Daughters of the Dagger 03 - Amber Read Online Free PDF Page B

hurting him as well as his head, and he was tired, and had no more strength to argue with the priest right now.
    “Fine,” he said, “but this conversation is far from over.”
    Lucas reached for the bag on the table, surprised the priest hadn’t just taken the coins when he was unconscious. He realized he had probably waited because he didn’t want Amber to see him doing it. His hand stopped in midair. He turned back to the priest.
    “Take off the damned chains first,” he said, holding his hands out to him. “And I want my weapons returned at once.”
    “Give me the bag ,” he countered. “And you are too weak and wounded to use a sword right now, nor is it appropriate to have it within the monastery walls, so I’ll hold on to your weapons until I feel you are ready to have them returned.”
    “These cha ins are reserved for nobles on pilgrimage,” he pointed out. “You knew I was the son of a noblewoman and that’s why you put them on me in the first place, wasn’t it? But no one else knows that, so you needn’t have wasted them on me.”
    “ It was necessary to make sure people respected you enough to buy the relics from you without questioning the authenticity of the pieces. Besides, you punched me before you left on pilgrimage in one of your angry fits and you had to do penance for that, or have you forgotten.”
    “ I haven’t forgotten. I hit you because I was angry at the way you treat me as well as others. And they are fake relics,” he reminded him. “You disgust me to be taking advantage of poor innocent people who are trying to buy their way to Heaven.”
    “Now, now, Lucifer. If they were innocent they would most likely never be on a pilgrimage to begin with or be trying to collect all the relics they could to ensure the saving of their souls. And the money goes to the double monastery, as Bowerwood is large and takes much coin to run it. So those sinners were only helping out the church, and for that they will be smiled upon by God. Besides, I let you keep your weapons to protect those people, so they were in no real danger.”
    “You are no priest , but the devil in disguise,” ground out Lucas. “You will burn in Hell for your greed and deceit.”
    Father Armand reached out and grabbed the chain around Lucas’ s neck and pulled, the metal chaffing into his skin. Though his hands were not bound together, they were encircled with metal rings and chains hung from them as well. It was a form of punishment and embarrassment that he could have done without.
    “Well then,” said the priest , his face getting very close when he spoke, “I guess I’ll have company in Hell as you’ll be right there alongside me as my accomplice.”
    Lucas tightened the muscles in his neck, surprised at how strong the man was when angered. He didn’t want to fight a priest, but neither did he want to be subservient to the man any more either.
    “I almost died trying to carry out your scheme. And if I’d had anywhere else to go at the time, I would have left you and your deceptive ways in a minute.”
    “You’re in too deep, Lucifer, and you know it. You owe your life as well as your soul to me for raising you and keeping you from a life of poverty.”
    “You promised me my own castle after this pilgrimage, and I want it!”
    “Nay, you never finished the pilgrima ge, so you get nothing until you deliver.” The priest dropped the chain and it hit Lucas in the chest.
    The man’s lies once again had him trappe d as well as angered. He’d been living on borrowed promises, doing his penance for leaving the church, thinking he was saving his blackened soul as well as ensuring a wealthy lifestyle for himself. That’s the only reason he agreed to sell the fake relics for the priest to begin with.
    It seemed an easy way to ma ke money quickly and the reward he was to be given when he finished was more than he could ever attain from being a mercenary.
    Being a hired sword was a cold, cruel job and