The Crusader ("The Crusader" Prequel to "Kingdom Come") (47 page)

Rory
held on to him tightly as they moved to the top of the outcropping, falling
into his embrace as he sank to his knees. She was weeping so heavily she could
hardly hear him, and he stroked her tenderly. His heart aching for what he knew
had to be.

"It
was an awesome sight," he murmured, his cheek against the top of her head
and as he focused on the rolling sea. "I came on the quest because I
believed in my king, in my father, and I was determined to make both proud. And
by accepting the mission that would eventually end my life, I knew there was
nothing more worthwhile I could ever do with my mortal existence. At least,
that is what I believed until I met you. You and I are incredibly similar,
Libby. Each wrought with determination, each aching deeply to find fulfillment.
Each willing to jeopardize our destiny for what we believe in."

Rory
wept into his shirt as the rain grew heavier and the army of men drew closer.
She could see their features now as they crossed the sand, singling out Corbin
immediately. He held out his hand to the group, silently ordering them to wait
as he continued forward. A bolt of lightning lit up the sky, illuminating his
evil face, and Rory raised her head from Kieran's shoulder in fury.

"Go
away!" she shouted. "Go away and leave us alone!"

Corbin
came to a halt several yards away. "I've come a very, very long way for
you, Dr. Osgrove. I won't leave without you."

She
shook her head, lying on Kieran's shoulder. "I'm staying with him."

Corbin
shoved his hands into his pockets as the weather worsened. "You're both
coming with me, I'm afraid. You've got a good deal of explaining to do."

Kieran
heard him, the familiar voice of a man who had trailed him for centuries. But
he ignored him for the moment, focused on the delicious warmth of Rory in his
arms. Warmth, he suspected, he would not be experiencing much longer.

"The
night I sought the alchemist, there was a storm very much like this one,"
he said softly, feeling Rory's grip on him tighten. "An angry storm,
cursing the fact that I intended to defy death. Not strange that a storm has
gathered here tonight to witness what I had evaded those centuries ago."

Rory
tore her gaze away from Corbin, focusing on the ashen features of her beloved
knight. Tears were still pouring but the sobs had faded; in fact, she seemed to
be calming in spite of everything and she forced a smile, kissing him with a
painful sweetness.

"If
you go, I go with you," she said in a voice he dare not contradict.
"If death is going to take you, then it is going to take me, too. You said
yourself that God brought us together and I just can't believe that He would
allow us to be separated after everything we've been through."

A
shaking hand touched her face, Kieran's normally even expression laced with
emotion. "My sweet Rory," he murmured. "I do not want to leave
you now, not even for a moment. But I cannot deny the wound steadily draining
my life, nor the odd hollowness that has plagued me since my return to
Nahariya. I suspect that the two are linked, announcing the onset of my true
destiny. Now that the crown has been found, there is no longer any reason for
me to live. But there is every reason for you to live. You must live. You must
pay tribute to this love and duty that we have shared."

She
shook her head, her composure making a weak return. "I will pay tribute by
being at your side, for always.  Don't deny me my true fulfillment, Kieran. I
am nothing without you."

He
didn't have the energy to argue. The rain was coming down in sheets, lightning
filling the sky. He began to kiss her, tenderly at first, but with growing
passion as if knowing this would be the last he tasted of her in this world.

Corbin
and his men watched, so involved with the scene before them that they failed to
notice a rickety old jeep cresting the distant rise. One headlight was out, but
the wipers were working. The vehicle loomed closer, eventually coming to a halt
behind the cluster of Land Rovers.

"Don't
go any closer, Corbin!"

Bud was
out of the car before it came to a complete stop. He and David raced across the
wet sand, pelted by the driving rain. The lawyer heard the shout, turning to
the source of the voice and muttering a silent curse. Bud continued to move
toward him, aided by David when the man threw a punch at an intrusive Marine
and sent the soldier sprawling.

