A Knight of Honor (54 page)

“S
lane!”

Slane heard Taylor’s shout of alarm as he raised his sword and his brother’s blade clanged into it.
 
He instantly knew the cause of Taylor’s warning shout; he could feel the heat of the flames clawing at his back.
 
He parried Richard’s first two blows, knowing he couldn’t give ground.
 
He couldn’t give way.
 
Not with the fire at his back.
 
He had to take the offensive, to drive Richard back.
 
It was their only chance.
 
But Richard attacked relentlessly, forcing him on the defensive.

Within moments, Slane found himself standing side by side with Taylor.
 
He chanced a quick glance at her.
 
Through the smoke, he saw her looking behind him with widening eyes.
 
The heat grew stronger, intensifying all around him.
 
The air seemed to be getting thicker as it grew hotter.
 
He could hear the flames feeding behind him, snapping and crackling and hissing as they devoured everything in their path.
 
He quickly pulled Taylor to him and turned back to face his brother just in time to block a strike headed straight for his head!
 
When their blades crossed, Slane grabbed Richard’s arm.

“Give her to me,” Richard snarled.

“Never,” Slane retorted and pushed his brother back.

Richard stumbled, but quickly righted himself in time to dodge Slane’s attack.

The flames closed in behind them, drawing closer and closer.
 
Slane felt the approaching inferno at his back, driving him forward.
 
He looked for Taylor, hoping she was staying close to him, relieved to see that she was.
 
Richard took advantage of his momentary distraction and struck, bringing his blade down toward Slane’s chest and then slicing quickly upward.
 
Slane fell, his sword flinging high into the air, the flames dancing in its shining reflection as it spun over the walkway and disappeared into the fire below.

Richard stepped forward and towered over Slane.

“No!” Taylor cried.

Richard’s gaze rose to Taylor before he raised his weapon for the finishing blow.
 
“Oh, yes,” he answered.

Slane pivoted on the ball of his foot, lashing out with his opposite leg.
 
His shin smacked into Richard’s legs, catching him off balance.
 
Richard’s knees buckled and he tumbled toward the inner edge of the walkway.
 
Slane saw his brother hit the rim of the stone wall and teeter on its edge.
 
Slane lunged forward to catch him, but his fingers grabbed air.

Richard fell from the walkway, plunging into the raging fire burning in the courtyard below, his tortured scream quickly drowned by the incessant roar of the flames.

Slane stared over the side at the bright flames for a long moment.
 
The heat smothered his face in stifling waves.

His brother was gone.
 
Dead.
 
He didn’t feel the grief he knew he should feel.
 
Or should he?
 
In the end, Richard had turned out to be an enemy, not the brother Slane had always thought him to be.

Slane lifted his gaze to Taylor.

Taylor launched herself into his arms and Slane caught her, holding her tightly.
 
The wind whipped around them, fueling the inferno that was growing ever stronger.
 
The fire’s angry howl rang loudly in his ears.
 
But he didn’t want to move, didn’t want to let Taylor go.
 
She was his now.
 
He had fought and sacrificed everything for the woman he loved.

Finally, Slane stood, pulling her with him.
 
He held her against his body, refusing to let her go, relishing the feel of her arms around him.

It was Taylor who pulled back.
 
“We have to get out of here,” she said.

Slane nodded in acquiescence.
 
He took her hand and began to walk toward the south tower, their only avenue of escape.
 
But then a gust of wind spiraled the flames from below up and over the walkway, trapping them between its hungry arms!

Slane pulled back from the fire.
 
He glanced at Taylor to see the glow of the flames highlighting the fear on her face.
 
No, he thought.
 
This can’t be.
 
I can’t have rescued her just to be killed by this cursed fire!

Flames stretched their greedy fingers toward the walkway they stood on, forcing them back to the outer wall.
 
Slane looked up, but no magical rope appeared, no flying carpet to spirit them away.
 
He looked from side to side, but the hungry fire waited to engulf them everywhere he turned.
 
He followed Taylor’s gaze to the water of Lake Donovan glistening in the morning light like a beacon.

“Can you swim?” Taylor wondered, then pulled herself up the wall.
 
She balanced precariously and reached down to help Slane up.
 
He had no sooner stepped onto the wall than the flame bit at the walkway, eating away at the wooden platform they had been standing on mere seconds before.

She clutched at him as the wind swirled around them, threatening to push them back into the flames.
 
Slane clutched her hand tightly in his, partly for balance, partly in uncertainty.

Slane gazed into those bright green gems for a long moment, hoping they would both make it through this.

Then something crossed Taylor’s features, an understanding, a longing, a fear.
 
Were those tears that made those green gems sparkle?
 
