Reynold de Burgh:The Dark Knight by Deborah Simmons

Author:Deborah Simmons
Language: ron
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Medieval
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Reynold straightened, rubbing his bad leg as he rose. It was stiff from bending and had set up a familiar dull ache, which made him speak more harshly than he intended.

‘Perhaps you should reconsider, mistress. My father is a powerful earl. He can put pressure upon your liege lord to protect those who have sworn him allegiance. Or he can step in to aid you himself, with his sons and their armies behind you.’

Mistress Sexton looked stunned. ‘I don’t understand,’ she admitted. ‘Are you saying that something else, some person, is responsible for the attacks on the village?’

Reynold nodded. ‘Person or persons—a band of outlaws, perhaps, too cowardly to face soldiers. The de Burghs can provide both infantry and mounted knights to do battle against any number.’

Mistress Sexton shook her head warily. ‘And how is Grim’s End to support these armies? We cannot even feed ourselves. And who or what are all these men to fight? The dragon, whether man or beast, never shows itself, attacking only to disappear for days.’

‘Then a garrison could be left here,’ Reynold said, spurred on by what he couldn’t name. It wasn’t the leg talking any more, but something else that goaded him to speak, to let Mistress Sexton know that she had only the least of his family when she could do far better with the rest.

But she continued shaking her head. ‘I want no host of strangers here. You agreed to slay the dragon, and I released you from your vow. But if you are willing to help us against whatever is threatening our village, we would be grateful for it.’ She paused to look him at him directly. ‘You, not an army of soldiers.’

‘She’s right, my lord. This is your quest, no one else’s,’ Peregrine said.

Reynold heard the boy, but he had eyes only for Mistress Sexton, gazing at him calmly. And he had ears only for her words, which were far more welcome than any nonsense from the l’Estranges. When given the opportunity to call upon his brothers, she put her faith in him, alone, a faith that Reynold sorely needed.

The time might come when he would have to send for his family, when whatever menaced Grim’s End could not be caught or fought by Reynold and his squire. And perhaps he was just postponing the inevitable. But for now, only he would try to solve the mysteries of the abandoned village, keeping Mistress Sexton to himself for a little bit longer.

With a stiff nod of acceptance, Reynold turned to head toward the manor, and Mistress Sexton and Peregrine fell in beside him. Their company was familiar and welcome, and Reynold felt his tension ease. As long as they both forgot about the kiss, perhaps things could continue on as they had before.

As they followed the old track, Peregrine pointed towards the church with its elaborate carving. ‘Maybe there never was a dragon,’ he said. ‘Maybe the founder of the village killed some invader or had a dragon as his device.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.