You could have keptyourhead down andyourmouth shut.”

“I don’t want to keep my head down —”

“Neither do I!” Sam sucked in an angry breath. “For God’s sake, can’t you see what’s happening? All over the country, men like Holden are trampling the law to get what they —”

“I’m not saying I agree with it all, but this is a crisis. We’re fighting for our liberty.”

“Liberty?” Sam’s eyes flashed angrily. “Amos Holden keeps ten enslaved people on his farm. He can talk to me about liberty once he’s freed them.”

Nate’s jaw bunched, but he had no answer to that. “It’s not about Holden. God knows he’s a prick, but this… It’s bigger than him. Bigger than us. You must see that. It’s impossible to turn away from this fight.”

“I’mnotturning away.” Sam bristled in angry defiance. “But I had no quarrel with the way things were. Americashouldbe at the heart of the empire. That’s where we belong. Hell, I bet we’ll be running it from Boston one day. And whatever your committee says, that doesn’t make me an enemy of America. It makes me her friend. A better friend than the likes of Amos Holden.”

“For God’s sake, Sam. It makes you a British sympathizer.”

“But weareBritish,” Sam cried in exasperation. “Andwe’re American. We’re both, that’s my point. And abandoning the rule of law just to score a political point —”

“That’s not what’s happening, and you know it.”

“Isn’t it?” Sam leveled a finger at him. “Your committee banned me from voting. They tripled my taxes, and they barred me from practicing law. All because I refuse to support this war. Because I see a different destiny for our country. Well, let them do their worst; I deny their authority over me. It stems from threats and violence and, as an American, I will not bow before it.”

“No more than I will bow before a king who has violated all our rights as Englishmen.”

“There are better ways to defend our rights than with violence.”

“None that the British understand!”

Angrily, Sam bit off his response. After a pause, and with an obvious effort at calm, he said, “And here we are again, at an impasse.”

“So it seems.”

“Maybe there really is nothing else to say” — his voice cracked — “except goodbye.”

Even though Nate knew it to be true, Sam’s clear grief pierced him. “This isn’t what I want.” He reached for Sam’s arm, winding his fingers into the sleeve of his shirt. “I don’t want this to end.”

“And yet you’re ending it.”

“Because I have no choice.” The risk of loving Sam had always been high, but in the last six months even acknowledging their friendship posed a danger. Amos Holden had eyes everywhere, and it was impossible for Nate to explain his continued friendship with an infamous Tory. “If Holden used our attachment against you…” He blew out a breath. “It’s safer this way.”

Sam didn’t respond, just looked at Nate for a long, anguished moment, then pulled his shirt free of Nate’s grip and turned away. “It’ll take me some time to —” He cleared his throat. “To gather all the books you’ve left here. I assume you want them back.”

That was designed to wound, and it did its job, sliding like a blade between Nate’s ribs. Oh, the hours they’d spent together reading. They’d fallen in love over those books. When Nate found his voice again, he said, “Keep them. Take care of them until we can…”

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