Page 54 of The Sword and the Damsel

It took all the self-control he could muster to refrain from disemboweling his cousin on the spot. It would be easier to find Alais with Robert alive. And he’d promised both Alais and his father not to kill him.

“Where is she? Is she here?” Victor growled.

“Of course not. I’m not a complete fool.”

“Where did you take her?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know! All you need to worry about is that I’ll take good care of your tasty little morsel after I dispatch you once and for all. Then I can take her to wife because ‘till death you do part’. Wouldn’t want her to break her vows, after all. You know, you’re an annoyingly hard man to kill.”

Victor was motionless. “It wasyouat the tournament. You’re in league with Matthew.”

Robert startled and looked around at the men surrounding them. Then he laughed, but it was a weak, nervous laugh. “Figured that out, have you?”

There had to be more to this than pride, Victor realized. If he was in league with Matthew, there were money problems. His father had mentioned Robert’s father’s gambling debts… “How much do you need, Robert? Father and I can help you.”

Robert laughed. “It’s not about what I need, but what I want. I want Guestling. And, I want Lady Alais. Somehow you convinced her to turn me down. Even after that, I hoped I could go back after I got rid of her other suitors by telling them I’dtaken her and then offer to marry her to salvage her virtue, but you beat me to it.”

Victor shook his head. “I never said a word against you. You managed to lose her favor all by yourself. In fact, I have you to thank for my good fortune. I don’t think she’d ever have even considered me, if not for you and your little lie.” He waved his sword. “I’m giving you one last chance to tell me where she is.”

“Says the man surrounded by a dozen armed men.” Robert shook his head dismissively. Victor wasn’t fooled. Assessing the scene surreptitiously, he’d seen it was only eight—the five on the road, the one he injured, an archer in a tree beside the road, and Robert. Only Robert was mounted. Only two besides Robert had swords. The others were armed with clubs. Robert would be a challenge, for certain, and the archer would be tricky. But the rest would be all too easy to subdue. He smiled in the dark. Now that Robert was within his reach, he didn’t mind the prospect of a fight so much.

“All right, men, let’s end this,” said Robert, signaling.

A cold thrill went through Victor as he braced for battle. He cleared his mind and let his fury course through him as he prepared to end this sad party of brigands. They would pose him no problem. The main danger was that they would get in the way of his real target, Robert.

The man before him with a sword struck out. Victor smiled coldly as he ran the man through the neck. Robert backed away on his horse. Victor rode over the corpse and sliced. The harsh ring of steel against steel rang in his ears.Time to take you down, Robert.

Someone grabbed Victor’s foot and tried to drag him off his horse. Victor yanked his sword away from Robert and relieved the poor bastard of his head. Again, Victor leveled a blow at his cousin. Robert blocked, but barely. His cousin was off hisgame this evening. He didn’t know how to use the group to his advantage. Now it was time to remove that advantage.

Victor whirled round just in time to see the other man with a sword trying to hamstring Socorro. He saw red. “Don’t you dare touch Socorro, you filthy pig.” He punctuated the wordpigwith a thrust, which the man parried. Tingling at the back of his neck told him Robert was closing in from behind. So he wasted no time swinging at this minion, striking off his sword hand, and then piercing him through the eye, ending him.

He spun Socorro just in time to duck a swipe from Robert aimed at his head. He struck back. Their swords rang in the night with the force of the blow.I promised not to kill you, cousin, but you are not leaving this fight whole.Victor shoved Robert’s blade away and swung at his sword hand, missing by a hair.

“Nice try, Cousin,” Robert said as he struck Victor’s head again. The tip of his blade nicked Victor on the jaw. First blood, damn him. But Victor was filled with an unholy rage that overtook him and guided his sword as if it were an extension of his body.

Another henchman tried to grab Victor’s leg and pull him down. At the same moment, Robert thrust and pierced his shoulder in a shallow cut.

“You little shit. If you think you have me, you are sorely mistaken.” Swinging his sword in a long arc, Victor slit the throat of the man at his heels.There. No more minions with swords.Though there was still the archer to worry about, but the remaining brigands with clubs looked at the carnage and the crazed look in Victor’s eye and ran for the woods. As they scrambled, Victor turned back to Robert, slicing through his cotte, and drawing blood.

Robert struck back wildly. The fury of his onslaught put Victor on the defensive. Momentarily.

Just then, an arrow whizzed by Victor’s ear. He swore but didn’t pause in his fight. Returning as good as he got, Victor pressed Robert back and cut him deeply in the leg. Robert yelled in pain. Victor took the moment of distraction to pull out the throwing knife he always kept in his boot. He rode to the spot where he had the clearest shot at the archer. But the archer also had the clearest shot at him. The archer let loose a moment before Victor. The arrow ruffled his hair as he threw his knife.

The archer fell out of the tree, on top of his bow, breaking it, and moaned. Not a kill, but no more arrows would come his way.

He felt rather than heard Robert’s approach. They were alone now. No more distractions. Battle fury roared in his ears.Whatever you did to Alais, I promise to pay you back tenfold.Their swords clashed. Victor could see the gleaming black line of blood on Robert’s leg in the pale moonlight. Robert’s movements were wilder now. His discipline was slipping. It was Victor’s chance.

Victor executed a series of strokes calculated to get inside Robert’s guard. He almost had him. At the last second, Robert pulled away and sent his horse galloping into the night at a dangerous pace. “Fuck.” Victor tore after him, yelling, “Roberrrrrt!”

Socorro was tiring beneath him, but Victor continued to gallop hard down the road past Hastings and continuing on toward Westfield. They came to a portion of the road that was covered in grass. It muffled Robert’s hoofbeats in the night. Victor began to worry he’d lost him.

Where could he be headed? Alais wasn’t with him, so where could she be? Robert hadn’t had time to take her very far. Should he turn back and search around Guestling? But Robert was his best chance at getting answers and ending this quickly. He continued on.

Alais must be so scared. Had Robert hurt her? He’d called her a “good fuck.” Victor’s stomach twisted into a knot at the thought, but his cousin had lied about it before. Surely, he was lying again. But if it was true…

No. She didn’t leave voluntarily. Everything suggested an abduction. If she didn’t leave voluntarily, she didn’t give Robert her body voluntarily, either. Unless…

No. He wasn’t going to doubt Alais. He had to see her. He had to hear from her own mouth what happened. He wasn’t going to be taken in by Robert’s lies. It made no sense for her to go to Robert after everything he did to her.

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