"Do
you hear me?"  Bud shouted above the wind and rain. "Leave her alone.
Leave them both alone!"

"Dr.
Dietrich," Corbin said slowly. "I am not surprised to find you here.
But you must know you cannot help her any longer. I've come for your associate
and I demand to know what has become of the corpse she stole. What secret did
it possess that she insisted on breaking the law to obtain it?"

Bud
paused several feet before him, the rain lashing his face. After a moment, he
gestured to the huddled pair on the rocks. "You want to know what secret
it possessed?" his voice was steady. "Take a good look at that man in
Rory's arms. There's your secret, Corbin. The living corpse of Sir Kieran
Hage."

Corbin
cocked an eyebrow, water dripping from his eyelashes. "Bloody Hell,
Dietrich. Do you take me for a fool? Surely you don't think I'd be stupid
enough to believe such an idiotic story!"

Bud
shrugged. "Foolish or not, it's the truth. No one saw Rory carry a corpse
from the hospital because Sir Kieran Hage, walked out of that morgue. Remember
what the nurse said? That she saw Rory in the company of a very large
man," when Corbin shook his head, refusing to believe, Bud moved closer.
"Think about it; if Rory was hiding a corpse, just how in the hell did she
do it? Where did she do it? If she was so attached to the body like we've said
all along, don't you think she would have kept it with her constantly?"

Corbin
continued shaking his head, holding up a sharp hand. "Ridiculous,
Dietrich. I will not listen to any more of this!"

"Would
you listen to me, then?"

A soft
voice floated up beside him; Corbin glanced over to see Darlow looking rather
stunned. After a moment, the embassy aid fixed Corbin in the eye. "I told
you I saw the corpse. And that man on the rocks resembles the knight I saw most
definitely. It's... it's truly amazing."

Corbin
stared at Darlow, noting the sincerity in his voice. Sincere or not, however,
it didn't erase the fact that two grown men were trying to convince him to
believe in a fairy tale and his jaw ticked with irritation as he returned his attention
to Bud.

"I
will not listen to this any longer," he growled. "Dr. Osgrove is
coming with me and her monsterous bodyguard will be placed in the custody of
the Marines."

On the
rocks, Rory and Kieran were listening to the exchange. Kieran was failing, his
grip on Rory loosening as she embraced him tightly. On her knees with Kieran's
head clasped to her breast, her anguished gaze locked onto Bud as another bolt
of lightning streaked across the sky.

"Bud!"
she cried. "Kieran's dying. We need to get him to a doctor
immediately!"

Bud's
brow furrowed as he took a couple of steps toward the rain-slicked rocks.
"What happened to him?"

Rory
started to cry again, the tears falling so easily these days. "His
wound," she sobbed. "He reopened it somehow. He thinks Simon's
appearance has something to do with it."

Bud was
on the rocks before he could blink, almost slipping but managing to keep his
footing. He was suddenly beside the two lovers, separating them gently and
groaning softly when he saw Kieran's blood-soaked shirt.

"Oh...
Christ," he muttered. "He's bleeding all over the damn place, Rory."

She
sniffled in response as Bud noticed the blood-stained box between them. Kieran
was holding it tightly and Bud found he couldn't take his eyes off it.

"Rory,"
he nodded his head at the small wooden case. "Dave told me about the
crown. Is... is that it?"

 She
gazed sadly at the box. "Yes," she blinked, tears splattering with
the rain. "But I swear I'd give it back if it would make Kieran well
again. It's just not worth the heartache it's caused."

 "There
was a man who thought differently, once," Kieran's voice was faint.
"He believed it worth dying for."

"Well,
I don't," Rory snapped softly. "It's not worth your life. God, I wish
you'd never found the thing."

Bud put
his hand on her shoulder in a gesture of comfort and also to prevent her from
reining out of control. Now was not the time for hysterics with Kieran bleeding
to death before them. Tearing his gaze away from the holy treasure he had spent
over a year of his life searching for, ice-blue focused on the dying man.

