Read Online Sword of Light by KATHERINE ROBERTS - Free Book Online Page A

Sir Bors’ sword and the dragon shield were being examined by the leader of the group, who had blue spirals on his cheeks and a filthy, matted beard. Sir Bors knelt in the wet grass, his arms tied behind him and a fresh cut across his eye. A spear pricked his throat. Off in the mist she could hear the Saxons from the camp chasing the other two knights, and hoped they would get away.
    “So… not dead after all,” said the leader with an accent as wild as his looks. He tossed the shield to one of his men and fingered her Avalon armour where the arrow had bounced off. “Not only a damsel dressed up like a knight, but one who leads a charmed life, it seems.” He leaned closer. His breath stank. “What’s your name, lassie?”
    Sir Bors stared at Rhianna with anguish in his eyes. “She’s nobody, a girl we picked up from one of the villages is all—”
    “No one asked you!” The leader clouted the big knight. “You’ve led us a merry dance through those cursed marshes. You’ll get your chance to sing later. Right now, I’m talking to the maid.” He bared his teeth at Rhianna. “I serve your new Pendragon, Prince Mordred. Men call us bloodbeards because we drink the blood of our enemies. If you don’t want your companions’ blood to fill our cups tonight, I suggest you answer.”
    Rhianna’s heart twisted in fear for her friends, and she wanted to ask Elphin if he’d seen King Arthur’s ghost too. But she stared the bloodbeard in the eye, her heart thumping. “Let them go, and then maybe I’ll tell you.”
    He smiled coldly. “Oh, I think not. This is the Pendragon’s shield. But where is Arthur’s sword? Because Prince Mordred wants it. And what have you done with his body? Because Prince Mordred wants that, too. Well, the head at least… though maybe your champion’s head would do instead?” He swung the sword at Sir Bors, and chuckled when the big knight flinched.
    Rhianna glared at their captor. “Then Prince Mordred can’t have what he wants!” she said. “Because the sword’s at the bottom of a lake, and King Arthur’s safe in Avalon.”
    She held her breath and eyed the hill again. Could her father’s ghost hear her?
    Elphin shook his head frantically at her. Sir Bors closed his eyes in despair. But Cai sniffed back his sobs and gave her a hopefullook – maybe he expected her to break free and overcome the entire troop of Mordred’s bloodbeards and their Saxon friends single-handedly ? She eyed the dagger their captors had confiscated from the squire, but soon gave up the idea. The fingers digging into her arms were too tight. For the first time in her life, she felt small. These men in their leather and bronze were so tall and strong. They towered over poor Elphin and Cai. Their scarred hands looked as if they could crush an Avalonian’s bones.
    The captain with his blue-painted face seemed even more frightening. He grinned again. “The maid’s got more spirit than all Arthur’s knights put together!” he said, giving her another blast of bad breath “Nice try, lassie, but I saw Prince Mordred kill the king with my own eyes. No doubt his knights havehidden his body someplace. No matter. We’ll find it in the end, as we’ll find his magic sword. A lake, you say? I don’t suppose you happen to know which one?”
    “No she don’t,” Bors said. “I told you, she’s just some village girl we picked up on our way. Leave her alone!”
    “But you do, maybe…” The bloodbeard gave him a sharp look. “No matter, you’ll tell me later.” He returned his attention to Rhianna. “Village girl, eh? Where did you get the fancy armour?”
    She stole it
, Elphin whispered under his breath, making the strings of his harp shiver.
    “Steal it, did you?” said their captor, blinking as her friend’s magic reached him.
    Rhianna swallowed her angry words and glanced gratefully at Elphin. “Yes,” she said.“That’s right! I, ah, stole it off a dead man on the battlefield. I…”