Shadows on a Sword Read Online Free PDF Page A

seep through the camp. At night, the mutterings that Theo heard around the fires grew louder and angrier with each passing day. Resentment at the presence of King Coloman’s troops surrounding them every step of the way only made things worse.
    Theo worried for Emma’s safety. It was irrational, he barely knew the girl. She was nothing to him. But if the crusaders’ anger boiled over … If trouble broke out, he was certain King Coloman would use his hostages in any way necessary to ensure the safety of his people. A small knot of unease sat in the back of his mind and accompanied him wherever he went, whatever he did. Emma was the first thing he thought of in the morning, the last thing in his mind at night before he sank into restless sleep. It amazed him, this preoccupation with her.
    In the evenings, after they had made camp, Theo often met Amalric to hunt. He enjoyed it, and it helped to keep his mind occupied. The Hungarian forests teemed with deer, wild boar and birds of all description. One evening, Amalric met him with further news.
    “Peter survived,” he said. “My lord Godfrey has just received word. The Hermit was in Constantinople at the time of the attack. A few of his leaders escaped as well, but it seems most of his followers died.”
    Theo jabbed at the ground with his spear. All appetite for hunting had suddenly deserted him. This news would only make matters worse. At that moment, a shout rang out from the trees ahead of them, and a boar burst into the open, foam flying from its snout, eyes wild and red. It was headed straight for Amalric, who had his back to it.
    “Watch out!” Theo realized that Amalric could not possibly turn and defend himself. He braced his feet, raised and threw his spear all in one quick, instinctive movement. The weapon took the animal cleanly behind the shoulder. The force of the boar’s charge was checked, but not stopped.
    Amalric whirled around. The boar buried one razor-sharp tusk in Amalric’s thigh, jerked it out with a tearing, sideways movement of its head, then faltered. Theo pulled his killing dagger from his belt and leaped forward. He was aware of more shouts, but all his attention was on the crazed beast in front of him. Its musky stink filled his nostrils. He yelled. The boar turned and fixed its eyes on Theo. It swerved away from Amalric toward him. Theo raised the dagger high, side-stepped at the last possible moment and plunged the dagger deep into the animal’s throat. The boar gave a choking, gurgling snort and dropped to its knees. Its head fell to one side.
    “That was
my
animal!”
    Theo jerked his gaze away from the dying boar, startled by the shout. The knight he had defeated in the lists, Guy, was standing in front of him, spear held ready as if to throw at him.
    “You had no right!”
    “No right to defend myself? To defend my friend, your own cousin? Look what
your
animal did to him.” Theo shot the words back. The blood-thirst excitement of the danger they had been in, of the killing, roared through him still. He tore the dagger from the boar’s body and faced Guy with it. He almost wished the knight would take just one more step toward him.
    Guy checked himself. He looked for the first time at Amalric, then turned back to Theo. His face contorted and he threw down his spear.
    “You,” he snarled, ignoring Amalric. “I might have known it would be you.” He spun around and strode back into the woods. His groom, a nervous, bent little man, scurried out and snatched up the spear, eyes averted from Theo and Amalric. Apologies spilled out of him in incoherent fragments.
    Theo took a deep breath, willing the storm within him to subside. “Your cousin certainly does not bear you much love,” he said finally.
    “And less for you, I think,” Amalric answered. His words caught in his throat; his mouth twisted in pain.
    Theo knelt quickly at his side. Blood was flowing from Amalric’s thigh. Theo ripped a piece from the sacking they had