"How
ya doin', pal?" he asked, a ridiculous question, considering. "It looks
like we've got to get you to a hospital."

The
knight shook his head weakly. "'Tis of no use, my lord. Now that my task
is complete, I am to die as I should have eight centuries ago."

Bud
fixed Kieran in the eye, a man he should hate for stealing Rory but a man he
found he could not hate. There was something in the man's nature that provoked
Bud's respect in spite of everything. A determination and a sense of duty that
Bud himself would have liked to possess.

"A
doctor can help you, but we've got to go now," he said, feeling his
desperation when Kieran once again shook his head. He didn't have time to argue
with the man. "Look, Kieran; Rory means a great deal to me. If you die...
she'll never be the same. I'll never be the same. No matter what we've been
through, our differences and competition, in the end all that matters is that
the woman we both love is happy. Right?"

Kieran
raised an eyebrow slowly, rain coating his ashen face. "Another selfless
gesture, my lord. Pity I am unworthy of such respect for the misery I have
caused you both."

"That's
not true," Bud disagreed, casting the man a somewhat selfish glance.
"Besides, I haven't finished pumping you for information. I haven't found
out a damn thing!"

"David
has served well in your stead," Kieran murmured, licking his wet lips.
"The man is as persistent as a gnat."

Bud
grinned. Even Rory grinned in spite of her tears. Bud held Kieran's gaze a
moment longer before looking to his miserable colleague.

"We've
got to get to a hospital," he said, wondering if it wasn't already too
late. "Let me talk to Corbin and see what I can do."

He turned
away from the drenched pair, sliding down the rocks until he reached the
soaking sand. Shuffling across the grit, he focused on Corbin's haughty glare.

"Look,"
he said firmly. "Kieran is very sick. He's probably dying. We've got to
get him to a hospital immediately."

Corbin
drew in a deep breath. "Fine. I shall take them both in my custody now and
will be more than happy to have the bodyguard escorted to a hospital."

Suddenly,
his right hand emerged from his pocket gripping a Baretta 9mm handgun. Bud's
eyes widened.

"What
in the hell are you doing?" he hissed. "Put that damn thing away."

Corbin
aimed the gun directly at Bud's heart. "Not a chance, Dr. Dietrich. You
and your associates are far too slippery for me to take any chances," he
turned to the men behind him, keeping the gun aimed at Bud. "Take them.
The bodyguard goes to the nearest hospital and the woman goes with me."

"No!"
Rory shrieked, clutching Kieran tightly. "I must stay with him. I won't
let you separate us!"

Corbin
turned his attention to Rory, preparing to reply. Just as he did so, Bud saw
his chance and lunged for the gun, immediately receiving a butt in the face. As
he landed heavily in the sand, a marine trained his own rifle on David before
the man could move forward in his colleague's stead. With Bud wallowing just
above unconsciousness and David effectively stopped, there was nothing left
between Corbin and Rory except Kieran.

He knew
he was dying. He had nothing left to lose by protecting the woman he loved.
Somehow finding the strength to disengage himself from her tight embrace, he
rose to one knee and faced the man who had plagued him like an evil curse for
centuries.

"You
will not separate us, Simon," he said weakly, feeling Rory's hands on his
shoulders. "The lady will come with me."

Corbin
stared at him, the odd sense of deja vu plaguing him again. "Don't be a
hero," he snarled. "From the look of you, you couldn't take a bullet
wound."

Kieran
cocked an eyebrow, holding out his arms as if to embrace the world. "Is
that what you wish? To kill me as you once attempted eight hundred years
ago?" he shrugged his massive shoulders. "Then complete your task.
Complete what you started. But know this; I have what I came for. I have the
crown and my lady will see that is returned to England, as I vowed. There is
nothing more you can do to me to cause me any greater pain, Simon. But you can
cause the lady great pain and I will not permit it. If I am to go to this
hospital, then she will go with me and you cannot stop her."