Bewilderment filled her.
“Amaro!” she gasped. “It’syou!”
Amaro knew he was in a bad way, now recognized by Hereford’s eldest daughter, who had been a trained assassin long ago. This was no feeble woman who had attacked him.
He had to fight back.
The shovel he’d been carrying before he attacked Lady Leominster was a few feet away. When Christin swung the wood at him again, he batted it away and lunged for the shovel. Meanwhile, Melusine was pulling a dazed and nearly drowned Elle away from the laundry basin as Christin did battle against a significantly larger opponent. When Christin saw that Amaro was going for the shovel, she threw the wood at him as hard as she could, clipping him in the face. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop him, as he managed to grab the shovel.
Christin darted away.
“Run,” she commanded Elle and Melusine. “Run!Find help!”
Elle wasn’t able to move very fast. She still had water in her nose and lungs, so every breath was a struggle. Melusine was trying to pull her along, but Amaro was moving to cut off their exit. As Christin picked up an iron poker used to tend the cauldron fire, Amaro pulled out a dagger from somewhere around his waist. All good knights carried an assortment of daggers, and even though Amaro was posing as a servant, he was not unarmed.
Unfortunately for them.
The fight had just become more dangerous.
The dagger in Amaro’s hand went flying at Melusine, catching her in the center of her chest before she could get out of the way. As she toppled over, he produced another dagger and hurled it at Elle. She was too weak and dazed to dodge it, and it slammed into her upper chest, near her neck.
She went down as well.
Horrified, Christin waited for a third dagger to come flying at her. She began screaming, trying to attract attention, and much to her surprise, Asa suddenly appeared in the yard entry. The truth was that her screams hadn’t attracted him. He’d seen Melusine and Christin go into the yard, and, wanting very much to see Melusine, he had followed.
But what he stumbled upon was a horrific scene.
“Asa!” Christin screamed. “Help us! He is trying to kill us!”
Asa went into battle mode. He didn’t have to see more than he’d already seen or hear more than he’d already heard. His broadsword, that magnificent piece, was pulled from its sheath, and he charged across the yard, heading for Amaro, as more men began to run toward the yard. Christin’s screams had brought them from all over the bailey.
Asa raced at Amaro, who had another dagger in his hand. Prevented from throwing it at Christin, who rushed to Elle and threw herself on top of the woman to prevent Amaro from injuring her further with another flying blade, he turned the dagger on Asa and threw it. Because Asa was a moving target, it caught him in the thigh, but it didn’t slow the man down. He came down on top of Amaro with that beautiful sword and nearly cut the man’s left arm off.
Suddenly, the yard was filling with men, including Hugo, who had command of the gatehouse because the other knights all seemed to be sleeping. In fact, he’d had command of Brython since last night, since the beginning of that eventful feast. As he came into the yard and saw the carnage, he saw Asa standing over Amaro, who was trying desperately to escape the man. As Hugo watched, Asa brought the sword down and planted it squarely in Amaro’s chest. The man collapsed, never to move again.
Having no idea what was happening, Hugo caught sight of Christin as she pushed herself off a wet and bloodied LadyLeominster. A few feet away lay Melusine, flat on her back, and as Asa ran to Melusine, Hugo ran to Christin.
“My God,” he said, absolutely horrified at what he was seeing. “Lady de Sherrington, what happened?”
Christin was close to panicking. “We came into the yard and Amaro was trying to drown Elle,” she said, her voice lifting in terror. “Hurry! Rouse Curtis! Rouse my father! We must get the ladies into the keep!”
Hugo turned to the soldiers who had crowded in behind him and gave them the commands to rouse the knights. As the soldiers fled and the alarm was raised all over the castle, Hugo dropped to his knees beside Elle, who was only semiconscious. A quick assessment of the dagger had him shaking his head at Christin.
“We need to get her into bed, where this can be removed,” he said. “If we remove it now, we risk having her bleed to death in front of us. I will take her!”
He scooped Elle into his arms with Christin’s help, and as he turned for the keep with an escort of frantic soldiers, Christin went to Asa as he held Melusine in his arms. The man was sobbing, rocking Melusine’s limp form back and forth.
“Asa, put her down,” Christin said urgently. “Let me see her. Asa,put her down!”
But Asa wouldn’t do it. He continued to hold her, tears and mucus running down his face. “He killed her,” he wept. “Hekilledher!”
Appalled, Christin had to forcibly pry Melusine away from him. She had a dagger sticking out of the center of her chest, right between her breasts. There was an enormous red bloom that radiated out from the dagger’s entry point, and Christin put her fingers to Melusine’s neck to feel for a pulse.
There was none.
Christin opened an eyelid to see that Melusine’s eyes were fixed. There was no movement. She felt for another pulse at her wrist and put her hand on the woman’s chest for any hint of breathing, but there was nothing.
Everything was still.
