Bloodless Knights Read Online Free PDF

to the
forest and avenge thy brother. Do as I demand!” Ladislas turned toward the
queen who had quietly appeared from the stable. She reached for his arm only to
be shoved.
    “I
will not!” I turned the opposite direction and oddly, my father didn’t bark any
further orders; merely kept walking.
    The
king stopped in the middle of the fairground and shouted to all in the area, “I
am offering thirty tarins to each un-oathed man who joins my army. Any man, in
my army or not, who slays the dragon shall be awarded fifty tarins. To all of
thee, I must bid farewell, as obviously these festivities are no longer
‘festivious’. I must gather an army to avenge the kidnapping of my son’s body.
Pass along my offer to every man ye knoweth!” A horse was brought to my father;
he mounted it and rode toward the castle.
    I
shook my head in disbelief. King Ladislas was offering gold coins to encourage
men to join his army? He didn’t lack money but apparently he did know that
others did. It was shocking indeed to hear him want to give away his money.
Maybe he had listened when I told him we were losing villagers and armed
men. What an odd day indeed. Odder still, Sir Lugina continued following me as
I wandered. I walked toward the woods, simply to see if the knight would
continue following me. He did.
    When
we were a few hundred paces from the stadium near a thick grove of fragrant
pine trees, I stopped walking. I turned toward Sir Lugina and stared at him.
“Why art thou following me? Ye should be running as fast and as far as ye can.
After all, ye just slayed my brother…that should have been me, granted…but thou
heard the king’s orders; I’m supposed to slay thee.”
    Sir
Lugina didn’t speak. He removed his helm and startled me with a face I
recognized but didn’t believe was under the mask. “Thou will not do that, will
thou?” Vivian Lattsgale’s rosy lips whispered.
    #
# #
    “Please,
Lord Tristen, don’t tell anyone about this.” Even with her hair pinned up,
Vivian was stunning. I could not believe this beautiful woman was now my enemy.
    “Well,
Lady Vivian, thou put down a beating on me and slew my brother, so obviously I
don’t want anyone to knoweth that the Dow knights got thrashed by a girl.
However, it’s going to cost thee.”
    “What
dost thou want?” She placed her delicate hand on her armored hip and tilted her
head toward me.
    Many
requests traveled through my mind but I only voiced two. “First, ye must
pretend to be dead so I may tell my father I have slain thee. Second, ye must
attend to my home and be my servant until I release thee.” I expected a slight
argument from her, but she simply nodded.
    “Very
well,” she said. “We must fight then; I don’t want the watchmen to think I just
gave in if they see us. I want to ‘die’ valiantly.” She drew a dagger from a
leather scabbard hanging at her side.
    I
didn’t move. “Art thou joking? Nobody can see us!” The tone in my voice gave
away my surprise.
    “No,
my Lord, I’m not joking. Thou never knows who’s watching in a kingdom; spies
everywhere! Thou just lost thy brother and thou art the only one who tried to
save him. The fact ye let him ride for thee and take thy beating is not my
concern. Thou seem to be a man of character and I believe I can trust thee.
However, if I’m going to be slain, it has to look convincing.” Vivian held up
the dagger and charged at me.
    “I
did not let Brendan ride for me!” I quickly drew my dagger but felt
silly feigning a knife fight with a fully armored knight. The silliness abruptly
vanished when Vivian pounced on me, pulling me viciously to the ground and
whispering “Of course thou didn’t! Kick me hard and when I’m on the ground,
pretend to slit my throat.”
    Vivian’s
helmet tumbled to the ground as she rolled slightly to the side, allowing me to
move my leg. I tried to merely pretend to kick her but still made contact with
her chest plate. She expertly threw the knife to