A Knight to Desire (20 page)

The ten of them and their horses filled the inn yard leading to the stone and thatched structure. Simon dismounted and stretched, then stepped up to the board that hung from iron hooks above the inn's door. The name of the inn was almost wiped away by years of wind and rain, but the image of a dark-skinned man with a white turban on his head left no doubt about where they were.

"It is the Saracen Head," Brianna said from behind him, her voice taut with disbelief.

He turned to see her staring at the sign, her eyes narrow with concern. "It appears so."

She met his gaze. "That was too easy."

"Perhaps someone is looking over us, and guiding our way."

"Or perhaps it is a trap."

He drew his sword. "Are you prepared?"

The whisper of steel against leather was the only answer he needed.

"Kaden." Simon motioned with his hand that the warrior take two men and go around the back while the others entered through the front.

Kaden nodded and silently disappeared through the darkness around the side of the stone building.

Someone was watching them. Simon's warrior instincts flared as he searched the thick underbrush at the edge of the inn yard. Nothing. No sign of anyone. Perhaps the abbot's words were playing tricks on his mind. Regardless, he tightened his grip on his sword.

A soft rustle.

God in heaven, it was
not
his imagination. Someone was there. "Brianna, whatever happens go into that inn and get the Grail."

"And leave you?"

"You must get the Grail. It must be here, just as your vision revealed."

"Simon, I—"

"Promise me, Brianna."

He would have things no other way. "I promise." Brianna held her sword at the ready. She could be inside the inn and back out again in a heartbeat. Simon would not be alone for long.

She turned to face the woods, Jacob, Alaric, Benton, Kendall, and Iain turned also, as they too sensed the presence of something in the woods.

Shouts suddenly sounded all around them. A dozen men broke through the trees to surround them, their drawn swords glistened malevolently in the lamplight cast from the inn. A dark-haired man stepped forward and regarded them with a satisfied smile. "You were a fool to come here," the man said as he swaggered toward them. His words carried a heavily accented lilt. His tunic was stained with what might have been ale, as that scent wafted around him.

"We are but travelers, searching for a place to rest," Simon said.

The man's smile broadened as he leered at Brianna. "I know who you are, Brother Simon. My master de la Roche described you and the woman in perfect detail."

A chill ran through Simon. "Is de la Roche here?"

A bark of laughter filled the silence. "The man is everywhere. There is no stopping him. You are fortunate you deal with me and not him and his sword of death."

Joyeuse.

Both the Holy Grail and the sword of Charlemagne were here. They had to take advantage of the moment. Without the aid of the treasures, de la Roche would be easier to overcome. If they could only get the sword and the Grail away from him.

"Brianna, Iain, stay together and make your way into the inn while the rest of us keep these men busy. We need those artifacts."

Brianna and Iain nodded and positioned themselves at the back of the group of warriors, closest to the inn's doorway.

The dark-haired man faced Simon, his features illuminated by the flickering light of the lanterns. Forcing his mind to clear, Simon held his sword at the ready and ducked into position. If it was a battle they wanted… Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the other men with their swords and targes, as every instinct, every muscle, waited for Simon to signal the strike.

In the next instant, Simon's throat vibrated with the roar of a battle cry as savage and old as his Highland ancestry itself. The air echoed with the sound of the
cath-ghairm
as the warriors flung themselves into battle.

The moment the fighting started, Brianna motioned for Iain to follow her through the doorway of the inn. Inside, golden light cast from rushlights hung on the walls at the front and the back of the chamber. The room was devoid of patrons except for one man who sat at a table near the hearth.

"So nice of you to join me," said the man dressed in the brown robes of a monk. But he was no monk. He was the monster de la Roche she'd seen in her dreams.

Brianna's heart skipped a beat as she clutched her sword and took a step toward him.

"You'll not be needing that weapon in here. Put it down and join me for a drink." He picked up a tin vessel from the table and took a long drink.

"Thanks, but I'll pass." While she moved slowly forward, Iain slipped through the pale gold light at the edges of the chamber. Movement at the back of the room caught her eye, revealing Kaden and two of the warriors as they entered through the back. "We have you surrounded. We can do this peacefully if you will hand over the Grail and the sword."

De la Roche stretched out his legs before him and gave a long, mournful sigh. "I've no intention of surrendering anything. In fact, before this night is through, it will be you who will take orders from me." Heavy lids veiled his eyes.

Brianna edged forward until she stood within striking distance from the man. One swing of her sword and this would be all over. Yet she'd never killed anyone without provocation before. "I have no wish to kill you."

