The Enchantress by May McGoldrick Read Free Book Online Page B

crackling of the fire, the hall was suddenly silent.
    A tall, gray-haired knight standing by the dais stepped forward, addressing the group.
    “I know that we are restless. We all feel the urge to act.” His piercing gray eyes swept over the nodding warriors. “It has been five months now. And five months is a long time to wait.”
    Murmurs of agreement echoed through the hall.
    Another aging knight stepped forward. “But time means nothing to a Knight of the Veil. Whether it be five months, five years, or five hundred years, we would never be so unsettled if we were sure the treasure was in safe hands.”
    “Aye, but as far as we know, the treasure is safe,” a warrior called out.
    “But for how long? And how can we be certain? We’ve been warned of the danger.”
    “And the maps. What of the maps?” another knight barked. “We were promised the maps.”
    The leader raised his hand and silenced the group. “We were promised only that the Treasure of Tiberius would be returned to its rightful place. Should we ride in and take it by force from the family of our brother?”
    “Aye! Perhaps we should!” another knight asserted hotly. “We know nothing of our brother’s promise passing on to his wife and daughters. What happens if these women decide on a different path? What if someone fools them? Or wrests the treasure from them? Even worse, what if they are so blinded with the power of Tiberius that they decide to keep the treasure for themselves?”
    “I tell you this,” the leader stated sharply, quieting the growing uneasiness in the chamber. “Nichola Erskine is a most honorable woman. The delay has only to do with the fears she harbors for her daughters’ safety. Would you deny her that? And you know that as long as rumors continue to circulate of the existence of a map...or of three maps...no one would foolishly kill these daughters.”
    A tonsured knight-priest spoke for the first time. “But we’ve heard reports of so many in pursuit of them.”
    “Aye, men like the English king! But Henry Tudor knows nothing of the treasure. He only wants their Percy heads.”
    “The three are safely tucked away in Scotland.”
    “What about Sir Arthur Courtney?”
    “He was killed by his own men.”
    “And the monks?”
    “The Monk!” The leader’s voice dropped down low. “We have reasons to question his loyalty.”
    “If he has fallen, then we cannot afford to wait.”
    “We cannot wait!” several men shouted.
    “Brothers!” A knight clothed in black pushed himself away from the wall at the far end of the hall and strode toward the dais. As he passed the fire, his tall build cast a shadow on the other warriors, and more than one of them eyed the gold brooch holding a tartan at his shoulder. In exquisite workmanship using tiny colored gemstones, a red hand clutched a blue cross. “I have something to say.”
    “The Blade of Barra!” Nodding with satisfaction, the leader of the knights turned his gray eyes on the approaching man. “‘Tis time you took up the quest.”

CHAPTER 5
     
    Damn the woman! Of all the troublesome, ungrateful...!
    William peered through the darkness as the wind whipped his hair across his face. His head was pounding between the goose egg and the open gash she’d given him, and it felt as though he’d been beaten with a stick across his ribs. He wondered if she’d dragged him all the way to the convent behind his own damned horse.
    And now where was she? She’d only gone out a moment ahead of him. After first finding out how large an escort the monk had with him--and making sure the old farm hand had a plan for saving his own neck from the wrath of the monk and his Lowlanders--William had quickly crawled out after her. The Sinclair men would have to look after the nuns.
    Still, in that instant the thickheaded Englishwoman had disappeared like some wood nymph. Their only chance lay in the hope that she had gone directly to the horse.
    As he broke into a trot, a wave of