THE WARLORD by Elizabeth Elliott Read Free Book Online

aside, then stopped. He leaned sideways in the saddle, trying to get a closer look at Tess. When that failed, he turned his attention to Kenric.
    " 'Tis doubtful Montague will accept your sword if you are burdened with a wench. Is she valuable enough to risk your livelihood?"
    "She is my wife," Kenric replied with a shrug. "She'll earn her keep."
    The soldier nodded, but made no move to leave. His hooded gaze shifted from Kenric to Fitz Alan, then back again to Kenric. Both recognized the telling action. He was sizing up his opponents.
    "My men and I have had a long, cold ride from London." The soldier didn't take his eyes from Kenric, but one hand flexed on the hilt of his sword. "A good week has passed since any of us had a woman to warm our loins." The soldier gave an almost imperceptible signal and his men drew their swords. Crossing his arms across the high pommel of his saddle, he leaned forward, grinning unpleasantly at Kenric. "Perhaps your woman could earn her keep on the king's road as well."
    The man's grin turned evil, but then it faded when neither man moved a muscle. Kenric and Fitz Alan just stared at him.
    "Of course we'd pay you for her services." His horse began to paw the ground in earnest and he straightened in the saddle.
    Kenric drew his sword so fast that the soldier barely had time to flinch before the blade found his neck. The other men watched in disbelief as their leader toppled from his horse and those lost moments cost two more their lives. The soldiers quickly fell into the spirit of the battle, splitting their numbers to attack the two knights separately. Yet they soon regretted their dead leader's hasty challenge.
    Kenric and his horse worked as though joined together, but Tess felt as if she'd grabbed hold of a lightning bolt. Or a warrior in battle. Keeping her grip around Kenric's waist was a near impossible task, requiring her full attention. Each time his sword lashed out she could feel the bone-jarring blows in her own body, the force nearly jolting her off the horse. She couldn't imagine what it was like to be on the receiving end of those blows.
    Kenric and Fitz Alan set about their job with the methodical precision of seasoned fighters. The dense woods guarded their backs and they kept their horses' rumps close enough to provide additional protection while allowing ample room to wield their swords. Though the two warriors traveled without their heavy shields, they evened the odds by wielding a sword in each hand, one to thrust and one to parry.
    " 'Tis the Remmington bitch!" one of the soldiers cried out when Tess's hood fell back. "Kill him! He has the girl!"
    Kenric took advantage of the distraction to drive his sword into two more soldiers. Fitz Alan wasn't as lucky and brought down only one, but the Scots were half their original number.
    One of Fitz Alan's foes tried to surprise Kenric by attacking from the right. He was unsuccessful, but kept Kenric distracted long enough for another to move past the baron's blades to his unprotected left side. Three men attacked Kenric with a vengeance while the fourth worked on separating Tess from the baron's waist. The task was made more difficult by Kenric's broadsword, falling every other blow on the man's battered shield.
    The soldier became desperate when one of his comrades fell in the frontal attack. He let go of his shield and lunged forward to wrap his arm around Tess's neck, giving one mighty tug. She surprised him by going so willingly that they both fell backward off their horses. Sprawled out flat on his back with the wind knocked out of him, the soldier opened his eyes to find an enraged angel looming overhead.
    "Do not move."
    Tess held the blade of a needle-sharp dagger at the soldier's neck, but she didn't notice his hand inching toward the sword he'd dropped in the fall. The man kept shifting his eyes nervously to one side, so Tess turned the point of the knife to rest against his throat, intending to prick him just once to