The Djinn by J. Kent Holloway Read Free Book Online Page A

emptied the contents all over the prisoner.
    “Our friend is
a dedicated man, Gerard,” the baron said as he strode casually toward the cell
door. “He won’t easily loosen his tongue to tell us the location of the Seal.
You’ll only tire yourself out trying to make him talk.” Gregory opened the door
and turned to face the nomad. “So, we’ll simply allow the rats infesting these dungeons
do much of the work for us. We’ll talk soon, Ibrihim .
I pray you’ll be much more cooperative by then.”
    He strode out
of the cell, thankful he wouldn’t have to hear the screams of his
prisoner.   

 
 

4

 
    Two
days later…
    Gerard DuBois , the captain of Gregory’s secret mercenary force,
scanned the eastern horizon from the edge of the ridge his soldiers now huddled
upon. The orange-red glow of the sun descended behind him, blinding those
encamped in the valley below from his presence.
    ‘ Twill be a cooler
evening than we’ve experienced in recent months , he thought, taking a deep
breath of the humid air. A thunderstorm had rolled into the valley earlier in
the afternoon. The moist breeze against his body cooled the white-hot armor
against his skin. Western armor wasn’t designed for such hostile environs as
the Outremer and it could make a
waiting soldier miserable just from the heat building up inside the chainmail.
    He inhaled once
more, then looked down at the settlement below.
    It had taken
some doing (and the loss of an eye by the teeth and claws of hungry rats), but
the nomad had finally revealed the location of the Guardians’ camp. And now, he
and his men waited patiently for the time to strike. Soon, Gregory would have
his precious ring and Gerard would be one step closer to gaining the prize he
most desired—the baron’s lovely daughter.
    The thought of
her alabaster skin against his raised the temperature even more within his
armor and he turned his attention once more to the camp below lest he lose
himself in his fantasies about Isabella.
    The nomads were
casually preparing for the evening, unaware of the danger that lurked over the
horizon. Cooking fires burned—the succulent smell of stew rose up from the
smoke—making Gerard’s stomach rumble. Children laughed as they chased a
pathetically scrawny dog around the camp’s domiciles. A group of women huddled
together in hushed chatter as they carried pots filled with water on their
heads from the Jordan.
    It truly was a
beautiful sight to the Western warrior. Not for its pastoral perfection, but
for what was soon to come—mayhem, terror, and death for any who stood in his
way of his mission.
    His purpose
here was, of course, two fold. Primarily, he was to retrieve the fabled ring
known as the Seal of Solomon. But there was a secondary reason for this raid as
well. The baron was in desperate need of laborers to continue work on the
tunnels he’d been excavating for the last seven and a half years. Tunnels deep in the underbelly of the City of David. Tunnels that would lead Baron Gregory to the final piece of the
puzzle to his life long quest. The nomads who survived the initial raid
would be taken prisoner and forced to work. The baron never asked how his
workers were procured and of course, what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. But
Gerard savored such moments as this.
    He had come a
long way from his humble beginning. The illegitimate son of a Saxon nobleman
and a Jewish whore, he had been born in Bethany, a tiny village on the
outskirts of Jerusalem. His suspect heritage prevented him from any positions
of honor among the nobles. But he hadn’t let it stop him.
    “Sir, Balian’s group is now in position,” reported Archibald, his
second in command. “ Durgan’s forces are almost in
place.”
    “Thank you,
Archibald. We will now bide our time until the infidels are deep in slumber. Be
ready for my signal.”
    “Aye, Captain.”
    Gerard watched
as his closest friend marched toward the rest of his mercenary force. They