A Knight of Honor Read Online Free

dark eyes.   She had somehow insulted him and his anger was burning.   He would fight irrationally.   Every instinct told her to fight her way free and flee.   But painful memories still lingered like a glowing ember inside her.   She needed to bury them again.   She needed a fight.
    The gap-toothed man approached steadily.   Taylor did not move back until he lashed out at her.   She ducked and whirled away, but he followed her, dogging her steps.   She caught one of his swings with her sword, and the dagger bounced harmlessly off her blade.   He kept at her, and she moved carefully within the small space of the alley, biding her time.   Finally, he foolishly waved his weapon by her face and she took advantage of the moment.   She reared her head back from the sharp edge of the dagger as it swept just beneath her chin—and thrust forward with her blade at the same time.   She had meant to wound him enough to scare him, but the idiot stepped into her swing.   The sword hit flesh and for a moment everything froze.
    The gap-toothed man’s dark eyes went round with surprise; his mouth went slack with shock.   His dagger slipped from his fingers and it clattered against the ground.
    Taylor pulled her sword from his torso and turned.
    The fist that slammed into her face sent her reeling to the ground!   Her head spun fiercely for a moment and her cheek throbbed with a pulsing, biting pain.   A kick to her side spun her over onto her back.   She lay with her eyes open, gasping for a breath, unsure whether the white blotches that flared before her eyes were stars in the night sky or patches of pain clouding her vision.
    A dark, twisted face suddenly appeared above her, a face covered with dirty hair and picked-at scabs.   She felt hands shaking her shoulders.   She saw lips moving and heard unintelligible sounds.   Then two savage punches knocked her head back and this time she knew the flashes of white filling her vision didn’t come from the heavens above.
    She lay still for a long moment, her cheek pressing against the dust and dirt of the road.   Slowly, the stars swimming before her eyes faded and the world came back into focus.   She saw a splash of moonlight washing over her mug, which had overturned in the battle.   Her eyes followed the thin stream of ale as it dripped down to the puddle below.
    The bearded man’s words cut through her fogginess.   “Had enough?”
    “You spilled my ale,” Taylor groaned.   She was rewarded with a brutal kick to her abdomen.
    As she lifted a limp hand to ward off any more blows, she heard laughter.
    “You were right,” Irwin whispered in her ear.   “That was a good show.”
    Their shrill laughter faded into the distance.
    Taylor lay in the road for a long time, watching the growing pool of ale on the ground, wishing the pounding in her head would stop.   She tasted blood in her mouth; her tongue traced a gash on her lip.   She forced herself onto her back and lifted a hand to her throbbing left cheek.   She knew it would swell and bruise before the morning.   She closed her eyes, taking stock of her injuries.   Stomach, side, but mostly her face.   Her left cheek was by far the worst.   The right cheek stung, but the ache was nowhere near as intense as the biting pain on the left side.   Already she felt puffiness ringing her left eye.   At least she didn’t think anything was broken.
    Her head pounded savagely behind her eyes and she rubbed her forehead with the tips of her fingers, unsuccessfully willing the pain to go away.   She opened her eyes to contemplate the heavens and the God that had delivered her to such a fate.
    That was when she noticed that her ring was gone!   Her mother’s ring!   They had pried it from her fingers!
    She tried to push herself up off the ground, but didn’t make it past her hands and knees.   “Damn it,” she whispered, groaning as pain shot through every muscle in her body.   She was in no condition to