[The deBurghs 07] - Reynold De Burgh: The Dark Knight Read Online Free PDF Page A

Ahead lay the ruins of a stone building, and then the road veered round an odd hill. Opposite a small church was situated, unremarkable except for some kind of decoration on its side. Reynold slowed his mount further in order to take a better look, only to draw in a sharp breath of recognition.
    ‘Is that a dragon?’ Peregrine whispered. Again, the words had barely left his mouth when a sound echoed in the silence. But this time it was no errant noise produced by the wind, but the loud and unmistakable ringing of bells. Church bells .
     
    Sabina Sexton stood in the shadows of the chapel as the echoes died away and watched the two strangers in the roadway.
    ‘This will surely be the death of us!’ Ursula said, dropping the bell ropes as though they burned her.
    ‘Even brigands would not kill us in a church, surely,’ Sabina said, hoping it were true. She had run out of options, and these two were the first people they had seen in weeks. When young Alec had alerted her to their arrival, she had hurried to the church, hoping that a meeting here would offer more protection than the roadway.
    ‘And these two do not resemble robbers. Perhaps they are pilgrims,’ Sabina said.
    ‘Then how are they to help us? They will likely run away and spread the tale of Grim’s End even further afield.’
    Sabina hoped not, for already they were cut off, their small corner of the world avoided by any who knew of its troubles. Outside, the man dismounted, and Sabina stepped to the window for a better view. ‘He does not have the look of a pilgrim, nor does his horse. That is a mighty steed, the kind a knight would ride.’
    Ursula hurried over to join her, but Sabina kept her attention on the stranger. There was something about the way he held himself that made him different from any man she had ever seen. Straight and tall, wide-shouldered, with dark hair falling to his shoulders, he wasn’t dressed as a knight, and yet he had not fled the village. Nor did he seem fearful, just wary. And confident.
    ‘He wears no mail or helmet or gauntlets,’ Ursula said.
    ‘Yes, but look at his sword,’ Sabina whispered. The scabbard was too large to hold the sort of weapon a pilgrim would carry or handle with ease, unless that pilgrim were a knight…
    ‘He has a harsh visage,’ Ursula said, and Sabina finally turned to face her attendant.
    ‘He does not,’ Sabina whispered. She was about to vow that she thought him handsome, but Ursula’s worried expression stopped her. As did the realisation that she should not be focusing on such unimportant details when so much was at stake.
    ‘Very well. Then let me speak to them, mistress, while you hide in the cupboard,’ Ursula said.
    ‘Nay. You hide, and I will treat with him.’
    ‘Mistress, you do not understand! You are a young, beautiful woman. We know nothing of this man, except that he looks dangerous. At least wait until Urban arrives.’
    ‘I cannot wait,’ Sabina said heatedly, though she kept her voice to a whisper. ‘If we dally, these two will be gone, and our last chances for aid gone with them.’
    Ursula started wringing her hands. ‘Mistress, please, we can leave ourselves. We have but to—’
    Sabina cut her off with a sharp shake of her head. The argument was a familiar one, which she did not intend to resume here and now. Quickly, she glanced out the window to see that the boy had dismounted as well, but it was the man who held her interest.Large, muscular and formidable, he seemed the answer to her prayers. Drawing a moaning Ursula to her side, Sabina stepped back into the shadows, her hand on a small dagger that was hardly more than an eating utensil.
    It would be little use against the strength of the stranger, but Sabina did not fear for her safety. Instead, despite Ursula’s warnings and the man’s grim expression, for the first time in months she felt a glimmer of hope.
     
    Motioning the pale-faced Peregrine towards the door of the building, Reynold drew his