She took one last glance at the flames, at the fire that had forced her into a life of hardship and misery.
 
Slane could see the fear seeping from her face, replaced by a determination and a force of will he had always known to be the strength of Taylor Sullivan.

She turned back to face him, a soft grin on her lips.
 
“Last one to shore buys the ale,” she said and launched herself off the castle wall.

Slane’s heart lurched into his throat as he saw her soaring through the air, dropping hard and fast toward the water below.

Then he jumped right after her and felt himself falling through the air.
 
As he plummeted toward the glistening water, he saw Taylor strike the surface and plunge beneath the waters.
 
It seemed like an eternity that he waited for her to emerge.
 
But she didn’t surface.
 
He hit the water feet first with a sharp jolt to his legs, then plunged beneath the surface.
 
When his downward momentum stopped, he used strong strokes to bring himself back to the surface.
 
He broke through to the air, taking a deep inhale.
 
He quickly glanced around the lake, searching for Taylor.
 
The surface remained quiet except for his splashing.

“Taylor!” he hollered.

Fearful images built in his mind.
 
What if she hadn’t made it?
 
What if...?
 
Frantically, he dove, searching the water for her body.
 
But it was too deep.
 
He couldn’t reach the bottom.
 
When he broke through the surface again, he was breathing hard.
 
“Taylor!”

He heard a distant splashing.
 
He turned and saw her swimming toward the shore.
 
Relief coursed through him and joy bubbled in his heart.
 
He started after her, but knew she would make it well before him.

Each stroke brought him closer to the shore until finally he pulled himself out of the water and collapsed on the grassy bank.
 
He turned over, gasping hard.
 
The rising sun struggled to emerge from the clouds.
 
Finally, it peeked out, momentarily blinding him.
 
But then its radiance was obscured by a shadow.
 
He opened his eyes to find an angel standing above him.
 
Or was it a devil?
 
A smile stretched across his face.
 
“You’ll do just about anything for an ale, won’t you?”

Taylor shrugged.
 
“When I’m thirsty, I will.”

It was good to hear the levity in her voice.
 
It was even better to see happiness shine in her eyes as she gazed down at him.
 
She sat beside him, pulling her legs up to her chest.
 
“Was what you told Richard the truth?”

Slane boosted himself up on his elbow, trying to look into her eyes.
 
But she was looking down at her toes, which peeked out of the hem of the execution dress she wore.
 
“You know it was.
 
Every word of it.
 
I don’t lie.”

Taylor lifted her gaze to him and there was confusion in her eyes.
 
“Why would you want to marry me?”

Slane smiled.
 
“Who else would leap off a castle wall with me?”

But Taylor wasn’t smiling.
 
She was looking down at her toes, wiggling them nervously.
 
“I don’t know how to be a wife.
 
I’m a mercenary.
 
That’s all I know.”

“I would have you no other way,” Slane said sincerely.
 
God’s blood!
 
Didn’t she realize how exciting she was?
 
How beautiful and intelligent?

She planted her feet firmly on the ground.
 
“I have nothing to offer you.”

Slane took her hand in his, drawing the gaze of her emerald eyes.
 
“You have everything.
 
You are all I want.
 
You are perfect the way you are.”
 
She cocked her head doubtfully and Slane grinned.
 
“I love you.”

“You must have hit the water pretty hard,” she said.

“Why else would I have come back to save you?”

“It’s in your blood,” she offered.
 
“Knight of honor and all that.”

“I know what I want, Taylor.
 
I think the problem is you’re having trouble accepting it.
 
You thought no man could want you.”

“Well, that’s not entirely true.
 
I knew there were men who could want me.
 
I just never knew one of them could be you.”

“I didn’t come back just to rescue a damsel in distress.
 
I came back because I want you to be my wife.”

Taylor’s sharp gaze probed him; then she puckered her lips in thought, raising her eyes to the sky.
 
“Lady Taylor Donovan.”
 
She giggled and the sound warmed Slane’s heart.

“But there is one condition,” Slane said seriously.

Taylor shifted her gaze to his.

“I desire complete and utter devotion.
 
I would have it no other way.”

“That’s an awful lot to ask,” she mused.

For a moment, Slane’s heart sank.
 
Then he saw the mischievous look in her eyes, the slight curl of her lips.

“Where would you take a mercenary to live?” she wondered.

Slane stood and offered her his hand.
 
“You can’t go back to Castle Donovan.
 
You’re still an outlaw there.”

Taylor grasped his hand and he pulled her up.
 
“I’m an outlaw in many towns,” she observed.
 
She cast a glance into the distance.
 
A stray beam of sun broke through the clouds, shining down on a green hill.
 
“I think it’s time to head home,” Taylor said.
 
“To Sullivan Castle.”