Dragonblade Trilogy - 02 - Island of Glass by Kathryn Le Veque Read Free Book Online Page B

concerned.

 
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER
FOUR
     
     
    Highwood House was in flames.
Embers erupted into the night sky, dancing a macabre waltz with great clouds of
black smoke. The mixture lifted up to the stars until both smoke and spark
faded into oblivion.  Also accompanying this ghastly symphony was the scent of
charred wood and flesh.
    Four men stood in the fortified
courtyard of what had once been a fine manor. Now it was ash. There were
several other men on horseback, patrolling the perimeter of the house, making
sure no one was left alive.  The four men in the courtyard watched the last of
the blaze; three of them were unrepentant about their deadly act, while the
fourth cowered. His ragged priestly robes contained a strange mixture of body
odor and incense, and his pale face wrought with grief. He was out of place and
nearly out of his mind with fear. He had begged the others not to commit this
foul crime, but to those who would kidnap a man of God, anything else was a
minor misdeed.
    “Brother Grendel,” the man on a
massive black steed spoke to him. “Reclaim your mount. We ride to Kirk Castle.”
    Grendel de Vais turned to face
the man who had ripped him from St. Wenburgh as one would have extricated a
rotted tooth.  St. Wenburgh was protected, holy ground, but these men from the
north had not heeded that inherent safeguard. They had ridden into the
Monastery, making demands and brutalizing the monks. They stopped short of
murder, but had used it as a threat. St. Wenburgh was a learning institution.
The men had been searching for something the monastery had in its possession.
    Grendel, being a brother and not
a fully consecrated priest, had tried to reason with him as the others
cowered.  Being in a protected environment for a length of time left men
fearful to defend themselves, unused to the realities of the world.  But
Grendel had stood his ground, even when the men had beat on two of his
colleagues.
    They called themselves A Ordem
do Anjo Preto . The Order of the Black Angel. A man named de Gaul was their
leader. Grendel never heard the names of the others, men who covered their head
with black hoods and wore mail that was rusty and broken.  Their chargers were
big animals, emaciated, yet exhibiting an unearthly strength.  The only way for
the monks to rid themselves of the terror was to give the men what they were
seeking. It came to a decision; the monks of St. Wenburgh betrayed another to
save themselves.  They were feeble men, unused to fright, and said many a
litany to beg God’s forgiveness for their faults.
    But God’s forgiveness did not
help Grendel’s situation. He was in dire straits. Though Highwood House had
been burned to the ground with the occupants inside, still, the men did not
have what they sought. Grendel closed his eyes when he thought of the lady of
the House pleading for her life just before they cut her throat. He could not
erase it from his mind. After that, it occurred to him that he saw his own life
coming to a sudden end and saw no point in remaining quiet about his
predicament.  If they could kill a helpless woman, imagine what they would do
to a useless friar.
    “Do you intend to attack Kirk
Castle, then?” he asked.
    De Gaul snorted. “Not attack,
brother. But we have our ways.”
    “What ways?” Grendel asked. “Your
quest has come to an end. As I have told you many a time, I am not entirely
sure that the girl even has it. But she had always shown great interest in
reading it. One day it was in our library, and when she left, it went missing.”
    The dark warrior looked at him
with eyes full of fire and wickedness. “Logic is the better part of
progression, brother. If it is possible it went missing because she stole it,
then by all means, we must find out.”
    “She will be protected at Kirk.”
           “As I said, we have our
ways. You needn’t worry. Once you verify that we have indeed located the Scroll
of Munsalvaesche, your part in this