Knight's Legacy Read Online Free

…for they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
    ~Proverbs 4:16-17
    A ngus heard the lass screaming before he saw her. He and Graham bounded up from their plaids and grabbed their swords.
    The sound of the waterfall muffled her cries before she slipped beneath the surface of the water. Angus handed his weapon to Graham and plunged into the cold lake. He swam to her side, grasped her leather tunic, and pulled her head up to the surface. She had swallowed a great deal of water, and coughed to force it from her lungs. The lass was doing her best to drown.
    Angus reached around her waist and felt the sword in the leather scabbard. She didn’t have the breath to fight him when he dragged her to the bank. He took the sword and deposited her face down in the grass. She was dressed as a lad, but a mane of long auburn hair had come loose from its braid and lay in a tangle down her back. She coughed up more water.
    He unsheathed the sword and held it up to Graham.
    â€œWould ye look at this? ’Tis light enough to be a child’s toy.”
    â€œA pretty toy at that. Think ye she means to wield it?”
    Angus shrugged. “ ’Tis so blunt it will do little damage.”
    Cat was on her hands and knees. “Of course it is, it’s a stage combat weapon. A choreographed fight isn’t meant to cause injury.”
    They stared at her in confusion, then Angus spoke. “And what is a korrea fight, lady?”
    â€œThis is not funny. I don’t care who’s in on the joke. Give it back. The sword is mine, you idiot,” Cat complained.
    She turned over and faced them. Angus looked into a visage so fair that, were it not for her bedraggled state, he would think her a vision, an elfin beauty. Her eyes were the color of spring grass in the Highlands. Her eyelashes were black, long, and spiky wet. Her skin was creamy and her cheeks pink from her efforts to save herself from the deep water.
    â€œWho are ye, lass?” His voice was soft, and his thoughts turned lustful as he gazed down at her curves beneath the tunic. The belt at her waist defined its smallness. Her body was slender; her hips slim.
    â€œWho are you? You two don’t work for the production company.” She looked around, fear and confusion in her eyes.
    â€œBefuddled, are ye? Ye saucy wench! Hit your head on a rock? Ye be daft. Ungrateful too! Angus, ye should have let her drown,” Graham grumbled.
    â€œNo. She’s too beautiful for that fate. Better she warm my bed.”
    â€œIn your dreams, cowboy! If you don’t work for Carter Welles, then you must be part of the Castle tour. Either way, I am not amused.”
    They both stared at her as if she had two heads. The older man enjoyed a hearty belly laugh.
    â€œNow, ye are part boy, part cow!”
    She stood up and reached for her sword. He wouldn’t give it to her, but laid a heavy hand on the back of her neck.
    â€œYour weapon belongs to me, wench, as do you.”
    It was the arrogant way he said it. Cat’s temper got the better of her, and she caught him by surprise with a roundhouse kick. Her foot made brief contact with his groin in a sharp jab. Angus buckled to his knees from the unexpected attack, and let out a roar of anger.
    Graham stepped up when Cat moved to take her sword. He grasped her arm and backhanded her across the face. The blow would have knocked her to the ground had he not been holding her arm.
    â€œNo! Dinnae beat her!” Angus spoke the words in a strangled gasp. It was difficult to speak through the pain. “If she pays, it will be at my hand!”
    The girl stared up at Graham as if suddenly terrified. She gingerly touched the blood at the corner of her mouth where her teeth had cut her cheek.
    â€œDear God, where am I? You would not have done that unless …”
    â€œShe’s mine!” Angus said.
    Cat scrambled to run from them, but Graham held her. He was kicked so much as