The Lethal Flame (Flame Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Reaching the wall he turned again and raising his sword his scream, “Stand together!” brought on the army.  They charged at them, and they were caught in the maelstrom as the screams tore the air. 
    Damien called for the ladders and artillery to concentrate on weak positions, for one contingent of soldiers to fall back while fresh ones he ordered forward.  All this he normally did from the ground, leading his men but today he stayed on his horse, with Lady Keri secured in his arms.  The battle moved quickly and long before he estimated the gates were pushed open and he charged forward, Phantom leaping the fragments and they entered the courtyard.  His sword slashed to the left, then the right time and again with the Lady Keri clinging to him while she tried to keep herself modestly covered.  It had been quite the strategic move taking her clothes off.  Any struggle would leave the woman naked in front of all his men.  He might be the one in charge but men were still men and he guessed she would not be foolish enough to struggle. 
    Finally the battle ended and the noise began to dwindle as prisoners were gathered.  Give him a battle any day, it was what was expected of him next that haunted him at night when he closed his eyes.  He slid from the horse, reaching up and plucking Keri easily from the saddle.  She followed eagerly for any tug on the manacles only aggravated her wounds.  He could hear it in the intake of breath and feel the wobble in her step all the way to his end of the chain.  How he wished this errand of the king’s was over with and he could collect on the king’s promise and spend the rest of his days trying to forget what he had done.  What would he do with the Lady Keri?  The widowed Lady Keri echoed inside his head.  “Do you dare raise your swords against your rightful king?” Damien demanded an answer as he moved among the soldiers that had been captured.  The sight of the prisoner he drug behind him kept drawing their attention despite their precarious circumstances.  He knew it was the shock of seeing what he must have done to the woman.  The blood caked to her, the large manacles that could hold a man like him dragging against her arms, the utter look of defeat surrounded her as she tiredly kept up with him.  He gazed at her for a moment, she was such a tiny creature his cloak fell all the way to the ground, her bare feet poking out from underneath.  He hated the monster he had become.  He looked away quickly.
    “Who among you accepts Richard as your sovereign king?”
    Some grumbles came up from the small group gathered but too many were John’s supporters here.  Already his squire, Edwin was directing the making of quick gallows.  One by one the men were dragged there and it was Damien’s kick that ended their lives as he pushed the blocks from underneath them.  By the time they were all dead the lady was shivering beside him.  He could see her out of the corner of his eye, her gaze turned up toward the last man who swung from the rope.  Then those eyes were on him and he could feel the heat of them, the hatred for him.  He was the man who could kill without batting an eye.  He met her gaze and dared her to judge him.
    “Prepare the master chambers with a bath!” he ordered Edwin before turning to Cyrille.  “We stay here until dawn, secure the walls.”
    “What of the men?” Cyrille asked, in his deep gravelly voice.
    “Tell them to see to their duties and the feast, and then they may have their recreation.”
    Damien kept his men in close check, including his brother.   He had denied his men the spoils of war throughout the journey, but he was feeling the disquiet growing in the ranks and knew this was the night as they neared the end of their journey he would have to turn them loose.  For Cyrille the spoils of war was usually his only chance for a woman, not even the whores liked to lay with him because of the scars. Not that Damien had made him