Knight's Honor by Gellis Roberta

Author:Gellis, Roberta [Gellis, Roberta]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Fantasy, General, Fiction
ISBN: 9780867211870
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Published: 1982-12-01T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

WHEN DE CALDOET AND HIS MEN HAD RETURNED TO THE KEEP AND THE drawbridge had screamed its way up again, Hereford turned his horse toward the camp. If he had heard de Caldoet's final remark, he gave no sign. It was true that he had accepted the offered challenge in a fit of temper, but he would have accepted it even had he been perfectly cool. He could do nothing else. The captains of his army had attended the parley, and to refuse would have been tantamount to admitting either that he was personally afraid or that he knew his cause to be unjust. Hereford's hand tightened on his rein as if holding it firmly would improve his control on a situation that seemed to be slipping out of his grip. Lord Radnor had been equally silent, although he kept his horse standing beside Hereford's while the others had ridden ahead to spread the word among the men. His dark face worked momentarily as he came to a difficult decision.

"Roger."

Hereford started. Lord Radnor called him Roger only when he had something intensely personal to say or when he was emotionally much moved. "Yes?"

"You had better let me fight as your champion."

With eyes widened with shock and insult, Hereford studied the expression of the man who had made that flat, unemotional statement. "What?" he said, doubting his ears.

"Curse you, Roger, I like to say this no better than you like to hear it, but let us speak plain words without flattery. That man is a jouster that even I think twice about meeting. You cannot hope to withstand three passes with a lance against him. He will kill you."

The delicate mouth, fine and sweet despite a week's growth of beard, took on an ugly, stubborn line. "I am not so easy to kill."

"Have some sense," Radnor cried, his husky voice sharp with fear and exasperation. "This is no time to be proud. Your wife's safety and, more, the success of our venture hangs upon your life."

The earl shook his head. "No. No to all. If I am killed, Elizabeth will be safe because she will be valueless. Chester will pay her ransom—or Walter even—and Peverel will let her go. Stephen will not want her if he cannot use her to control me. About the other matter—I do not know. You know my feeling about that. Mayhap it was not meant to be, or I was not meant to be part of it. Such great things are in God's hands."

"Ay," Radnor answered furiously, repeating his previous sentiments, "but sometimes God needs a little help on earth. Man has free will, and yours seems to be directed to destroying yourself."

"Do not fret me, Cain," Hereford said miserably. "You mean to be kind, I know, but even if I desired to accept what you have offered, I could not. I agreed to fight. My men expect it of me. How will they believe in me if you guard me as if I were

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