I am not a fan of historical/medieval genre -- except for Megan Derr's but hers is more fantasy -- but I was very much intrigued with this one for one major reason and one minor one. The major reason? I like Eli Easton's writing style with samples of two of her short stories I'd read. This was her longest yet (32k) and since it was free, I thought, why not? The minor reason? OMG, that cover IS just gorgeous!!! And I loved it...I thought the characters were well-drawn; ALTHOUGH I must say that I favored Christian more than William. I thought Christian was smart and oh, so brave. He survived his brother's abuse (most especially that evil Malcolm!!), he stayed honest to his feeling (of loving another man), he came up with the plan to save Lady Elaine (William's brother), and his determination was admirable. He saved Wiliam a couple of times in this story. He totally won my heart.William, on the other hand, put emphasis a bit too much on honor and what society would thought of him. He frustrated me a couple of times -- knights or not, I wanted to smack him on the back of his head. I realized about the danger of homosexuality in 11th century England but still, Christian was making a very sound plan about what to do, and William just dismissed it *grrr*.The solution to their problem was perfect and believable (although, it wasn't really "new" since I've read it in a couple of other stories before). Overall though, this story offers good characters, great actions (with swords! and arrows!), and wonderful love story. I am pretty satisfied. With this, Eli Easton has become an author that I would like to keep my eyes on. I am looking forward to read next novellas and novel-length story from her. Let's hope it's as good as this free one :)