The Angel and the Sword by Sigmund Brouwer

Author:Sigmund Brouwer [Brouwer, Sigmund]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: guardian angel, sigmund brouwer, myrockandrollbooks
Publisher: Sigmund Brouwer
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

*****

Juliana returned to her chambers, fell across her bed, and mourned Raphael’s death alone in silence. The pope’s tale of the jester’s cap found in an overturned boat deeply troubled her. Despite the pope’s advice otherwise, Juliana did feel blame for Raphael’s death. The depth of her feelings of sorrow amazed her; until meeting Raphael, she had been convinced that logic and pure thought could always triumph over the emotions that swayed the weak. Now she was discovering that her heart was stronger than her mind.

She continued to mourn as the sky outside her window darkened with the beginning of a clear cold spring night. Then, as the deep purple became a black that glittered with stars, she heard a scraping on her balcony.

She wrapped herself in her robe and moved toward the window.

A half step later, she froze.

Her window was opening.

Her room was already dim, and the dark fabric of her robe made her almost invisible as she stepped aside to hide in the shadows of the drapes.

Backing through the open window, a monster stepped into her room.

A lesser woman would have screamed, for what little light shone through the drapes showed the figure to have rough, almost scaly skin. Its eyes gleamed from a face cracked and distorted into inhuman features.

And the stench!

The foulness of a sewer filled the room. Juliana imagined long dead corpses, flesh hanging from bones.

The monster straightened.

Juliana clenched her teeth.

Her childhood had not been without training in matters of defense. There was a point on a man’s neck where the pressure of two fingertips would render him helpless, force him in a dead faint within seconds. Monster or not, she would not stand helpless and await its intentions.

Juliana stepped away from the drapes. She reached for the monster’s neck.

Somehow, though, it detected her movement. It whirled, slapping away her hand. In another swift motion, it clasped her other wrist.

Briefly, they stood there. Locked. Juliana strained to pull her wrist free, then push it free. She could not budge against the monster’s strength. She swung again at the monster’s face with her free hand. The monster blocked that blow easily.

More seconds of silence, until a low laugh bubbled from the monster.

“M’lady, your appearance is deceptive. Who would think that such beauty hides such fierceness.”

She gasped. Raphael!

Immediate anger washed over her surprise. Irrational anger that he had caused her such sorrow with news of his death.

“How dare you!” she blurted. “And to sneak in like a thief!”

“Shall I ask for an escort through the palace halls?” Raphael’s voice lost its laughter, as if sudden anger took him as well. “Had you spoken truth earlier to the pope, I would not be in this situation.”

They both realized he was still holding her wrists. It was an awkward moment, simply because with that realization, he continued to hold her close and she did not pull away.

Heartbeats ticked by. Finally, he dropped her hands.

She stared defiance at him.

“Call for guards, if you wish,” he said quietly. “However, along with my death, you risk your own life.

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