Page 78 of The Sword and the Damsel

“God’s blood, Robert. Why couldn’t you just ask for help?

Father and I would have been more than willing before all of this.”

His words seemed to enrage his cousin beyond anything else he’d said so far. Robert attacked with deadly fury and succeeded in giving Victor a deep cut along his ribs.

“I’m not your fucking charity case,” Robert yelled, kicking Victor in the side where he’d wounded him.

Victor stumbled, barely catching himself. He was in trouble.

Just at that moment, one of the men with torches yelled, “Sir Robert, I got the door open.”

Robert looked away for a split second. It was the opening Victor needed. Lunging forward, he stabbed, catching his cousin in the side.

Robert’s eyes went wide, and he roared in pain, stumbling. One of his men caught him and pulled him toward the door. The other dropped his torch and grabbed Alais, dragging her. Victor was losing them.

There was a mad scramble by the door, and Victor threw himself forward. Then Robert gave an unearthly scream and collapsed to the ground.

The two men disappeared into the neighboring cellar.

Alais stood, shaking, with a dagger dripping blood on her gown. “It’s finished,” she said, dropping the dagger as if it burned her.

There Robert lay in a growing pool of blood, the monster dead at last, only the limp body of his dead cousin left.

Victor threw his arms around Alais. “You’re safe, my love. You’re safe.”

She trembled in his arms. “I didn’t want to kill him, but I had no choice. I woke up, and they were dragging me away. But I could finally reach my knife.”

“He gave you no choice.” He hugged her closely to him. “I’m so sorry he took you again. I never should have let you out of my sight.”

Another tremor shook her head to toe.

“Let’s get you out of this dark cellar, shall we?” he said, grabbing the torch off the ground.

She nodded, leaning heavily on him. She was in shock and no wonder. He needed to get her back to the castle.

As he turned to leave, he took one last look at his cousin. In death, the monster that twisted him was gone. All he saw was the shell of his childhood companion. He reached to gently close his eyes and said a silent prayer for the soul of the deceased. It was over.

Carefully guiding Alais, he helped her up the ladder. When he arrived in the common room, an unexpected sight greeted him. Dagobert was locked in fierce combat with Sir Elias with Dagobert’s men surrounding the pair, swords drawn.

“What is this?” he asked one of Dagobert’s men, who was standing nearby.

“Turns out Sir Elias is Matthew. Several of his men recognized him when he came in today with the Watch, and they betrayed him to us, begging us to spare their lives.”

Sir Elias? Facts rearranged themselves in his head. It made sense. He was in Winchelsea for the tournament when the merchant was killed. He had taken deadly aim at Victor during the tournament, presumably hoping to take him down so that Robert could inherit and pay his debts.

Why did he turn on Robert now? Because Robert had foolishly drawn the attention of the rulers of Winchelsea, Hastings, and Canterbury. He likely deemed it too dangerous to let Robert live.

Victor eased Alais into a chair and drew his sword. He had a score to settle with Matthew. Dagobert’s men parted for him, and Dagobert smiled as he joined the fight.

“It’s over, Sir Elias. You know I’m the better sword. Surrender now,” Victor said, joining Dagobert in an attack.

Sir Elias spat on the floor as he attempted to block the rain of blows. “I’d rather die in combat than at the end of a gibbet.”

“We don’t always get what we want,” Victor said as he spun behind Matthew and slashed at the backs of his knees, slicing through flesh and sinew. Matthew collapsed on the floor like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Dagobert quickly disarmed him, and one of his men tied him up.

“I’ve been hunting Matthew for two years,” said Dagobert. “And to think all that time he was hidden in plain sight. The archbishop will be pleased to see justice served at last.”

Victor sheathed his sword and went back to Alais. “Now it is truly finished. We can go back to Winchelsea with no deadly threats hanging over our heads.”

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