Again and again and again they clashed, the men fairly dancing back and forth across the flagstones.Jordan jabbed suddenly and Dagobert parried, barely managing to deflect the sword point from his heart.They parted reluctantly, their breathing echoing in the room.
“How much do I know?”Jordan panted, his eyes wild as he lifted his brows.Alienor felt Eustache stiffen beside her.“How far have I seen behind the mask?Have I discovered what you would aspire to hide, Dagobert de Pereille?”
“I have naught to hide,” Dagobert maintained, but Jordan chuckled.
“’Tis a curious choice for a man to place a goat in the hall in his stead.I can only guess that your reason was compelling.”
“’Twas a jest, no more,” Dagobert argued, his forbidding expression belying his words.’Twas deadly serious, this game.
“The creature’s death was no jest.”Jordan dove forward only to have his thrust deflected and turned back against him.“And your house would have shared no merriment if it had been your own blood royal spilled in the smithy.”
A curious stillness descended over the occupants of the room, although Alienor did not understand.
Jordan smiled and shook his head.“So, you have persuaded them all that you are the key to the tales of old.”he mused, clicking his tongue as he surveyed the expressions of the household members gathered in the doorway.“How gullible people are in the south.”
Jordan’s inattention was his undoing, for Dagobert moved with quick deliberation.His blade caught Jordan’s beneath the hilt.A flick of his wrist and the broadsword flew out the window.It glittered in the sunlight as it spun through the air, then fell to the bailey below.Terror crossed Jordan’s face before a knowing expression settled in his eyes.
“’Twould not be chivalrous to strike down a man who had not a blade.”
Dagobert’s chin snapped up, his eyes blazing.Alienor saw that the king’s knight spoke the truth and that her husband would not strike him down now.
Jordan saw the truth as well, for he stepped toward Dagobert and pushed his blade away with a fingertip.“’Tis fortunate indeed that it was not you in the smithy, for ’twould be nigh impossible for your bloodline to continue through your Cathar mare.”
Fury flashed in Dagobert’s eyes, but before he could move, Jordan leapt to the window ledge.He blew Alienor a cocky kiss, then turned and jumped from the ledge.
The assembled company gasped as one and ran to the window, incredulous at the risk the man had taken, but Dagobert was there first.He swore softly and Alienor knew without seeing the bailey that Jordan had survived the three-story fall.
“Eustache!”he called, stepping away from the window even as the others crowded to it.Alienor caught a glimpse of Jordan far below, running toward the stables and clearly favoring one leg.“We ride in pursuit!He will not be far ahead of us.”
“Aye, my lord, he must be stopped.”Eustache turned from Alienor’s side to hasten away.
He had taken only one step before he swore under his breath.Alienor spun to find six knights in azure and gold closing ranks in the portal with blades at the ready.
“As must you,” the lead knight said.“’Twould be most distressing if the king did not receive word of this conspiracy.”
“As you wish it.”Eustache drew his blade before Alienor’s eyes.Dagobert shoved his way through the surprised retinue of his household to stand beside his companion and Alienor’s heart began to pound that they should be so outnumbered in their own keep.She pressed back against the wall with the others, feeling Giselle’s tiny hand slip into her own as the men stepped forward of one accord.The sound of fading hoof beats carried from the courtyard below and she swallowed, fearing she would be compelled to watch her husband’s demise.
Barely hadsteel tasted steel than one of the servants standing against the wall tugged a short dagger from his jerkin and joined the fray.Alienor felt her eyes widen when a second and a third followed suit and the numbers became more evenly matched.The world was divided into those who fought, those who worked and those who prayed, but in this moment, it seemed all were prepared to fight for Dagobert.
A young boy who usually ran errands throughout the keep braved the swinging broadswords.He sidestepped his way through the fight, darting out into the hallway to summon help before any could impede his progress.In the blink of an eye, only Giselle and Alienor stood against the stone wall as the room erupted into one large battle.
A servant fell right before Alienor and she dropped to her knees to assist him.Her movement drew the attention of the knight who had fought against him, and the mailed warrior in azure and gold turned his attention on the two women.
Alienor’s heart raced when he took a step toward her and she felt Giselle move away from her side.A chill weight remained in her hand despite the girl’s departure and Alienor risked a glimpse down.The maid had given her a short dagger: because her hand was behind her back, the knight was oblivious to this change.Alienor felt mingled gratitude and admiration for Giselle, even as she met the knight’s gaze.
Let him come and taste the bite of her blade.
She had no chance to reveal her weapon however, for just as the knight leapt toward her, Dagobert dispatched his own opponent with one fell swoop of his broadsword.He spun on his heel with the impact of the blow and immediately saw the other knight’s intent.He cut the knight down before he could move any closer to Alienor and the knight fell across the floor as though he would kiss her very toes.
The sound of another falling drew her attention to a victorious Eustache.A servant held a third knight at dagger point in the far corner, a fourth had lost his blade, and the remaining two threw down their weapons in defeat.
At that moment, the cook, the ostler and the châtelain leapt through the door looking dangerous.Alienor almost laughed at their evident disappointment that they came too late to the fray.
“To the dungeon with them,” Dagobert decreed.The men of his household nodded in agreement, setting to the task of incarcerating the defeated knights.With a worried frown, he turned to Eustache as he resheathed his blade, summoning the older man with an imperative glance.
“We must pursue him,” Dagobert said and Eustache nodded in agreement.
“And where would you go, my lord?”taunted the king’s knight who had led the five others, drawing the gazes of those remaining in the room.“Jordan’s path is an hour cold and you have yet to saddle your mount and don your mail.Do you think his destination was that obvious that any could guess it?He was following secret orders, and you would be skilled indeed to divine his path this day.”
