Page 77 of The Sword and the Damsel

No! He can’t take you!

The man he’d been fighting lay bleeding and groaning at his feet. Victor ran for the cellar door and dropped down. The pressed dirt floor muffled his landing.

In the wavering light of two torches, he saw Robert by a door, huddled over something. A lock, perhaps? There were four men besides Robert, one holding Alais, two with torches, and one with sword drawn, facing toward him.

“Victor, is that you?” Alais yelled. The man holding her hit her over the head with the hilt of his sword, and she slumped sideways, then to the floor.

Victor saw red. There was a roaring in his ears. He barreled toward the man who had hit Alais, ready to rip, cut, kill.

Robert turned around and their eyes met. “Finish him,” Robert ordered, then turned back to the door, grumbling, “Damned rusty lock.”

Victor crashed against Robert’s men like an ocean wave. He was everywhere, moving so quickly they didn’t know which way was up. One of them tripped and fell to the ground. Victor stabbed. The man would never get up again.

Smashing into the man who’d hit Alais, he knocked him back. This one kept his feet and raised his sword again lightning quick, striking back. He cut Victor across his right forearm but not deeply. The pain only served to amplify Victor’s battle rage.

With swift movements, Victor backed the man into a pile of crates. No matter how the man tried to block, Victor found a way through his defenses. The man began to panic and swing wildly. Victor slashed, then thrust. The man slumped to the floor. The bastard was dead. Good riddance.

Blood dripped from Victor’s blade as he stalked toward his cousin. “It’s time to end this, Robert. Turn around and fight, you coward.”

The men with torches held their swords but did not advance. Robert turned.

With an exaggerated sigh, he said, “Never trust a henchman to do your dirty work.” He drew his sword and stepped over Alais. Over his shoulder, he ordered, “Keep trying to open that door. It’s our only way out.”

As his cousin stepped forward, Victor felt his stomach clench. Everything depended on his beating Robert once and for all. But Robert was not an easy foe. They were evenly matched. Victor took a deep breath in and a deep breath out, calming his mind and body. He couldn’t afford to let his fury cloud his mind. He needed clarity to fight with the speed and deadly precision required to not only best Robert but end his life.

Robert was cornered and all the deadlier for it. Victor looked with loathing upon his one-time companion and playmate. As children, they were practically brothers. But Robert had destroyed any vestiges of brotherly feeling Victor might have had when he kidnapped Alais, not to mention his various attempts on Victor’s life. The man was broken, beyond redemption. He had to be stopped.

I’m fighting the beast that destroyed Robert as much as I’m fighting the man who stole Alais.

Robert attacked, testing, trying to lure Victor within his reach. Victor shut him down with swift strokes.

“Maybe it’s for the best my men failed,” Robert said, circling. “This is how it should be. You and me. No one to interfere.” He struck. Victor struck back. They continued to circle.

“This is how it must end,” Victor agreed. “But it should never have come to this. You’re my family, my blood. Why do you hate me so?”

Victor twisted and stabbed. Robert dodged and slashed. Dancing to the side, Victor narrowly avoided his blade.

“Why do I hate you? How could I not? You always had everything, and I had nothing. Your father loved you. Mine hated me. You were the countess’ precious nephew. I was barely a noble. You had Guestling. I had a broken-down flour mill. And then there was you…”

With a wild yell, Robert launched himself at Victor, who dodged to the side in the nick of time.

“You were so good.” Robert slashed.

“And smart.” He thrust.

“And handsome.” He cut.

“And talented.” He swung his blade, missing Victor’s neck by an inch. “It was disgusting.”

Victor countered each stroke with precision, watching for any hole in his cousin’s defenses.

“And even now after I ruined your perfect face,” Robert continued, “you’re the one Lady Alais prefers. You’re Lord Daniel’s commander. And you’restillthe fucking heir to Guestling.”

Robert attacked again, and Victor struggled to keep his calm in the face of it.No, I have to keep my wits about me. I need precision, accuracy. It’s the only way to save Alais.

“Why do you want Guestling so much? It’s a tiny market village, not much more productive than your mill.”

Spotting a hole in Robert’s defense, Victor struck. Robert blocked just in time. “I don’t want Guestling. Ineedit. I’m in debt up to my ears, and Matthew’s going to kill me if I don’t pay him off. I needed Lady Alais’s dowry too, but it’s too late for that. Though perhaps there’s some way I can get my hands on it once you’re dead.”

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