Read Online A Knight to Remember by Bridget Essex - Free Book Online

obviously.  
    She searches my gaze, her beautiful, full lips beginning to turn downward into   a frown.   “We received word in Arktos City that a great beast was terrorizing the peoples of the northern mountain range,” says Virago, raising one brow as she growls out the words.   “So a group of my best fellow knights and myself were asked by the queen to journey and stop the beast in its tracks, before it had cause to reach more populated areas.   You see, we’d received more than one story like this, stories that had come in from many different places, different villages and towns—there was even word that an entire village may have been wiped out by the creature.   So we went quickly, and we engaged it in battle.   But this…”   She pauses for a long moment, searching for the words, her bright white teeth worrying at the edge of her full lip.   “This was a very different creature than any we’d ever encountered before, and it didn’t respond to swords or spears or arrows, not to axes, and not even to magic when we used it.”  
    I stare at her, my mouth open, as she pauses, clears her throat.   She said the “m” word.   Magic.
    “So we concocted a plan…” she continues, raising her chin.   “If we could open one of the portals from our world to an in-between place between worlds and lure the beast through the portal, it would be trapped where it could not destroy or harm anything or anyone, ever again.   We believed, you see, that this was no ordinary beast, but a construct, built of magic.   Dark, evil magic.”  
    “Magic,” I repeat softly.   “And…and portals.”   Virago is watching me, head to the side, and she nods slowly, thoughtfully.
    “So we sought the only local witch that we could find…”
    “Witch?” I manage weakly.   She ponders this for a moment.
    “They do magic…” she turns her long, graceful fingers in a circle.   “Sometimes, they’re called sorceresses.”
    “Oh,” I reply, swallowing.   Sure.   Actual witches.   Sorceresses .
    “…and there just aren’t that many villages in the northern mountain range, so it was hard to find a witch.   Thankfully, she was near where the portal was located.   You see, only a witch can open a portal, and—”
    “I’m sorry…” I mutter, standing, spluttering.   Virago’s brows both go up, but she watches me quietly from her position, crouching on my living room floor, her elbow on her knee like she’s just been knighted.   “But…”   I splutter again and fall silent, staring down at her ice blue eyes, her set, strong jaw.   I swallow, continue quietly:   “You can’t possibly be asking me to believe that you’re from another world,” I tick off my fingers, “that you’re a knight from a kingdom , that you came here with a beast that happens to be a construct of sorcery , and—”
    Virago stands too, then, her eyes flashing as she spreads her long-fingered hands.   “I am sorry, m’lady, but it is the only explanation that I can muster.   I do not know why it went wrong.   Why I came here.   I only know now that I am here, and that there is a beast that I brought with me that may hurt or kill others.   I will be responsible for this, and I must not let that happen.   I will not let innocents suffer because of me,” she says, her voice low, passion making her words break at the end.   She searches my eyes.   “M’lady Holly…I do not know why I came here, but I arrived here…you were there when I came through…”   She trails off, and I’m not certain what she’s going to say next, but my heart’s beating so quickly, I can hardly breathe.   We’re so close to each other.   So close.   I can smell the scent of her, leather and metal and something a little like sandalwood, and the warm, sweet scent of her skin.   She works her jaw, and she stares deeply into my eyes.  
    She’s waiting for me to say something, I realize.
    And I hate myself for what I say