Knight's Blood Read Online Free PDF
Author: Julianne Lee
then. So, there was myself and Lindsay—”
“And who would this Lindsay be?”
“My wife.” A sudden urge to weep rose in him, and took him by surprise. Never before had he lost control like this in public. Panic he would embarrass himself in front of this guy quarreled with his grief over losing Lindsay. He fought back both emotions, and wondered why he was losing it now. For a moment his throat closed and it was impossible to speak, but Brochan only gazed at him with expectation that he should continue his story. Alex swallowed hard, then choked out more words. “But not at the time. She was a reporter for the London Times and I was flying her from my ship to Scotland.” God, he missed Lindsay! Just then he wanted nothing more than to have her back. Nothing mattered but that she would be safe again, and his again.
Brochan became quite excited and leapt to his feet, hands fluttering and his entire body aquiver. “Flying? In the air? You have flown?”
His job seemed distant now. An eternity ago. “Aye. I was a pilot by profession.” Was. Would he be again? He’d left London without telling anyone where he was going. Bad lieutenant. But he figured he’d be back from the past as soon as he’d found Lindsay and the baby, and return to the moment he’d left. Nobody would know he’d ever gone, just as before, no matter how long it took.
Brochan did a little dance, like a leprechaun in a cereal commercial, then plunked back down on his cushion to lean toward Alex with wide eyes and an eager look of hope on his face. “Och! Tell me what it is to fly! Please! I so envy those with wings!” He nodded as if to affirm his own words and waved Alex on to hear what his guest would say about being a pilot. More mead came, and Alex found himself expounding at length on the sensation of zooming about the sky and what it was like to be shot from the catapult on an aircraft carrier. The faerie wanted to know what an aircraft carrier was, and Alex was unable to resist talking about them. He let his troubles slip to the back of his mind.
Then there came some food. A roast bird that smelled heavenly and tasted so good he might have died then and been happy. The hospitality here pleased him, and Alex began to relax. After a while he was reminded of the story he’d been asked to tell, and went back to it.
“Oh. Right. The flight. Lindsay and I were going to northern Scotland, and we flew through this space where ol’ Nemed was casting a spell. Only he was doing it from back then.”
“He will. Or is.”
Alex ignored Brochan’s interruption, for it made his head hurt to puzzle out what the faerie had meant. “Whatever.” He waved a hand of dismissal. “In any case, we bailed—”
“You threw water from your ship?”
After a moment of mead-induced mental confusion, Alex worked out that Brochan meant bailing water from the bottom of a sailing ship. “No, we threw ourselves from the plane. It broke when it went through the portal, and we came down in a parachute.”
“Ah.” The faeries seemed to know what a parachute was, and that was odd.
“We ran into Robert right after that. On his way to the coronation, he knighted me—”
“Just like that, you were a knight? I was unaware the humans allowed commoners into the knighthood.”
Alex grunted. “Sure they do. All the time. Not back then, I guess, but eventually all you had to be was rich and famous. And British, I suppose. In any case, Robert was pretty hard up for fighting men, and he’d just seen me fight. I’d killed a guy who was out to kill him. It’s not like he took too close a look at my pedigree.”
“I see. And I suppose if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck—”
“Then I was as good as a noble and might as well be put to use.”
Alex’s stomach heaved of a sudden, and for a scary moment he thought he would lose his lunch. In a hot sweat he leaned over the
“And who would this Lindsay be?”
“My wife.” A sudden urge to weep rose in him, and took him by surprise. Never before had he lost control like this in public. Panic he would embarrass himself in front of this guy quarreled with his grief over losing Lindsay. He fought back both emotions, and wondered why he was losing it now. For a moment his throat closed and it was impossible to speak, but Brochan only gazed at him with expectation that he should continue his story. Alex swallowed hard, then choked out more words. “But not at the time. She was a reporter for the London Times and I was flying her from my ship to Scotland.” God, he missed Lindsay! Just then he wanted nothing more than to have her back. Nothing mattered but that she would be safe again, and his again.
Brochan became quite excited and leapt to his feet, hands fluttering and his entire body aquiver. “Flying? In the air? You have flown?”
His job seemed distant now. An eternity ago. “Aye. I was a pilot by profession.” Was. Would he be again? He’d left London without telling anyone where he was going. Bad lieutenant. But he figured he’d be back from the past as soon as he’d found Lindsay and the baby, and return to the moment he’d left. Nobody would know he’d ever gone, just as before, no matter how long it took.
Brochan did a little dance, like a leprechaun in a cereal commercial, then plunked back down on his cushion to lean toward Alex with wide eyes and an eager look of hope on his face. “Och! Tell me what it is to fly! Please! I so envy those with wings!” He nodded as if to affirm his own words and waved Alex on to hear what his guest would say about being a pilot. More mead came, and Alex found himself expounding at length on the sensation of zooming about the sky and what it was like to be shot from the catapult on an aircraft carrier. The faerie wanted to know what an aircraft carrier was, and Alex was unable to resist talking about them. He let his troubles slip to the back of his mind.
Then there came some food. A roast bird that smelled heavenly and tasted so good he might have died then and been happy. The hospitality here pleased him, and Alex began to relax. After a while he was reminded of the story he’d been asked to tell, and went back to it.
“Oh. Right. The flight. Lindsay and I were going to northern Scotland, and we flew through this space where ol’ Nemed was casting a spell. Only he was doing it from back then.”
“He will. Or is.”
Alex ignored Brochan’s interruption, for it made his head hurt to puzzle out what the faerie had meant. “Whatever.” He waved a hand of dismissal. “In any case, we bailed—”
“You threw water from your ship?”
After a moment of mead-induced mental confusion, Alex worked out that Brochan meant bailing water from the bottom of a sailing ship. “No, we threw ourselves from the plane. It broke when it went through the portal, and we came down in a parachute.”
“Ah.” The faeries seemed to know what a parachute was, and that was odd.
“We ran into Robert right after that. On his way to the coronation, he knighted me—”
“Just like that, you were a knight? I was unaware the humans allowed commoners into the knighthood.”
Alex grunted. “Sure they do. All the time. Not back then, I guess, but eventually all you had to be was rich and famous. And British, I suppose. In any case, Robert was pretty hard up for fighting men, and he’d just seen me fight. I’d killed a guy who was out to kill him. It’s not like he took too close a look at my pedigree.”
“I see. And I suppose if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck—”
“Then I was as good as a noble and might as well be put to use.”
Alex’s stomach heaved of a sudden, and for a scary moment he thought he would lose his lunch. In a hot sweat he leaned over the
Similar Books
Reckless
Samantha Love
Highland Rake
Terry Spear
Everybody's After Love
Lyssa Layne
The Wrong Man
Matthew Louis
Where
Kit Reed
Paradise Lodge
Nina Stibbe
The Legend of Mickey Tussler
Frank; Nappi
Bette Midler
Mark Bego
