Page 20 of A Knight in Tarnished Armor

Linnet watched, horrified as William raced like the wind toward his sword. She could see that the knight was closer and faster, his horse pounding furiously toward William, past the stream, past the bushes, under the wide branches of the river elms.

A sudden flash of gray dropped from a tree and landed on the mighty warhorse.

"Swithun!" Linnet called out, horrified.

The warhorse reared suddenly and shrieked, its hooves pawing the air. Swithun screeched and clawed the horse's hindquarters. The mace flung around and snagged on a tree limb, jerking the mace hilt from the knight's hand. Momentum wrapped the mace around the tree limb with a snap, the spiked mace ball now hopelessly tangled in its own chain.

The knight struggled to control his horse, the mace hilt forgotten and hanging uselessly from the low branches of the tree, her cat clinging to the horse’s hind end.

William grabbed his sword and leapt onto his mount.

The knight hauled on the reins and spun the warhorse around so swiftly that Swithun flew off. Linnet screamed and ran. But the cat hit the water with a loud shriek.

The knight rode off and William turned to ride after him.

Linnet ran straight into the river. "Swithun! Swithun!" She struggled through the current to the spot where he'd hit the water. She slipped and grabbed at a rock. "Swithun!"

Clinging to the rock she straightened and spotted his tiny head bobbing away from her. She screamed, "Swithun!" and splashed toward him, her tunic catching on some river rocks.

William's horse thundered past her, splashing water in all directions. He bent down and grabbed the half-drowned cat. A second later he was in front of her, his horse blocking her from drifting downriver.

His hand shot out and gripped her arm. With a snap he hauled her up and plopped her down between his legs. He was cursing the air blue. Linnet made the mistake of looking over her shoulder at him.

He was furious.

7

Linnet stared up at the night sky, clear and filled with bright twinkling stars. She sighed, and looked about her. There was nothing around but dark forest and her mounds of pillows. William had said little to her since his lecture on the stupidity of leaping in the river, especially when she admitted to him she did not care and she would do the same thing again.

So it was in warring silence they had traveled until darkness made going on too risky. They had made camp and eaten in that same silence.

But she had felt him watching every motion she made, and it made her nervous when he watched her so intently, as if he had to do so. She tossed and turned on the pillows she used as a pallet, then angrily jerked her covers higher. She tried counting stars. She still could not sleep. But then William was not beside her.

He had waited until she was still before he crossed the small clearing. He stood above her for a moment. Finally he lay down and locked his hands behind his head. He had been thinking of the day he'd had, when he heard something—just a small noise. It could have been nothing but a squirrel in the trees. Still he lay listening.

"I think I see a wolf," Linnet said.

William snapped upright, his dagger drawn. "Where?"

She stared at him with a startled expression, then pointed at the sky. "Up there. In the starry sky."

He sagged back down on his pallet to keep from shaking her. Star shapes in the sky, he thought with disgust.

"I'm sorry. I was counting stars and spotted it. I didn't mean to frighten you."

"I wasn't frightened."

She was quiet. William closed his eyes.

"Do you suppose the stars are different in different places. I mean do people see different stars in different places?"

Certain stars were used as guides, but the others, well, he never had thought about them.

"I see a dragon right up there. Can you not see it?"

He looked at the night sky. It looked as it always did. Dark, powerful, and filled with small specks of light. Finally he said, "Where?"

She shifted closer so that their heads were right next to each other. He could have cared less about the stars at that moment. As she showed him the shape, her cheek so close to his that all he had to do was turn his head, just turn it and his mouth would touch hers.