Read Online Knight of the Cross by Steven A McKay - Free Book Online

was a strangely unsettling one, especially in the near-dark and the Hospitaller gripped the painted flat stone Leontios had given him the night before, angry at himself for trusting in protection other than the cross on his surcoat and shield.
    The farmer never once looked up at them as they passed, nor did he modify his pace, stop to wipe his brow, or otherwise deviate from his task.
    Even the grim sergeant-at-arms, Stephen, shook his head in relief when they'd left the unearthly solitary gardener behind.
    As they rode into Krymmeni Thesi they were greeted again with the sight of an apparently deserted village. As before, no lights burned in the houses and no people walked the streets. 
    “You!” Sir Richard started in his saddle, surprised to notice a figure skulking behind the wall of a house. “Where do we find your headman? Where is he?”
    The man moved out from his hiding place and gazed up at the knight, impressive in his well-maintained chain mail and red surcoat with its white cross, and screwed up his black eyes as the moonlight flooded them. “He?” the man asked in a thin, reedy voice before laughing and hurrying off towards the centre of the village.
    The Hospitaller spat in disgust and waved his men forward, towards the tunnel entrance on the western edge of town.
    When they reached it, Sir Richard and Jacob shared a confused look. A new foreman was there, obvious by his size and bearing, but so were four guards and, although it was dim in the moonlight so they couldn't have sworn to it, the two Englishmen thought some of them had been killed during the previous evening's fight.
    It was dark though , Sir Richard thought, shrugging off the superstitious thoughts that crowded in on his already strained frame of mind. A lot of these Greek men look alike . 
    The foreman turned to face them as the heavily armed horsemen approached and Sir Richard noted he carried a sword and wore a gambeson. The rest of his men were similarly equipped. Clearly, the previous evening's events had resulted in a heightened sense of security at the tunnel entrance.
    “What do you want, Hospitaller?” The foreman's hand was on his sword-hilt and he showed no sign of fear or deference as he glared up at the English knight. His men stood and formed a wall behind him, their eyes stony, ready to draw their weapons despite the overwhelming numbers arrayed before them.
    Sir Richard remained seated on his great warhorse as he gazed down at the Greek. “We seek entrance to –”
    The foreman drew his sword slowly and, methodically, moved into a defensive stance. “You've already been down there,” he growled, his dark eyes blazing. “You came back too, and killed innocent men!”
    Sir Richard returned his stare steadily for a moment before he lifted his left leg up and over and slipped off the back of his mount onto the ground.
    “We are going down again,” he moved forward until his face was almost touching the foreman's. “Whether you like it or not. So get your lackeys out of the way. Now!”
    The Greek's head spun and he nodded at his men who instantly drew their swords and stood ready to defend the tunnel entrance.
    “You are not going down again! That is consecrated ground – holy ground. We know you defiled it last night. We know you started a fire in our village last night. We know” – he pushed his face up against the Hospitaller knight's – “it was you who butchered our friends.”
    By now, Jacob had dismounted as well and stood behind his master's right shoulder defensively, his sword held by his side as another English voice rang out from the darkness behind them.
    “Are you deaf? We are going down there, and you aren't going to stop us! Now...move the fuck aside before we tear the lot of you apart!”
    Sir Richard shot a surprised glance to his left and saw the bluff Yorkshireman, Stephen, still mounted on his great warhorse and pointing his longsword at the foreman. The Greek was visibly taken aback by the