De la Roche's lids lifted to reveal icy blue eyes glinting sharply in the rushlights. "And I have every intention of killing you." He sprang from his chair and came up with a sword in hand. With a quick and unexpected upswing, he knocked the weapon from her hand and pulled her back against his chest.

Suddenly, the room erupted in chaos. De la Roche's men lunged from the shadows, weapons drawn to engage the others. The clash of steel upon steel broke the stillness of the chamber.

Brianna braced herself for battle and drove her foot backwards into de la Roche's knee. At the same time she brought her fist down on his wrist and sent Joyeuse flying.

The Frenchman shrieked in pain and released her.

She grasped the Grail from the table and tossed it to Kaden who had just felled his opponent. "Take this to safety."

He caught the Grail and tucked it into his belt. "I will not leave you." The knight remained where he stood, staring at her across the fighting.

"Kaden, it's our duty to see the Grail safe. Once you do, come back and help us."

After a moment's hesitation, he turned and fled.

The rigid tension in Brianna's body eased. The Grail was safe. Before she could turn around, she found herself slammed against the table. Pain radiated through her chest as her breath left her lungs. The room danced before her eyes.

"You fight like a woman," de la Roche snarled from behind her. He jerked her hands behind her with one hand and pressed a dagger to her throat with the other.

"Perhaps, but a woman who's bested you this eve."

He jerked her from the table. Her flesh stung as the dagger pierced her flesh. "You'll pay for taking the Grail from me."

Brianna tensed, preparing for the worst. She should have been more careful. Too late for should haves now…

His pitted cheeks creased as he smiled down at her. "I won't make this easy for you. I want you to suffer before the end comes. Lockhart will wallow in misery at your death." The dagger vanished as he slammed her head against the table once more.

Her dreams had been wrong about one thing. De la Roche did want to kill Simon, but not before he had squeezed as much torment as he could out of the people closest to Simon. He would torture Simon into that ultimate sacrifice of his own life. Brianna shook her head, trying to clear it of the ringing pain of the Frenchman's blow. "Simon will never capitulate to you over me."

He bent down and brushed his cheek against hers. "You underestimate your appeal, my sweetling." His voice was seductively gentle. "He'll do anything I ask to see you safe." His smile faded and agony rocked her as he slammed her head against the table once more.

"Then you don't know Simon at all," she whispered hoarsely.

Pain exploded in her head again and she hurtled down into welcome darkness.

Simon cleared his mind of all else except survival as he brought down his sword, slashing, blocking, slashing again as he battled foe after foe.

Only a few moments had passed since the first clash of swords and already the ground was red underfoot, the air choked with dust. Simon dashed a hand across his brow to keep the sweat from rolling into his eyes. He vaulted over two bodies, then ducked as a blade hacked down in an arc across his shoulders. He regained his balance and came up with his sword slashing, cleanly severing the attacker's arm from his body.

He whirled and lunged out of the way as the dark-haired man charged. Simon turned to face him as he regained his ground. Brianna should be inside by now with Iain, Kaden, Cameron, and Kendall. Simon had to defeat the dark-haired man, then join her.

Simon's sword flashed in the lantern light as he brought his blade up to block a powerful thrust by the experienced warrior. At the blow, the sharp ringing of steel filled the air and it took Simon a moment to recover his momentum to strike again. His sword arm was aching, his body bruised, cut, but despite the pain he pressed the attack. His sword clashed against the Frenchman's once, twice. The man's eyes filled with wild rage as he gasped for breath, watching the last of his men fall to the ground beneath the Templar onslaught.

Simon clutched his sword. He balanced on the balls of his feet, prepared to lunge forward when a door slammed open behind him.

"It's over, Lockhart." The voice seethed with hatred.

Simon stole a quick glance at the door and froze. A man in a brown monk's robe staggered forward with Brianna tossed over his shoulder, motionless.

It was the man Brianna had described, the icy-eyed devil responsible for murdering so many of his brothers. "Let her go, de la Roche."

"Give me the Grail!"

"I don't have it."

De la Roche shook his head. "You have something I want. I have something you want."

"Let her go!" Simon's voice trembled with the same rage that coursed through his body. He took a step toward her; he wasn't being reasonable; he was only feeling. He would die before he let that bastard hurt Brianna.

A sword crashed down against his blade, sending it spinning out of his hands at the same time he was jerked backward. His arms were seized. He broke the hold, fighting his way to her.

Brianna.

He was jerked off his feet. Rage, acid hot, tore through him. He kicked out with his feet, contacting something. A heartbeat later, pain exploded at the side of his head.

Simon tried to shout her name. The words filled his mind, but could not form on his lips. He writhed against the hands that grasped him with bone-crushing force.

A flash of pain came again and again, until there was nothing more.

Chapter Fourteen