There was nothing to be done about it here, and no timeto staunch the bleeding. Drawing his sword, he plunged Griffin into the woodsafter the retreating attackers, who looked to be Welsh from their short leatherjerkins and bare legs. God'sbones,and he had thoughtthey were done with these rebels!
Several quickly disappeared into the dense undergrowth,but Guy caught up with one man who was almost to his horse. With a single swipefrom his sword, he decapitated him. Charging on through the gathering gloom, heheard shrill death screams behind him and hoped they weren't the cries of hisown men.
Spying another Welshman already in the saddle andveering his horse hard about, Guy gave chase and easily caught up with him,having the advantage of momentum. Dodging a swinging mace, he struck sideways,and the dark-haired man shrieked horribly, falling from his mount and writhingupon the ground. Guy jumped down from hisdestriertodeal a death blow, but his sword stopped in midair when he saw his victim'sbearded face. The dying man was no Welshman.
"You!" Guy cried, recognizing BaldwinD'Eyvill. He fell to his knees, wincing at the fiery painin his thigh, and grabbed the knight's bloodied jerkin to shake him hard. "ByGod, man, what mad folly is this?" he demanded, drawing great raggedbreaths.
"So . . . you still live," Baldwin rasped,his hate-filled eyes glittering deliriously in the twilight. They fell to thecrimson stain spreading beneath Guy's chausses. "But not for long. Youwill not escape death again as you did in the Holy Land." He grimaced, hishands futilely gripping his gaping stomach wound. "At last. At last I haveavenged . . . my beloved Christine."
Cold realization settled upon Guy. "You murderedthe Syrian Governor's messenger." When Baldwin turned away, groaning, Guyshook him again fiercely, disregarding the knight's cries of pain. "Youbastard! Your foul treachery almost cost me my head!"
He was greeted by a bubbling rattle from Baldwin'sthroat, and knew then the man had only moments to live.
"Tell me, damn you! Roger planned this ambush,didn't he? You and the others were sent to murder me, but you disguisedyourselves as marauding Welshmen so the blame could not be traced."
"Revenge will be sweet . . . for both of us,"the dying knight whispered cryptically, a macabre grin on his swarthy face. "Seeyou in hell, deWarenne. The arrow . . . was poison .. ."
Baldwin jerked, gasping desperately for air as bloodoozed from the comer of his mouth, then suddenly he exhaled in a wheezing gaspand fell still. Dead.
Guy released the jerkin, his hands stiff from clutchingit so tightly, and looked with horror at the wound in his leg.
A poison arrow. God help him. His own mortality was soglaring at that moment he could almost taste it. He could almost smell thestench of death creeping over him. One burning thought seized him.
He must get home. He must see Leila. If he was destinedto die this night, let it be in her arms, the arms of the only woman he hadever loved.
"Langton!Burnell!"he shouted through the trees, rising shakily to his feet. He wiped the coldsweat from his face, knowing true fear for the first time in his life. Was ithappening so swiftly?
Feeling strangely weak, he hoisted himself into thesaddle as the sound of hooves pounded toward him. Relief flooded him at thesight of Langton and two other knights. They would help him get home.
"My lord!" Henry cried, reining in besidehim. "We've been searching for you. We managed to cut down four of therebels, but the rest escaped—"
"Not rebels," Guy cut him off. "Gervais'sknights, sent to kill me." He gestured tothe dead man lying on the ground, the eyes staring sightlessly at the darkeningsky. "BaldwinD'Eyvill." He leaned upon thepommel, gritting his teeth against the pain. "Get me toWarenneCastle, Henry. Fast. I took an arrow in the leg.Just before he died,D'Eyvillsaid it was tipped withpoison."
"Can you ride?" Henry asked,his face etched with shock and worry.
"I don't know . . ." In the next instant, theknight was taking the reins from Guy's trembling fingers and jumping up into thesaddle in front of him.
"For God's sake, my lord, hold on to me,"Henry pleaded, wrapping Guy's arms around his waist and securing them with hisfree hand. He turned to the other twoknights. "FindMontgomery andBurnelland tell them what's happened.We'll meet you at the castle." Then, kicking the war-horse, he shouted, "Onwith you, Griffin, like the wind. Go!"
As they crashed through the woods to the road, Guy restedhis forehead against Henry's shoulder. The pain in his leg was becomingexcruciating, unbearable.
"Leila. I must see her . . ."
"You will, my lord. We haven't far to go."
It was the last thing Guy heard.
Chapter 24
"Oh, my lady, come quick! Something terrible hashappened!" Enid cried, rushing into the bedchamber.
Leila whirled from the window, where she had beenadmiring the tranquil view of the river, and was astonished to see tearsstreaming down the serving woman's face. Her heart leaped into her throat, hermind racing. "Nicholas?" He had gone to play in the garden after theyclosed up the hospital for the day
"No, no, the boy is fine.'Tisyour husband."
"Guy?" Now it seemed her heart had stopped,everything growing eerily still around her.
"They've taken him to your hospital, my lady. Iwas near the gatehouse when Sir Henry rode in with him, and he sent me to fetchyou. Your husband was wounded in the leg. A poison arrow." Enid wrung herhands miserably. "They said it was a surprise attack. Some of LordGervais'smen."
