Treasure So Rare (Women of Strength Time Travel Trilogy) by Grace Brannigan Read Free Book Online Page B

blouse, with cloth binding about his feet, the lad moved swiftly,
wielding his sword impressively, evading the much clumsier men at arms as they
tried to use brute strength against his lightness of foot.
    After witnessing three of the men fall to defeat under the
lad's blade, Erik decided this absurdity had gone on long enough. Two of
Camdork's men already lay wounded and one looked to have suffered a broken
ankle in the fall. Children and women stood in the yard and he felt they were
in danger of being trampled by the still-astride horsemen.
    Knowing he must ape the arrogance of Camdork, he dismounted
his horse and ran up the narrow tower stairs. "Cease!" His harsh bark
caused several men waiting a turn to fall back.
    "Stop this nonsense!" His voice rang out over the
courtyard, his anger very real. "I come by order of the queen, would you
disobey her royal order?"
    With his back to a dovecot, the lad paused, sword at the
ready. Erik addressed him. "Would you subject your people to punishment
for these acts you are committing?"
    Erik took another step, compelling the eyes he could barely
see behind the cloth to give him their full attention. The fragrance of roses
stole around him, momentarily distracting him.
    Frowning, Erik moved within four feet, then three, removed
the helm Camdork had bade him to wear and placed it on the short wall beside
him. His fingers brushed several pebbles along the stone wall and his fingers
closed around them. As he turned to the lad, all in the courtyard below
remained still, tension mounting as the seconds stretched. For all his
fierceness and cunning in dispatching three men, the lad was not very large.
    "Dare you take that final step?" Erik asked, his
voice pitched low so only the lad could hear. Erik raised one blond brow.
"No one here doubts your courage, your skill and cunning, but do you dare
to step forward and run me through?" He advanced another step. "Your
next move could decide the fate of all who live under the protection of this
castle." With a quick snap of his wrist, Erik opened his hand and let the
pebbles fly into the dovecot, effectively taking the decision from the lad.
Startled by the small projectiles, a flock of doves flew straight up into the
air behind the lad and around them.
    Erik lunged forward and twisted sideways, catching the lad
in the midsection, laying him flat, his sword clanking on the stone. Not a word
was uttered as Erik's immense frame lay atop the lad, but the eyes... aye, the
eyes burned with hate and fury. Eyes as deeply blue as the sea...
    Erik pried the sword from the lad's gloved hand, then he
reached for the lad's hood. The lad threw up his arm, his wrist hitting Erik's
hand. The lad rolled and twisted away, shot to his feet and ran. Erik followed
until they were enclosed in a small tower like room, hidden from view to the
others.
    "Nowhere to go," Erik said, cornering him.
"You might better have left this fight to others." He pulled the hood
from the lad's head.
    "Mother of God." All time and meaning fell away as
the wind swirled in through the stone tower, whipping in a frenzy around them. Every
muscle in Erik's body stiffened and his mouth gaped, totally caught by
surprise.
    The "lad" tossed curling black hair over her
shoulders as a gust tossed it into her eyes -- cerulean blue eyes that glared
at him with hate and loathing.
    "You!" A wolfish grin twisted his lips. The
black-haired witch who had taunted him in slumber and had dared to lure him,
only to vanish! Erik scanned her face; black, slanting brows, the unblemished
creamy skin, full lips the color of new wine --
    "Camdork the Beast!" she spat. "I should have
used your tactic and stuck a knife in your ribs when your back was
turned." She turned on her heel and ran out of sight. He heard a grinding
of stone and by the time he'd gathered his wits and followed, she was long
gone.
    Despite the upside down world he now found himself trapped
in, Erik couldn't help but smile. He had found his