The Prize Read Online Free PDF Page B

growling. "We're not defeated," he snapped. "For God's sake, put your sword away. You haven't even begun your training, and for that reason I do not fault you. If, however, after six months under my direction, you should make a similar misjudgment, I'll take your throat between my hands and try to strangle some sense into you. Do you understand?"
    Royce's voice had taken on a hard edge. Ingelram nodded vigorously. "I shall willingly give you my neck if I fail you again," he vowed dramatically. "No other defeat will I—"
    "For the love of God, will you cease calling this minor inconvenience a defeat?" Royce demanded. "Lady Nicholaa has only delayed me; she hasn't eluded me. When I'm ready to leave for London, I'll go to the abbey, and I won't have to go inside, Ingelram. She'll come out to me."
    He took a threatening step toward his vassal. "Do you doubt me?"
    "Nay, my lord."
    Royce nodded. He didn't explain how he planned to accomplish this feat, and Ingelram knew better than to ask. The topic was duly dismissed.
    Soon, however, Royce was forced to put the matter of collecting Nicholaa on the bottom of his list of duties. Hugh was far more ill than anyone realized. By the following morning the warrior was burning with fever.
    Royce stayed by his friend's side for three long days and nights. He wasn't about to let any of his own inexperienced young men or the Saxon servants near the Norman. They would poison him at the first opportunity, or so Royce believed. The duty of caring for the knight therefore fell on Royce's shoulders. It was a task he was, unfortunately, unqualified to accomplish with much skill.
    Royce kept the tax collector in residence and left Hugh's side only once during the long vigil, to question the Saxon about Nicholaa's family. He'd already formulated a plan to force the woman from her sanctuary, but he wanted to make certain he hadn't missed any other considerations.
    Hugh's condition deteriorated. By week's end, it became apparent he would die if he didn't receive proper treatment. In desperation, Royce took his friend to the abbey. Both Ingelram and Hugh's vassal, Charles, flanked the cart in which Hugh rested.
    The four men were denied entrance to the abbey until they agreed to remove their weapons. Royce didn't argue with the order, and once the swords were handed over, the iron gates to the abbey were opened.
    The abbess met them in the center of the stone-paved courtyard. She was an old woman, nearly forty by Royce's estimation, stooped in posture, too, but with a surprisingly clear, unwrinkled complexion.
    She was dressed in black, from the veil hiding her hair to the shoes covering her feet, and though the top of her head didn't even reach his shoulders, she seemed unimpressed by his size. Her gaze was direct, unwavering.
    The abbess reminded him of Sister Danielle… or rather Lady Nicholaa, he corrected.
    "Why have you placed your soldiers around the walls of this abbey?" the nun asked in greeting.
    "My soldiers are here to make certain Lady Nicholaa doesn't leave her sanctuary," Royce answered.
    "Have you come here with the intent of persuading her to leave?"
    Royce shook his head. He walked over to the back of the cart and motioned for the abbess to follow.
    The abbess proved to have a compassionate nature. As soon as she saw Hugh's condition, she ordered him taken inside.
    Hugh was too weak to stand on his own. Royce hoisted the sleeping warrior over his shoulder. He staggered under the weight, straightened, and then followed the abbess inside. There was a stone staircase directly to the left of the arched entrance. He and his men climbed the steps and followed the nun down a long, brightly lit corridor.
    Whispers followed them. The clatter of men's boots as they strode down the wooden floor echoed off the stone walls, but Royce could still hear the soft chanting of the other nuns. The closer he came to the door at the end of the hallway, the stronger the voices became. He recognized the