Knight's Prize Read Online Free Page A

astonishment, he almost
missed deflecting her sec ond strike as well. He stepped back,
but she followed, her weapon swinging with such
unexpected speed that he could scarcely keep it from biting
him.
    This
couldn't be happening, he marveled. He couldn't be sparring
with a lady. 'Twas unseemly. And undignified. And unchivalrous.
    Naturally
he could have beat her soundly. He was far more powerful than she and surely far
more experienced, no matter how quickly she moved. But he dared not unleash the
full measure of his strength.
    "My
lady, I beg you, stop!"
    She
jabbed him in the shoulder. "What? No ballocks?" she taunted.
    "God's
breath! I will not fight with a woman."
    "And
what if that woman means to kill you?"
    Her
eyes glinted like green fire, and he wondered if she did mean
to kill him. Perchance that was what Rauve meant when he predicted Rand wouldn't last an hour.
    Still,
when he'd earned his spurs, he'd sworn to do no harm to a lady. He might be a
half-Scots bastard and a lowly mercenary, but he proudly upheld the vows of
knighthood.
    So,
praying he was making the right choice, he cast his sword to the ground in
surrender.
    " Helena !" came a
scream from outside the lists.
    He
glanced away from Helena 's
eyes, which had taken on a wicked gleam, and looked toward the source of the
outburst. A lovely little lass was rushing across the sward, her unwieldy blue
skirts gathered in her fists, her unbound hair streaming out behind her like a
dark pennon. Her face was beautiful, as delicate and pale as an apple blossom,
but her pretty features were twisted with worry.
    "Don't
kill him!" she cried, skidding to a stop beside the others at the wattle
fence.
    Helena called back over her shoulder.
"I wasn't going to kill him." One corner of her lip curved up.
"I was only going to maim him."
    ************************************
    Miriel
wasn't about to let Helena slice one hair from Rand 's head. "Nay!" She hoisted up her skirts
and began scrambling over the wattle fence.
    "My lady." Sir
Rauve protested, seizing her shoulder, " 'tis best you stay
out of it."
    His patronizing
tone tested Miriel's good nature. None theless, she managed to smile sweetly
at his restraining fist as she bit out, "Unhand me, you great oaf."
    His
black eyes widened in surprise, and he let her go at once.
    As
she rushed across the field, 'twas all Miriel could do to keep her temper in
check. Curse it all! She'd had enough of being treated like a helpless babe. It
had been she who'd
saved Rivenloch from the English, after all. It had been her secret
passageway. Her weapons. And her genius. Even if no one knew it. She was not an
infant to be coddled and swaddled in a smothering mantle. Especially not by a
sister only a few years older than she.
    Helena was going to ruin
everything.
    As
Miriel drew near, her sister sighed, her gaze softening in condescension.
"Silly lass, I was only going to teach him a lesson."
    Mayhap 'twas
the years of being silent when Miriel wanted to scream. Or pretending she
was helpless when sh e could easily overcome
men twice her size. Or standing in the long shadow of her illustrious
sisters. Whatever the reason, against all Sung Li's training in
self-control, count er to everything she knew about the
importance of serenity, contrary to her usual complacent
behavior, when Miriel felt the blood simmer in her veins,
she acted on
    With a great heave
of rage, she shoved Helena away.
    S u rp rise made Helena stagger backward, but her warrior instincts were strong. Out of habit,
she swept the point of her sword to Miriel's throat,
eliciting a huge gasp from the onlookers at the fence, who'd never seen anyone
brandish a weapon at meek Miriel.
    Equally
stunning was the speed with which a second blade knocked Helena 's aside.
    'Twas
Rand's dagger that did the deed, and both Miriel and Helena swiveled their
heads toward him in awe.
    The
exchange happened so fast, Miriel hardly knew what to say. And poor Rand , his brow creased with confusion